Josh Sitton – March 16, 2018
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Friday, March 16, 2018
Guard Josh Sitton
(You’ve been in this free agency process for a while now, considering you got released earlier. What was the process like for you in terms of finding a new home and what really allowed you to wait? What was the wait for?) – “Well, to be honest with you, I wasn’t a free agent until March 14th. The Bears just declined my option but technically I was still on their roster until 14th; but the process was a lot of waiting around. You’re just waiting to talk to teams. It’s a waiting game. It’s kind of annoying because I’m a pretty impulsive person. I just wanted to figure out where I was going to be. I was extremely happy to get this thing done and it worked out good.”
(Does it matter to you whether you play left guard or right guard and what is the difference between the two for you?) – “I think I prefer to play left guard. It’s more of a natural position for me, which is weird because I was always a right side guy throughout college and my first five years in the league. After I made the switch in 2013, I don’t know what it is. It’s just the way my body works, the way my hips move or something. I just like the left side better. I’ll obviously play wherever these guys need me to; but I think I’m better on the left side. The difference is, if you’re used to something, used to those body motions, and you make a switch, it’s difficult. I can compare it to trying to wipe your ass with your opposite hand. That might be a little bit too much for you all. (laughter) But it’s different when you’re not used to a position. I hope I’ll end up on the left side.”
(About offensive line continuity, I guess this is going to be your third offensive line in the last four or five seasons. How important is continuity and does talent outweigh continuity or where do those two stack up?) – “It’s extremely important, but something I learned in Chicago rather quickly is that you can build that chemistry and that continuity pretty quickly. I didn’t sign there until September 3rd. We had a game … I think (I signed) Monday and I played that Sunday. In six days, I was playing with two guys I’d never played with and I only had two practices there. We gelled pretty quickly and became a pretty good offensive line pretty quickly. It’s extremely important and it does take some time. That’s why you have the offseason program and things like that, and that’s why you have training camp. I think that we’ll be able to do it. The thing about offensive linemen, we’re all pretty much the same people. We’re the same breed of people and we always get along really well. I think that kind of makes it feel like it’s an easy transition switching around from team to team. The offensive line are all kind of the same.”
(Why the Miami Dolphins and were there other teams involved in the chase?) – “Yes, there were; but honestly it worked out to where I was down there already. My wife’s family lives down here in Homestead, so taking my visit was obviously right up the road. I’d say ‘Coach Wash’ (Offensive Line Coach Jeremiah Washburn) and ‘Coach Dowell’ (Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains) being down here and the familiarity with those guys played a big part in it for me. (Ryan) Tannehill coming back and being healthy, I think there’s a lot of good parts to this team that are in place and I think we can be a really good football team. I want to be somewhere I think we can win, and I think we can do that here.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about your relationship with Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains. Can you kind of describe how well you guys worked together from the time that you were together and how big a role that played in choosing Miami?) – “We’ve had a pretty good little friendship over the past couple of years. I love his style of coaching. I love his offense. I love the system that they run and like I said, we’ve become friends over the past couple of years. So, honestly it’s probably really good for me – and (Offensive Line) Coach (Jeremiah) Washburn as well. He’s one of my favorite coaches that I’ve had in my career. They definitely played a big part in it.”
(How would you describe your style as offensive linemen?) – “My style as an offensive linemen? Well my style, the way I dress and stuff, is pretty simple. I’m a flip flops and shorts guy. (laughter) My style as an offensive linemen? I don’t know. I’m a hard-hat, lunch pail-type guy that likes to get to work and grind out there on the field. I’m just trying to go out there and win every play. I don’t try to … I’m not the type of guy to try and kill someone every play. I want to be very good on every single play and just be consistent. I think I’ve been able to do that over my career and I think I’ll continue to do that.”
(You know the Dolphins have put a lot of resources into T Laremy Tunsil at left tackle. Can you explain how you, as a veteran, could possibly help a young guy along, that’s playing right next to you at a very important position?) – “I think that the experience in this league is invaluable. You learn things over the years and you continue to learn. You learn smarter techniques. You learn to watch defenses. You learn to look at coverages. You learn so many small things that as a young player, you don’t realize. You’re so focused on yourself as a young player, and your own technique and things like that. As you grow, you learn these different things, and those are the things that I’ll be able to help him with – the small things from a step here, a step there, an angle here, an angle there, watching the linebacker if he moves over a couple of feet. It’s really small detail things that you don’t think about as a young player because it’s such a difficult position. It shows you how good a left tackle has to be to be putting all of your focus on the guy, that speed rusher coming off the edge. So just little things about the game that you probably aren’t thinking about as a young player, I’ll be able to help him with those things and help him grow as a pro and learn how to be a pro in this league. Hopefully I can teach him a lot about longevity in this league and how to achieve that because it’s taken me a few years to figure out how to train my body and do certain things to be able to play for a long time. Hopefully I’ll be able to teach him a lot of things.”
(It sounds like you’re more than willing to do it. Is it something that was brought up also by the team, kind of asking you if you could or would?) – “Yes, it was something that was mentioned. That was something that I brought up myself. I think that I am that. I’ve always been that type of player, to give my knowledge or whatever to anybody that is younger than me, and especially going into Year 11 now, I’ve learned a lot, a lot thing. I think it’s your duty as an older guy to bring those young guys along with you. So, yes; that was something that was brought up and that was something that I brought up myself.”
(I’ve got a question for you out of left field. I’m doing a little research here on you yesterday I came across a connection that I’m not all that clear on, but you and a WWE guy by the name of Roman Reigns. Can you tell us a little bit about that?) – “Yes. I played two years of high school ball with Joe (Anoa’i), and then he moved on and he played football at Georgia Tech. But yes, we’re from the same hometown, so I’ve known him for 15, 18 years, or something like that. I went and saw him actually in Green Bay, doing his thing and wrestling a few years back. It was cool to see. Him and his (family) too went to my school for a couple of years – the Usos Brothers. They have a big wrestling family. So Roman’s uncle, Rikishi – that’s the Usos Brothers dad – and he used to come watch our JV football games. Nobody would be watching the game. They’d all be watching him in the stands. There would be all these crowds around him. So yes, I’ve known those guys for a long time.”
