Mike McDaniel – November 25, 2024
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Monday, November 25, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(With LB Anthony Walker Jr. was it just a strained hamstring that could keep him out for a little while or was it a torn hamstring that could keep him out a long while?) – “I don’t see it being extensive time; however, you are right, we are short on time. So probably will be unlikely for this week but didn’t see one of those long-term situations.”
(Without LB Anthony Walker Jr. do you feel like LB Tyrel Dodson is comfortable enough in this system with the short amount of time he’s been here to step into that role?) – “It was very calculated. I think one thing that has to be accounted for is the games he was able to start at Mike linebacker this season in a system that is probably the same system – probably has some transfer of words as far as, ‘yeah, we say this here, this equals this.’ But for the most part he had that huge head start. And then I just can’t say enough about what he has done since he has been here making sure to be prepared for a moment like that sooner than later. You never know when your number is going to be called. I think between him, the coaching staff, and ‘Joe B’ (Joe Barry) and the rest of the players being on the same page; I’m comfortable because he’s made me comfortable by the reps that he’s taken at practice.”
(With CB Kendall Fuller and the concussion, what stage is he at in concussion and is he a possibility for Thursday?) – “I stay out of the stage game. I know he’s probably unlikely for this game. But he’s doing better and we just take that day by day and he’s progressing just fine. Just a little short-term here for this Thursday night game.”
(I know you’re not looking into the short term, but how much did it help in game to be able to get T Terron Armstead rest in the fourth quarter?) – “I think the benefit of being able to come out strong specifically in the second quarter where we were able to kind of separate the game a little bit. I think that had multiple advantages. And then creates new issues if you haven’t been in that situation a ton and then you work through those and get better at the situation as you go. It was beneficial for sure just knowing the calendar and having another game in a couple of days. I’m sure he was appreciative of the turnovers and the defensive stops probably as much as anybody.”
(FB Alec Ingold, similar question, was he on a limited snap for this game, his first game back in two weeks?) – “The way the game progressed afforded me the opportunity to not play with fire. Nothing from feedback from him. Just as a coach my own attempts to make sure we don’t put him in harm’s way. That was fortuitous as well.”
(What’s been the change in TE Jonnu Smith becoming such a focal point in the offense in the past couple of games?) – “I would say Jonnu, I think really just the working relationship between from ‘Embo’ (Jon Embree) and Frank Smith and just understanding what we’re asking and then from a coaching staff perspective finding different ways to utilize the skillset. And then the countless hours of quarterback individual from running routes on air to working on the timing when we go to group install. I think it’s just an evolution with collective effort to get better across the board from coaching and from Jonnu’s perspective. I think he’s really done a great job understanding how to get open in the timing of the play and how much you can focus on that when you’re playing with Tua (Tagovailoa) because if you’re separating when he’s ready to throw it you generally have a have a high completion percentage. He’s really earned each and every added opportunity based upon just being supremely coachable and then he gives you incentive to find ways to get him the ball when you can throw short and he can run long. That’s high efficient football that is tough to defend. So I can’t say enough about the job he’s done and all of his success. Being the guy that he is he won’t take all of the credit. He could, but he’ll probably spread it out between his teammates and coaches, too.”
(One question about backup quarterback and a follow-up question also: Forgive the bluntness here, but do you trust QB Skylar Thompson?) – “Yeah, I trust Skylar (Thompson). I think the situation this past game was unacceptable from just the whole unit. I think that from our perspective, I think across the board that’s not to our standard from the way we came out of the huddle to the execution of plays and then to give up points on an offensive play. And I won’t get into the nitty gritty of – I’m not going to point fingers at a microphone, but ultimately, that falls on everybody involved including the coaches that we can’t have that collective effort. That wasn’t him just responsible for, but my reaction towards it wasn’t strictly based on him; it was more of a tonality with the whole group.”
(Who has the final say on the 53-man roster? Is that you or General Manager Chris Grier?) – “The great thing about Chris (Grier) and I, is we don’t look at our fine print that often and that’s the biggest thing, is when we’re working together, it’s about getting the right answer; not who’s – so it doesn’t necessarily come up in that regard. We’re always just communicating and when we don’t agree on something and we work through it and I think by the letter of the law, Chris Grier is the man, but quite honestly, we tend to not even go down that road kind of like undercutting the relationship that we have just because we’re working together to try to get the right answer and we’re both on the same team.”
(Daniel Jones is about to become a full-fledged free agent I think in 47 minutes. What can you tell us about this team’s interest or lack thereof?) – “Well, first of all, I want to know what a half-fledged free agent would look like. Stumped you, right? (laughter) I evaluated him when he came out of college and we also have an assistant coach on staff that was I think was his No. 1 receiver – that’s a nice little trivia question. Yep, there’s some nepotism in that… you got it? But real talented player that his journey doesn’t seem to be – it’s not foreign to the quarterback position. It’s a tough position to succeed at, so he’s not a player on the team and yeah, I guess good luck to him.”
(Just want to make T Terron Armstead – obviously, he didn’t go back in the game unlike QB Tua Tagovailoa, you stuck with T Patrick Paul. Did he leave the game feeling good and ready for this week?) – “He was very positive leaving the game in terms of just knowing the expectation – the only thing I really allowed players to acknowledge was that it’s important, didn’t just start today; but we had to have an added emphasis on how we took care of our bodies and the amount of reps that we did for about the last week just trying account for the two games in that short period of time. He had his mind right, knew – everybody knows that the unbelievable opportunity of playing on Thanksgiving is upon us, so guys, however they’re feeling, they’re just spending more time getting treatment and getting ready for this game.”
