De’Von Achane – January 4, 2024
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Thursday, January 4, 2024
RB De’Von Achane
(Are the ribs at all an issue? Could they keep you sidelined on Sunday?) – “Nah. No”
(How does the boot, we saw on Hard Knocks that you sometimes wear a boot, how does that help you?) – “Well, I hurt my toe, so after the game it might be a little sore so I wear it early during the week then I take it off to practice at the end of the week.”
(You had good success against Buffalo the first time you played them. You had good success last week. Considering both of those, how do you feel going into this week’s game?) – “I feel great. I feel, like I said, the team, we took a loss last week. But like you said, we know what we can do as a team. When we’re firing on all cylinders, I don’t think anybody can stop us. I feel great about my performance. If I keep going, there’s no telling what could happen.”
(What went right for you that first time in Buffalo? You were running between the tackles very effective, two touchdowns. It seems like everything you did in that game went well. What was going right in that game?) – “Obviously I have to give the most credit to the offensive line. They made amazing blocks. It was also early in the season. People weren’t expecting two running backs on the field. There were different packages that everybody didn’t see. When it’s your first time seeing something, you kind of don’t know what to do or what it is. That’s why it was pretty effective doing it early in the season.”
(It’s no secret that this team has banged up on offense in particular. How much has that combination been where we maybe haven’t seen what this offense can be? And how much confidence do you have in this team that you’ll get to the point where we’ve seen this offense produce?) – “Like you said, people are banged up. But I feel like the guys that are next man up are as good. So I feel like this team knows we can be great. If somebody is down, we know somebody can replace them. Obviously you want to have everybody on the field, but if everybody is not on the field during the week, we’re still trusting that guy and we still expect them to make plays on Sunday.”
(Do you take an injection before the game to help with the pain?) – “No, I don’t do that.”
(No needles?) – “Nah.” (laughter)
(How does the constant changing of the offensive line challenge the running backs to be in constant communication with these guys to make sure everything is good?) – “It’s not that difficult. We’re at practice with everybody. In Week 18, we pretty much have a good feel for who is going to be there on Sunday. I wouldn’t say it’s too bad. I feel like everybody knows each other, everybody communicates with each other, so it’s pretty easy”
(I know Kyle Field has had some pretty big atmospheres. But Sunday night, primetime, division championship on the line. How excited are you for a big primetime atmosphere like that?) – “I’m pretty excited. The crowd really doesn’t get to me as much though. But playing in front of a lot of people and primetime game so everybody is going to be watching. I mean that’s kind of cool. That’s fun.”
(How has your first NFL season gone compared to what you thought it would be like?) – “It’s pretty good except the injuries. Other than that, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good season. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
(Do you feel like you’ve had a little bit of bad luck? Is it the bigger, faster, stronger guys hitting you than in the past? What do you think is the reason you’re getting nicked up a little bit?) – “I wouldn’t say bad luck. Just freak accidents. This game, you get injured any type of way. I wouldn’t say bad luck. Just freak accident.”
(Did RB Raheem Mostert have any encouragement or thoughts prior to the last game or during the last game?) – “He’s always going to say his few words pre-game. He always going to keep the energy as if he was on the field. Just him making sure that we all keep the same energy even though we were down early. Just making sure we still have our heads in the game and telling us what he sees from the sideline. He wasn’t just sitting back watching the game, he’s also in the game. He had the headset on and everything. He was a coach that day.”
(The Dolphins really haven’t had a back like you since I’ve been covering the team for more than a decade. Who do you kind of model your game after? Who is someone you looked up to as a younger player?) – “I like watching Christian McCaffrey a lot.”
(What about his game do you like?) – “Not just him running the ball, but him going off on routes and basically being an athlete basically. Not just a running back, but someone who can do routes and catch the football.”
(Are you too young to remember Warrick Dunn? When were you born?) – “2001. I heard the name before though.”
(Shiftiness, makes guy miss. Tougher than people think. How do you view that part? People say oh he can’t run inside.) – “Every offense I’ve been in for high school, college, it wasn’t just outside runs. Most of my big runs come from running in between the tackles.”
(You almost always make the right decision as far as cuts. Do you make a point to study all you carries after every game that following week to look back at decisions you made? Is that part of your routine?) – “I mean after the game we do come in and watch the game as a team. I pretty much go through it that day. But after that, it’s on to the next week.”
(What about Barry Sanders?) – “Yeah, I’ve seen some of his highlights.”
(What about him do you kind of want to aspire to be?) – “Just how quick he’s moving and making people miss. He’s different. Everything is fast paced. It ain’t no stopping. He does everything so quick and so fast. I can’t imagine playing against him back then. Going against him, how do you gameplan to stop him? Some people are just naturally talented, and he was one of the people.”
(Pretty good to aspire to I’d say?) – “Yeah.”
(It seems like from talking to you for a few months, it almost makes you happier when people point out how tough you are in runs between the tackles than your speed. Does that make you happier when someone acknowledge you can run between the tackles even though you aren’t the biggest game as opposed to he’s the fastest guy?) – “I’ve been fast for a very long time. People always question, can he take hits? Or can he run between the tackles? So the fact that I’m showing that and then when people realize that, I wouldn’t say I get happy but it’s something I know I can do. I’m just glad that other people see it as well.”
(How frustrating has this season been for you from an injury standpoint? You spent most of your career at Texas A&M relatively healthy. Then you got the knee, ribs, toe.) – “I mean, it’s frustrating at first. But like you said, it’s all a process. When it first happened, of course you’re mad that you’re not on the field and not playing. After that, it’s just getting to rehab and try to come back stronger. It’s frustrating at that time, but you just start thinking I’m a rookie, this is my first year. I’m planning on playing a lot of years. So I don’t think about it a lot like that.”
(In a way, have you hit the rookie wall as they call it? Have you felt that at all?) – “When I got injured, I missed four weeks. So I wouldn’t say I hit the injury wall since I had time off.”
(Right. I was going to ask that it kind of helped you in a weird way?) – “Yeah. I wouldn’t say I hit the rookie wall. Right now I haven’t played as many games as everybody else so I wouldn’t say I hit the rookie wall.”
