Liam Eichenberg – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
OL Liam Eichenberg
(What do you hope to do differently come next week when you guys take on the Texans?) – “I would say the biggest thing for us is to keep attacking. Just stick to what we’ve been coached to do and improve on the fundamentals and take it day by day. We’re heading out to Houston. It’s a great team out there and we’re looking forward to it.”
(For you personally, how do you feel about your performance tonight?) – “I think I did all right. Like I said before, it’s tough to tell. You have to look at the film and see how is. I’ll probably get out of here and go look at it and see how it was.”
(I know it’s just Game 1 of preseason but when you get down there in the redzone you want to come away with points, even though its preseason?) – “You definitely want to come away with points. You kind of got to look back at the film and see what happened. For me, it’s kind of zoned in on one or two guys. So I can’t really tell you what exactly fully happened. Just kind of focused on – obviously I’m focused on the offense, what’s the offensive line is doing and what my job is. So just need to keep improving and help each other out.”
Skylar Thompson – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
QB Skylar Thompson
Q: How did you feel out there, first preseason game since last year?
SKYLAR THOMPSON: It was good to get back on the field and compete tonight. It was obviously tough sledding there with the turnovers and just getting into a rhythm, it was tough. But just keeping in mind that this is the preseason, it’s the time to learn, the time to grow. It’s not always going to be perfect. I just need to go back and watch the tape and just learn and do what I can to get better from every single experience that I got tonight.
Q: Is it just the internal thoughts that it might take a couple games to get back to where it was last year?
SKYLAR THOMPSON: No, I don’t believe so. Definitely they got me with a couple looks tonight with pressures and just — that’s just what I felt on the field. Just understanding the situation and getting the ball out. To answer your question, I do feel like there were times where, “OK, I feel pressure.” Where is my outlet, throw and get to it quicker and getting us out of negative yardage situations to where we’re not in second-and-long. Getting way behind the sticks is not the type of mission that we want to run on offense here, and that starts with me leading it and taking charge. I take all the ownership for every single thing. I’ll shoulder it and learn and get better from it.
Q: What did you see on the long attempt to TE Elijah Higgins that they ended up intercepting? What did you see on that play that made you like the match-up?
SKYLAR THOMPSON: Yeah, well, I saw the coverage. It dropped down to one lurk, and we had kind of talked all throughout the practices, throughout the week and throughout the game that that was kind of one of their — they were playing two-man lurk, and anytime they were playing lurk — when I say “one lurk,” they were playing man coverage, showing a two-high shell and dropping down the safety to the passing strength, kind of just reading my eyes. I throughout the game had kind of felt that their lurker was kind of going underneath our throughs, and I felt like he came underneath it, and that Elijah (Higgins) was going to eclipse him there. I threw deep – threw over his head. I put too much air on it, but going back and watching the pictures, I progress. My No. 2 read was wide open. It’s just a learning experience. The thing is I felt like I was seeing the coverages tonight and seeing what was happening. It’s just understanding situational ball and keeping us in positive yardage situations, and a lot of that all falls on me. I’ll do my best to get better and get that group going, and we’ll learn from it watching the tape and get better.
River Cracraft – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
WR River Cracraft
(What are your takeaways for the time you did spend in there on where you guys are at at this point in the preseason offensively?) – “Obviously, we need to improve on red zone. I think (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) said we were 0-for-3. I know I was out there for at least two of those. I thought we had a chance on that pick, and my guy sluffed off and jumped in front of Tyler (Kroft) on that one. We got to execute better; we had a great play call and the design was there. It’s what happens, so it’s stuff we can learn from, and it’s frustrating, but those are the things we can correct going forward.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel always puts it as ‘the language has been learnt by you guys;’ it’s not like a foreign language anymore. So tonight was just a matter of the fact that it’s preseason game No. 1 is just getting the little things taken care of a little bit better?) – “Yeah, and outside of myself, just because I’ve been in the offense and with Mike (McDaniel) for a few years and (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes (Welker), it’s a lot of guys’ times first times in the stadium, in the atmosphere, hearing the play calls, feeling the environment. You can miss things and you got to learn to calm yourself, talking about the young guys obviously. Those are the things that you get to learn from the first few preseason games. It’s good for everybody, and it’s good to have a veteran like myself out there to help these guys calm them down like, ‘Hey, it’s okay to talk in these huddles and you don’t have to be freaking out.’ Not that they were. I thought they handled themselves great.”
