Mike McDaniel – October 23, 2022 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Postgame – Pittsburgh
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. A couple close endings this season already. Those last two drives – picks off Kenny Pickett and then Noah Igbinoghene gets the toe-tapping grab? What’s going through your mind those two moments?
MIKE McDANIEL: ‘Hooray.’ This is something that we’ve been making a big point of emphasis within the team on turnover differential. So it’s something that we’ve been focusing on, getting one early, and then at the end of the game when it mattered most to get two more was obviously the difference in winning and losing. So it was very exciting, but on top of that, it was something that we’ve made a focal point so it was good to see that happen.
Q. What do you think happened with the offense? Obviously they scored 13 points in the first quarter, three the rest of the game. You were bogged down in the red zone. What do you think went into that?
MIKE McDANIEL: There was some — it wasn’t one thing. We were doing some good things, and players were doing some solid things. But then there was key mistakes, whether it was a bad play call or it was a guy making a play here or there. We just weren’t really coming together. We lacked that rhythm and especially after we had in the third quarter, that first drive that we went for it on fourth-and-3 in the tight red, felt like right after that we kind of hit a lull that we can all learn from because it was like we got punched in the stomach or something. Yeah, it was a struggle to the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, to their credit. They adjusted themselves, and we didn’t make the further adjustment, which is something that we’ll focus on moving forward.
Q. You mentioned that fourth-and-3. Can you discussion the decision to go for it there and then also the play call?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, so that’s something that we’ll never — I’m very aware that it’s one of those things that if it works, it’s a great play, and if it doesn’t, you know exactly what you have to — it could be a deciding factor in the game, so you do that. I think at the moment I had some faith in the players and then regardless, you do it, and you don’t convert; that’s a bad decision because you have points, especially with the way Jason (Sanders) is kicking. It would have been a two-score game. Those are things that you’re well aware of when you enter into it. It was something that I felt pretty good about it working out. It didn’t, so that’s something that I take full responsibility for and luckily the rest of the team had that decision’s back, and we were able to come up with a win.
Q. Specifically to that, was it one of those — in terms of your decision-making process, do you have somebody in your ear telling you the analytics behind it and win probability and then you go with your gut, or is it just a pure numbers thing in deciding?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I have a couple guys within analytics that are in my ear in all those types of situations. In this situation they did not advise me to go for it. So there’s plenty of decisions that are made that — it’s a balancing act. You take the statistical percentage chance, which is what they’re evaluating, and it’s one of those things, I think it was a fourth — I think the scoreboard might have said three, but I think it was like a long two and a half, but it’s one of those if it’s fourth-and-2 they’re a lot more supportive; fourth-and-3 the percentages go way down. But that was something that I do pretty much every game where you’re balancing that with the momentum of the game and where we were at. I felt really confident that we’d be able to convert. Obviously we didn’t. I would have never even entered into that chance-taking process if I wasn’t super confident in the way the defense was playing. I really wanted the team to be able to make it a two-touchdown game because we were going to go for two if we were able to get in the end zone and score. It didn’t work out, but that’s why it’s an entire team function and job to win a football game. The defense came through, and we didn’t turn the ball over, so we ended up on the winning side.
Q. From a defensive perspective, what are some things you liked about what Josh Boyer did from a planning and then in-game adjustments, especially with all the injuries?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, it was a tremendous plan. We felt pretty good about our matchups with regard to our front and how we could really disrupt them and get them out of the pocket. We didn’t really get the sacks that we were hoping for, but you have to be very disciplined with that young quarterback because he is quick and he can make you pay if your rush lanes don’t have integrity. I really liked that. I really liked how the plan all week was going to play to our strength and then utilize fundamentals and make them earn everything and be physical. We’ve been working on a lot of open-field tackling and things like that and getting turnovers, and I thought collectively the entire defensive staff and the defensive players put forth a very winning effort, so it’s encouraging.
Q. Tua’s performance especially the quick start after missing three games and two full weeks of practice?
MIKE McDANIEL: It’s not an easy thing to do because we were on a Thursday night game in Cincinnati when he last played. Those games you don’t have full-speed practices. So his last full-speed practice was before the Buffalo game, which was our third game of the season. It’s to his credit. If he wasn’t so prepared and hadn’t put himself in the position of playing quarterback when he was out, he wouldn’t have been able to have any sort of success like that because it wasn’t like — I mean, it was a legitimate couple weeks where you’re not playing football. I think he did a tremendous job. I know he’s a competitor and a perfectionist and there was some stuff, particularly in the second half that was getting him frustrated to a degree but did everything it took to win the game, and that’s all that matters.
