Mike McDaniel – August 17, 2024 (Postgame)
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Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024
Postgame – Washington
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. How would you evaluate the performance that you saw from the offense primarily, I guess, the first team?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think you have to take a look at the film because when you have all sorts of scenarios in a preseason game you hate to rush to judgment; however, I was happy with the first group, that first drive, to be able to be put in a couple of scenarios. I think there were two fourth downs and to be able to make some plays in a couple different ways, I thought – you put everyone out there so that they can get the competitive advantage in Week 1 so it’s not the first ball since January or February that’s tackle. So I was happy that we were able to operate together and there will be obviously some things. There’s a couple targeting issues and a couple things that we would like to clean up, but for the most part, I thought we played to our standard, which I was pumped about.
Q. What specifically did you think of QB Tua Tagovailoa’s drive, Tua’s performance?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I thought it was probably the least amount of nerves that he’s had the first time stepping out on the football field. I thought it was just us executing some of our Day 1 concepts and he didn’t force any issues. I really liked his decisions. I liked his ball placement. I thought he did a good job in his, I think, 11 reps. So it was nice to see him out there and connecting some passes. I know he was fired up.
Q. You mentioned two short yardage situations, fourth downs. Can you take us through the process of deciding to go up the middle and run on one of them and then letting Tua throw for the touchdown on the other?
MIKE MCDANIEL: It was such a long drive, I felt good about our fourth down options. I probably would have run the ball – I was feeling pretty good about the offensive line – I probably would have run the ball the second time, but I kind of figured that it would be Tua’s last play because it was such a long drive, and I was really looking for him to get about 10 opportunities to lead the offense. So I wanted to give him an opportunity to make a play, and I thought that was a good time for him to take control and put the ball where it needed to go. And I thought River Cracraft had a great release and got an edge on the defender and made a good catch in the end zone so that was a cool moment.
Q. You guys had a number of injuries tonight. Were there any of them that really were alarming, that were concerning for you?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I haven’t gotten wind of anything that’s major extensive, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one. It’s just the communication as you’re going through one of those games. There was a good amount of injuries on both sides. It would be inaccurate if I said there was nothing. However, during the game I didn’t have any updates of things that were what you hate to hear in games like that. But you don’t like to see anybody go down, and we had a couple guys go down. So we’ll have to assess that probably all day tomorrow.
Q. I’m not a doctor, but CB Cam Smith was holding his hamstring as he came off the field. Was that something he had been dealing with previously? Was that a similar injury?
MIKE MCDANIEL: In games like that, it’s tough. He’s been doing a diligent job working his way back. It wasn’t ideal. We were down to about – we played almost two quarters with (Je’Quan) Burton playing halfback. We had one tight end. There was a lot of stress on the special teams, let’s just say that. So it wasn’t an ideal situation. Hopefully he didn’t injure it too drastically. He’s done a good job getting himself back on the field, and I know he has the mental fortitude to do the same thing again.
Q. This was the second straight game you’ve been in this situation where you guys have been down to literally the last guy on your bench. Is three preseason games one too many? Should you guys be playing another game after this?
MIKE MCDANIEL: That’s a tricky, tricky question because I think for me, the injuries are part of the game. You do have to create some competitive environments to really assess who the 53 and the 69 are. There’s several years that stand out that the third and fourth preseason game are the reason why long-tenured players in our organization were there to stay. That being said, I had the same resistance to changing the fourth preseason game. So for me, I’m just making sure that I have all of my attention on things that I can control. I think that guys need the opportunity. How much or how many opportunities we get in the preseason, that’s up for debate. I know there’s a lot of good competitions being settled right now in the NFL, and there are also a lot of good amount of injuries. Shoot, what do you think?
Q. During the game, the team owner Stephen Ross was interviewed by CBS, and among the things he said, he said, if we stay healthy, we’re certainly a contender for the Super Bowl. Do you like those types of comments?
MIKE MCDANIEL: Absolutely. I think from a team perspective, a lot of times people hesitate to talk about goals in case you don’t achieve them. I don’t really operate that way. There’s a lot of steps before that, so I don’t think necessarily it’s on our guys’ minds right now because our goals are creating our standard and then winning the next game, and then you try to do the vision, and then you try to win the conference, and you try to win the Super Bowl. But I like the building and including the owner, having the mindset of let’s be bold, don’t be afraid of anything. We’re going to compete. I think that brings out the best in people. I’m excited that he – I think that means he believes in the program, right? But we’ve got a preseason game that follows three practices, and then we’ve got to get ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars after that. So that’s what we’ll be concerned with, but we’re building to be our best selves and that will take tomorrow and then the next day to do.
Q. Why was RB Jaylen Wright not active tonight?
MIKE MCDANIEL: Little something that came up in the last practice, something I’m not too concerned with, but it wouldn’t have done him justice if he would have been thrown out there at the tail end of the last joint practices when it came up.