Elijah Higgins – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
TE Elijah Higgins
(First action. What was it like?) – “It took a while to really get to play football again. It took me the first drive to get going, but it was nice to get back out there and just play football again for sure.”
(How’d you feel you did?) – “I think I did all right. I mean definitely a lot of things I need to sharpen up on, as far as like in the blocking game, and also in the route game as well. I think it was a first good step for me for a real game so I’m excited.”
(You did get loose on the one where they scrambled and you came back to the ball. That was a pretty big play. It had to feel pretty good. Tell me about that play.) – “It was exciting. It’s always good to get your feet wet, and that first reception was always something to look forward to when you get to the next level. So I was definitely excited for sure.”
(Did it take a little moment when you walked out on the field for the first time? I know it’s preseason, but just to get your bearings like, ‘Damn, I’m in the NFL right now.) – “Yeah, I think it really just took a second to step back and just really appreciate all the things I’ve been through up until this point and the work I put in to get here. So just being grateful for the opportunity obviously, but taking a second to take it all in at once.”
Mike White – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
QB Mike White
Q: What can you say about that performance and the offensive execution?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I think there was some good, there was some bad, and there was some learning moments, and that’s going to happen in any preseason game. It’s when you want it to happen. You don’t want it to happen Week 1. It’s just one of those preseason games where we executed some plays, maybe not so much on the other, and as much as you don’t want it to happen, it’s going to happen. At this point, it’s about how we learn from it, how we handle it, and making sure it doesn’t happen again.
Q: Was there any one thing in the red zone or was it just a bunch of things?
MIKE WHITE: The preseason stuff is hard because you’re not scheming up a red zone, know what I mean? You don’t have a red zone package, whereas in a season you do. Now, that’s not an excuse by any means, you’ve still got to be able to execute the plays. There’s stuff that we’ve got to do better. There’s things that we could have executed better. A couple unfortunate bounces and turning the ball over down there is never going to equate to a win.
Q: The interception, were you just trying to force it into too much traffic there?
MIKE WHITE: No, I really liked the throw. I put it on the back hip of Tyler (Kroft). It got to him, it just kind of bounced and kind of bounced in the wrong direction. No, I did like the read. It was where I wanted to put the ball. It got to my receiver’s back hip down there, and it’s small windows in the red zone, so just one of those unfortunate deals that ended up in an interception.
Q: How many fans did you end up having here?
MIKE WHITE: Oh, gosh, I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out here in about 30 minutes when I go outside, but I’d assume a decent amount.
Mike McDaniel – August 11, 2023 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 11, 2023
Postgame – Atlanta
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Opening statement:
MIKE McDANIEL: Did you guys enjoy that clinic? (Laughter). Yeah, I hope it doesn’t get lost. It was a really cool defensive effort from a lot of guys that haven’t been here very long. Proud of the players and coaches for that. You’re going to lose football games when you’re 0-for-3 in the red zone and you give up a pick-six and punt return touchdown. But overall, I’m fired up to be here, guys. How you guys doing?