Q. Were you okay with him twice lowering his shoulder in those situations?
MIKE McDANIEL: You know, it’s hard. Was I advising him to do that? I think no. I think he immediately the next series after the first time he did it, he was like, ‘Coach, I’m sorry. I needed that.’ I was like, all right. But it is football, and he’s going to protect himself, and he’s got that component to his game where he’s a competitor and he’s trying to get a first down for his team. I’m never going to totally encourage that at all. I’m probably going to advise him to slide every time, but when push comes to shove and a guy has the ball in his hands, it’s going to be tough to get him to completely turn it down, although I will try.
Q. Going back to the no-interception, how proud of him are you for that, and what do you think that will do for his confidence?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, it’s a big deal. It just goes to show, and it’s a great example for the entire team, this is a guy that because of certain matchups that we had going on at the beginning of the year, he didn’t start the year dressing. You can go one of two ways with that. You can either let it define you and rattle you, or you can not even blink and worry about the opportunities you do get. I think that’s one of my favorite examples of this season because he does his best to ignore the noise, but nobody is oblivious and he really, really wants to do big things in this league, and he’s only 22 or 23 years old. He’s super young. But I think the whole team really just in the locker room was really excited for him because they know how hard he’s worked to get on the field, to contribute, and then to do it at the end of the game, that’s a big moment that will always be one of the bigger ones in your NFL career because it’s his first game-ender.
Q. Realizing scoring is down across the league, you guys are moving the ball a lot. Your yardage is a lot and it doesn’t seem to be reflective in the points. Do you feel that way?
MIKE McDANIEL: Absolutely. No, we should be scoring more points than we are. I think everybody on the team would agree with that, so you have to — there’s no just like some sprinkle fairy dust to fix that or it’s just not an absolute. You have to identify and address what has been the hiccup when you get in those situations. I think we’ve had both misfortunes during the year. There’s been times we haven’t got it in the red zone enough because we are scoring when we’re there. In this case we were moving the ball, but things were — we had some hiccups and weren’t able to get touchdowns. So the whole deal is to continually progress with your game and make sure that that is not the norm because you don’t — it is frustrating for the whole team, and we’re not going to be able to just have to out-score 10 points every time to win games, so we’ve got to find a way to get better at that, which we’ll be focused on moving forward.
Mike McDaniel – October 21, 2022
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Friday, October 21, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(There are so many injuries at different positions that it’s hard to know where to start, but I wanted to ask you on the defensive line on a couple of things. Do you expect DE Emmanuel Ogbah to play Sunday? We know he’s missed two days with the back. And will LB Trey Flowers possibly return this year or was his injury season ending?) – “I don’t foresee having the same type of sentiment on players all the time, I promise. But our specific circumstances, how there’s a lot of strong contributors that, in this portion of the year, are getting nicked. It’s hard to even have a plan for who you’re going to keep active and inactive because there’s a lot. Ogbah is one of many that we’re going to take up to game time to kind of figure this one out. So that, I couldn’t say with all certainty that he’s going to be out or in. I could more – it’d be more accurate to say maybe he’s questionable. But they’re all working very hard to be with their team at this juncture. And then with the foot injuries and stuff, I don’t know if you guys know the stats, but there’s a lot of things going on in the foot. I really haven’t even begun to think whether or not Trey’s going to be able to come back. I wouldn’t rule anything out at this point, but we’ll wait and see, which is kind of your guys’ lives and my life right now together.”
(Have you seen enough from T Terron Armstead this week to feel comfortable with him being able to go?) – “Yeah, I mean, I feel more comfortable than the last month of the season, for sure, considering, that was the most that he’s been able to practice since really the Patriots game, which is incredibly challenging. It’s something I haven’t been around a player do that. In the process, he’s gained a lot of trust from his teammates and the coaching staff, so I feel pretty good about his availability for Sunday, but unfortunately I don’t feel 100 percent on it because that would be too easy, apparently. That’s just the nature of everything. But what were we are doing, there’s a lot of a lot of these types of issues. Like on offensive line, there’s a lot of other positions as well, where we’re conditioning ourselves as a team to be able to handle any sort of adversity because so many guys are in positions to step up and play. I feel better about it than I have in the last month but that still doesn’t mean that I know.”
(OL Austin Jackson practiced a couple times last week and hasn’t since. Was there a setback there?) – “No. Like I told you, whenever we talked about that, it wasn’t a setback as much as we liked how he was working. We also assessed that with the push-pull strain that incurs for offensive lineman and what an ankle can do to a player at that position, if it’s not properly handled, we’re actually preventing any setback. We felt like the best thing to do was not put them in those situations until it was a little bit closer. So he’s still very much involved and we like how he’s progressing, but that was a little proactive. We tried to avoid a setback as we assessed it and looked at it once the week was complete.”
