Melvin Ingram – July 28, 2022
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Thursday, July 28, 2022
LB Melvin Ingram
(Earlier today, Head Coach Mike McDaniel was saying you were sort of fighting the coaches tooth and nail to get out there more yesterday. I just wanted to get your perspective on that.) – “It’s just a competitive nature, you know how that goes. You want to get out there in practice and make plays. It’s just a competitive nature. I’m just being smart and listening to the coaches. Whatever they want me to do.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us that you basically convinced the coaches to let you do some team drills yesterday. Why was that so important for you?) – “I like playing football, man. It’s all football to me. I’m just trying to get out there and have fun.”
(Even though you’re not actually on the field, I’ve seen you constantly talking to the coaches. That’s part of it, right?) – “Yes, you have to be a student of the game. Football is really like 85 percent mental. If you know what’s going on, you know what’s (going to) happen. If I was (going to) come punch you and you knew it, you would duck. So it’s all about just being a student of the game.”
(Inaudible) – “Oh man, it’s great. It’s great – there’s nothing like being healthy. You know injuries are an unfortunate part of the game, and when you’re definitely healthy, I know who I am and what I’m capable of. So, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be special.”
(What’s your target weight?) – “I don’t know. It’s probably – I don’t know to be honest. I feel great. Whatever I come in at, I’m going to be me.”
(What are you seeing out there, being able to observe?) – “Oh, I see a lot of special players, a lot of talent, a bright future and a lot of guys just out there working. That’s the biggest part about it. When you have a lot of guys out there working and everybody is competing on a day-in and day-out basis, it can be special.”
(They look like a group that’s been together since basically June.) – “Definitely. They definitely do. They definitely look like they’re clicking on all cylinders. You know we still have a long way to go, we’re just building stepping-stones. So it definitely looks special though.”
(LB Jaelan Phillips mentioned that you’ve been helping him out. What’s something that you know now that you kind of wish you knew in your first year or two in the NFL?) – “Just how much being a student to the game means to it and how much of studying your craft day-in and day-out, working your craft. That’s going to hone-in and make you the best player that you can be and that’s what you control. So it’s all about controlling what you can control.”
(Are you willing to share the spin move with him? Or is that top secret?) – “Yes, of course. (laughter) I’ll share everything. I’m not holding (anything) a secret, man. I’m sharing everything, because the better he is, the better we are.”
(What’s impressed you so far about LB Jaelan Phillips?) – “Man, just everything. Just how he works, his knowledge of – being a young guy and how much knowledge he has to the game and how he goes about his work every day, how he goes out there and works and his work ethic.”
(A new team, new setting for you, but do you feel like you’ve gotten yourself incorporated, entrenched into the squad?) – “A thousand percent. Man, I’m me – I’m (going to) fit in anywhere.”
(Why is that? What is it about you that …?) – “It’s just me, man. I’m different. I’m a special person. So I fit in no matter where I go. I’m going to come in and do whatever they ask me to do, how they want me to do it, when they want me to do it. So I’m going to fit in no matter where I go.”
(It sounds like you’re happy to fit in any role they want you in. You’ve been obviously a long-time starter, a high level performer. It sounds like you’re okay at this point if you have a rotational role and that you don’t … ?) – “I’m (going to) still be me. Let me cut you off – I’m (going to) still be me.”
(So is starting important to you at this stage of your career?) – “No, I’m going to still be me. Once I’m not doing that (anymore), it’s time for me to go home.”
(In that vein, we talked to Head Coach Mike McDaniel earlier today, and he said that your pressures, there was no drop off there. The sacks may have been a little down, but the pressures and your disruptions are the same. Is that where you’re coming from?) – “Of course, I’m still me. I don’t like to talk nobody’s head off. Time will show that I’m still me.”
(Surrounded by so many young players, do you feel like you have more of a leadership role this season than you’ve had in the past?) – “Not really. Not really. I’m going to go out and work, and that’s how you lead. You lead by example. No matter if I’m around young, old or whatever, I’m going to go out and do me. I’m going to be myself, and if people follow, they follow.”
(Was there a Dolphins coach, Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer or Head Coach Mike McDaniel, who called you before you signed here just to tell you their vision for you? Or was it handled strictly by your agent?) – “No, it was handled by my agent. They took care of all that stuff. That’s what I hired him for. You do that, I play football. (laughter)”
(Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer, once you obviously had a chance to meet with him, I’m not asking for state secrets, but generally did he describe what he envisioned you doing?) – “Coming in and being myself. ‘Just come be you and everything else will take care of itself.’”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that when he studied the film, he noticed that you have a lot of pressures, even in instances where you didn’t get the sack. How do you value pressures as opposed to sacks?) – “It’s all about affecting the quarterback. (In the) grand scheme of things, you want to affect the quarterback. So, as long as you are affecting the quarterback – sacks, pressures, batted passes – no matter what it is, as long as you’re affecting the quarterback, you’re doing your job.”
(How did you wind up with No. 6?) – “I just put on a jersey, actually. It was just a jersey, and I just put on a jersey. You see I have somebody else’s number, I just threw a jersey on.”
(You didn’t pick No. 6?) – “No, just to come out here and practice.”
(So what are you going to do long-term?) – “Jersey number? I don’t know. I might go ‘Agent Zero.’ I might wear (No.) 0 out there. I don’t know. You never know. We’re figuring it out.”
(Tyreek Hill: “Yeah, because you’re not LeBron [James] – take off [No.] 6, bro.”) “You’re doing something right when they’re hating on you. (laughter)”