Q. What disappointed or surprised you most in regard to the offensive execution?
MIKE McDANIEL: I thought it was a pretty good job in the first half, henceforth we were in the low red three times and then gave – see fourth downs in preseason games as an opportunity to see certain people at the point of attack. Second half, I didn’t like the operation at all. The compounding variables of guys being more tired than they’re used to, getting back to the huddle late, those types of things, I did not like at all. I think that there was some real good stuff on the line of scrimmage from the offensive line, particularly in the first half and there’s just a lot of things to build upon. Preseason is all about process over results, but you learn – you use the results as a teaching tool. I think that you can really learn the hard way and utilize preseason to see how precious those opportunities you get in the red zone and how you have to come up with points or you can waste a pretty good effort by the defense holding that team to six points and really come together. There’s some good stuff to learn from, and I thought there were certain players that are in heavy competition, did some good things that will help them stand out. So it was the tale of two halves really offensively.
Q. What do you assess from this backup quarterback battle…?
MIKE McDANIEL: What’s important to keep in mind is there’s a lot of things that go in – you don’t just look at it like okay, Mike (White) did better than Skylar (Thompson). It’s much more complicated than that in terms of the opportunities both had. Skylar needs an opportunity to play with the same guys that Mike played with, which he’ll probably get next week. I think it’s about how people learn, react, and especially with quarterbacks, you have to be very coachable. There’s going to be a point where Tua is going to be taking all the reps and you’d better be learning from the things that you did in the preseason and the things that Tua is learning from. Quite critical in the whole evaluation process is how guys move forward from here.
Q. Have you seen enough – I guess enough is not the right word, but you have full confidence that the group (of quarterbacks) you have is the group you’re going to go forward with in the regular season?
MIKE McDANIEL: I mean, I think the competition has been awesome in camp. It’s been back and forth. Very happy with the room overall. I think a lot of people would be cutting out the league if you overreacted to one game situation. Again, I’ll find out watching the tape tomorrow how much other players knew what they were doing when Skylar (Thompson) was in, when Mike (White) was in. That takes a toll as well as the quarterback when you’re trying to do your job and having to tell other people what to do. I’ve been very happy with the group overall. They’ve done some productive things at the NFL level on numerous occasions. Preseason (Week) 1 is not going to get me to overreact to anything. Happy with the group.
Q. This is the first time we’ve talked to you since WR Jaylen Waddle left practice on Thursday. We saw on him on the sideline. How is he doing?
MIKE McDANIEL: He’s doing good. It was a midsection injury. Sometimes you have guys that end up coming up with an injury in the middle of camp after having a tremendous offseason. That’s kind of what Jaylen (Waddle) has had, from OTAs, the onset, he’s come to work and done some really good things. You never want to see anyone ever get injured, but he’s banked enough quality reps that I’m really not worried about his participation within the offense. Fortunate that it’s not something that will be a long-term deal, but he’s steadily rehabbing and working with the trainers which fires me up.
Q. We saw CB Cam Smith leave the game early as well. Is there any sort of update on him?
MIKE McDANIEL: We’ll get more information tomorrow. It seems like it’s a shoulder injury. To what extent and the length is kind of unknown right now. He did get dinged a little bit.
Q. I don’t think WR Robbie Chosen was on the list of guys who were not expected to play and then he was on the sideline. Why didn’t he take the field?
MIKE McDANIEL: You know, Chosen wanted to play and we wanted him to play. He put his best foot forward, but ultimately he’d been pressing through with some nagging issues and from a health perspective it didn’t make any sense to push him out there. He was in warmups. He was trying to go. But between him and the head trainer, they decided that it wasn’t the best thing for the football team for him to play.
Q. Going back to CB Cam Smith, what did you think of what you saw from him before the injury? It looked like he was making a couple plays.
MIKE McDANIEL: I saw Cam (Smith) as you’d want to see him, which is letting it go and trying to make some plays on the ball. I saw him get involved a couple times. His energy was good. Before looking at the tape, it felt like he was the competitor we were looking for from him. I was happy with what he was doing out there. Again, we’ve got to dive into that tape, which will be fun stuff tomorrow.
Q. What did you think of your backs that played tonight, RB Myles Gaskin, RB De’Von Achane, and what is going to determine who gets those opportunities when you have obviously RB Jeff Wilson Jr. and RB Raheem Mostert also?
