Mike McDaniel – October 31, 2022
Monday, October 31, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So tomorrow is the trade deadline. Do you anticipate any movement by you guys?) – “Right now I’m exclusively a football coach and we have conversations, but I’m focused on our team as it stands and the Chicago Bears who are going to be trying to beat us here in a day less than a week.”
(There was a report that OL Liam Eichenberg sprained his MCL or suffered an MCL injury. I was wondering if you could confirm that and provide some more information on how long he might be out?) – “I can confirm that it was definitely on the positive side of bad news that he got hurt, but it was a pleasant surprise that we were getting various opinions, we know he was going to miss some time; but there wasn’t an injury to all the CL’s, as they call them in the biz as we kind of feared. We’re getting more information. We know he’s going to be out. We just don’t really know how long it’ll be.”
(Tomorrow is November so now we’re expecting to see the best football from you all during this timeframe. Can you expand on WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle and what they’re doing as far as record setting this year and how this play is elevating your offense to hone in together as a unit?) – “I think it’s a function of a lot of players, coaches and just everyone together getting better and I think that’s the mission that they’re all on and Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle) are definitely a huge part of it, but all their success does come with a lot of teammate – basically you’re depending on your teammates to do their jobs correctly to put you in position to be able to do all those things, too. I’m seeing a lot of improvement across the board, but the things that I’ve been most pleased about both Jaylen and Tyreek is their commitment during the season to getting better, not being satisfied with their results. They’re trying to get more out of each opportunity which is what you want from your players.”
(We’re getting closer to the OL Austin Jackson deadline where you’ve got to make a move on him. Do you know what you’re going to do with him? Will he be out at practice tomorrow?) – “Some point this week obviously he will return. We’re just going to be taking it day by day and for me, I’m going to be ultra-conservative and see it as very unlikely that I would let him go out there and play this week, but that process of returning will start and we’ll take it day by day with that.”
(I know that right now you’re strictly a football coach in terms of the trade deadline but kind of what has this experience as a first-time head coach kind of been like approaching the trade deadline and having those conversations? What has the experience been like for you?) – “It’s not really that much different just because of the way that quite naturally I look at what my job is to do on a day-to-day basis. I don’t really give credence to hypotheticals. Luckily we have great conversations when they’re necessary and when things get serious and appropriate that – that’s what I do all day, so it’s easy contribution on my end. So it’s not really that much different. I’m focused on our team. Very happy with our team and if there’s adjustments that do unfold, they’ll be with the best interests for the Dolphins organization, but not even worried about that at this point.”
(It looks like the offensive line is really starting to gel the last couple of weeks. I’m curious if you see the same thing and if you do what’s kind of some of the causes of that?) – “I think it’s continued, deliberate work that once we got into the season, there’s a different adjustment that you have to make as an offensive lineman when you’re preparing for different play styles from defensive linemen on week-by-week basis. I think the o-line enthusiast himself, I think Frank Smith as the offensive coordinator has done a great job working with the offensive line coaches as well and we’ve just really tried to emphasize certain fundamentals and techniques and get back to really, our roots, within how you approach each and every block. So long short of it is hard work and deliberate work and investment in their jobs and they’re starting to see better results that we’re counting on to continue to improve as the season progresses.”
(The team put out a video going inside the postgame locker room and I noticed that you gave the first game ball to S Jevon Holland and you cited his leadership and I was curious, after what was kind of a tough day, a lot of the afternoon for the defense, what stood out to you about Jevon’s leadership yesterday?) – “It’s not only yesterday making important plays, but the energy, the command, the responsibility he takes, the pressure he puts on himself and it’s impressive to watch someone go from adequate to being like a sophomore in high school because he was just a freshman, right? He goes from being, like a sophomore to senior, like, real quick. That’s kind of what it feels like in terms of his leadership skills and it’s transferring to his play, but also to his teammates’ play and how they’re playing together. And I thought that some of the best opportunities to be a leader and to really show your true colors, is making plays on the back half of a game that you’re experiencing a lot of frustration within. Those are moments where the people straining, making plays in the second half after you give up 27 first half points; those are the people that end up winning games in this league, because you’re going to have to survive some onslaughts at some point and not have an excuse to try to get to the W.”
(You’ve had good contributions from your undrafted rookies this season including yesterday. Can you tell me about the process of seeing that talent develop? Do you see it on scout team, do you watch them in meetings? Like their ascension? How do you see that?) – “Ultimately it’s kind of like the – there’s a lot of commonalities with undrafted rookies that end up having success in the National Football League. The trick is, is you don’t really find out if they’re those type of guys until they get settled into the routine and get comfortable because it’s a huge adjustment. A lot of times they’re looking up at a long death chart, but when they do, they are process-oriented that are teammates that people can really count on that get it in a way that is not easy. That are ready to rise to the occasion of sport where there’s the people that are playing around, have been heavily invested professionally in the game for multiple years so those types of guys, when an organization commits to try to find those guys; they end up exposing themselves on their own accord and you get lots of great results from guys that have chips on their shoulder.”