(On that same right tackle topic, did OL Brandon Shell give you guys anything to think about this week where now, Offensive Line Coach Matt Applebaum and Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith have a decision to make about who your starting right tackle is? Will it be Shell on Sunday night or are you going back to T Greg Little in that spot?) – “There were multiple people working at that right tackle position. Shell has done a very good job since he’s been here. It’s been admirable to see how he’s immersed himself into the system in such a short period of time, which is to his credit. But what we have been – we’d be fools if we didn’t prepare our offensive line to be versatile considering what has gone on during the season. I think they all had a good week of practice. I think that – you’re not going to hustle me there and I’m not going to reveal who’s starting, but I do think that we’re prepared for all those guys to play. They had a good week of practice and I think those guys – whoever is starting at right tackle – will do a good job. And if they can’t finish because of injury, then another guy will step up. That’s what we’re building and preparing to do.”
(Have other changes on the offensive line been considered beyond just returning tackles to help?) – “We rep all our positions like that. It’s important during the season. I don’t necessarily put our business out on the street. I don’t think that’s fair to the players because it can be taken out of context. But rest assured, we challenge the lineup each and every week because that’s a principle of really how I want to run a team, where you’re not gifted anything and guys are able to either earn or keep their jobs on the field. So we’ve been letting guys compete all week. And what you’ll see in the starting lineup is the guys that won that weekly competition. But in that, we’ve got a lot more versatility because we have more guys ready to play than we probably did at the start of the season.”
(What are some of the things that you have done or will do in an effort to limit penalties?) – “So if there was an end all, like blanket, you’d probably do that. The way I approach it is I make sure to coach each penalty independently and give guys a little recourse on how they could have avoided this. If it’s a holding penalty, you’re looking at why that happened. Then you’re looking at is someone moving their feet enough and pressing the block, because what can happen is your feet can stop moving, and then a defender moves and you’re just trying to do your job. Procedural stuff is a little easier. Pre-snap stuff is a little easier. But just in general, you have to rip the band-aid off and show the team the consequences of said results. How is the offense doing? Or how’s the defense doing as a team? How have we worked to get to the situation? Then what does that penalty do? That’s the way I emphasize it is just independently but I do it as a whole team so they can understand the ramifications and how we’re not working out of the mindset of placing blame and pointing fingers. I’ll never sit there and take it out of our hands and blame any sort of officiating on stuff. Who cares if you agree with any sort of call or not. You coach that to try to avoid it in the future as best you can.”
(It seems a little risky on a Friday to have only three healthy corners. I know of your five safeties on the 53, at least a couple can play corner. But why are you and General Manager Chris Grier not concerned about having only three? And have you given more work to CB Tino Ellis this week and to CB Kalon Barnes just with the anticipation there could be an elevation?) – “No, it’s not that it’s not concerning. That’s irrelevant. It’s what’s the best course for this team in the given moment Are you capable in-house of handling it? Or do you have to go outside of what you have? It’s not like we’re going to handle every situation like, no, we’re going to use the guys here. It’s more that with the assortment of versatile players that we have, we can kind of handle a lot of issues to a certain point. We are getting close to the brink in terms of how many we can afford, but we’re still comfortable and we have some guys that will eventually be coming back. So you have to – really, you’re just doing the best thing for the team. I feel very fortunate that we’ve made some good decisions in the scouting department and as a coaching staff, that the players that we had on the roster are very capable, henceforth that are they’re able to make plays out there on Sundays, which is something that I’m very glad we had the depth we’ve had because everybody’s had to play and that will make us better down the road.”
(Just to be thorough on OL Austin Jackson, at this point would you say the likelihood of him being activated before the end of the 21-day window is very close to 100 percent?) – “What would Socrates say to that? Do you guys remember? (laughter) The only way that he knows is that he knows nothing. So to say absolutes? Yeah, you don’t – I feel good that he’s going to be able to contribute sooner than later. To say exactly what where that is, you’re just setting me up to – that’s a setup that I’m not going to buy. My birthday is March 1983. Not yesterday. (laughter) Honestly, having experienced this in my in my past. It’s not just because the trainers and medical staff give a window of maybe this guy will – it’s because you really don’t know until person for person. And what ends up happening with those is the timeline is different in terms of, ‘Ok, well, you might not have that much improvement for an individual for three or four days. And then once you hit that threshold, it’s…’ Do you know what I mean? So it’s kind of inexact. I know he’s going to come back and contribute for us. I know he’s very hungry, too. We just want to make sure when he is back, that it’s not one of those yo-yo situations is the only reason for our conservative approach.