(Speaking of that game in Green Bay, there’s a couple narratives that follow this team of the prime time record and QB Tua Tagovailoa playing in cold weather. Is that something – right now it’s projected to be 22 degrees or something like that – is that something, like what are you guys advising Tua that can maybe help him in these cold weather games, with this team in cold weather games as you guys – also it’s a short week as well?) – “The important thing as a football team is you focus on what you can control. We’re not going to mysteriously change latitudes in the next week. Kind of like you do with crowd noise, you try to do things to bring awareness and to the environment, but the best thing that you can do instead of trying to chase replicating that; you just try to get your mind right so you’re not caught off guard or caught by surprise. Now for me, there’s a lot more known in this, going into this game from a weather standpoint just because I think the road game in 2022 at Buffalo – half the team had never played in cold before and it was my first time in any sort of elements with those guys. At this point, a little more familiar. We were given the gift of ‘what do you mean by cold’ (at the 2023 AFC Wild Card at Kansas City) – is it frostbite-cold? I think that’s as we work together as a collective group, we gained some of that experience in that playoff game and proper perspective. But all in all, the saving grace is that both teams are playing in the same weather and we’ll do little things during the week that we think might be advantageous, but it’s not going to be able to be exact replication. We’re not trying to. I think you just try to be on top of your job and how to do your job and then with your mindset adjusted, that’s how you go into games in any environment, but specifically when you have some elements involved.”
(Quick follow-up to that. What are some of those little things that you guys are going to do to try to replicate that and then also how do those narratives about Dolphins not being able to play in the cold make you specifically feel?) – “I was just going to carry ice cubes in my pockets and throw them at players all week. (laughter) It’s nothing revolutionary. I’m not going to throw it out there for the world and act like we’ve checked the box of ‘we’ve got this answered.’ It’s a football game. How do I feel about narratives? I’m very comfortable with narratives because I think they’re very predictable and retroactive, so what else would you expect – they will always say you can’t until you can. It doesn’t really make me feel anything. I think I have an expectation just like I know that when after we win a game you guys will look me in the eye and if we lose, you don’t look at me. (laughter) I think you just have to understand what it is and not make it anything because to me it’s really what are we talking about? We’re talking about playing a football game in a really, really cool environment, one that I think out of all the places to play in the cold weather, you think about the cold probably the least in Lambeau. You can’t help but – you can’t escape the history and I know our guys are going to be juiced for just the opportunity to play on Thanksgiving. I think that’s a big deal to a lot of people so I’m not necessarily spending too much time thinking about it because you make a plan, you execute the plan and if everyone’s got their mind right, then you have a chance to succeed at executing the plan.”
(A lot of times coaches want their team to remain at an even keel throughout the season. To that extent, do you tell your players this is one of 17 or is that just a ridiculous notion given what’s at stake here?) – “I think each team you kind of have to handle in different ways, shapes and forms. For our season I’m not necessarily worried about making this game something either way. I think this team has known that in a desperate fashion, they’ve had to learn how to win football games and in that process, I think you become a lot more comfortable with living life after wins than losses. And I think as a team we’ve had a lot of learning opportunities and we used those as opportunities and didn’t let some of the hard lessons just happen in vain. And I really don’t think this team has to be told it’s a big game and they wouldn’t believe me if I told them it was just another game. This is a game we’ve been building for. It is one of 17; that’s the math, but we’re more focused on continuing our process of getting better at how we play football together and leaning on each other to play smart team football that doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot and very confident in the way we’ve progressed and just happy for the opportunity to go compete against a good football team and see where we’re at.”
(I wanted to ask you about the run game. Something that we’ve asked previously, but the numbers are down, the yards per carry are down. I think this is like, the third game you guys are in the 60 yards per game range. Is there a common thread or is it just how defenses have been playing you guys or…?) – “I think specifically this past game, you go into the game knowing that an NFL opponent, especially a quality defensive unit like the New England Patriots that are going to be high-effort, high-detail; they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder and they’re going to try to stop your run game. And sometimes teams do that or they do that in a multitude of ways and sometimes that changes the math. Sometimes they add another guy in the box which leaves them a little light on the perimeter and then it’s your job as an offense to take advantage of that, so I think this particular game, I think it was more so the presentations of the defense that were kind of adjusting the amount of attempts. Generally when our attempts go up with the backs that we have, we’re able to get explosive here or there that changes the average a little bit. And then I think situationally, we’ve evolved as a football team and an offense in this case to where we’re just a little more adept at doing a variety of things so you can kind of – when the matchups make sense, you can replace a couple runs with some aggressive quick game where your offensive line can short-set and still be aggressive as what the run game offers but then you can get the ball out quick when the defenses present that positive situation; that’s all depending upon that you can actually get the completion. So when you have confidence in your quarterback to distribute it and the eligibles are executing at a high probability, it’s a little less risky to pass the ball sometimes where in situations you’ve been running it the last couple weeks. So to me, the biggest thing is in games like that where maybe your run-pass ratio adjusts, is that at the expense of hits on the quarterback or protecting – if you’re protecting well and you’re getting the ball out quick, I think a lot of those passes serve the purpose as runs but again that’s granted on how is protection, because if protection isn’t good you probably shouldn’t be going back to the well continuously.”