(This is your fifth victory Monday. From the previous four, what makes this one more special than the other ones?) – “It’s more of a ‘what have you done for me lately’ league. So I feel like I only for… I guess last night, I got to feel 1-0 for a second. But you’re always taking whatever your situation is and the next week moving on to the next opponent. So currently I’m operating on a 0-0 record. So it feels kind of, you know, just preparing for the next scenario and doing what I ask the players to do, which is just try to give the your best effort in a deliberate fashion and care about what you’re doing and we can live with whatever those results are.”
(Special teams are the area that we’ve been watching carefully recently. Yesterday seemed to be a good day. They had a fake punt, but what did you think of special teams yesterday?) – “I think we were able to get some contributions from some guys that we rely on, I think as the team progresses and gets a little healthier; I think that there’ll be more and more of those situations where guys will make plays. Listen, every phase of football goes through stretches where you have a couple games where maybe there’s some opportunities you leave out on the field or maybe you’re in a tough matchup. But it’s the teams that work through those things and continue to fight that end up having some plays snowball. So I was I was encouraged with some of the plays were able to make and there’s been some good things. As far as when we’ve been given opportunities to flip the field, I think our special teams has done a great job with that this year. There’s stuff to build on and I’m confident that more plays will happen the more guys stay to the process.”
(Do you anticipate CB Byron Jones will return to practice this week, be activated off PUP?) – “No, I don’t this week. Same story, nothing’s changed.”
(FB Alec Ingold was able to get in the endzone for his first rushing touchdown. How proud were you for him in that moment?) – “I was proud that he took advantage of the opportunity to have a non-regrettable spike. (laughter) Because, like, a lot of times in the process, you know, people are pretty emotional, and the ball will slip and it’ll be like sideways, it’s not very powerful. Like he had a nice connection launch. He utilized the buoyancy of the turf and there was nice boom to it, so I was proud of him for taking advantage of that opportunity. It was cool.”
(After the game, you mentioned a couple of plays that stood out to you about QB Tua Tagovailoa performance. Now that you’ve had a chance to watch the film are there any other plays that kind of pop out to you in terms of his high-level play?) – “Yeah, there was a considerable amount of plays that he made that I thought were high level quarterback play, and that he was seeing the defense appropriately, checking things down when he needed to, but really putting guys in a position to succeed. There was some ball placement stuff that you could see on film, particularly one to Jaylen Waddle in the red zone, a couple of his red zone plays in general were signs of a confident quarterback that’s really starting to get comfortable in the system and comfortable playing the position within the system which is the most important part.”
(Watching back yesterday’s game what did you think of OL Robert Jones’ performance stepping up for OL Liam Eichenberg and kind of your confidence in him stepping into that role moving forward?) – “Because of all the different variables that have been occurring all season, an offensive line ironically can become pretty fortunate with giving opportunities and a lot of opportunities in practice and some in the games for him to get play time and work on his craft. So because of watching him practice, I’m very confident in his ability to step in and continue – the last two games in particular, we were getting pretty good left guard play and I’m confident that he can step in and really continue that whole process that we had going.”
Mike McDaniel – October 30, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 30, 2022
Postgame – Detroit
Head Coach Mike McDaniel (transcribed by the Detroit Lions)
(On the growth of the team and the success they had throughout the game) – “I think when you get into games where the opponent kind of has a rush of success, a lot of times you can feel it on the other side of the ball, and you start pressing. And I think that’s what was happening in the first half of the Baltimore game and (I) never felt that this game. We’re starting to learn as a team that momentum swings happen and to have faith in each other and play complementary football when we can, so I was happy about that. I was happy about – they were triggering up front. Their front seven played very hard, and I thought we blocked pretty well. I was happy about that growth. I was very happy with the way the quarterback played and the decisions that he made, just playing within himself and making plays when they were there.”
(On what he said to WR Braylon Sanders after the fumble) – “I would say – sometimes the best things that you can say are to say nothing. He’s trying to hold on to the ball. You know that he is, it’s his first – it might’ve been one of his first snaps. So you know that hits a guy hard. Sometimes what you choose not to say can let him know that we’re not wavering and we have belief in him, which we do. So, I didn’t say anything, strategically because I knew he was trying his best. He tucked it and was trying to make a play, and sometimes the ball comes out. (It’s) something I think he’ll learn from moving forward.”
(On the adjustments he made throughout the game after trailing 21-7) – “Yeah, there’s a – there’s subtle adjustments and there’s also guys making plays. The pass rush got involved a little bit more in the second half. We got some stops, but really, it’s one of those things where if you get guys to keep playing you can survive a barrage of jabs to the chin. Keep your head down and just keep chopping wood and eventually our style of play will come out. There were some adjustments, yes, but more than anything we have a lot of prideful guys on that side of the ball, players and coaches included, and they projected their frustration in the appropriate manner.”