(QB Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh, he cleared concussion protocol this morning, began practicing in full on Wednesday. Given everything this team has been through with concussion protocol, did it surprise you that QB Kenny Pickett was able to practice in full on Wednesday after a Sunday entrance into the protocol?) – “I may be a rookie head coach, but I feel very, very secure and comfortable with the approach of that’s not for me to discuss what has happened on somebody else’s team. Philosophically, I would never venture to try to be an expert at that. So there’s enough – if you’ve seen our injury report, there’s enough for us to worry about. I’ll let the Steelers worry about the Steelers. At this point, there’s nothing – I would be surprised if I’d be surprised by anything at this point.”
Steve Gregory – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
Safeties Coach Steve Gregory
(So we saw, I think seven snaps last Sunday of the three-safety look. What’s the advantage of that? And I know obviously being shorthanded at corner might incline you guys – you, Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison, Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer – to do that more? What’s the positives of that? Is there any negative with that pairing?) – “Yeah, I think it’s just obviously a different type of player. Safety is a little bit more in tune to fitting the run, playing closer towards the box, different things like that. Obviously a safety as opposed to a corner, coverage skills playing like man coverage on a receiver might be a little bit different. But for us, it’s really just whatever our game plan is. Like we might have some packages that involve three safeties. We might have some packages that don’t. So however we see the game plan going based on what the opponent is showing us, we’ll gear some of those packages each week to help benefit us and try to execute what we think can give them issues and help us win a football game.”
(How much of an adjustment has it been for your safeties unit with the injuries there have been at the cornerback position?) – “Yeah, I think part of it is not necessarily an adjustment; like we pride ourselves as a secondary of just believing in the next man up mentality. Our guys prepare and get themselves ready to play games like they’re starters, regardless of if you’re a practice squad guy or a backup or a fifth corner, or whatever you want to call it. Those guys are always ready to go in the game. I think there is an awareness level of knowing that when a guy comes in the game and he’s a young guy that hasn’t played a lot or a guy that hasn’t had a lot of snaps, as a safety, of just understanding what the matchup is or what the situation is, as far as communication and helping those guys and helping them understand what we’re doing and calming them down and making them feel comfortable and play at a high level. So we just got to work together, communicate together and help each other out as best we can.”
(Seems like a big part in the secondary is hiding the coverage pre-snap and post-snap. Obviously S Jevon Holland spends a lot of time in like a deep safety role and somebody like S Brandon Jones. What’s the key with him making it to maybe disguise the look that he’s showing pre and post-snap and are there like tells that you have worked with him?) – “Yeah, I think any situation of a good defense is always self-scouting yourself and making sure that there’s not too many tips and tendencies to what you’re doing and becoming a defense that they can really identify and pick things out that would allow them to have an advantage. We try to move those guys around a lot. We try to work on disguise, work on different things, different looks, different things schematically that’ll allow us to kind of help one call maybe look like another call and things like that. But I think that’s just defense in general, I think as you look across the league, not just in particular with us; teams want to disguise. They don’t obviously want to tell the offense exactly what you’re doing because if you are, those guys are too good, the quarterbacks are too good. It just makes their job easier.”
(I was looking at your opponent’s passing charts and not a lot of balls downfield so far against you guys this year. What would you attribute to that? Like why are you guys are doing a good job of holding the deep ball?) – “I think it’s just the players going out executing and playing at a high level and understanding that if you give up big plays over the top of your defense a lot, you’re going to not do well. You’re going to lose. So we talk about it each week of trying to find ways to eliminate big plays, keep things in front of us, limit the explosives, make an offense earn it in certain situations and also blending that with being aggressive and taking chances and different things in the right moments. So it’s just a combination of blending the defense together and understanding in key moments and key situations and offensive formations and different things that they’re doing of when those things might come and when you can prevent them from happening.”
(The expectations were big for S Jevon Holland coming into the season. We know he had the interception. How has he done as far as play and meeting those expectations?) – “He’s been great. The biggest thing with him is any time you’re given expectations from the outside looking in of you need to be a certain type of player or you need to be a playmaker on every play, you really got to try to ignore that and just play fundamentally sound and within the scheme of the defense and keep everything in place so that when the plays come, when your moment is called, when your opportunity shows up, you’re in the right position to go make a play. You don’t stress anything, don’t push for anything. Just communicate the defense, work with the guys around you, do your job within the scheme, and his abilities and his intellectual abilities as a player will allow him to make a lot of plays on Sundays.”
Terron Armstead – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
T Terron Armstead
(I’m sure that toe has been frustrating. Do you feel like you’re ready to come back and play on Sunday?) – “Just working, just working. Still dealing with it for sure. Was able to go out there day. It was just great being out there with the team, get some practice in and get some work in. I’m still taking a day at a time.”
(What is it, exactly? Is it turf toe?) – “I’ll let Mike (McDaniel) speak on it, if he would like to. Unique situation for sure. But yeah, I’ll let Mike talk about it if he would like to.”
