Mike McDaniel – August 28, 2022
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Sunday, August 28, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I guess talking about football is just hard this weekend, but with CB Byron Jones, you obviously have a decision to make. If he stays on PUP, he’s out for the first four weeks. Do you anticipate him coming off in the next 48 hours?) – “There’s like so many things going on, especially when you have a competitive roster like we do. So we’ve kind of had it pinpointed, but it’s a fluid situation that has to do with him and a lot of other players. (I’m) looking forward to having some clarity here in the near future, but nothing’s taken me off where I’ve been for a while.”
(Getting down to the final 53, based on yesterday’s performance, do you find it difficult cutting down that roster?) – “Absolutely. It’s one of the things that you know, being in the business for a while, that you hope to have these tough decisions. Yesterday did make it tougher. There were some guys that on both sides of the ball that maybe hadn’t got as many opportunities, and for the most part, there were guys that – most players put their best foot forward yesterday. So that is a good problem to have. But it is a problem that that only benefits the Miami Dolphins. So we’re leaving no stone unturned and making sure that we make the best decisions. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and I have talked at length. I mean, we’ve been talking for the last couple of weeks, specifically on these roster decisions. We talked at length yesterday before the game to make sure we’re on the same page and everyone got ample opportunity. Then (we) talked again today and met today (for) a good amount of time. We’ll meet tomorrow morning and as long as it takes. But yeah, it is – the more good players you have, the more difficult that is. But that’s something that we embrace, because we know we’re on the right track.”
(I talked to WR Preston Williams and RB Sony Michel last night about what they think about their roster prospects, and they said, “I don’t know. I did the best I could.” Could you talk about the difficulty at those two positions, wide receiver and running back? It seems like you’ve got some good options.) – “No, in particular, those two groups have not only – from the onset, we knew we were going to have more NFL players than roster spots available. That we knew from the onset. But what was also really, really enjoyable as a coach to observe is you always hope that you have the right type of people in a competitive room that channel that competitive onslaught in the right direction. And so what that affords you is players getting better as a result of the competition. I think in both groups, you’ve seen that. You’ve seen multiple playmakers, really from top to bottom, in both groups. That’s what’s super rare is you have at your final 53 decision time, every player in the position group has been on the field making plays. So that does not make it easy. They’ve known that the whole time, which is why – what I’m proud about and what I’m happy about is each and every player in those two groups I see as an NFL player. So you know, the one thing that you can rest easy at night is I feel like they’ll all have opportunities, regardless of which ones make it, in the National Football League, because they’ve taken their game to another level and put it on tape.”
(On QB Skylar Thompson and making a case for a third quarterback?) – “He’s made it tough, hasn’t he? No, I think those type of players that are able to, as rookies, come in and contribute, are always really exciting, and it’s more rare that you see a quarterback doing that. It’s more than just his quarterback rating and his completion percentage. He has owned the responsibility of the quarterback in terms of all the other players on the field with him. He’s made them better by helping them get aligned, and we’ve had very few procedural issues. And so I think in preseason football, there are a lot of quarterbacks that get opportunities. It’s rare that a guy can be a seventh-round draft pick and people outside of the organization actually know his name. I think he’s opened eyes with the way he’s played, and it’s made that situation very tricky, in terms of whether or not you can try to have him on practice squad or keep him on the 53 (-man roster). But you know, much like a lot of players, I think he – especially one of the things I was most happy with in this past game is pretty much all the participants can hold their head high and stand on what they’ve done in the preseason, with the closing of it being last night. And he should hold his head high and hopefully rest easy because he has done quite literally everything you can to be a part of this team.”
(I know you said last night, it didn’t take long to see the impact that Jason Jenkins made on everybody. After a night to kind of reflect, is there anything that stands out from speaking to people just about him today that you can speak on?) – “Especially in moments like that you’re – it’s hard to speak from anywhere, at least for me, from anything but the heart. It was just another testament of who he was as a person that there’s numerous people that unexpectedly were thanking me for what I was just doing – speaking to what I thought was right and just kind of being 100 percent transparent as I try my best to do. But I think it’s even more telling how many people have reached out and said how much they appreciate that, which doesn’t surprise me but it just kind of doubles down. We should all be that fortunate to leave a legacy like that. There’s – it definitely hasn’t gone away, and I don’t think it will for a long, long time. And that’s probably the biggest takeaway I have is that I can only hope to leave a legacy like he did with people that I work with.”