(On how dangerous WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill can be and how the offense works together for their success) – “A lot goes into their production – they work their tail off. They know how much they mean to this team, but it’s also a collection of individuals working with them to – every person on our team knows they can score on every touch. So the stuff that we have to do upfront, some of the stuff that the other eligibles have to do, it is a full commitment for their success because they are so dangerous with the ball in their hands. It’s something that we try to play to, but it’s a full commitment by all players on the offense. They get excited when their stats are high, because they know how much they contributed to that. We had a bunch of key plays from Mike Gesicki, Trent Sherfield, (Raheem) Mostert and then the play that Tua (Tagovailoa) had today. That’s a – if we can get that every week, that’s a winning formula. That is tough to stop.”
(On OL Liam Eichenberg’s injury) – “I don’t. We’ll be – that’s our process that we’re getting pretty used to, aren’t we? Where we’ll figure it out on Monday? But he was playing really well, so that was disappointing, for sure. (My) heart goes out to him, but we’ll be getting some information back tomorrow as to the severity of that.”
(On the number of penalties they received throughout the game and what the team has to do to fix that) – “Yeah, I think there was eight declined in the first half. Well, there’s certain controllables, and the ones that really irritate me, we knew coming into the game that we have to be mindful of our pre-snap alignment. Just knowing that we’ve been – people are looking to throw penalties on that, I think, around the league in general. So we went in making that a point and it didn’t get done. Those type of things are controllable. Then, you look at – where and what type of penalties are happening? Same thing that we did – what was it? The Minnesota game we had a ton, and we were able to tighten it up against Pittsburgh. You just have to make a point of emphasis, take each penalty individually and coach off of it, so that we can improve and not put ourselves in such tough spots on both sides of the ball unnecessarily.”
(On if there were any issues getting the play call into QB Tua Tagovailoa throughout the game) – “This particular game? Yeah, there was – we’ve been doing a better job at that, just me personally. I’ve done a better job of getting the play calls in sooner, so that if there’s any hiccups, that isn’t the case. This game, I think there were a couple of instances where I didn’t get it in fast enough, so there’s not time to repeat it. But I thought Tua (Tagovailoa) did a really good job of knowing the gameplan and piecing the stuff together because we didn’t have – I can’t remember a situation where we had an issue with running the correct play. But there were a couple of stressful situations that were happening at the beginning of the year, so that’s on me to make sure that’s completely minimized so the players have time to absorb the play call.”
(On how much he credits the victory to fighting through adversity) – “That, my friends, is a good question. That’s exactly what it is. I don’t think you win this game if you don’t go through stuff. That’s why I believe and I think our team believes at this point that there’s no such thing as adversity, more that it’s opportunity to learn from a situation so that you can progress moving forward. I don’t think the goal of any game is really perfection – it’s more growth. I think this game, we were able to come out with a victory because of certain things that we’ve gone through in the past weeks. So, absolutely right. That’s exactly the way I see it. And somebody give that guy a gold star – that’s a great question.”
(On what plays from QB Tua Tagovailoa stood out to him) – “There was the touchdown to Mike Gesicki because that was the first time we’ve ever hit that route on that concept. You rarely ever see it, and it’s something that was No. 4 in the progression that he progressed through very quickly. There was the first long throw on third down to Tyreek (Hill) where he knows that we’re going to be hot, they’re in (Cover 0), he buys as much time as he can in the pocket and then throws a ball that’s not easy to throw to a really fast guy. That one stood out. He had a lot of plays that I was very, very happy with. That was a game that we all know he’s capable of. But it was his – he was relentless during the game with worrying about the right stuff. I didn’t see him press and make forced decisions. He took what was there and protected the ball while being aggressive.”
(On the preparation of the offense going into the game) – “That’s a big collection of individuals. You talk about protection and being locked into – the Detroit Lions have a very good third-down rush package that can get your quarterbacks hit, so we had a good plan there. (It) started with the coaching staff and then lead into the players. The receivers and quarterback coaches, (Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator Darrell) Coach Bevell, (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes Welker, (Assistant Quarterbacks Coach) Chandler Henley, they all did a great job at preparing the guys, and then the players took it upon themselves to make sure to meet extra for the third down, because they hadn’t been happy with the results. So, instead of complaining about it, they did something about it. So you’re talking about a lot of people committing to a very important phase of the game. So it was cool to see some positive results from that hard work.”
Jaylen Waddle – October 30, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 30, 2022
Postgame – Detroit
WR Jaylen Waddle
(On what it was like in the first half to have both teams driving up and down the field) – “It was a great atmosphere out there. I think the fans came out and showed support. It was electric. We knew it was going to be a battle. Detroit (is) a great team and great organization, so we knew it was going to be a battle coming into the game.”