(And what you took away from the specialist visits, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you met with one in New York? Did you emerge from that visit thinking that this is something that’s going to heal soon or that you might be dealing with it all year?) – “We got a lot of information. We tried to take some steps to move forward. It’s getting better. It’s getting better and improving. Just go out, play football and you deal with it. It’s been a challenge and frustrating like you said.”
(What does it feel like? What is it that you experienced?) – “So it’s painful, for sure. It kind of started being a little bit more than that, though. Like a little lack of function made it hard to do my job. I couldn’t use it at a point so it just wasn’t smart to try to keep going. Give it some time and we’re still working.”
(Do you think it’s something that will linger all season?) – “I hope not. I hope not. But we’re doing everything. We’re checking all boxes just getting to as optimal as possible to be able to play week to week.”
(In that regard, did it help taking a week off instead of continuing to kind of play through it?) – “It’s getting better. It’s getting better.”
(And being able to be a practice today, how big was that for you? And how fun was that to be back on the field with the guys?) – “It was great. It was great being back out there. This is what I do for a living. So running around with the guys, get some reps in, fine-tuning some stuff, techniques. I haven’t practiced in a month. I haven’t practiced since the Patriots game, which is crazy. So man, in-season I’m playing games, but I’m still knocking rust off, getting technique right, fine-tuning. So I need to practice as much as possible.”
(You said you’re excited about being out there with your teammates. What about the aspect of QB Tua Tagovailoa coming back this weekend?) – “Yeah, yeah. Having our leader back, captain back, his energy, his influence is only positive when you get your starting QB back.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel is big on having players practice to end up playing, but he had a lot of confidence in you to go in play in spite of it. What does that mean to you?) – “I appreciated the trust, confidence. Unfortunately, I got experience doing so. Probably not this long of a stretch, like not stepping on the field in 30 days or whatever. But I take pride in my preparation, mentally taking care of everything I need to do, knowing the gameplan inside and out to be able to go and execute.”
(Is it clear to you how the injury happened?) – “Yeah, yeah.”
(During a practice, game?) – “The first game.”
(And you had a toe issue before, in the past?) – “No. First time. Brand new.”
(What is it like when you’re watching some of your teammates have difficult moments? There are good moments, but some tough times.) – “It’s good and bad in every game, with every player. What we’re taking from good moments and bad moments is really all that matters. So if I see a guy, especially in my position or my position group, have a negative play, what are we learning from that? So we try to minimize and not let that happen again. The good plays, how did you create that good play so we can repeat those things. So it gets challenging as a competitor. You want to get out there and you want to play and perform. But there are good and bad plays for every player in the league.”
(Has QB Tua Tagovailoa sort of said, ‘Pretty please, Terron?’) – “(laughter) That’s my guy. That’s my guy. That’s little bro. Look, man, I’m excited to see him. He was excited for me to be back out there today too. But we all want to be out there and get this thing going and win a big game Sunday.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that it was the team’s decision to hold you out last week just to try to give it more time to heal. Was that tough for you where you pushed to play? Or did you ultimately agree and say this is probably a wise thing to give another week to heal?) – “If I can play, I’m playing. That is never a question. If I can go out and do my job, I’m going.”
Mike Gesicki – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
TE Mike Gesicki
(If you see Brian Flores on Sunday, will you try to make a point to say hi on the field?) – “Yeah, if I see him, I’ll say what’s up. I don’t know if we’ll cross paths, but I’ve got no ill will or anything towards ‘Coach Flo.’”
(What was something he taught you in his three years here?) – “He was just super disciplined. That was something that he kind of got across to the team.”
(Is there a layer of his familiarity with certain personnel on offense for the Dolphins possibly factoring in?) – “I have no idea.”
(As a guy who likes to celebrate a touchdown or a big first down, are you relishing the bright lights of Sunday Night Football?) – “I think everybody in here is a competitor. Everybody wants to play in prime time and play with everybody watching them. So, obviously a good opportunity, but ultimately any opportunity for us to get out there. So everybody’s excited to be out there on Sunday.”
(What’s it been like having QB Tua Tagovailoa back this week?) – “It’s been good. Obviously, he’s excited. We’re excited to have him back. He’s confident. His arm is as well-rested as it’s going to be, so he’s ready to get out there and do what he does.”
(Do you get a sense, seeing him out there, that he’s been chomping at the bit to get back?) – “Yes, absolutely. He’s prepared. He’s been taking a ton of mental reps, so this way when he got back out there – obviously he has all the physical tools – he didn’t really skip a beat or anything like that. Happy to have him back and excited to have him back out there on Sunday.”
