Mike McDaniel – October 18, 2024
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Friday, October 18, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So I know you have a game Sunday, but since it’s a high interest topic, can you share if QB Tua Tagovailoa will practice next week?) – “So everything has been the same. There’s been no negative; everything has been positive each and every day. And then yeah, you’d be right in that I am focused on the Indianapolis Colts who we play in 48 hours.”
(The IR decision with QB Tua Tagovailoa is one that obviously had to be made well in advance before you could see how he recovers from this particular concussion. At any point has it felt like it has either delayed his progress through protocol or limited him? Or would you feel justified in it regardless based on the obvious health benefits of Tua not having to worry about it?) – “No, it was like you almost nailed my quote, but with a little caveat. So when you have a timeline that you do know you have like on that week you have to make a decision, you wait all the time you can and then that decision is driven by medical experts. And then with conjunction of the communication of the whole team and obviously Tua, yeah when medical experts in a timeline that’s not ideal for anyone say the best thing would be, with the information they had at the moment, to do X, I’m happy with X because the idea is that people – especially in the business of having expertise, I don’t ask the doctors for play calling advice and so I’m not going supersede a medical expert, that wouldn’t be very smart. So once that’s determined, when you make that decision that is based upon the information and driven by medical experts, it’s easy to – there’s no really second guessing or even evaluation of should we or shouldn’t we have. We should have because of medical expertise. So then you take the time to utilize the time, and I think Tua has done a great job of getting something out of a situation that is obviously not ideal. I think you don’t get to choose what you go through but you get to choose how you handle things, and he’s been unbelievably diligent, he’s been a leader while doing it. The right thing for the Dolphins with regard to medical things regarding players is based upon the medical expertise, for sure.”
(What is RB De’Von Achane’s status entering Sunday? Has he cleared protocol? Will he play versus the Colts?) – “So the clearance of protocol is based upon a forecast of today’s – it’s based upon the final stamp of a medical expert after today’s activity is completed. Would I say I’m optimistic? Absolutely. I do not have a crystal ball. Something could happen today but barring an event that you can’t forecast, I feel pretty good about it.”
(With S Jevón Holland, how much have you been able to see him operate with that hand and where would you say he is from a usage standpoint?) – “I’ve seen him – it’s a little tricky because you’re trying to get work without making a vulnerable situation worse with having and determining whether or not trying it out with it at the point of attack is appropriate or if you’re vulnerable to regression. So in the process, the work has been good all week. I do think he’s day-to-day, and that one is a little more evaluation up in the air for me, because I think you’re kind of acknowledging that you’re trying to not overcook the testing process too early as well. I’ve seen him do a lot of things – engaging in shedding is the last on the list that you try to do, and you try to do it appropriately so that we’re doing right by him and not setting him up for a longer situation. So he’s been very good all week about being a responsible professional to the team, which means he has to do right by – doing right by himself is doing right by the team because he’s a very valuable asset that we depend on, and I think he’s very eager to continue his development within this defense because he’s a cool part of it. So we’ll be very responsible with that, with the long-term vision, but also be responsible to the player’s opportunity to play in a National Football League game – which for all players, those opportunities are finite. You don’t trivialize that and you take everyone serious.”
(There’s been a lot of talk on obviously QB Tyler Huntley getting more comfortable with the offense, but along that parallel track, how more comfortable are you calling games for him in this offense?) – “It’s night and day because you have reasons and expectations for each and every thing that you’re doing. You do that every play that you put in, acknowledging the unknown, trying to bridge the gap and seeing what your forecasted strengths and weaknesses are within what we’re doing and what in actuality it is and being able to adjust. We’ve always been able to tailor and tool our offense to the assets and you do that by knowing the players inside and out. The way he’s gone about it, his consistency of getting better at things has made that easier because I’m not guessing as much and I think there’s been some overlapping themes of things that he’s been successful with that we try to lean into. Not necessarily a route or certain action or anything; more all-encompassing types of plays that he’s feeling comfortable with – the areas of the field, the tempo of the play, the timing of it, the launch points – all the little intricacies that make the offense go and tie to the run game and all those things. So it’s been very, very beneficial simply because of how he’s attacked it, and I think he’s done a very, very good job being at the helm of the ship. That’s a very tough thing to do in a foreign language and he’s already fluent in our vernacular and had a very, very good two-thirds of the practice week. We’ll see today, I’m expecting a continued trend because every day he’s got a little bit better and that’s all we ask players to do.”