(On what contributed to the offense’s success) – “I think us playing together, all on one page. We had a good week of preparation, so that always translates good to Sundays. You have to keep stacking them up. It’s all about being consistent, not just being electric one week and then falling off.”
(On the offensive play calling) – “We’re seeing what we like. I think (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) did a good job of calling the plays, getting us into position to make plays. It goes hand in hand. The O-line stood up, and Tua (Tagovailoa) delivered. It’s not just us out there making plays, it’s a team effort, for sure.”
(On if they feel unstoppable) – “I mean, we kind of go in confident. I wouldn’t say unstoppable, but we felt good. Like I said, we had a good week of preparation. That kind of always translates.”
(On what he saw from WR Tyreek Hill today) – “Come on, he’s a baller. Nothing new – we’ve been seeing that all season.”
(On what play stood out to him) – “Probably Tua’s (Tagovailoa) scramble – I’m surprised he slid. I was just proud of him, he slid.”
(On the confidence in this offense) – “I feel like we’re confident enough to know nothing is out of reach with the type of offense that we have and the offensive weapons that we have. We’re confident that we can come back, and it’s finally going to click.”
(On if they felt like they had to score every time they were on the field) – “We try to score every time we’re out there, believe it or not.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa: “What were your thoughts on that one play where you scored, I think it was your second touchdown? (laughter) What were your thoughts on that play?”) – “You know, it was a decent pass. It was OK. You know, it was OK. (laughter)”
Tyreek Hill – October 30, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 30, 2022
Postgame – Detroit
WR Tyreek Hill
(Is this more like the offense you all envisioned for this season?) – “Yeah, but I feel like we can be lightyears better, and that starts with me being the leader of this young receiver group, preaching to the guys that we’ve got to get in and out of the huddle faster. We’ve got to do the small things right. We all want to make plays, we all want to be in the spotlight, but we’ve got to make sure that we do the small things by getting out of the huddle (and) making sure that we’re set, so Tua (Tagovailoa) can go through all of his reads. So once we get that clear, we start working on those small things, I feel like we’ll be exactly where we want to be.”
(On what he saw in the coverage from the Lions) – “I can say that. The Detroit Lions, they’re a great team, great defensive team, great young team, who fly around the football field with some great premier guys on the outside. And for us, it’s all about scheme and timing. So (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) and the offensive coaches, they did a great job of putting this scheme together, allowing us, to get off coverage. It was great job by the coaches this week.”
(On his sunglasses) – “Oh, yeah, man. And also, I’m just trying to promote my brand a little bit – shout out to Soul Runner for life. Appreciate it.”
(Do you guys feel unstoppable?) – “Always. Always, that’s all – I mean, that’s all of our mindsets. As a competitor in this league, as one of those teams who has a chance to go the distance, you’ve got to have that mindset, because if not your opponent, they will dominate you.”
(You now have six games with over 160 yards receiving. Does this surpass maybe what you expected?) – “No. No, man. I expect that from myself every time, so do my parents, so do my kids know, so does everybody that knows me. Everybody knows me as a workaholic – all I do is just think about ball. I live, sleep and I die on this hill of playing football, man. The way that I approach every week is I’m going to work my tail off regardless, so I’m not surprised at all. I can see if I was not putting in the work, not doing everything that I wasn’t supposed to do, but my mindset is different. My grandparents, they raised a different breed. So I feel like I’ve got to use these God given talents, or I wouldn’t be doing God due diligence for giving me what he’s gifted me with. So every chance I get to step on the field, even if it’s practice, walkthrough, whatever the case, I’m going 110 miles per hour.”
(On the coverage he saw on the third-and-long on the first drive of the game) – “Oh yeah, that’s just Tua (Tagovailoa) just picking a guy and just trusting him down the field. Like I said, being in practice gaining that trust with him, in a big moment of the game, he just put it in there and then I was able to make a play.”
(Was the tempo of the first half with both teams just going up and down the field, was that kind of what you look for? Is that what you drive on?) – “I mean, that’s what this league wants, man. It’s offensive game. That’s why people want to view the game, because scoring, long drives, scoring points, fast players, touchdown celebrations and all that, man. As offense, we love being on the field. We love moving the ball up and down the field. It was just fun.”
Tua Tagovailoa – October 30, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 30, 2022
Postgame – Detroit
QB Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by the Detroit Lions)
(On the offensive gameplan today) – “I think (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) did a good job calling plays today. He put us in a really good position to get yards after catch on plays, trying to move the spot for the defenders (and) D-linemen getting it back there. I think for as much as we passed with, what, maybe two sacks that we had? That’s a really good job upfront. I think a lot of things married with routes, action passes within the run game, so I think we felt really comfortable. After moving the ball the first series, second series, started feeling really comfortable just going with the gameplan.”
