Mike McDaniel – August 23, 2024 (Postgame)
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Friday, Aug. 23, 2024
Postgame – Tampa Bay
Head Coach Mike McDaniel (transcribed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
(On if QB Skylar Thompson earned a spot) – “I think Skylar did a great job tonight. I think in terms of – we have a lot of information to take in. I’m not in any position to name [a] 53-man roster or backup quarterbacks or anything. I thought that he was competitive and made some plays and kind of got us going tonight.”
(On QB Skylar Thompson’s growth from the past couple of seasons) – “With Skylar, he got the opportunity to play early in his career and I thought, as a rookie, he demonstrated some aggressiveness and ability to make plays in this league. It’s been about, since then, training his craft and really owning the quarterback position within the offense and I thought this preseason, he’s exhibited growth and what that means. It means you are the leader of the unit, that you have to orchestrate play calls, decision making, all of those things, and I thought he took a good step forward tonight.”
(On what he took from WR Malik Washington’s play tonight) – “Oh aggressiveness. He played as though the game was slow to him, it slowed down, and was able to get into some space. I think we hadn’t gotten the chance to see something we saw in college from him that he put on display tonight, which is his balance and ability to break tackles, and get edges to defenders so, it was cool for him. It was definitely a big spark for us and I was happy to see him really own the moment. He’s a football player and I could tell pre-game, he was ready to go by him saying ‘it’s time.’”
(On the injuries the team has on both the offensive and defensive line) – “I think that’s something that I’ve been specifically, with this past joint practice, kind of counterbalancing the work that we did a year ago against Atlanta (Falcons) versus what we did this year. I’ve been very happy with their technical development. Really both groups have had a ton of development. There’s more depth than I think people really appreciate and there’s a lot of technical growth, which is huge in both phases or on both sides of the ball. For what we do, we ask guys to be technicians and commit to certain techniques that other players are depending on and trying to play off of. It’s been a really good training camp for both of those units, specifically interior.”
(On his confidence going into next Tuesday with the current roster) – “I’m very happy with this group. Those are things that (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and I will talk about across the board just because we’re always open minded to what makes the Dolphins the best. I’m way far away from even knowing what the 53(-man roster) will look like, in terms of you have to watch the tape and sit down with all your coaching staff, and Chris, and his department, and iron those things out because there’s a lot of tough competitions. We’ll be, like we are every year, trying to see if things make sense. Sometimes you have discussions that don’t go through, sometimes you have no discussions. It just depends on how the overall complexion and getting some of the health back from these guys that played tonight and assessing all of that.”
(On his assessment of QB Mike White) – “I think he faced some challenging situations. I thought he did a good job getting the team in and out of the huddle and played clean in that way. I think there [are] some opportunities – I have to look at the tape – that he was in there against their starters and competed and did some things that I was happy with, that we’ve been emphasizing. But before being able to say the extent to which both guys completely played, I’ll have to watch the tape first.”
(On the health status of WR Erik Euzkanma and S Patrick McMorris) – “I would say at this point that what I do know is it’s not longer than week to week. It could be more expeditious – they’re just a little recent.”
(On the outlook for S Jevón Holland) – “He had a really good workout today that he was excited about, so I would say it will be day to day at this point now.”
(On his confidence in C Aaron Brewer being ready for Week 1) –“Aaron Brewer – nothing has really changed with that, I feel pretty good about it, but I don’t know [anything] concrete. I think that’s why it was important tonight for us to feel really good about where Rob Jones and Lester Cotton had been at, and I tried to get them some game experience. Really, that was an earned opportunity to be in a jersey, and not pads by Liam (Eichenberg). It was more so a reaction to what he’s been doing, day in and day out. He’s probably had as good of a camp as anybody and has really put together some good practices.”
(On DT Benito Jones and if he could be healthy enough for the start of the regular season) – “It’s hard to forecast Week 1 for a lot of the guys, specifically because in the last couple of days such major focus goes to all these huge opportunities for a lot of guys. As of right now, I’m not nervous about it at all. I think I also need to sit down and wrap my head around some of those guys, including Benito because it’s just so important to me to really invest and be 100 percent present with the guys that are completing our roster. This is a really, really cool game for me, in terms of watching some of these guys compete and get a good amount of tape out there for us to really digest, and for the other 31 teams to digest. So, I’ll have information coming on those guys here soon.”
(On the status of DT Brandon Pili) – “Just talking to him on the field, he felt like it wasn’t serious. Him talking to me, he’s not a doctor, we have to get imaging and stuff, but he seemed like there was just no reason to stress a guy that just got a ding, so we will be evaluating that here shortly.”
(On LB Channing Tindall leading in tackles) – “What a cool game for Channing (Tindall), so much growth. This is his third year and third defensive system, so you’re always nervous about that when you sign up for it. I can’t say enough about the job Joe Barry and Anthony Weaver (have done) just in general, with the position – I feel it’s a position of strength. Case in point, I think Channing Tindall, I don’t know this to be facts, but I think that will be his high of pre-season tackles and that’s another example of the good stuff we got (have) going on that defensive side of the ball.”
(On if WR Odell Beckham Jr. will be able to practice before the season starts) – “Yeah. I’m hopeful about a lot of things, again I’m not nervous about it. You hope, but you have to listen to people’s bodies and be very communicative. I know he’s feeling very optimistic about how things are developing, but you just take it one day at a time. Like I said before, I’m not at a position of nervousness because of the way he’s been involved. He’s found a way to be a leader of sorts without playing, that’s tough to do but his mindset is right, so I feel good about that.”
(On if CB Jalen Ramsey will be able to practice before the season starts) – “Jalen Ramsey was able to get some reps this week, the practice before the joint practice. So, I feel very good about that. We didn’t practice him in the joint practice because coming off the injury I just know too much about my personnel. He’s already a competitor. Thankfully, he’s already a such a good teammate and such a good leader, you know, when he goes against our offense, he manages his competitiveness as much as one can. He himself knows that (if) another colored jersey goes against him, he might step out the comfort zone. So, getting him some reps, I feel pretty good about him and he’s done a good job, so no concerns about him.”
(On giving Assistant Head Coach Jon Embree the chance to serve as acting Head Coach in the second half tonight) – “I think it’s important to me to always try and get better at things. This is my third year, and we haven’t gone though that exercise. Bottom line is it’s still too soon for my memory from the COVID year, so you just want to be responsible to the organization. As far as (assistant head coach/tight end coach) Jon Embree the coach, it was also really cool to give him the opportunity that he’s overly deserving of. This is a guy that our team really responds to and he [received] an applause when I notified the team and has spoken to the team in serval instances since then and their response to him is all the reason that he’s deserving of the opportunity. He a great leader of men and does well in that position and has had that experience before at the University of Colorado. So, it was a good opportunity for our team and great opportunity for him.”