(Now that preseason games are over, can you share with us some goals that you had for preseason that you guys accomplished?) – I think we got better every game. I think on both sides of the ball, there’s a trick in the National Football League that you kind of have to excel at to do well and have your dreams realized. And that’s to focus on the controllables. And to not, whether you do something well or you do something poor, to just focus on the process, and getting better with ignoring the noise and not getting caught up in things that don’t really matter. What matters is getting better and I think guys really focused on that. And that’s the only way – whether it was the first quarter of the fourth quarter last night, I thought guys – we were making plays on both sides of the ball because of technique, not because of scheme. And that, there’s no short cut to that. That harnessed the goal that I had from the beginning, which was that we focus on what actually matters. And that’s getting better at what we do, learning from everything and finding.. – there were a ton of examples in this game and over the whole preseason of people turning what in the short-term seems bad or seems as adversity, using that to be the sail that helps them get better. I thought that was on display last night.”
(There are reports that LB Trey Flowers has agreed to join the dolphins. So I don’t know if you can confirm that, but we also understand that he at least tried out. So, what did you see from the tryout?) – “Well, that is a process that I can confirm that I will confirm when it’s confirmable, which it’s not right now. (laughter) Oh, it’s a one-time deal and was an excessive use of confirm. But what I saw was a guy that’s in shape that’s ready to play. He’s a consummate professional with a lot of versatility to his game and length. His style of football is conducive to the style we play. His versatility is attractive. So hopefully we’ll get something done here in the near future, but it’s definitely in the works.”
(After Tuesday, it’ll be 12 days until the season starts again. I wanted to know during your down time, do you plan on heading to like any local college games or high school games between that break?) – “I feel like balance is important. It’s one thing I’ve learned in my career. I started off – I saw maybe early to mid-on in my career that sometimes you’re your best version of yourself if you properly balance yourself. So when there is some downtime, which will be one or two days in the next couple of weeks, I will not be going to football games. I will be daddy-ing and maybe bearing the fruits of all these training camp swim lessons that my daughter Ayla’s had, because I am a swim survivor not like a swim enthusiast. I can make it to the side of the pool but there is no stroke that I’ve really perfected. So it will be awesome to see my daughter comfortable in the pool and I’ll be jumping on that.
(On T Greg Little’s performance at left tackle yesterday) – “I thought he did a great job. I was proud of him. You wouldn’t have thought that he was progressing through an injury. I thought that he – you can’t hide from the tape. And what I saw was a guy that while he hasn’t been getting physical reps, he’s been getting mental reps and watching his teammates perform the desired tasks and learning from them because he came back and played at a level that was higher than when he left, which is something that I never lose sight of and is a big deal to me. I was happy for him he was able to do it.”
Austin Jackson – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Philadelphia
OL Austin Jackson
(What did you guys do better in the run game tonight?) – “I think we were more assignment sound … I think that’s a great start. It starts in practice too, getting on the same page and communicating.”
(What do you like about what Head Coach Mike McDaniel does in the run game?) – “He’s great. I think he does a great job of teaching the system that he has in place. He has a good understanding of fundamentals and techniques that he believes in to be successful. He convinced all of us to buy into it. Rightfully so. I love the scheme he has set up. I think we’re able to do a lot with it.”
(What was your reaction to that first play, QB Tua Tagovailoa to WR Tyreek Hill?) – “We’ve been doing that in practice for like months now. It felt good to get it live and in front of everybody to see …”
Elijah Campbell – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Eagles
DB Elijah Campbell
(They always say corners have to be instinctual. That play was definitely instinctual.) – “He’s (Reid Sinnett) a great quarterback, experienced as well. Quarterbacks make mistakes and you just have to capitalize on those mistakes. It was just something we trained – it was a little bit of a gift. You can’t drop it. If I would have dropped it, it would have been like ‘Dang, how do you drop it?’ It was a pretty easy pass to intercept.”
(The offense put up 48 points. I know the team’s got to feel pretty good about 494 yards of offense as well. I know that that’s got to feel really good.) – “Our offense is – they’re something special. I’m looking forward to what they’re going to do this season. The way they started the game just coming out fast, it was pretty impressive. And then to continue it all four quarters, it was nice to watch.”