MIKE McDANIEL: Well, you’re trying to spread out those opportunities with the individual lines and making sure that the competition at the running back position is settled on the field. I was happy with Myles (Gaskin), De’Von (Achane), Chris (Brooks), ‘SA’ (Salvon Ahmed) got in a couple third downs. But it’s so important in preseason for backs to take advantage of the opportunities given because you do have to – if you’re trying to settle it fairly, you have to distribute opportunities amongst the three games. You only get three opportunities to get tackled with the ball in your hand, to the ground, and so these are vital and I thought the guys that got opportunities tonight took advantage of them.
Q. Last year special teams was a struggle, obviously, like you said, gave up a punt return tonight. What’s been your assessment of where that unit is after OTAs and training camp?
MIKE McDANIEL: Well, I’ve been happy where the unit has been in terms of progressing. Hopefully our special teams won’t entirely be comprised of the people it was comprised of in the fourth quarter, so for me to judge special teams on a fourth quarter punt return – and I’m not really going to do that. That particular play, there’s guys that will be held responsible for that, but ultimately the biggest thing is learn from it and what I want to see from the special teams is really the whole crew knows the standard that that’s not acceptable, and all the players on special teams understand why and what happened in that punt return situation that gave up points that was critical to the outcome of the game.
Xavien Howard – August 11, 2023 (Fourth Quarter)
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Fourth Quarter– Atlanta
CB Xavien Howard on CBS Miami Broadcast
(What’s it like being back on an NFL sideline, live action out here with the fans and everything?) – “It feels great. You see the atmosphere, the fans came out to support us. Feels good just to see the younger guys and some of the guys trying to make the roster go out there and compete.”
(You’ve been here a long time, you’re the longest tenured Dolphins player. Coming in with expectations and hype. It’s been a little different the last past years. What’s it like for you? How much fun is this?) – “It’s always fun to come out here like you said with new expectations. But since I’ve been here I feel like every year it’s been like they have high expectations for us. That’s part of the NFL and part of the league. We just want to go out there and do the best we can do.”
(I know you have a lot of tools in the toolbox, but how has learning a new defense under Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio really allowed you to flex some of those muscles and show more of your skills as a corner?) – “I love the defense. It’s something different from what I’m used to being in situations. I feel like it’ll get everybody a lot of opportunities to make plays on the ball. For me, I feel like it gives me a little more like I can have my eyes on the quarterback. I can know the route concept and stuff like that and also more opportunities to get my hands on the ball.”
(Obviously we hope CB Cam Smith is okay, but what do you think of the young kid so far in his first action?) – “I like the kid, I like the kid. He’s doing a lot of good things out there. Some plays I know he wish he could take back, but it’s part of football, it’s part of learning. It’s his first time out there in an NFL game, so he can only get better from here.”
(We got joint practices in Houston. You’re going home this week. How fun is this for you?) – “I’m excited. Last time I was there was probably 2018 with my team. So going back to the hometown and seeing some of my college friends, some of my high school teammates and everything and going back to see my family and help support.”
Mike McDaniel – August 11, 2023 (Halftime)
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Halftime – Atlanta
Head Coach Mike McDaniel on CBS Miami Broadcast
(We saw you guys move the ball a lot. Obviously you didn’t finish the way you guys wanted to, but how did QB Mike White do out there?) – “He did all right. I think offensively as a whole we’ve done some good stuff. Haven’t finished one drive, 0-for-3 in the end zone. You’re going to be losing usually in those situations.
(Didn’t know WR Erik Ezukanma could play a little running back, too.) – “He’s a physical guy. He’s had a really good offseason. Had some nagging injuries so it’s been good for him to get back out there and do the stuff we know he’s capable of.”
(Defense held them to six points, any of the young guys stand out?) – “I’d have to see the tape. I know there’s some enthusiasm out there. Guys making plays. Awesome to see a guy get his first sack, happened a couple times. Awesome to see guys get their feet wet catching the ball, so hopefully we’ll have more of that in the second half.”
