Terron Armstead – August 11, 2022
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Thursday, August 11, 2022
T Terron Armstead
(That was probably the most 11-on-11 work you’ve had all camp. How do you feel?) – “It felt good. It felt good. I’m still knocking rust off, trying to get in a groove, get landmarks, techniques, hand placement and all of those things. Just trying to check boxes and get that work in.”
(We asked Head Coach Mike McDaniel about whether QB Tua Tagovailoa would play in the preseason game. he said that he’s encouraged by the idea of not seeing him. I’m sure you don’t expect to play any snaps on Saturday night, right?) – “I’ll do whatever the coach says. Whatever he needs me to do. So if I’m playing Saturday, I’m going.”
(Do you feel like you need those reps?) – “Always. We all need work. Everybody, everybody. You never get to a place where you got it or you’re perfect. It’s a daily progression so whatever coach feels like that is, we’re going to roll with it.”
(I saw in that final 11-on-11 period that you were in there and then you pulled yourself out. What’s it like to get close to a complete practice?) – “We’re getting close. We’re trying to be conscious of load. I get in there and I’m having fun and it’s hard to be conscious of sticking to the plan, sticking to the load. I just didn’t want to go overboard dealing with some pain. It’s time to be smart. Right now it’s still August. Getting ready for the live bullets.”
(You’ve been a part of some really good playoff teams. Where do you think this team is at now compared to what you’ve seen?) – “We’re still in the early stages. Just off roster and scheme, I think we got a really good chance to be something special. I honestly do. I think we’re extremely talented, high effort, high energy. We’ve got leaders in the right spots. We’ve got great players all over the field. It’s hard. It’s hard to go out and do it every week. We can start off 1-0 and look like a Super Bowl team, but if you don’t do it next week and the next week, then it’s all for nothing. We’re just trying to take it a day at a time. That’s really my message to this young team. Just try to do it one day at a time. We’re not playing in a Super Bowl today. We’re not there yet.”
(How did you think the first team offensive line group did overall over the last two days when you were together?) – “We did a lot of really good things. A lot of impressive work. That is a damn good d-line over there too. They have a championship caliber d-line. It was great to get those looks and styles of play that were different. We did a lot of really good things. We improved in communication. I’m really excited about that. Technique-wise, I saw a lot of guys implement things they were struggling with earlier in camp. I think Austin Jackson had a great two days. Rob Hunt too. We’re all just trying to get better – our wins and losses – and minimize those losses as we keep progressing.”
(Overall, do you think these joint practices can be a good measuring stick to where you guys are at?) – “Yes, for sure, for sure. I think you just have to understand the goal of what you’re trying to do. You are trying to see where you match up, where are your areas of improvement and your areas of strength. We’re not scheming, so we’re not going gameplan to gameplan. A lot of these plays wouldn’t be great against that Tampa defense. A lot of the things they do wouldn’t be great against the Miami offense. But we’re out here going with what we do versus what you do. In a real game week setting, it will be a lot of stuff that you saw today that you wouldn’t see in the gameplan.”
(What do you think of the way the run game is coming along and how are the guys on the line picking up the wide zone?) – “We’ve got a chance to be really dangerous in the run game. We’ve got to get more reps at it. It’s a different scheme for me and a lot of others. The running backs are getting on track – besides Raheem (Mostert), he know the offense in and out. It’s a scheme that you’ve got to get reps and know exactly where you need to fit, where the running backs are trying to go and the landmarks and stuff. That’s something we’re going to continuously work on and improve. Once we get to a place of comfort in that landmark and scheme, it’s going to be a real weapon for us.”