(On if he feels the offense is unstoppable) – “We feel like the only guys that can stop us are ourselves. We did have some miscues on guys misaligned at some points and guys kind of moving their feet when we have motions going on. Those are all things that are correctable, so we’ll look at the tape and we’ll move on from there.”
(On if the offense is how they envisioned it would be) – “Yeah, this is sort of what I envisioned. The greatest thing about this game is that you can never get content. You have to continue to keep growing. We’ll go and watch the film and look at things that we could’ve done better. So, that’s the best part about it.”
(On if the offense is where they want it to be) – “I wouldn’t say so. Not yet. Not yet. Too early still.”
(On both teams moving the ball up and down the field in the first half) – “Well, it can be fun if you are moving the ball down the field and you’re the opposing team, first off. But I would say I have a lot of trust in the guys that we have on our side of the ball, that in any scenario, in any situation, we’ll be able to do what’s enough to help us win games.”
(On FB Alec Ingold’s block that set up a big run for him) – “Yeah, that was big. As you can tell, I’m not a runner. But with that block, if anyone else was running behind Alec (Ingold), it could’ve been a lot bigger. It could have been a score. Who knows? But, knowing me, Alec blocks the guy and almost pancakes him, and I run right into the guy for the tackle. (laughter) If it was any other person, it probably would have been a lot bigger.”
(On his decision to slide today) – “Oh yeah, I slid today. I know my coaches, my teammates – my teammates were definitely proud of me. I came to the sideline, (and) everyone was happy that I slid. I was kind of happy that I slid, too.”
(On if the Ravens game influenced their approach towards the Lions) – “I would say none of that played a factor in us playing this game. These guys, they’re not the Ravens. They’re the Detroit Lions. We’ve got to take these guys on the same way we take everyone on, just have to focus on whatever that play entails for us and execute one play at a time. So, we’re not trying to force anything or do anything that is without the boundaries of the play.”
(On if he’s concerned about the amount of penalties they were called for today) – “Yeah, I would say there is some level of concern, but there is also a lot of things going on with that as well – communication with the play call, communication with the personnel. Sometimes it gets to a point in the game where the full play call isn’t called, so I have to kind of adlib at times. So I kind of put our guys in a bad situation, knowing where to line up on plays and whatnot, and not really giving them time to think before they’re going out because of how fast I am getting the play-call out. So that’s why we have practice, and it will be good for us to work on that throughout this week.”
(On the process of hearing the play call from the sideline) – “Yeah, so you hear the play and then once that 15 (-second mark) hits, you have to start adlibbing. “
(On the offense’s ability to flip the field today) – “Yeah, I think the key to that is, like I said, we continue to play within the boundaries of what that play entails. So with whatever coverage we’re getting, this is the side I am working. If they play this certain coverage, I’m going opposite. Things like that, and if they take it away then, hey you have to chuck it down, live to play another down and hopefully flip field position, get some yards back.”
(On what play stood out to him today) – “Yeah, the one I really liked I would say was Trent Sherfield’s – I think they took away his touchdown. I think they took that one away. (laughter) Do we agree? So, Trent there’s about like six people and 12 people raised their hands to say yes.”
(On why the completion to WR Trent Sherfield stood out to him) – “Well for one, that play when I ranked it, I did not like that play. I did not want to run that play. I told (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel), ‘Don’t run that play.’ But Mike being Mike, we ran the play, and I just had to read it out. I thought it would have been something really special for Trent (Sherfield), too. Every time you see Trent in there, the guy’s pretty much blocking, running across the field, running back on motions, and he never necessarily gets opportunities, so I really wanted that opportunity for him.”
(On the direction the play-call went on WR Trent Sherfield’s completion at the goal line) “No it was dealer’s choice – I could have worked either side. But it looked like they were doubling No. 2 (Chase Edmonds) inside, and Trent (Sherfield) was open. I just really wanted that touchdown for him.”
Mike McDaniel – October 28, 2022
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Friday, October 28, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Let me ask you about the trade deadline. Do you occasionally talk to your players about the trade deadline? And if they see their name in rumors, do you talk to them or do you just kind of trust that…?) – “I address it if their name’s out there, because for the most part – like I’ve said before, when I’m talking about trade stuff is, the reason why there’s a head coach and a general manager is because that’s how much stuff is going on. The head coach has to worry about the football. The general manager is talking to other teams incessantly about how to make the roster the very best from a business standpoint. It’s misleading when people’s names are out there because there’s a lot of discussions about stuff. But when that does occur, generally it’s not – for the most part, there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t real. So I’ll be forthright with players in that regard, but outside of that, I think the players understand that it’s a business as well, and that is viable unless they have a no-trade clause. So that’s kind of how I proceed. I don’t try to – when someone comes to me and says that stuff’s out there, I address it then.”
