Ndamukong Suh – December 27, 2017
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Wednesday, December 27, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(What did you think of being named the Dan Marino Team MVP Award winner?) – “That’s very nice of you guys and much appreciated. That’s pretty much it. Thank you.”
(Do awards like that mean anything to you?) – “I think any award means something. To what levels is to each individual person’s opinion. I accept any and all.”
(In what way has you game evolved over the last few years?) – “Has my game evolved? I guess its evolved based on what’s asked of me, so each and every year it can be different. This year in particular, I’ve been moving around quite a bit. Another big part of my role was to teach the young guys to come along faster and be a part of their growth spurts. So, at the end of the day, it’s focused on really what tasks are put in front of me by the head coach, defensive coordinator and the defensive line coach.”
(Did you end up outside more than at any point in your career, this year?) – “No. I think I did a good amount this year. I think probably in 2014 (in Detroit), I did a lot more, from my recollection.”
(Helping the young guys, why is that important to you?) – “It’s the ultimate team game. I think there’s a cliché saying of you’re only as good as your weakest link. That’s something that we talk about in our particular room and if you have a weak link in that room, no matter how great you are, you can’t really overcome it, in my personal opinion. You can try and mask it; but you won’t be able to overcome it at the end of the day. My biggest thing is to make sure we don’t have any weak links and I don’t believe we have any weak links. We just need to execute and be more dominant at times.”
(Three years now for you with the organization and it’s the second of the three you’re out of the playoffs. How do you assess where this team is and where it needs to go?) – “I’m not going to assess it now. We’ve got an important game to finish up the season with on the 31st against Buffalo – a rival and a division opponent. When we get done with that game, then we can really digest over this year and years past, if we need to go back that far.”
(I guess I’ll ask in a different way. Do you feel that an opportunity passed you guys by this year?) – “I think we have an opportunity to be in the playoffs each and every year. I think we have the talent, obviously have the coaching and it’s a matter of us getting it done as players and executing, which we failed to do this year.”
(How do you approach a final game in this situation where you guys are not going to the playoffs? Would you, I know this is kind of against you, but would you ever come out of a game for a younger player to come in? I mean if for any reason if they want to take a look at a younger guy, if the game is out of hand, would you be open to that or do you want to play every snap because it’s the final game of the season?) – “I think we’ve had this conversation before. I’ve been built to play each and every snap. I pride myself on that; but if I’m requested to come out of the game, that’s part of my job. I’ve got to come out of the game. That’s kind of how I look at it. I don’t foresee it and to answer your question even further, I think the way we should approach this game is no different than we did in 2015, when we didn’t have an opportunity to make it to the playoffs and we went out and put a good showing against the Patriots and beat them – another division opponent. So I expect none the less for us to do that again.”
(How do you feel at the end of the year like this when you’ve taken so much physically throughout the year, just for six wins or seven wins – whatever it ends of being – when you see all the work that you put in and all the physical toll that you took and this is the result?) – “That’s part of the process and as you look at things, you never know how your season is going to particularly end, whether it’s at the beginning, middle, and even until the end of last week, we had a great opportunity to make it to the playoffs. You go through the process and hope for the best and execute and try to work to get the best outcome, and I think the majority of time we did that. Obviously we failed in some respects; but I mean for me, it’s about the process. I know how to get prepared for a game and for a season and I’m going to continue to go through that process.”
(How do you personally feel about another year of your prime taking off and there being no playoffs to show for it?) – “I mean it is part of life, unfortunately. It’s something you have to deal with. I don’t know if I’m in my prime or out of my prime or reaching any particular level. I think I have lots of room to grow, although in I guess football years – I’m going to be 31 (years old) here in a couple of days – I’m old; but I don’t consider it or feel that way. I’m excited to have another opportunity that’s hopefully granted to me next year; but like I said, we’ve got an important game against the Buffalo Bills that we’ve got to take care of business.”
(The ultimate goal obviously is to win the Super Bowl. Do you see that vision here? Do you see that path to get to that mark?) – “Without question, I see the opportunities here. As I said before, we have an immense amount of talent and great coaching. It’s just all about executing. We’ve been put in situations, we’ve had opportunities and we just haven’t capitalized. I think last year, what we did, was we capitalized on those. I think you mentioned it last year, or earlier – a couple of weeks ago we talked about it – just that we found ways to win games and for whatever reason this particular year, whatever situations came upon us, we didn’t find ways to win those games and put ourselves in a good position to get to the playoffs and let it be a truly one-game season.”
(In the last two weeks, your team has lost games in cold-weather climates. I know everybody is from everywhere and it doesn’t really matter and you’re not a physiologist, but did you notice teammates, yourself or anyone affected by the cold and the negative weather, particularly the young guys?) – “In my honest opinion, I personally didn’t see any guys affected by the cold weather. I think it’s a conversation that we’ve had and we’ve understood there’s going to be cold situations. Whatever it is, you’ve got to have the mindset to look past it, and I think, personally, everybody’s had the mindset. The group that I’m obviously closest with is the defensive line group and in my personal opinion, looking at each one of those guys in their eyes, it didn’t seem to be an issue. When I go back and look at the film, I don’t see guys being timid or anything of that nature, which you would find somebody when it’s cold and bitter like that. In my opinion, I don’t think it was an issue. For me, I don’t enjoy being in the cold. I don’t enjoy being freezing; but we are very, very blessed with the benches and the assistance and the equipment staff that brings us coats and all of these different things, so I stay warm, for the most part. Every now and then – I think Pittsburgh was probably the toughest and maybe Green Bay in 2014, for me, was when I put my hand in the ground and it immediately got cold and fingers, your body, where I couldn’t feel things; but the last two games, I haven’t felt that, so I personally don’t think there was an issue.”
(The run defense has risen from bottom two in the league last year to middle of the pack, maybe even a little better, this year. Are you encouraged by the progress or disappointed that you’re not top 10?) – “I think we’ve had some good progress and I think we’ve done some good things; but I think we can be easily better. I think earlier in the year, especially the first five or six games, we were top five and whatnot. I think we could have stayed there, but what happened is we didn’t execute. We had a couple of games where we really kind of – excuse my language – pooped. (laughter) That’s a tough situation and those are tough things to come back from. I think we’ve done some good things in the recent games. I think this last game, we gave up 103 yards at 30 carries, which isn’t a bad average; but I think we could have done better. I’ve been a part of an elite group that’s done some stuff where we’ve kept people under 70, 80 yards a game throughout an entire season. I think we have the capabilities of being able to do that and the players to get that done.”
(There’s a real chance, if not a likelihood, that the top four defensive tackles in the rotation could be back with that same group next year. Obviously you, DT Jordan Phillips has had a good year, and we see what DT Davon Godchaux and DT Vincent Taylor have done. Is there any advantage from a chemistry standpoint in having the same group of rational defensive tackles back for a second season?) – “Yes, without question. Being able to have consistency and know who you’re playing next to, not really having to learn guys and how they maneuver and feel blocks and play through blocks. We watch film all of the time. Earlier today, we were watching film and seeing how we can flow over the top of each other and the guys getting penetration and different things with blocks. Seeing how guys play and understanding that it gives us the opportunity to really be second nature, rather than have to be a little bit hesitant.”
