Mike McDaniel – December 24, 2024
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Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(The decision on LB Bradley Chubb is what? Will Bradley be activated by the deadline?) – “With the deadline being tomorrow, we won’t activate him and it came down to this: trying to take away reps from guys that are playing well, Bradley (Chubb) takes that serious and he’s gone after the whole process so that he can be Bradley Chubb for this football team and he knows what that looks like. He’s been very patient in the process, very open-minded, had growth as the process went, but ultimately, we all decided that we didn’t think he would be able to be the player that he expects, that we all expect and just needed a little bit more time that unfortunately the season couldn’t offer us. He’s still all in it, and he was disappointed but also understands the big picture at stake and is going to make sure that when he’s on the field for the Dolphins, that everyone feels the player that he knows he is.”
(What about CB Kendall Fuller? Yesterday you said you needed to see how today went.) – “It’s kind of a week-to-week thing. It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to play this game, but keep an open mind for the following.”
(As the regular season winds down, how do you keep the team focused or as you face a team that’s looking to play the Grinch role and with the youngest NFL player who has 100 sacks in NFL history?) – “This team, what they’ve really gone through and fought for, it’s not a difficult task seeing how we have, to us, a one-game season and our chances at the playoffs are at stake. That has been a driving force – really is for our locker room and our coaching staff, really wants to play the type of football that we felt like we fell short of at portions of the season. I thought that formula, just looking at what today offers, what we’re preparing for and immersing yourself in the Browns, I think that’s what we did last week with the 49ers and as a result, guys were ultimately very prepared to play the type of football that they expect to play. Those results were earned, not given, and I think that’s the biggest thing is we have a standard with which we want to play football together. There’s a lot of guys that really care about each other. Everybody in the NFL knows that in the current orchestration of the salary cap, that teams are always different from year to year. And a lot of guys get to experience continuity, but then things change. So the relationships, the months of work; nobody on this team wants to leave the whole process unfinished. So for us to make right by some of the lessons of the season, we have no choice but to put our best foot forward and that starts with today’s preparation and practice and moves on to the rest of the week. So my expectation is that we have nothing short of preparation and tonality that was similar to last game, if not more, as we continue to build upon some of the successes that we’ve had in our phases and put together a complete team win.”
(What role did the uncertainty about the postseason play in the decision to not activate LB Bradley Chubb? Like if you guys had already clinched a spot, would you be more open to it?) – “No, it was very cut-and-dry. I don’t feel comfortable ever throwing a towel in; these are people’s football dreams and I just know the finality that is everybody’s career and how important each and every game needs to be and should be. So I wouldn’t have really felt right about trying to hedge any sort of bet because I think our mindset is to control the controllables and we aren’t eliminated, so we’re trying to make sure that we take advantage of that opportunity. It wasn’t really a factor in play. It was, ‘Bradley Chubb wants to play football; can he to his standard? Let’s see.’ He’s not ready to coach yet and he doesn’t want to be on the sideline, so I think took that very serious and the course of the season didn’t really play into it.”
(Was there any sort of like setback after he was designated to return because I’m assuming the team thought that he could make it back in that 21-day window? Did something happen that…?) – “No, it wasn’t that. You don’t have a crystal ball, and the only way that you can within the orchestration of the rules of even see to evaluate if you can play football, the only way you can play football is he has to have that window. I was very careful not to assess expectations to it because like we’ve talked about before, it was a big-time injury that took an absolute calendar year of strain and work to just get into that position. And I don’t think the process – although we’re not seeing him this year, it was very beneficial to be able to work through that. Now you’re not waiting an offseason with like, ‘what’s it going to be like,’ or ‘do I still…’ – he knows where he’s at right now and knows that he just has a little longer to build to get to his standard of play and standard of execution. So I think that it was a little unknown to be quite honest when he started just because you don’t know unless you try and it wasn’t a failure or setback; it was just the nature of the injury and how his body has responded. It was every day getting better. We just hoped it would go a little further than it did.”
(Upon reviewing the film, what was your evaluation of OL Isaiah Wynn’s snaps and could he be ready for a fulltime role back at right guard?) – “I was very proud, happy for Isaiah (Wynn). That’s another guy that’s – he’s worked relentlessly for that opportunity. I thought both he and Liam (Eichenberg) did a phenomenal job in the rotation process. I thought that helped him execute at a level I think he was proud of and we were very proud of, and I also think it helped Liam’s game. I think they are both very important contributors to our offense, and I think their ability to execute against the matchups this week will kind of dictate how we go about it. But overall, I was fired up that I thought the rotation served the offense and them individually very well.”
(You mentioned that it seemed to help them each. Was it like an iron sharpens iron type of situation? How specifically does it help them?) – “First of all, Liam (Eichenberg) has been battling things all season, so to be able to be a little bit fresher at the point of attack was beneficial. I think it’s been a minute since Isaiah (Wynn) has played football, so being able to go out on two consecutive drives and then kind of absorb what’s going on in the game and have a little extra time to focus on the technique and fundamentals. Especially given the opponent where their defensive techniques, they’re one of the most subbed defensive lines because of their launch technique and how they’re pass rushing every play, that’s a difficult thing to keep up with these fresh line changes, so I think that kind of gave them a competitive advantage, as well the natural inherent competitors that they are. It keeps your competitive urge going on top of all the other reasons, because you’re trying to make right of your opportunities knowing that you have another starting lineman that’s going to come in and have similar opportunities. I think all the things played a part that I though overall we got very good play from our right guard spot from the whole game, and that has to do with how they attacked all of that.”