(Your run defense, you guys are I think eighth in the league and the next three weeks you’re playing three of the top seven rushing teams. It’s kind of a might against might type of thing, but what makes your rushing defense effective this year? I mean, DT Christian Wilkins, I think has been very effective. But what has made your rushing defense successful?) – “Well collectively, it’s been our commitment to getting better. That there’s pride in that. And from the onset, since I got – really when we started in the offseason program, I thought our defensive line was very, very good run defenders. They play with great technique and they really force offensive lines to be sound. And then as it’s progressed, I’ve seen the rest of the unit start early in the season to kind of match their intensity and vigor. And then as the season has progressed, I think we’ve gotten better and better executing in that phase. I think that’s a collection of players and coaches. It started with the defensive line, but the only way you can be good in this league at anything is if all 11 are committed to a purpose and I’m starting to see a lot of really good run play from the linebackers, safeties and … corners.”
(When you try to – S Brandon Jones is not there anymore obviously – when you try to match system with talent, how closely can you, I guess, play the same style that you did with Brandon Jones as without him?) – “When you have really good players that you lose, you don’t replace them by one player. You utilize other players on your roster and then you cater your scheme to what they do well, so the whole point and everyone on the defense knows is that we have to step up for his lost production. But that’s not one person. That’s the collection of Miami Dolphins defenders. Different players, different skill sets and you’re trying to utilize those to the best of their ability to put them in position to succeed.”
(I have a trivia question for you.) – “Wait, what?”
(It’s more so – do you know who Mr. Universe was in 1981 and 1982? Because you were born in 1983.) – “That would be freaking unbelievable if I knew that. I mean, I can confidently and comfortably saying say I have no idea and do not feel guilty that I don’t.”
(That was John Brown. John Brown is the father of Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown.) – “Oh, okay, I did know that from – I guess I didn’t attach it to the years, but I did know that from the dudes coming out. And they were obviously really good at working out as well as being good players. So I was aware of that one.”
(You face them Week 8. Obviously they get him back – Amon-Ra St. Brown – but how do you all plan to I guess, focus in on the secondary, making sure that they step up to the occasion for this week?) – “It’s the same process that you enter in every week. You try on Wednesday to – I view it as my job is to plant the seed and start with the entire team on showing the opponent and kind of what they are, defining what they are and where their strengths and weaknesses are, and what our plan is. And then Josh (Boyer) takes that immediately after. That’s something that we’re working together on to kind of figure out what calls are going in and all of that stuff. But that’s something that every position has to really enter in each and every week, because in this league, people are always good at something. So this week, the Detroit Lions are very good at getting yards in the pass game and in the run game. They challenge you with committing to stuff that possibly isn’t on tape, and you have to be sound but play to your style and not let things get you off balance. Or if they get an explosive here, don’t overcorrect. Continue to play your responsibilities. And if we do it together, we have a shot. But it’s the same way that we address every skilled unit that comes in or that you end up playing because whether it’s offense, defense or special teams, typically in the NFL, they’re always good at something. So you try to identify that and then identify how we’re going to slow it down.”
(I apologize for a long-winded wind-up to this question. I remember Andrew Hawkins talking about how you had cut ups of Allen Iverson to kind of illustrate to wide receivers maybe how to like get off the line and get off the line of scrimmage. I was talking to RB Raheem Mostert about his surfing background and how he kind of finds some similarities between that and kind of like working as a running back trying to find the hole and working with the offensive line. I was curious in your history of teaching players, teaching running backs; do you have any unique analogies and kind of illustrations, examples, for running backs when they’re learning this wide zone scheme?) – “I think one of the most powerful communicative skills is through the use of analogies in general, so I heavily use analogies and I try to make them as random as possible because what you’re trying to do is connect thoughts. And if there’s a like thought that you might be able to describe to a player that can paint a picture in a certain way, that’s as good as gold. So for running backs in general, you do use the basketball player crossover stuff and some route stuff. Talking about pad level and things of that nature, you can use sumo wrestling. They usually don’t really do that, but just leverage in general. And really, I use analogies so often in organic speech that I can’t even keep track of them because I learned that probably – I think I learned it, I probably have a teacher say that I learned it in high school, but I remember it in college – just that attachment to memory and how you can really be powerful in your message if you can draw analogies on to whatever you’re discussing. I live in the analogous world.”
(With RB Raheem Mostert, how have you seen him the past couple of weeks really take on that workload and respond from that? Obviously, he’s a year from that injury now, and it seems like you guys are just putting more on his plate as the weeks go on.) – “He’s hungry, and I forgot that you brought up the analogies to Raheem Mostert. We say, ‘press every run one gap at a time,’ and it’s kind of like riding a wave – surfing. Because you’re taking it right there and then all of a sudden you go downhill, but then the wave takes you back out. Analogies. (laughter) But he’s handled it great because he’s hungry. He’s been a guy that – you want to talk about living in adversity and overcoming? It’s one of the reasons he is who he is and where he’s at today, and as he continues to be very productive for us on every touch he gets, guys feed off of it and you end up getting more touches. So he’s handled it awesome. He’s always been one of the best teammates that I’ve ever been around, coming from his whole background where he got cut 900 times. He’s never one to do anything but embrace productivity from other people in his room. He’s a great teammate in that regard. So guys definitely appreciate that and get really excited when he’s able to make plays, which is what he does. He is capable of doing any and everything, really, when he’s healthy. He’s done a great job keeping himself healthy, and we will keep pressing forward hoping for that to continue.”