Jerome Baker – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
LB Jerome Baker
(Just from an overall perspective, having QB Tua Tagovailoa back, what does that mean to the team?) – “I mean, the guy’s a leader on our team. He’s a captain. He’s also our starting quarterback. We believe in him 100 percent. We’re excited for our offense to get back to what we’ve been doing. I’m sure he’s healthy and ready to go, and it’s going to be a good one.”
(Are you excited to face your former head coach, Brian Flores, as well?) – “Yeah, I mean of course. That’s always going to be a good one. It’s definitely fun. It’s a Sunday night game. I love games like that – prime time games. It’s going to be a good one on Sunday.”
(I know guys are kind of different. S Brandon Jones said it will be good to see him. And DT Christian Wilkins said he’s just worried about the game. Will you share some words with him pregame or anything like that?) – “Yeah. I mean, I’m definitely going to say what’s up to him. Minus all the coaching and all that, he was just a great guy, a great person to me and a great person to my family. I’m definitely excited to see him and see how he’s doing and see how the family is doing. But at the end of the day, it is a business. We’re going to get on that field and compete against each other. But it’s all love.”
(As it relates to Brian Flores, what is something that you are appreciative of, respectful of, as far as some way he helped you?) – “One thing I’ll say about ‘Coach Flo’ was he always honest. That was the one thing that never changed. He didn’t care if he hurt your feelings. He didn’t care if it got under your skin a little bit. You knew the guy just wanted to be honest and he was going to tell you the truth and he wanted the best out of you. I always respect that just as a man. He never lied. He never spared my feelings. He was honest and he just proved to me and showed me that he really cared and wanted the best for me. I always respected that.”
(These prime time games, is it tough to wait all day to get going?) – “I’m sure for other people it is. For me, it’s not at all. I get to sleep in a little late. I love that. You get to eat a few meals before the game. I love that. You get to take a nap. I love that. Like, for me, it’s just the best. (laughter) And then that excitement of you’re pretty much the only game on. Everybody’s going to be watching you. That’s when you really got to show out. So for me, I love night games, I love prime time games and Sunday’s will be a fun one.”
(Is it exciting that QB Tua Tagovailoa is back and you’re trying to break a losing streak and you guys are trying to get back on track?) – “Yeah, of course it’ll be exciting. It’s kind of like the perfect story – playing our former coach, Tua is coming back, coming off a three-game losing streak, it’s a prime time game. This is what football is. This is where you really see who really cares about football and it’s time for the Dolphins to bounce back and get a win under our belt.”
(If it’s QB Kenny Pickett, as a rookie quarterback, do you sort of relish the mind games of maybe going against someone a little less experienced?) – “Do I relish it? I mean, rookies are rookies. It is what it is. They are kind of learning as they go. At the end of the game, hopefully he took a lot of lessons from us and hopefully a loss from us. But at the end of the day, he’s a great quarterback. He’s going to be good in this league. Hopefully he just doesn’t get a win this Sunday.”
Wes Welker – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker
(One surprise this year, and I know obviously, this is a big product of having WR Tyreek Hill on the team, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. signed 11 days before WR Tyreek Hill was acquired. I guess just lack of touches for WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. and the fact that WR Trent Sherfield played a ton more snaps and WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. last Sunday, what has accounted for WR Trent Sherfield seemingly, at least last week, surpassing WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. on the depth chart?) – “Well, I think each and every week, our room, the wide receiver room, is highly competitive. I think we have a lot of really good players in that room. It’s like I tell the guys every week of whoever’s doing the best in practice on the assignments, on top of everything, that’s who we’re going to play at the time. I think ‘Ced’ (Cedrick Wilson Jr.) has made a lot of strides in the past weeks, and I see him getting a lot more playing time and getting some touches going forward. But it’s always a process, especially anybody new coming into the system and learning the system and all those different things. We kind of take it week by week, and I think all the guys in my room understand the way I kind (and) the way our coaching staff kind of operates. Whoever gives us the best chance to win, that’s who’s going to be out there on the field. That could be ‘Ced’ going forward, it could be Trent (Sherfield), it could be River (Cracraft), it could be anybody. It’s just a matter of how it goes through the week and what gives us the best chance to win the game.”
(Did you talk to WR Jaylen Waddle after his game last week? Or do you kind of back off and worry that there might be too many voices in his ear? How do you handle that?) – “I think anytime for young players, there’s – your whole life, you pretty much have all these awesome, awesome games. It’s no different than anybody – you’re going to have a bad day at the office. It wasn’t his best day and he understands that. The way we kind of talked about it was what can we learn from it? How can we get better from it? What can we do preparation-wise, or practice-wise, or whatever it is, to correct those things and make sure we don’t have that feeling again? Jaylen (Waddle) is a tough kid and battles, playing hurt, playing all those different things. So there’s a lot that a lot of these young guys kind of deal with, and over time, you have success, and you have failures and everything else – it’s all about how you bounce back from them. I see Jaylen is a tough-minded dude who’s going to bounce back from it. He’s going to be a big part of our offense going forward and a big reason why we’re going to be able to have success this season.”
