Cameron Wake – June 15, 2017
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Thursday, June 15, 2017
DE Cameron Wake
(I don’t know if Head Coach Adam Gase has said this publicly to us but yesterday he said that he and the staff messed up by limiting your snaps the first five games. He’s probably said that to you privately, but when a coach admits he’s wrong and he made a mistake, does that earn some credibility, more credibility, with players?) – “Well, we’re all human, right? We all make mistakes. Players make them on the field. Coaches make them off the field. As a man in this game, you’ve got to be able to admit when that happens. I think there are probably other coaches who don’t do that and obviously with him being a different kind of guy, I think that’s part of the reason why guys respect him, why guys relate to him and why guys love him.”
(Your relationship with Head Coach Adam Gase, how does that compare to maybe coaches in the past?) – “I spoke about it when he first got here. To start off with, just being younger. He knows how it feels to kind of be the young guy in the situation with responsibilities and also still having a little bit of that fire to go and do some things that may not help as far as your career – coaching or otherwise – and setting up the situation at this facility to let guys thrive. (He) treats us like men; but at the same time, when it’s time to have fun, we have fun but when it’s time to work, we work. Our relationship I think has been tremendous and I’m looking forward to it getting stronger and stronger.”
(Now that Head Coach Adam Gase has said it and it’s out there in the open and everything, I know that you at the time went with it but did you disagree with that approach at the beginning?) – “Hindsight is always 20/20.”
(But you knew how you felt physically at the time.) – “Yes, and I told him and I told you guys the same thing. At the time, I felt great; but at the same time, there is no way to say … Let’s say I would have played all of those first five games, would I still have played the same way I played at the end of the season? Nobody knows. Of course him being a great guy and saying that he made a mistake, the real reality is no one knows because I could have played the first five games and burned out the last five. I mean, who knows? The way it happened, it worked out for everybody and I’m pleased with the way the season went.”
(You’ve talked a lot about finally getting over that hump and getting into the playoffs. Now that you got there, what’s next?) – “Hopefully that wasn’t the goal. That was just a stepping stone to obviously greater things. Most of the guys who are still here know what that journey was like. We know what it took, how hard it was, every week, scratching and clawing, winning close games, the sacrifices it took day in and day out to say we only got so far. If anything, now you know what it took to get that far, now what do we have to do to go even a step further to reach our ultimate goal? I like to think that a lot of guys, we don’t have complacent guys. We have guys who are hungry and thirsty to do more and they already know what it takes. It starts now.”
(How do you build off last season?) – “Do more. It’s simple mathematics. If you did X, Y and Z and we got to where we got to, now you have to go X, Y, Z and start over A, B, C and do more. To me, everybody looks at everybody in this locker room and upstairs, look in the mirror and you know there is maybe an area that you can improve on. If it’s on the field, off the field, sleeping better, eating better, whatever it is to make yourself even better than we were last year. Each man has to do that and if we do that individually and collectively, I think that’s how we make it happen.”
(What do you think of DE Charles Harris?) – “Lots of fun. I’ve had a lot of time to sit down and spend with him. Obviously he’s going out there and getting after it. I know you guys probably saw some of the plays we’ve run together. I’m excited. I’m excited for him. I think he has the right mentality and the right mindset to come into this game and be able to be successful. If you add that mindset and that mentality with physical talent and physical gifts and hopefully a little bit of urging from some of the veterans around here and the coaches, I think he’s set up in the right place to make plays.”
(Does DE Charles Harris’ first step remind you of anyone?) – “Physically, he’s very gifted. He’s obviously explosive, aggressive, and obviously to play this position, there’s no other way that you can be successful unless you have those tools. He’s definitely got his foot in the right direction and obviously, again, we’re looking for more.”
(DT Jordan Phillips said to us that he’s basically re-dedicated himself to being more consistent, which is something that has kind of plagued him. Do you see any difference in his performance thus far or his mentality, his drive?) – “Actually, yes. And this is not even for now, this is back in March or the end of February, when a lot of guys were starting to work out. I spoke with him personally about him wanting to make a difference. Not just to be a guy, but be the guy. Obviously being next to a guy who is the guy, being able to train with him, take tips from him, learn from him and be a sponge, I don’t think you have a better mentor to play in the inside of the trenches than Ndamukong Suh. So to be able to sit by that guy and do whatever it takes to put yourself in that position, he’s shown that he’s got it and he’s on task. Again, it’ll all show when the pads come on and the games start playing.”