(You cut your penalty numbers way down in that game against Pittsburgh and no turnovers. I remember you had spoken after the Minnesota game about you taking it in the eyes as the head coach to get the team to fix some of the mistakes. Was there a particular message – you talk about your teaching methods – that you think got across to them? And how do you keep that going, moving forward?) – “That’s why football is so cool because it is a team accomplishment, through and through. So that’s one of the reasons I don’t look at – I look at my job as I’m supposed to set vision and motivate and I have all that stuff going on, but it doesn’t matter if you have all the great stuff to say if players don’t do it. So whether that’s the messaging that was that good, (or) me – my knee jerk emphasized it and the players did something about it. To me, we have a great group of individual players that collectively respond to points of emphasis. So it was a point of emphasis, but it was just run of the mill English with some examples. Really, the people that deserve credit are the players that said, ‘OK, I agree with you. I’m going to do something about it.’ You watch how Jaylen Waddle, for instance, was running in space against the Steelers, that lesson from the game before didn’t fall on deaf ears for him. We saw people really prioritize it. Even on the other side of the ball, the defense went after it, too. I think guys were – the players were sick of hurting ourselves with penalties, so we were fortunately able to have a cleaner game. But it’s as simple as the players took it upon themselves to make sure it didn’t happen on the field. And that’s what good teams do, is they fix problems. They don’t let them linger.”
(You had 16 players listed as limited yesterday on the injury report. That’s such a big number. I’m curious, at what point does that number become so big that it not only affects those players ability to prepare for Sunday’s game, but the entire team’s?) – “You hit it dead on the head, and that’s why I like you. It’s not just because you have alliteration in your name, which I am fond of, too. (laughter) But it affects everyone, not just the players that are hurt. So with a list like that, you have to address how you’re practicing. That was the reason on Wednesday. We adjusted kind of our format of practice for the first time on a Wednesday to react to that so there wouldn’t be trickle down to the players that were able to practice. Those are the things that are very common. They fluctuate. They’re common in that there will be a fluctuation during a season of a ton of guys that have dings on them. So it’s important that you have a team that is capable of adjusting their schedule to the needs of what the players need but can handle it appropriately, so that, ‘Hey, if you tone down Period 2 or maybe tone down an entire day,’ and it goes from full speed to maybe jog-through, that there is not a give in the attention to detail or the intensity. As a matter of fact, there’s an uptick in how focused you are, knowing that this exercise is much more mental than physical. Those are the things that, talking to the team, that we have to be capable of doing for situations like this. I think they’ve handled this particular one very, very well. I’ll always adjust things, and as the season goes, you take reps off. (If) there’s too many guys down at a position then you adjust a period. But I don’t – like you guys know, nothing is absolute for me, so always adjusting.”
(Do you know anyone at this early stage that is either doubtful or out for Sunday?) – “Do I? I don’t think I do.”
(Is P Thomas Morstead back today, by the way?) – “He’s going to be – this is classic, I feel like the team is morphing into the coach where nothing is absolute. So we have a bunch of guys that really want to play together – that is as genuine as I can explain it. And that do everything in their power to try to play which leaves a ton of questionables at the end of the week. So that’s kind of the reason. It’s because there’s a lot of guys working through injuries that we’re just made up – credit to the individual players, the locker room and (General Manager) Chris Grier, for having a collection of guys that want to play football with each other and not just collect the check. As far as we’re concerned, Fridays, Saturdays, deciding the who’s going to be up, it is kind of cumbersome because you’re adjusting having backup plans all over the board. But at this point, we don’t have any really anybody that is out out. There’s some varying degrees of questionability. So we’ll press forward there.”
Terron Armstead – October 27, 2022
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Thursday, October 27, 2022
T Terron Armstead
(It seemed like pass protection and run blocking were better last week when you returned. How much of a difference can one man make as far as communication and performance easing the burden on everybody?) – “I mean that is all a testament of the work that has been put in, really locking in on our technique, fundamentals and execution. We’re looking to get better every day. It’s definitely not one thing. There’s a ton of things that go into productive line play. And then being able to do it over and over and over, that’s the hard part. “
(How did you do last week? We didn’t hear LB Alex Highsmith’s name a whole lot. How do you think you performed?) – “That’s a really good young player, for sure. High motor. He has a lot of attributes and then he gets to the quarterback at a high level. I think we did a really good job trying to keep him quiet and not disrupting the game. My performance, I feel like I did some things well. I definitely want to continue to improve and get better in the run game and pass pro.”