(WR Tyreek Hill is on a record pace early. How much more impressive is it because he’s had to do it with different quarterbacks throwing to him?) – “I think the way we coach our quarterbacks and the timing and all those different things, I don’t think it really changes too much for us. Tyreek (Hill) does a great job just being a pro coming in week-in week-out and bringing that energy and doing what you need to do to prepare for the week. I think we’re seeing that preparation and everything that he’s doing through the week come into fruition on Sunday. So he’s done a hell of a job with all that. We put a lot on his plate and try to get him the ball as much as possible. He’s exceeded our expectations and what he brings to our team, the energy and the playmaking ability and all those different things – I mean, I can’t say enough good things.
(On that fourth-down conversion, it looked like he beat a bracket to move the chains for you guys. Just how valuable is that as an offense to have a guy that can be double coverage and make a big catch like that?) – “It’s huge. Especially in the second half, you could just kind of see Tyreek (Hill) wanting to take the game over. It wasn’t even really about plays at that point, it was more about how do we get Tyreek the ball. When he’s in one of those zones like that, we just got to continue to feed him in and let him do his thing.”
(Going off of both questions about WR Tyreek Hill, what kind of player is he off the field? Is he somebody who likes to be challenged? Is he somebody who you can kind of like point in the right direction and let him go? What is it like coaching WR Tyreek Hill?) – “It’s fun. I think at first, we were both kind of feeling each other out with all that stuff. I think as kind of time went on, I realized like how competitive he is. He loves everything being a competition, and he has fun with that. Whether we’re in the meeting room making up games about football and ‘Alright, what’s this coverage,’ point systems – he loves all that stuff. He loves talking trash. I think all of us (are) in there just talking trash. If somebody gets locked up in one-on-ones, he starts playing the song, ‘Got locked up, they won’t let me out.’ (laughter) So anyways, we have some fun with some of that stuff, but just ultra, ultracompetitive. He loves making anything a competition.”
(So like everything is a game? Not a game, but like everything can be turned into a competition? Who sits down first? Who recognizes the coverage?) – “It’s all one big game. It is. (laughter) You’re not wrong with that, but it’s competition, and he loves it. I’m all about it.”
(I noticed that you get active and after it in practice, running sprints sometimes. Where does that motivation come from? What do you think that does for your unit?) – “No, that’s just for me. (laughter) I’m trying to not get too old, trying to stretch out, move around a little bit. So if anything, that’s more for myself and just trying to get my energy going and try not to look like a guy, ‘Oh, he used to play.’ Not ‘Oh, he used to play?’” (laughter)
(We’ve seen over the past couple of weeks some teams play way more zone coverage against you guys, and obviously that’s probably limited the over-the-top plays. What your point of emphasis for the wide receivers as they’re seeing more zone coverages?) – “Whenever we come into zone coverages and stuff, it’s more about understanding coverages, understanding the holes and then understanding how important getting our depths are and the timing with the quarterback with all those plays. I think that’s a big part of what we do as far as against those zones and different things like that. And being able to run the football, making sure we’re on our blocks, on our responsibilities as far as that goes. Then from there, trying to get those guys to creep up and hopefully be able to take a shot, whether it’s intermediate or down the field.”
(As a receiver did you prefer – I mean, it seemed like – I watched you and it seemed like you always found the soft spots. Do you prefer playing zone as opposed to?) – “Absolutely. I didn’t have to work as hard. (laughter) When they’re playing man, defenses have changed. There used to be a guy in front of your face all the time; now, it’s just soft zones and stuff. Shoot, I loved zones.”
(WR Tyreek Hill was explaining yesterday that you’ve helped him with his hand placement and that you’ve helped him maximize yards after catch. Can you explain the coaching point and how hand placement can relate to yards after catch?) – “It’s not so much just the hand placement or anything, it’s more about –it was something that (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) had emphasized for a long time and I was kind of like, ‘What?’ And then you start to watch the tape and all those different things. But whenever you’re catching the ball, a lot of receivers want to jump to catch it, and really, a lot of times, that’s when their drops happen. So the guys that have aggressive hands, aggressive feet and running through the ball without having to jump, not only are you not slowing down so the defender can catch up to you, but now you’re able to run through the ball seamlessly without breaking stride and now you just run away from defenders as opposed to jumping and letting them catch up once you get that separation. Catching the ball and drop-stepping in zones, so having your feet ready in those situations to be able to get up the field against zone coverage, you see so many guys sit there square to the ball and then try to run the hoop around the zoning defender. And they’re just too fast, they’re too well-coached to where if you have your feet ready and aggressive hands, aggressive feet, ready to drop step and get up the field.”