(How would you evaluate your preseason overall, how it went? With decisions about to be made, how do you feel right now overall?) – “I thought I made some decent plays with the reps I got. Obviously there’s always some things to clean up. I was moving around from a few positions, so it’s a learning process with that as well, playing safety, corner and dimebacker. I thought I gave my best and it’s up to the coach’s hands. I felt like I did good enough. You never know – it’s a business. We got a few days to see.”
Skylar Thompson – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Eagles
QB Skylar Thompson
(Obviously it’s not easy, but you definitely make it look easy out there. Just talk about how much fun your having, getting the opportunity to shine.) – “Yeah, well you know that sums it up. I’m having a lot of fun. I think having that approach, going out there and making the game fun has helped me play looser and play one play at a time. The big thing for me is just continuing to grow. There’s still things in the back of my mind that I just want to get better at, but that’s what makes playing at this position fun. There’s always room for improvement, always room to grow. I’m super excited to watch the film and see what I can get better at.”
(Do you think you made it?) – “I think I’ve done everything I can do in my control. I really appreciate my teammates doing a great job of playing for me. Going out there, guys are making plays for me, blocking me, protecting me, allowing me to be at my best. That’s what I’m most grateful for, just getting the opportunity to go out and play this game at this level. That’s what I’ve been dreaming about my whole life, and all the other stuff is out of my control. I just try to have fun and put the team first in everything I do and control the things I can do.”
(Your first NFL preseason is complete. Could you have ever imagine that it would go the way it did for you?) – “I mean, I have a high expectation for myself, I always have. I’m not really surprised. I put in the work going into this and studied my butt off, worked my butt off to get to this point. So whenever it gets out there on Saturday’s, the work is done. That’s just the process I’ve went through and I’ve trusted and that’s really helped me out on game days.”
Raheem Mostert – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Eagles
RB Raheem Mostert
(You guys ran the ball effectively and that was something that we hadn’t necessarily seen, what did you think about that– and can you be consistent in running that?) – “Yeah, the preseason is all about fine-tuning things, especially the last game. You want to figure out what we want to work on. I know the running game hasn’t really been there the previous two games, but when you have to sit back and watch the film each week and critique yourself as an individual, as a player— especially, in the running game. It is very vital that you go out there in the last preseason game and try and put on what has been missed the past few games. That’s what we’ve been trying to do and it has worked.”
(What do you like most about the way Head Coach Mike McDaniel draws up a run game?) – “I’m used to it. I know exactly what he is going to be doing. I’ve been with him for six years, so nothing really shocked me other than his personality. He’s starting to become a little more different than what I was used to because he was quiet a little bit – a guy that was mostly behind the scenes. Now, he’s a frontrunner, so it’s just awesome to see him grow.”
(I know it’s preseason and you have the offense probably a little more productive than we will see in the regular season, but were guys kind of scratching the surface of what we might see in the first two series?) – “Yes, guys were scratching the surface. I know me personally, coming back from an injury I was a little skeptical about how I would be getting my first carry. But once I got that hit in me, it was all new again, all fresh and I was just ready to go – ready to get more handoffs, ready to get more action out there. I picked up a blitz, so I felt good. That was really vital for me, because like I said I haven’t been in contact – it would have been a year in September.”
Sony Michel – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Philadelphia
RB Sony Michel
(The run game had big game tonight. How did it feel to finally let that loose and show fans that “hey we can put it together too”?) – “It was great. To just get out there and have opportunities to run the football and I think we ran the football pretty well.”
(And for you guys to also put it in the end zone as well and for you to be back home, to hear those cheers for you finding pay dirt?) – “You know that’s the goal whenever we run the football, anytime we’re on offense, is to try to get it in the end zone and that was our goal and we were able to accomplish that today.”
(The first play of the game, to see that up close and personal finally come together, Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill, what were you guys thinking?) – “It’s just kind of practice execution. We see that every day in practice. And it was able to come to life today and it’s always great to see what you practice come to life in the game field.”
