Jordan Poyer – September 9, 2024
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Monday, September 9, 2024
S Jordan Poyer
(Do you expect any emotion Thursday playing your former team that’s different from a regular game? After these teams have seen each other so much, is there anything you can share with defensive teammates about the nuances of Buffalo’s offense? Or is that whole thing entirely overstated and there is really no inside information that you can give them?) – “I’m excited to play this week. Obviously, a team that I played with the last seven years. I’m very familiar with a lot of guys they have over there. I still have a lot of good relationships over there. I’m thankful for all of my years out there in Buffalo, but I’m excited to play, for sure. I’ve definitely been connecting with the guys on this team. Like I said, we’re going to be ready to play. We’re excited to play; this is going to be a fun game on Thursday night.”
(This whole topic of sharing inside info, is there anything to it or is there really nothing you can say that your teammates haven’t seen on tape playing Buffalo so often?) – “I’m sure there’s really a whole lot they haven’t seen playing tape. We’ll continue to talk throughout the week, and we’re excited for the opportunity on Thursday night.”
(From practicing against QB Josh Allen for so long, but now preparing to play against him, what have you gathered are some of the keys to containing him?) – “Probably some of the same things that you guys have seen. Yesterday he went pretty crazy doing what he’s always been doing, running around, throwing the ball, hurling over people. Great player, man. I’ve seen him do some crazy things over the years, so I’m really excited for my first opportunity to finally play against him. It’ll be a fun night on Thursday night.”
(Being so familiar with him, are there any tendencies in his play specifically that maybe weren’t always expressed to him that you have in the back of your mind possibly?) – “Yeah, I’ll keep those within the team.”
(But they exist?) – “They exist on every player. We’ll keep those within the team”
(Not to put too fine a point on it, but do you think you were brought here, among the reasons you were brought here, would be to beat the Buffalo Bills?) – “I don’t think that was one of the only reasons why I came here. One of the reasons I came here was because I’ve seen this team over the last seven years grow and become who they are. I wanted to be a help in becoming a part of that steppingstone of winning the AFC East and going on a run in the playoffs. This is just part of it. This is just another game for us to win, go 1-0 this week. What a cool opportunity for Thursday night.”
(Are there any group text blowing up this week?) – “No, there’s not.”
(I wanted to commend you for what you said earlier in the season when you had a press conference with us about the mentality that most Dolphin fans knew, but probably don’t publicly speak about it, especially amongst the team in terms of the Dolphins folding when adversity hits. One, did you get heat for saying that inside the locker room, and how do you go about changing that mentality?) – “I think you saw a little bit of that yesterday – down, what, 14-3. There was probably a lot of people that could’ve counted us out, probably a lot of people that did count us out in that game. We just stuck with it, just kept playing. Kept playing football. I swear I’ve been saying this for years now, a coach used to tell me this, is every game you just keep playing, the game is going to always come down to the last play, the last series, the last drive, it doesn’t matter the score. When you at the games over the weekend, that was a game. When you look at the game last night, the last drive, the last series, Detroit drives down with the ball, game over. You just keep playing. Adversity is going to hit; every team is going to go through adversity and you being able to handle those moments, that’s what it’s about – the moments. Handling the moments, and I thought we did an amazing job with that yesterday. It was really cool to be a part of this victory, and we’re excited about this week.”
(The touchdown pass yesterday in the corner of the end zone to WR Brian Thomas Jr. Looking at the all-22, it just looked like it was just a really good throw. Sometimes it’s a good offense rather than a defensive mistake. But I’m curious, from your perspective what did you see on that on that play and how did it get completed?) – “Yeah, it was a good throw. I think just us and the secondary playing together and continue to play together, we’ll continue to communicate things. There is this couple of things out there that we could do better on the back end that are super easy fixes. We’ve got a super talented, we’ve got guys that have played this game for a long time. So just small communication things that will help us continue to get better.”
(Was that Cover 4? I’m trying to learn.) – “We’re playing football. It was Cover 2 and then Cover 4 based off of releases and there were certain communications. Things that we got to communicate, that we’ll continue to communicate and get it figured out. We gave up 14 points to an NFL team in the first NFL game of the season. I think going into the second half, we shut them out pretty good so that’s what we’re going to continue to build off of and continue to thrive off of.”
(I just wanted to get your reaction to what happened with WR Tyreek Hill prior to the game and how were you guys able to respond?) – “What a crazy situation. He’s a boss for getting (detained) and then going out there and going for – what did he go, for 130 something yards? That’s just absolutely ridiculous. We love Tyreek (Hill), man. It was super cool that the guys that were around him, Calais (Campbell) and Jonnu (Smith) and I think there might have been another person, were there to help support. It’s just a tough situation, we’re glad that he was OK. I saw his press conference after the game. What a leader he is for saying the things that he said and I’m just going to keep it at that.”
(I wanted to ask you a little more about what you just said. Was there a turning point before the game, something someone said, whether it was Head Coach Mike McDaniel or someone else, that got you guys focused on the game and able to overcome that very weird situation before the game?) – “I think everybody kind of realized on their phones on Twitter when it happened. He came in the locker room, and he got dressed like he was playing and we were all ready to go. It was like it never happened, really, and he went out there and went crazy on the field like he always does. What a crazy story. That’s something, shoot, I’ll tell my grandkids when I’m 70 years old. ‘Yeah, that boy Tyreek got (detained) and went out there and went crazy on the field.’ (laughter)”
(I’d like to ask you about the Buffalo connection. I understand usually ex-teammates don’t communicate the week of that game. Going back over the summer when you first signed with Miami, was there any good trash talking between you and the Bills, sort of like “See you in September,” kind of thing? What do you remember?) – “Absolutely, there has been, for sure. (laughter) I’m going to keep it at that. The boys know we’re coming; I know they’re coming, so it’s going to be a fun Thursday night.”