(Will that rotation be in play on Sunday?) – “We have a practice in front of us and we’ll see how that goes. We’ll progress with the week and who knows? We might play Isaiah Wynn as X receiver, you just never know. (laughter)”
(I know this is not an indictment of RB Jaylen Wright, but can you take us inside the decision to work in RB Raheem Mostert more and to use RB Jeff Wilson Jr. in short yardage? Is it just trusting guys who have been productive for you for years? What went into each decision, Raheem and Jeff Wilson?) – “You’re trying to stay connected with your locker room and beyond that the individuals and just the way they are practicing, the natural competitive spirit that’s brought out by playing a team that you know with a lot of guys that were former teammates of yours. Definitely Jaylen (Wright) is ready to contribute, and we have a lot of really high caliber running backs on this team. For that game, it made the most sense with the ammunition that we had to facilitate it that way. Kind of going into the game, we had him active for a reason but I did know that I wanted to give those guys an opportunity and see what they did with it and they seized the moment. I thought Raheem (Mostert) played very well, was hard to tackle, and I thought Jeff (Wilson Jr.) did a phenomenal job when given the opportunity. On top of that De’Von (Achane) had one of his best games since he’s been here, so it’s a matter of circumstance. He’s well aware it’s not if but when, and any given week it could be his opportunity so he has to be prepared.”
(One quick follow up just on that. With RB Jeff Wilson Jr., we know how tough he is. Had you been tempted before Sunday this year to use him in short yardage? I know the roster decisions with special teams, but was that something that was tempting you before Sunday to use him – keep him active – use him in short yardage?) – “Yeah and there’s also things that my history with Jeff (Wilson Jr.), there’s certain types of concepts that I know he has a really, really good feel for, specifically in short yardage situations. We’ve done that in the past; we’ve done that last year. This game, based upon his practice, what he had done in the game the week previous – he got two carries – so had a ton of confidence to put him in in those moments. You’re always weighing the momentum of the game. In short yardage, you are handing the ball to somebody and you have to have reasons to hand a player that is out of routine – you have to be very compelled to put him in there and say, ‘Hey, I know you haven’t been in but the whole drive and points hinge on you getting this yard. Here you go.’ I think Jeff is built for that. I think he executed in a phenomenal fashion and gave us more reason to incorporate him in different ways this week – the only week that exists.”
(You spent one year in Cleveland, but I feel like it may have been a formative one for you in your coaching career. What did you learn there and if you have any stories of being on the same staff as Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver for the first time?) – “You always learn a ton as a coach when you’re a part of the Year 1 with a staff – a head coach’s first year – just because nothing can be assumed and you have to have reasons of why you do everything from scheduling to how you do practice and all that. So with regard to that, bare minimum, that’s very beneficial. For me, personally, it was my – I’d been a receiver coach for one year in a place that I kind of grew into that position in Washington, so going there as a receiver coach, that was a big deal. I got some added run game game planning responsibilities that year, so that was a big deal for me too. And then I had no idea about Cleveland, just the city in general. Although I was only there for one year, I loved the city. The people there are phenomenal, and you want to talk about people that appreciate a 65-degree day – in the springtime in April, 65 hits and everyone’s treating it like it’s 95. I learned a lot about their fan base – very, very committed, cool fan base. It’s a cool stadium to play at, and ‘Weave’ (Defensive Coordinator) Anthony Weaver) was awesome. Under Coach ‘Pett’ (Head Coach Mike Pettine), they were running a facilitation of that Rex Ryan defense, so practice was absolutely miserable. I think the first run play we had, we ran it into a corner blitz and it was wild. You’re always trying to gain stuff from each and every year. That year in particular, I learned an absolute ton, was around really good people, had a cool receiver room to work with. We had some successes, and that was cool to be a part of.”
(Going back to LB Bradley Chubb – not about Bradley – when talking about him, you said you didn’t want to take reps away from guys who were playing well. One of them I assume is LB Chop Robinson. Did you expect him to be able to make this kind of impact when you guys drafted him back in April?) – “Led by Chris (Grier), Chris had a ton of conviction – I felt the same. You don’t know what the first year is going to look like, we just felt very confident that he was going to be the type of player that could be an impact player at a position, specifically rushing the passer when everybody knows what rush you have and you’re trying to go for the quarterback. So to be able to execute in the big moments, pass rushers have to not be ready necessarily on second-and-7 in the second quarter; all eyes are on you on the last drive or the second to last drive when everybody knows it’s a pass. So you’re hopeful that he has the capability from a skill set and as a person, but rookie years are always unique just because it’s unchartered territory playing football for that long for these guys. So what’s been memorable about his year is that you talk about the ‘anti-rookie wall,’ he really started impacting the game the more and more he learned. I think that speaks to his daily diligence and his love for football because even some of the best competitors can fizzle out during the month of December just because they’ve played for eight more weeks than they’ve ever played football before. I think he’s been what we’ve expected, however there’s parts of his game-readiness and his ability to compete against vested veterans left and right that we were hopeful for, but he’s matched or maybe exceeded some of those expectations in that way.”
(Did his level of play have much impact on any decision with LB Bradley Chubb? Like if LB Chop Robinson maybe wasn’t playing as well as he is, would there be maybe more urgency to get –) – “That’s fair and it’s fair to ask – just like the season, no decision was made based upon anything but Bradley (Chubb). Again, bringing it back to – remember this is his career and don’t take that lightly. He’s worked very, very hard; we made that decision independent of where we’re at in the season or where we’re at with the roster.”