(Are players putting a lot of attention on DE Aidan Hutchinson because he is a high draft pick? You might face him. What have you seen from him?) – “I mean, you see his draft position. You see why he was he was drafted so high. The talent and abilities jump off the film – athleticism, get off. They got a relentless group. I’m a huge Dan Campbell fan. And he was always one of the coaches for me that I would run through the wall for. And those guys play like that.”
(Can you elaborate on what made you love Dan Campbell?) – “He’s genuine. He’s sincere. You can tell that he cares about his players. He’s passionate about the game. He wouldn’t put anything above his players. Just somebody that you would love to play well for.”
(When Dan Campbell was hired by Detroit, I don’t know if you saw his opening news conference, but he was talking about we’re going to bite you in the knee cap and all of this kind of stuff. Do you have any favorite stories that kind of relate to that kind of attitude?) – “Probably none that I can share on camera. (laughter) Dan is a really intense guy. So in New Orleans, he was the assistant head coach, so sometimes he would run a team meeting. And he just had a unique way of motivating and getting guys ready to play. It could be graphic at times and vulgar, but he knew what he was doing.”
(Dan Campbell was the interim head coach here. But, in New Orleans, could you sense that this was a guy who’s going to be a head coach?) – “Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, he’ll be a head coach for a long time. And Aaron Glenn too. He’ll be a head coach sometime soon. He’s a phenomenal coach. He’s another guy that you really want to play for. So it’d be great to see them guys after the game.”
Raheem Mostert – October 27, 2022
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Thursday, October 27, 2022
RB Raheem Mostert
(The learning curve element, the patience element, the evolution element, especially with a new scheme, I know you’re a good person to shed some additional perspective on that line of thinking. What are your thoughts on all that?) – “I mean, (Offensive Coordinator) Frank (Smith) hit it on the nail – it takes a lot of time to get your feet settled, and that’s what you’ve got to do, especially in this offense. It’s not easy, especially at the o-line position and then even the skill position, it demands a lot of us. So, once you start getting into that groove, then it starts to become a little bit easier, but even then, you still have to go back to your base foundation of the offense and then go ahead and look at the defense as well and what they’re given us. So a lot of variables go into it, but in the grand scheme of things, you want to be accountable for not only your position but as a whole, because as you could tell, one guy out of position could almost ruin a whole play. But one guy could actually help the play – it all depends on, like I said, the different variables that go with it.”
(What gives you the biggest cause for optimism relative to the offense as a whole over the last few games and moving forward?) – “I mean, just look at how we’re moving the ball. Then it does help when you have Tua (Tagovailoa) back. That’s the guy that we started out with during training camp and preseason and just carrying over. But all the guys even, Teddy (Bridgewater) and even Skylar (Thompson) can come in and fit that role. That’s why they’re on the team. It’s just all about who do we have, who we had to work with, and let’s try to improve as best as possible leading up until the game.”
(T Terron Armstead’s presence, what’s his impact on the run game being able to run behind him?) – “I mean, he’s a savvy vet. The guys on the front line are a little bit younger. You’ve got Connor (Williams) who’s in the middle right there and then you’ve got Terron (Armstead) who’s the vet of the group. So, for him to come back and be able to do things he’s been able to do thus far in the offense, it just shows you the type of leadership that he has. Continuing moving forward, that’s the type of leadership that we need.”
(The yards per carry have improved in recent weeks, not just for you, in the running game. What are some of the specific things that you see getting better?) – “Getting on people, covering guys up, that’s what the offense is all about, especially in the run game. How can we get to that second (or) third level? And then it’s up to us as a running back group to find those holes and get big chunks out of it. So we’ve been able to capitalize. I know I left a lot of yards out there, me personally. I’ve got to do better with my eyes, and that’s what practice is for.”
(The previous two games the last week, the penalty numbers were fairly high. Is part of that the scheme as well?) – “Honestly, that’s – it’s a little bit of both. When you go on and see the penalties that we’ve had, like you said, two games prior, it was very high and that’s just not acceptable. That’s on both sides of the ball, too. So we’ve just got to eliminate those as best as possible, and that’s what practice is for, honestly. (laughter) I know everything is simulated off of practice, but that’s why we play the game – to get better each and every day, each and every week and then moving forward, try to capitalize as best as possible in a game.”
(So was there something different either in the week at practice or maybe that game? Or is it just a matter of…) – “Yeah, it’s just a matter of what the defense is throwing at us and what the offense is throwing at our defense and the challenges that come along with that. Some of those penalties are self-inflicted. It’s not so much a holding here or pass interference. It’s more so false starts and trying to get off the ball. So we’ve just got to get those detailed and ironed out.”