Tua Tagovailoa – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Eagles
QB Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Opening statement:
TUA TAGOVAILOA: First and foremost, I would like to extend my condolences to Jason Jenkins and his family. I think what made this so hard is that it was unexpected. He was extremely close to a lot of us on the team. From when I got here I was extremely close to him. I grew close to him waiting for Anne (Noland) and just being able to talk stories with him before my media. I couldn’t imagine what his family is going through right now and waking up not thinking that this was going to be his last day here. I want to send my condolences to his family. I think through our team win I’m glad we got to do that for him.
Q: What stands out to you about the kind of man Jason was and what he represented for this organization?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say that Jason was a beacon of the community. That’s what I think of when I hear of Jason’s name. This guy is always wanting to do stuff for other people. ‘Hey Tua, how can I help you with this? How can we help with your foundation? Hey, how can we do this to make that better or do you want to come do this community service event?’ Things like that. That’s what I think of when I think of Jason. Someone who is extremely selfless.
Q: You found out after the game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Just found out after the game.
Q: What must have it been like in the locker room when McDaniel gave you the news? It must have been hard.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It was emotional for a lot of guys and a lot of guys that have been here for quite some time that got to know him. We won a game. We expected Mike (McDaniel) to be the very optimistic guy after the game giving out game balls and that wasn’t the case. Mike got a little emotional in there. There were some other guys who were able to talk that also got emotional and he broke the news. It’s tough. Anything having to do with a life of someone who had great relationships with people in the organization, it’s hard.
Q: Can you tell us about the first play, hitting Tyreek Hill deep, and what that meant to be able to connect with him the first time on the field with him?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It was good. We had to decide with plays what openers we wanted to go with. So knowing that Tyreek was playing, he wanted a go ball. We gave him a shot. The throw wasn’t to my liking. That whole spiel. If it was a better ball, if it was probably more in front of Tyreek, you know, we could have scored on the first play probably. You know I think it’s a credit to the practices that we’ve had with the Eagles and how hard our guys have been working. Not just this week but all training camp and OTAs. It’s really good that people finally can see the hard work that we’ve all been putting in together.
Q: What do you think overall of the three scoring drives there that you had?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I thought they were good. Obviously there’s always going to be things to get better at, but I credit all our success to our o-line. They worked their butts off extremely hard throughout OTAs and then coming into training camp. They’ve worked extremely hard to get defenders to read keys and make everything look the same basically. None of that would have been possible within the run game and then the play pass game without our o-line.
Q: When a coach wins a toss, or a team wins a toss and you elect to receive and the first thing the coach tells you is to throw it deep. I mean what’s that like as a quarterback? What kind of feelings does that bring to you?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say when we were given the play, Mike (McDaniel) didn’t necessarily tell me who to go to with the ball, but for me it was one of those deals that if we got a specific coverage from their defense that regardless of who was on Tyreek (Hill) or not, we wanted to take that shot. And so we got the premier look of what the play consisted of and that’s why we took the shot.
Q: Mike (McDaniel) said before the game that he knew what was going on with Jason (Jenkins). Could you tell a difference with him on the sideline at all?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Couldn’t tell a difference with Mike on the sideline at all. Couldn’t tell. He hid it pretty well. No one on our team had any idea or any clue that any of that had happened. It’s a sad day for us here the Miami Dolphins and our organization. We lost someone really, really good.
Mike McDaniel – August 27, 2022 (Postgame)
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Saturday, August 27, 2022
Postgame – Philadelphia
Head Coach Mike McDaniel (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Opening Statement:
MIKE McDANIEL: Let’s go ahead and get started. I’m sure you guys have heard that we lost a dear member of the Miami Dolphins organization, Jason Jenkins, Senior Vice President of Communications and Community Affairs. Yeah, we’re just going through the process in grieving with the team. I just told them about it. Right now football pales in comparison to what all the people that were really affected. The list is long from Jason and his walk of life and his wife, Elizabeth, and his children, Liya, Aiden, and Sloane. I haven’t been here that long, but his investment into the team and the community, it didn’t take long to see the great work he did. I mean, I didn’t see a day that — there wasn’t a time — there wasn’t a day that passed that I saw him that he just didn’t light up the room. Like I just told the team, it’s important for those who loved him and were touched by him and all the members of our team to lean on each other. That’s what we’re going to try to do. Our hearts are heavy, as they should be, for an unquestioned professional that’s made his mark on not only the team but the National Football League. Like I told the team, I thought their effort today reflected what would bring him joy as best we could. This was unexpected and very hard. Thoughts and prayers just go with his family. I’m not really sure what I do after this.