(I don’t know how much attention you guys pay to this but the outside world isn’t giving this team a lot of respect nationally. I think 7.5 wins is what’s predicted for you guys. What do you think about that?) – “I couldn’t care less. To me, the outside world – it doesn’t matter if they’re praising you or condemning you – it means nothing because the only people that go out there and have to make it happen are the guys who are putting on the Dolphins colors week in and week out. A year ago, it was the opposite and we did what we had to do to this year, they could praise us and we have to work and do what we have to do. It doesn’t make a difference either way.”
(You honestly think they’re wrong though?) – “It doesn’t matter what they think. It’s not even a subject that I think of. Like I said, the opposite has been true and we did whatever we had to do. The reality is the guys in the locker room want to believe and we’ll go out and get the job done.”
(You have a former teammate who is going into the Hall of Fame this summer. How would you describe what it was like to play with DE Jason Taylor those first couple of years you were here?) – “Nothing but … We could stay here for another 30-40 minutes just talking about all of the great things that I got to take from him and his game, not just on the field but off the field as well – being professional. Literally, I feel like he’s probably the guy who influenced me the most when I got down here. I still keep in touch with him and we’re still close. It’s a tremendous, tremendous honor to be selected (to the Hall of Fame). Those are the kind of things that people dream of. I’m sure he did when he was a young guy coming up in the game. A guy like that, when you start off your career and kind of pave the way and put you on the path, I couldn’t thank him enough. I’m just happy to even be mentioned in the same sentence with that guy. I’m obviously proud of him to achieve what he has.”
(How much do you think that you have to do to get into that Hall of Fame conversation left?) – “That’s a conversation for a whole another day. I’m just working one day at a time and I’ll let you guys talk about that when I’m done playing.”
(Does it push you at all that they used a first-round pick on a player at your position?) – “No, it doesn’t push me or not push me. I’m not a guy that uses outside forces to push me. The fire is inside of me. They could have drafted 10 first-rounders at defensive end and I’m still going to work the same. There have been years where they haven’t drafted anybody and I’ve come out and worked the same. Last year we didn’t add many d-linemen but I’ll work my butt off like I do every year.”
(What gives you confidence that the rushing defense will finally improve this season?) – “Consistency in that area is something that I know, as a whole – not just us but the entire defense – we have focused on. We like pass rushing. Everyone looks at that. That’s glamorous, that’s on the front page; but in order to get to that point where it’s third-and-long, you’ve got to get the job done and stop the run. That’s always going to be first on the list. I know probably the first day of training camp, that’s something we’ll be getting the pads strapped up on and working on to make better.”
(What do your next five weeks look like for you? Any kind of vacations, different kind of training you’re doing?) – “I try to get away for a little bit every year and go see the world for a little bit. I kind of hit the reset button and unplug. Then I usually take a good solid month of getting back and getting down here in this beautiful South Florida weather and get acclimated and getting out here in the hottest part of the day bleeding, sweating and crying, doing all of those things so that when the time comes and the bullets are live, you’ll be ready. So I have a routine that I follow and this year it’ll be no different.
(The way you came back last season after the Achilles injury and the shape that you’re in, do you think you have much left to prove of what type of a player you are, and coming out of Canada and everything combined? – “Not really. Again, as I said, I’m not really looking outside. I’m more inside out. The goals that I have are set inside myself and I do everything I can to fight for those things, proving people who disbelieve. Again, I couldn’t care less. I have the people that I have to report to in the locker room, upstairs, my family, myself, the guy looking at the end of the mirror. Those are guys that I’m accountable to and I ‘prove to.’ The other ways outside I’m not concerned about.”
(How much better do you feel at this point than you did at this point last year?) – “I’m not technically coming off an Achilles (injury) so it’s much better. I was still kind of going through rehab at this point last year and trying to get back to a point where I feel like I could play a game. Obviously that’s not the case this year. I’m just improving upon where I was at the end of last season to tweaking and fine-tune some things and go out and have a tremendous season and help the team win. That’s my goal.”
