Ndamukong Suh – August 8, 2017
Download PDF version
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(You obviously faced QB Jay Cutler quite a bit during your days with Detroit. Your thoughts on the acquisition?) – “I think he’s a great quarterback. Obviously I’ve played against him many, many times. I actually got my first sack against him. (laughter) I’m looking forward to it – going against him and practice and whatnot. (He’s a) good dude.”
(There seemed to be a pretty good level of respect between you and QB Jay Cutler when you played. Would you say that’s fair?) – “Yes, without question. I definitely have the ultimate respect for him. I don’t like any quarterbacks but he was one guy that I definitely had a respect for because he took hits and never cried, never complained and just got up and went and played the next play.”
(And QB Jay Cutler never ducked you either. It seemed like even if he was a little banged up, he was like ‘I’m not going to miss playing against DT Ndamukong Suh.’) – “Yes, yes. He’s definitely a tough guy and always makes sure he wants to be out there the next week.”
(What makes QB Jay Cutler so tough back there as a quarterback?) – “Honestly, he’s one of those quarterbacks that makes you earn sacks. He would get to the sideline, throw the ball out – you’d have to chase him and make sure you get there and make sure it’s a real sack because he wasn’t going to give you any gimmes by any means.”
(What’s the past week been like emotionally for the locker room from losing QB Ryan Tannehill to the uncertainty of QB Jay Cutler arriving?) – “I think we have to understand that some things unfortunately happened. Injuries are unfortunately part of this game. It’s pretty much 100 percent guaranteed that at some point in time, in your career, if not in a year, you’re going to have a bump or bruise. In that regard, we have to step up and guys have to step up in their particular positions and hold their own. At that time, when your number is called, you have to come up and produce.”
(You’re a couple days away from taking your next step and you play somebody else, you get to hit somebody else. How much are you looking forward to Thursday night?) – “I’m excited for it. I think all of the guys are excited for it. Being in camp for a couple of weeks now, being able to see some other faces to … Going to hit some other faces is going to be great, especially a team that we’re going to see in the regular season. They were in the Super Bowl last year so we have some things we can really learn from them and play against them and get our first taste of where we’re at this year.”
(What have you noticed about DT Davon Godchaux?) – “Davon has done a great job. He’s come in, as I’ve said before, and implemented what we do in individual and taken it to team. I think that’s why he’s seeing a little bit more reps with the ones as well as everybody getting mixed in. We all want to be interchangeable. At the same time, any time you’re put out on the field, you have to be able to be out there and produce. I may be on the bench and he may be taking my spot. Whatever it is, you’ve got to go out there and produce.”
(How hard was it to get your hands on QB Jay Cutler. Does he have a quick enough release?) – “He definitely has a quick release. (He’s) a guy that wants to get the ball out, spread it all over the field and get touchdowns. It was definitely tough getting after him but I had my fair share of sacks against him.”
(Did you speak with QB Jay Cutler yesterday or today? When was the first time you spoke to him since he came here?) – “When I found out, I reached out to (Head Coach Adam) Gase to get his number and spoke to him briefly. Obviously I got a chance to speak to him yesterday when he got in the building.”
(So after QB Jay Cutler signed? When did you reach out to him?) – “After he signed.”
(What did you want to convey to QB Jay Cutler at that point?) – “That’s personal. (laughter) I’ll let him answer.”
(Generally can you give an idea of what you wanted to…) – “No, no. Keep stuff in house.”
(Based on what you know of QB Jay Cutler, are you more interested to see what he can do in a preseason game – he’s likely not going to play Thursday but when he gets in there?) – “Yes, obviously you want to see what everybody is going to be able to do in a preseason game. One, myself and see where I’m at; and then see where our offense is and see where our defense is as a whole. Everybody whoever gets an opportunity to play on Thursday in the games coming up, we want to see how well they can perform and be a part of this team.”
(When teams lose a quarterback, it often means their season is over. It’s not the feeling here. You brought in a guy in QB Jay Cutler who has won a lot of games in this league. How advantageous is it to have that opportunity that your season is not over and you have everything in front of you?) – “I never would think our season is over. One, because we haven’t even started it. That’s how you have to, in my eyes, look at it. We have to start the season to even have an opportunity to go out there and see where we’re at. So in my particular case, obviously as I said before, injuries are going to happen at all levels. You never want it to happen at any particular level, especially the quarterback position; but guys have to be able to step up and be able to make plays for us to get into our season and we’ll go from there.”
