Ndamukong Suh – October 18, 2017
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Wednesday, October 18, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(You have a business background. Would you recommend investing in the Dolphins at this point?) – “Investing in the Dolphins? Yes, because I’m on the team. (laughter) I’m not sure what you mean by that.“
(Is the stock rising?) – “Is the stock rising? Who knows. It’s too early to tell.”
(The last time you played the Jets, they seemed to control the tempo of the game. What do you look at that you think you guys need to do different this time around?) – “I think they did a good job of keeping it the way they like to play the game, which is obviously close. I actually don’t remember what the score was, but I believe it was close for the most part. We gave up (20) points, or something of that nature. Regardless, I think they like a tight game. It gives them the opportunity to control the game from a running the ball standpoint. Obviously, (they’re) methodical moving down the field where they have short passes, run game, play action, every now and then take big shots. We understand from a defensive perspective that we want to get them off-kilter and shut that down.”
(How much different do you think the unit is this time around? You have three new starters. The defense seems to be on the right…) – “Three new starters on our side?”
(Yes.) – “I think we understand what we have as a particular group. We understand what they want to do against us. They’ve obviously got some new twists. We have film on six or seven games of them now, so there’s some new twists that they’ve thrown out there that we’ve seen. I actually see a little bit of what we saw last week in the stretch game, so we’ve got our hands full for sure. ”
(Are the Jets an example of why it’s pointless to try and look at your schedule and say, “This team will be this and this team will be that?”) – “I would never do that anyway.”
(I know you wouldn’t.) – “Because the NFL is the NFL. Every team is good on any particular day – any particular Sunday, Monday or Thursday – so at the end of the day, you’ve got to respect each and every player and each and every team in this league. ”
(You do your work in the trenches. How has the footing been at Hard Rock Stadium last time you played there and in the preseason?) – “I think the preseason we struggled a little bit; but at the end of the day, I’ve seen all different kinds of conditions and as a professional you have to be able to adjust and adapt. I think (Equipment Manager) Joe Cimino and his staff do a great job allowing us to be prepared at any point and situation, so I wouldn’t say it’s an issue from my standpoint and let alone, our team’s.”
(Did you have to change out cleats at all, or anything like that?) – “Well, I’m a guy that understands, I’m pretty much good in molds. I did actually play in screw-ins when I was in London, just because that was my third time there and that field is a little bit different. Obviously, they’re playing a lot more games on it, so it wasn’t going to be as clean as it was in previous years. I took out the need for any worries. If I changed anything, it would be the length of my screw-ins; but most of the time I’m good in my molds.”
(What do you like about this defense?) – “What do I like? I think the fact that we’re learning how to execute and being able to be consistent to some extent. We’re not perfect. I don’t think we’ll ever be perfect, but we’re going to continue to strive to get there. I think the biggest thing is that, compared to probably years in the past where we weren’t fully built in understanding what we needed to get done, I think as we’ve grown, and gotten older, and obviously added some new pieces, people understand where they need to go and how to be successful.”
(How would you assess the impact that DE William Hayes has had on this defense?) – “I think Will Hayes has had a tremendous impact on this defense, especially in the run game. I don’t find it surprising because I’ve watched his film, but some other people may find it surprising that he’s a great pass rusher as well. He’s known (as) a run stopper, but he can, without question, pass rush.”
(Yesterday, three of the players on this team WR Kenny Stills, TE Julius Thomas, S Michael Thomas went to New York and were part of the meetings with the commissioner on social issues. Did they report back to the rest of the roster today?) – “I knew that was going on, but in regards to reporting back to us today, today’s our normal Wednesday and we’re focused on football. Obviously it’s something that’s important that I believe in and understand needs to be spoken about and addressed; but as we understand, when we come in these doors – I think I’ve said this in regards to Hurricane Irma and situations we’ve had to deal with on an everyday basis – when we’re in this building we focus on what we have to do and then outside of that, we take care of our business from there. ”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked last week about how fired up WR Jarvis Landry and RB Jay Ajayi get on the offense. Who gets the most fired up on the defense?) – “(laughter) I’m definitely not the guy; but I would say probably Cam (Wake) is one of those big guys that speaks. (He’s) very vocal. He obviously brings our defensive and offensive line groups together before the game; but at any point in time, I think anybody feels that they can have that opportunity. I’m not sure if we have, outside of Cam – he’s really the main one that I think of that’s really super vocal from that standpoint.”
(So would you describe yourself more as a lead by example kind of guy?) – “Yes, I’d say for sure lead by example or more of a one-on-one conversation. Every now and then I’ll pull the group together, understanding the situation; but I’m not much of a rah-rah guy.”
(DT Jordan Phillips was talking, coming into the season, about wanting making some changes and change the course his career had been on, be more consistent, things like that. Have you – I know he’s been hurt – but have you seen some things, maybe even going back to August, behind the scenes that maybe show a different approach from him this year?) – “I think Jordan understands what he needs to do and he will continue to progress in that manner. I’ve been around him. He’s obviously trained with me before in the past, as well as this past offseason. It’s been tough for him of recent, just because of his injury and what’s taken place from that standpoint; but I think he’s in the right path and the right mindset, more or less, than anything.”
(Right mindset. Specifically, what do you mean by that?) – “A man focused on what he needs to do and get focused on where he needs to be. I think understanding, just like all of the other guys, asking questions, talking about the game and (I’ve been) seeing from that mindset, he’s grown from being a rookie, where he’s just focused on what he needs to get done.”
(You’ve got three really experienced linebackers, at the moment, playing behind you. Does that change what you do yourself in any way, and if so, how?) – “It’s a tough question because each and every guy is a little bit different. They’ve grown up in their own particular way. Obviously, (Lawrence) Timmons has been in the Steelers way of doing things, which is a little bit different than how we look at things. Kiko (Alonso) obviously has been on a handful of different teams, with Buffalo and Philly, and then Rey (Maualuga) obviously with Cincinnati for the majority of his career. So I would say, I wouldn’t change my game. I think playing off of each other is a little bit different. We have to understand how I like to play, how they like to play, and vice versa. It’s a combination of just understanding who’s behind you and how they fit, and really understanding where our defense is, plain and simple; and how we want to look at things. I know we talk about ways of cheating and finding ways to get in, and funny enough, I talked about this earlier today in practice with ‘Coach T’ (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams) in a particular play that the Jets like to run. There’s different ways that when you have experience, you can get further in depth with those things, without question.”
