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Jerome Baker – January 10, 2022 Download PDF version

Monday, January 10, 2022

LB Jerome Baker

(Your immediate reaction to finding out that the Dolphins moved on from Brian Flores. What were your emotions? Were you surprised with the way the team finished the season that they made this decision?) – “Yeah, I was definitely surprised. I woke up and my phone just kept ringing and kept ringing, and that’s when I found out. I was definitely surprised.”

(From being there communicating with teammates, do you feel Brian Flores always had the locker room?) – “Yes. Definitely did. We all trust and believe in ‘Flo.’ He’s a great coach, a great guy and we definitely trusted him.”

(Obviously you’ve known him well over the last three years. How would you describe Brian Flores’ relationship and maybe sort of his personality and his relationships with players? Obviously he’s a little bit of an intense guy. I’m curious how you guys were receptive of his personality.) – “I think once you get to know him and get to feel him out – he plays that ‘got to stay focused, got to – that mentality, but he’s a great guy. At the end of the day he wanted you to be the best player you could be, and that’s really what it is. Not just be the best player, but also just be the best person you can be, and that’s all you can really ask for. He truly just wanted us to do well and wanted us to just win games and be great people, and that’s unfortunate that he’s gone now.”

(If I could follow, I think this will be the third head coach for you in your career. What does it do I guess for a team when you have to start over with a new head man, with his new culture and philosophy and all that stuff?) – “It’s just a fresh start. You just start over and at the end of the day we’re professionals. We get paid to go out on the field and perform no matter the circumstance. Every day we’ve got to go out there and win ball games, so it’s going to have its bumps and bruises, but we’re just going to have to lead us forward to push what the head coach wants to do and at the end of the day you’ve got to just turn the page and start over.”

(Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen Ross intimated today that there was some sort of inter-organizational, maybe not necessarily being on the same page between Brian Flores and General Manager Chris Grier and that might be one of the reasons why they moved on. In the locker room did you sense any sort of back-and-forth there or any sort of dissention or anything that maybe would make today not surprising to you?) – “No, I didn’t feel that. I didn’t even see that, but at the end of the day – like Christian (Wilkins) said – that’s out of my pay grade. I don’t really control what happens upstairs or what happens in the offices. But I didn’t feel it. I didn’t see it.”

(Obviously you’re well-aware of the business end of this league. How do you kind of process that as a player when you think that rallying back from 1-7 is going to save your coach and his staff’s job and then it doesn’t?) – “How do I process it? I don’t know. I really just – it’s unfortunate. But at the end of the day it is a business and I can’t control things like that. All I can control is when I go out on that field, I give it all I’ve got and try to be a leader for this team. I can’t really control the things that happen outside of that.”

(If I may follow that up you guys have the NFL-leading $74 million in cap space, not that that’s a lot of money because it’s just a little bit more than your contract, but obviously it’s going to be a makeover. Are you excited about a makeover? Do you feel like you like what’s here or what new pieces? Fresh start?) – “I’d say that I love the guys we have in our locker room. I love the people, I love the coaching staff, I love everything about the season. Am I excited? Of course. I’m going to be excited to have new guys and start over again. Right now it’s one of those spots of the season just ended yesterday so take some time to myself and when I see those other pieces come in, yeah, it’s definitely going to be exciting. It’s going to be fun. It’s definitely going to be fun. We’re definitely moving in the right direction. I know we’re just going to keep going forward.”

(Just wanted to see if you would take a moment to reflect on your personal season this year with how you felt you performed and if you met your personal goals and expectations?) – “I felt like I did pretty good, I guess. I truly didn’t look at my stats or nothing like that, but I definitely feel like I got better, I guess you could say. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t take that next step to get to the playoffs. But I truly didn’t sit down and look at the things I did or didn’t do, but yeah, I’m definitely going to take some time and just reflect on that. But right now I’m at a good spot and I feel like I played pretty well, but there’s always room for improvement.”

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