Q. You used TE Jonnu Smith in a bunch of ways tonight. What does he bring to your offense?
MIKE MCDANIEL: It was cool to have him out there. I think he brings physicality and a guy that really enjoys having the football in his hands and can do some really cool stuff with that. I think there’s times when your offense is clicking that defenses will really just try to defend space, and really the field is expanded so to speak with where the defenders are defending in those situations, having fast, aggressive playmakers with the ball in their hands. They can take advantage of those types of things so I think he’s a great addition to our team, and I think there’s a multitude of ways that you can use players, and he’s no exception.
Q. In the backup quarterback battle, competition, I’ve seen it go different ways where you give different guys opportunities per day. QB Skylar Thompson has pretty much had an extensive run with the number twos. Does that mean that he’s making headway on challenging QB Mike White for that spot?
MIKE MCDANIEL: Yeah, like all position battles, just out of the sake of pure competition, when you have opportunities left, right, in front of you; for me I hesitate to make any sort of grandiose judgment. I think there’s opportunities to compete, and when you have those left before you make decisions that you let those play out. We have been very intentional with our opportunities that we’ve given Skylar. I think he’s made some plays. He’s had some stuff that he knows he can get better at. And then you’re trying to make sure that you can try to balance out the competition with some opportunities for Mike. But I think that it’s progressive. I’m not gray to throw people off the scent. It’s really a true belief that I have that you don’t try to determine how things are going to play out. You let people take control, and it will be a very important week of practice and another game and we’ll let this play out, but I think there’s been pros and cons with everyone’s play really. But I did think that Skylar did some good stuff. He had some opportunities and he was able to do some good stuff, and there’s some stuff that he could have done better.
Q. Without the benefit of looking at the film, what stood out for you defensively, any players or any concepts?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think the overall – each team, it’s a different year, and it’s a different team. And you set out to kind of establish who you want to be. That starts with words. Then that’s the daily diligence, but then it goes to action. I think what’s standing out is the overall mentality of the defense. Our defense is someone that we’re able to be aggressive, we play fast, physical with elite technique, and when you do that play-in and play-out, you’re able to keep people from the end zone sometimes even when you give up a play or two here or there. I think the overall mindset of the team has been shown through our defense really. The last two games, I couldn’t be happier, where guys are finishing the game in non-ideal situations. That tough mindedness is exactly what we’ve been looking for, we’ve been talking about all offseason. It’s awesome to see, I think, that collective culture and where the locker room’s at, and I think you’ve seen that in a pretty cool way the last two weeks with the defense being in tough spots, guys being beyond tired but refusing to give in. There’s been some cool efforts, and I’m happy about the overall mentality of how we’re defending and making offenses earn every yard to score points.
Q. What did you see from the rookie draft class tonight?
MIKE MCDANIEL: Well, I did see a TFL, a sack. I saw really just the same thing we’ve really seen. I’ve been talking to the veterans recently just about the draft class in general and the rookie class in general that they’re very professional, and I’m happy to hear that because that was concerted. We knew to make this team you’re going to have to – there’s no just let’s jump in there and get a redshirt. This is a competitive team that we felt like could have some spots where we could, through draft or undrafted free agency, we could really solidify and make some groups very competitive, and I think that’s what you’re seeing. You’re seeing a rookie class of players that understand what their teammates need from them which is NFL preparation and execution. We did see Malik (Washington) battle, too, had some good returns and played pretty tough. There was a lot of good stuff from the rookie class.
Q. I wanted to ask you about special teams. I know it’s – especially when you’re getting close to putting together that 53-man roster. How much does that factor into your decisions about this guy or that guy? Does Special Teams CoordinatorsDanny Crossman get like five players that he can say, “okay, I need these guys?”
MIKE MCDANIEL: That’s what’s super important about the connectivity and communication within the coaching staff. What you don’t want is you get close to the cutdown date and Joe Barry, the linebacker coach, is like, ‘wait, this guy’s good on special teams?’ The connectivity of coaches communicating, I’m very happy with our coaching staff communicating with that way because they’ve been on the front end of, ‘All right, this guy’s doing phenomenal. I really like what he might be able to do on special teams. Let’s make sure we’re giving him the right opportunities on defense.’ ‘Okay, this running back might be able to help us. Okay, we’d better make sure he’s getting opportunities on special teams.’ That connectivity, I think we’ve been on the same page the entire process. I wouldn’t put a number on how many guys you get, but you know that you have to have guys that can excel in each phase so you have somebody to follow behind. I think for the most part we’re fortunate in that there’s not many one-trick ponies on this team, that the guys that are thriving in their particular, whether it’s offense or defense; those guys that are thriving are very involved in special teams and doing a good job and vice versa so that we have contributors. Because the 53 or the 46 on game day, you can’t have many people that aren’t participating, and there’s going to be a lot of field position points. It’s always been that way in punt return, but the kickoff and kick return are big plays that can determine the end result of the game. So you’d better be very well equipped in those phases this season if you’re trying to win football games like we want to.
