Mike McDaniel – December 15, 2024 (Postgame)
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MIAMI DOLPHINS QUOTES
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Postgame – Houston
Transcribed by the Houston Texans
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(On WR Grant Dubose injury.) – “So far there has been some positive feedback related to some head and neck imaging. He will stay here overnight, and we will find out more tomorrow.”
(On the turnovers committed in Today’s game.) – “I think it’s easy to just attribute it to the last person that touched the ball. I think there was a compounding situation. Everybody had a hand in it, whether it was protection, or there were a couple times that we’ve been better as of late being exactly where we need to be. That was the biggest thing is to play the style we do and play with some anticipation. We have to have total connectivity from the unit. It’s just not good enough. Outside of a 3 percent chance, you’re not going to win games with four turnovers. It was very disappointing in that regard. We did a good job of not turning it over since LA, and as a result, we’ve been in position to win football games. I thought the defensive effort was tremendous, which is a reason it was a one-score game. Yeah, it’s unfortunate for a lot of guys. It was a hard-fought loss by our team.”
(On his message to the team with three games remaining in the regular season.) – “I think that’s something that will be the tonality that will capture tomorrow. My message to the team was not to run from how this feels. It’s terrible. It was a game that we thought we were ready to go win, and we weren’t, and so we’ll approach that tomorrow. What I do know is we had a team that fought tooth and nail until the very end. We have a team that loves football, that’s very prideful, and so there’s three games left with paid attendance, and we’ll turn to that page tomorrow. Right now, I think guys are still trying to absorb the outcome.”
(On performance of WR Tyreek Hill and how he was being covered against CB Derek Stingley Jr.) – “I think there are times that next gen stat doesn’t account for an outside release runoff versus cover two, and overall I thought he was winning at the line of scrimmage, and that’s a really good corner. Hats off to him. That was important down to the wire, where I thought that Tyreek [Hill] won at the line of scrimmage on that 1st down, that last pick, and we didn’t connect the way it usually goes down. He was competing. I think he had the big 3rd down reception in a tight window, took some hits, but I’ll have to look at the tape to get more expansive. But he was winning on the line of scrimmage, and we’ll take a look at the tape and see how we can get our production better.”
(On the final interception in the game.) – “You know, live, you have a vision of how it’s completed. I was looking at the line of scrimmage to watch his feet because we caught man, and I’ll have to take a closer look whether or not either party could have done a better job because generally that’s the way those things work. When we have down-the-field throws and they’re versus man coverage, you need the receiver to win at the right time and then you need the right ball placement. I’ll take a look at that. I just know they didn’t connect, and that’s something if you would have said before the game that the game was going to come down to, our expectation is to make that play. A lot of tape to go through as we put this game to bed.”
(On the route ran by WR Tyreek Hill on the final interception in the game.) – “You know, I think the way I handled those type of situations, specifically that one where it’s a floating zone player, is I’m just over the top making sure that everything is connected and we’re doing what we know to do because for me to see that without watching the tape, I can’t take the words back. We’ll take a look. I just know it wasn’t our expected result specifically in that coverage. Who should have seen it, should have Tyreek adjusted his route, I’ll take a look at that tonight on that plane.”
(On getting the team refocused after WR Grant Dubose’s injury.) – “There’s no real formula. It’s always difficult. I think it’s difficult for both teams in those scenarios. There’s nothing I can say. You have a lot of prideful guys that are trying to go back to work, and I think that motivated by just knowing Grant [Dubose] and how he’d want us to finish the game. I think it’s unfortunately something that you have to go through once in a while in the game. It’s not easy. Our hearts, our thoughts and prayers are with him.”
(On what goes through his mind when players get injured.) – “I’m in the moment with the player, and then when the game starts I’ve got a lot of people counting on me to make sound decisions, so I don’t really have a choice in the matter. As I look at it, that’s one for me specifically that has never or will never be easy, but it’s not hard for me to recognize how many people are depending on me to do my job, as well. I don’t really give myself the option.”
(On performance of OL Patrick Paul and OL Jackson Carman.) – “I think they competed. There were some good plays for sure. I thought overall there was a lot of good snaps in the pass game from a protection standpoint and then a lot of snaps that guys were trying to be too perfect. We had situations where we put ourselves behind the 8-ball and the Texans had a really good game plan off our 2nd and long, and it was hard for us to overcome those penalties which cost us points, as well. The biggest thing is the learning curve from the whole O-line to when you’re getting a bunch of three-man rushes at times, that they have to know when to let go and not hold and hurt the team. It wasn’t too big for them, but I’ll have to check the tape to see exactly how I felt about their performance overall. They were pros and knew exactly what to do and how to do it, and we’ll see how they executed it on tape.”
(On the fake punt and how it changed the game.) – “It was a huge game changer. We were anticipating that situation, so we had the appropriate call, and I’ll have to take a look at the execution of it because I was surprised it was the punt return scheme that we want in that situation to defend against that specific play. I’ll have to see how that unfolded because we were very aware pre-snap, and that was frustrating, when you’re bringing awareness to a possibility, and you lose on that possibility.”
(On WR Jaylen Waddle injury update.) – “He was super frustrated. I don’t really have much after that. He was on the sidelines cheering his teammates on, so that was good for me to see. But we’ll get some more information tomorrow for that.”
-DOLPHINS-