(You gave a very thoughtful answer last month about WR Erik Ezukanma. Obviously, coaches and players needing to trust him know where he’ll be, and the same could be said for any rookie receiver. Where is he in that process? Has he earned the trust but it’s just the case that you have reliable veterans ahead of him? Or is he still early in that process?) – “I think I’d be OK with Erik (Ezukanma) being out there if he had to play one position right now. I think we could definitely have him ready for that. But where we’re at right now with the depth and the guys that we have in the room, the opportunity just hadn’t presented itself for Erik. So for him, it’s continuing to learn that system and being on top of all the assignments and still trying to learn every single position. When that opportunity does come, he’ll be ready for it.”
Sam Madison – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison
(So you all began the week, incredibly, with just three fully healthy corners in CB Xavien Howard, CB Noah Igbinoghene and CB Justin Bethel. So did you walk into Head Coach Mike’s McDaniel office or General Manager Chris Grier’s office and say, ‘Hey, we need more?’ And if you didn’t, why didn’t you?) – “Well, we have on the roster is what we have on the roster. We always say the next man up. These guys are doing an unbelievable job of understanding what we’re trying to get done. And Mike is doing a great job of managing the things that we have and what we don’t have. We have guys that just in case need to go in there and get things done. We’ll plug and play. But Josh (Boyer) is doing a very good job of putting the game plan together and the guys are understanding it very well and just going out and executing.”
(What did you think of CB Noah Igbinoghene’s game on Sunday? I think he got his most extensive action of the season.) – “Yeah, that was the most he’s had all season. He’s getting better. I mean, when your number’s called, you got to go out there and the other 10 guys on the field are really expecting you to go out there and do your job. Throughout the course of the game, I was talking to him and then Raekwon (Davis) saw me talking to him and he was like ‘Coach, leave him alone. He knows what he’s doing.’ So I just let him go and just handle his business. But Noah is one of those guys that’s going to go out there and give it his all. He’s still learning the position and I’m trying to give him all the little tools that he can to go out there and be – not perfect, but be in a position to be able to make plays. He was finally able to get his head around a couple of times. He got pulled down one time by (Adam) Thielen I believe. But he’s just got to go and attack the football and those are the things that I’m trying to really work with them to hopefully turn the ball over and get it back to the offense.”
(What have you seen from CB Justin Bethel?) – “Man, listen – Bethel, he’s a professional. He’s been in this league. He’s been around for a very long time. The majority of his career he’s been a special teams guy, but he understands everything that we want him to get done. I talked to him coming into this game and he, as well as Kader (Kohou), spent some time together talking about the nickel position, the star position and he went out there and handled his business very well. We try to talk to these guys on a consistent basis. If anything happens, be prepared. And he was prepared when his number was called.”
(When CB Nik Needham went down, what did you feel for him as your player, as a person?) – “Man, just watching the things that he’s been able to do since I’ve been here, he’s been asking question, he’s been a quiet leader. He’s not one of those guys that really talks up and does a lot of talking. He just goes out and tries to get the job done. But I just feel for anybody in this position. We know that this is a game that at anytime you can be lost in this game, you can pretty much end your career in this game. That’s one of the things that I try to talk to these guys about. Leave it all on the field because you never know when that last play will be. But Nik, he was a guy that could go and play corner, he could play star, he could play safety. He’s going to be one of those pieces that we’re really going to miss. I had the opportunity to talk to him on Monday, I know he had surgery on yesterday, and the one thing he said was, ‘Coach, no matter what, I still want to be in the meeting rooms if y’all want me to.’ He still wants to be around. He’s definitely still locked in and wants the best for each and every – whoever goes out there and play.”
(There was a play where WR Justin Jefferson got down to the two-yard line and I think they had three receivers stacked on the right side of the formation. It looked like CB Justin Bethel and CB Xavien Howard went with somebody. Was that a mental on your guys’ part or just a good play design on theirs?) – “Well, communication on those two guys. It was a situation that we’ve gone over multiple times in in the past. We went over it this week. They just have to get that thing – they have to go out and it’s two guys on two. So we have a call that we make that they work together and they just didn’t work together and the communication was off.”
(Was that something where maybe because CB Justin Bethel hasn’t gotten as many reps?) – “No, he’s had multiple those reps. And throughout the course of no matter what the week is, when I look at the depth and who we’re going to be potentially putting into the game, I put those guys in and try to get those reps no matter if it’s walkthrough or if it’s a regular practice. They’ve had a number of reps on those things and it was just bad communication.”