Q: If I can ask you a question about the relationship you had with Jason? You said you haven’t been here very long. What impression did he leave with you, and how do you think this organization will remember him?
MIKE McDANIEL: As consistent as I have ever seen, from his wardrobe to his spirit. He was the nines. That’s why it makes it so tough. This is a healthy, healthy guy that just brought it every day. You know, he worked at the stadium. I’m not sure how many people that I feel like I know from the stadium. I would love to know more, but on a day-to-day I don’t get to interact with all the people as much as I would like. For him to make such an impact, it was obvious. You can’t make that impression. You get to talk to them maybe once a week, but the impression that he made, there’s no fooling that. You could see the relationships, the eye contact, how people looked at him, how he embraced others. He was the consummate professional. I know for guys that have been around here for a while, they knew him like a family member, and I think it’s incredibly impressive, and it just speaks to the human being and his impact on all of us where I could see that in my brief time around him. I mean, he was a force of positivity. The organization has been through some stuff, and it was very impactful to me just how many people in the organization were passionate about doing their jobs well and about the Dolphins, and he was the top of the list. He was just full of life. That’s the hardest part. There’s no words to describe. He had a great family. His wife is awesome and his children, and it’s just tough. It’s a tough one to swallow, and he will be missed, but he will not be forgotten. I can tell you that much.
Q: Did you get word like all of us during halftime, or did you know a little bit beforehand?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I got word before the game. And so there was a — you know these things happen in life. You never expect them. As the head coach, I didn’t really know what to do. This was maybe a couple of hours before the game that we heard he was having trouble. Then speaking with the people that had worked with him for the longest that had spent intimate time with him for an extended period of time, I was really at a loss. Like, hey, what do I do about this because I just couldn’t stop thinking about everyone that’s affected. And I got some strong advice from in particular Chris Grier and Brandon Shore specifically that said that it didn’t matter that it was Preseason Game 3. He understood what was on the line for all the players. I mean, shoot, this particular game, I don’t even know the head count for how many people from the community that he had at the game that wouldn’t otherwise be able to see the game, and what he would want most is to see us all do our jobs as best we could. In that vein, I had to push forward, and we thought that the best thing — the thing that he would want, as best we could decipher, would be that we let the players know after, so that’s what I was just doing before we got started. It’s been a tough day for all those reasons.
Q: In the back of your head did you maybe call that first play just to kind of maybe to tribute or maybe just to lighten up the mood or something like that?
MIKE McDANIEL: Somebody said something. I can’t even remember at this point. Maybe it was Chris (Grier). I think it was Chris that said, ‘dude, he would want you to do what you do.’ So that’s all I thought of. It at least gave me direction because you’re, like, ‘Okay, what am I doing?’ But, no, when Chris said that, I was able to, all right, say, okay, I have a job to do, and then it was just all right. Once we got to the two-minute warning, it all came back. We do the best we can, like all of us. This is a part, a fixture of life. It’s a part of being human, and it’s impossible. It’s inhumane. We do the best. We all experience those things. I hate it because you feel like you can — as a head coach, you’re supposed to do stuff. You’re supposed to lead, or you’re supposed to do things, and there’s nothing for me to do, you know? I can’t make this one better, but I think we all can relate to that.
Q: I know it’s tough to talk about the game after that, but that Tyreek pass on the first play of the game, what was it like to see that right off the bat their first time playing in a game on the field together?
MIKE McDANIEL: I was just happy for those two individuals because they’ve invested a lot. I was happy for the team and the organization really because they’ve invested a lot. They know — let’s just say it was cool to see them not blink and do what they love doing. Really good players. I’m happy to call them my teammates.
Q: Are you sending the league a message with calling that on the first play? I think you did it in a scrimmage, two deep passes like that.
MIKE McDANIEL: We’re really just trying to work on our craft. You don’t know what defense they’re going to run out there. You have to execute the play, and I was happy that it was a tough look, but Tua is making that decision to throw to him while at the same time his back is to the defense. It takes a lot of training, but we were pretty confident that if we got the right look that, they would execute it. That’s why they are who they are, and that’s why we all believe in them so much.