(T Terron Armstead said that the run game has to be a staple going forward. How true is that considering the Colts’ issues defending the run but then also the potential of having a fully healthy running back room for the first time since I think Week 1?) – “We’re in lockstep, ‘T. Stead’ (Terron Armstead) and I, in terms of understanding that football teams, if you’re wanting the end results that you talk about, that the fanbase talks about, that everyone is working towards; you have to be a team that can win any type of game, because at one point in time, you’re going to be in an elimination game. Whether it’s eliminating yourself from the playoffs or elimination in the playoffs, everything is going to come to a head and in those moments where your season is defined, you don’t determine the matchups. You don’t determine where you play. You don’t get to dictate those terms, so you have to be fully tooled to be able to win a game any way necessary that always, always in playoff football – always – equals run game. For sure, and stopping the run. You can probably list on one hand in the last 24 years or whatever number you want to pick of how many teams won the Super Bowl being just pass-game dominant on both sides of the ball. And I got I think 1999 was – what were they called, the St. Louis squad? ‘Greatest Show on Turf.’ You have to be able to take advantage of where the other team is vulnerable. From an offense perspective, you have to take advantage of what they’re giving up when they’re taking something else away. From a defensive perspective, that means you have to be good against teams that are good against the pass, you have to be good against teams that are good against the run, because you have to put people in non-normal down risky situations and create turnovers and do all those things. I think when Terron says moving forward the run game has to be something, he’s meaning if we want to win games, we have to be tooled to win games however we need to win games. And I do think the only positive of rough starts with some adversity and turmoil is early in the season based upon all the buildup from the offseason and what guys’ expectations are going in; the best way you can get everyone to only worry about winning is when they’re only worried about winning. And when you feel the results of early season losing streaks, those 24 days couldn’t feel like three months and that perspective of what is most important is very clear and ever-present right in front of the football team, and so you can make sure each and every thing that you’re doing and every motivation each coach has and every player has is what can we do to contribute to the ‘W’ column and not the ‘L.’”
(Kind of piggybacking off of that, something Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry said yesterday was that the offensive line needed to be in full concert to be effective. You’ve had those guys on the field for a lot of reps together this year with pretty good injury luck. How would you describe the value of those banked reps through five games so far for those front five guys?) – “I would say it’s always important in the National Football League to be prepared for your opportunity, not worry about your opportunity. I think the offensive line, we’ve benefited from the consistency. In that, there is an opportunity to have for the first time since I’ve been here, a 40-run game that was a one-score game the entire time. That’s an opportunity to – in those situations, good football is winning time of possession and when your defense is playing well, being able to control the clock and control the line of scrimmage is everything. And I think for this team, it was obvious – there’s nowhere to hide in the National Football League. The offensive line had the opportunity to take the game in their hands, particularly on the final drive with however many runs to end the game or to get the touchdown, and fortunately for the team, they were ready for their opportunity. And that is across the board on football teams – some days we might ask (Jalen) Ramsey and the boys to play man 70 percent of the time. Some days we’re four-man rush and you’ve got to play zone because of the issues the opponent presents. Whatever those things are, when your moment to have the hard – when the moment of truth comes where you have the opportunity as a unit to do something, the team gets the residuals of if you’re ready, and I think they’d been working tirelessly at receiving the results that were close to expectation. It was a frustrating couple weeks for that group in particular, and to go and not wish and hope for better results, but to attack and earn those results through investment and daily diligence, that’s what football in the National Football League is and that’s where teams are made or broken, is in adverse times can you come through for your teammates. So I was happy with that effort and if we want to win football games, I think they have to be ready to do that at any time as well as any other phases, stepping up when their moment is.”
(What do you think on S Jordan Poyer and LB Emmanuel Ogbah?) – “(Jordan) Poyer, I’m very optimistic. I feel really good about it. (Emmanuel) Ogbah is a little day-to-day, a little more in the Jevón (Holland) category of I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying he will or won’t, just based upon the time before the game and how they’ve been in the past and how bad they want to be a reason for our success this weekend and contribute to the team as much as possible. So I’d put both in the day-to-day category and we’ll see how today progresses.”