(I’m going to ask you about a couple of young guys in T Greg Little and T Larnel Coleman. What do you think of how they looked?) – “I’ve been impressed with those two. They’ve made huge strides, probably the most – those two I’d say, respectively, have made the most strides in this short period of time in camp. Greg is strong. He’s young but he’s a veteran. He’s played a lot of football. He’s experienced. Larnel has a lot of tools. Great tools – his length, his strength, he’s an intelligent player. Just trying to clean up technique things and getting those guys comfortable and confident with the scheme so they can play fast.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that he was pleased with how he sees guys playing for each other. I want to get your perspective of what he means by that and what it means to you guys to play for each other.) – “There is nothing more important than that. We are working for each other. Our job is to protect Tua (Tagovailoa), open lanes for Chase (Edmonds), Raheem (Mostert), Myles (Gaskin), Sony (Michel) and everybody. I’m working with Liam (Eichenberg) hand-in-hand, literally. What I do affects him. Today we had a play where they ran a stunt and I set out too wide and got picked, and the guy looped around and it would’ve been a hit or sack on Tua. That was 100 percent on me. It looks like Liam, but that was 100 percent on me. Those things, we are working together. We are working together. I’ve got to be more conscious not to get away from the protection, knowing it’s just me and him versus those two.”
(Do you feel there is a value off the field of going to dinner and stuff, hanging out in the hotel? Do you think there is a value to that for how you guys build those bonds, camaraderie and communication building?) – “For sure, for sure. Any relationship, whether it’s boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, buddies or whatever, you’ve got to spend time. That quality time and just getting a chance to know each other and bond, it’s important.”
(How much work did you get in the preseason the past couple of years?) – “Maybe none. Maybe none as far as preseason games. I don’t think I’ve played in a preseason game in a while, I don’t think.”
Austin Jackson – August 11, 2022
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Thursday, August 11, 2022
OL Austin Jackson
(T Terron Armstead stated that he thought you and OL Rob Hunt had two good days of practice. The first part is how do you feel when a veteran comes out and says something like that publicly for you?) – “That’s great. It’s just reflective of who Terron is as a person. I met him the day he got into the facility. I sat down with him and talked about what we want from the upcoming year. I told him mentally what I was looking for and obviously a guy like that with his experience, I took everything he said to heart. It’s good to hear that. We’re working every day.”
(What do you feel good about relative to your practice performance over the last two days?) – “I think I was able to transition the intensity and my execution of the course of two days. I had a good first day, finished off with a great second day. That’s what I want to maintain. That’s what I will maintain. I want to progress every game, every practice and see where that takes me.”
(How much more comfortable are you now as opposed to the beginning of last season?) – “A lot more comfortable. A lot of things happened over the course of last season. That was a great learning experience for me. I definitely feel like my confidence is at an all-time high, especially moving back out to tackle. I love playing the position. I think there’s a lot more confidence.”
(Was there a moment where you had to confidence click for you? Was there a collection of things? Was there one thing that stood out to you about maybe not being as confident to as confident as you are now?) – “Nothing specifically, no. Moving positions during the season is hard. It makes you question things a little bit more. Obviously I had to pick it up because at the end of the day, I had a job to do every Sunday. But I think definitely with my work ethic this offseason and the work ethic that our coaches preached to us during OTAs, I think that’s been able to help increase my confidence more than anything. Just having a more deliberate work ethic.”
(T Terron Armstead said that over the last few years, he hasn’t played much over the preseason and he’s not sure how much he’ll play this preseason. Would you guys like to play together at least a couple of series during the preseason before this season gets going to see where you’re at?) – “I don’t really know because I don’t make the decisions. I know we’ll play together. We’ll have our chance. We’ll have our time. At the end of the day, like he told you, he knows what’s best for his body and the Dolphins do too. I just show up and do my job when they tell me to.”
(You mentioned a minute ago that a lot of things happened that tested your confidence last year. What do you consider the main thing that challenged your confidence?) – “Just moving positions in the middle of the year. That was a big opportunity for me. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, my confidence is low now because I moved.’ It was more so of an adjustment of how to better prepare for situations. Being able to do that I think helped me execute better and allowed me to do more things, along with an improved work ethic over the offseason.”
(So playing guard probably helps you now back at tackle you think?) – “Looking back on the experience, for sure. For sure.”
Mike McDaniel – August 11, 2022
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Thursday, August 11, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Do you have any plan for how much you’ll play QB Tua Tagovailoa and the starters in the preseason opener?) – “Plans? (laughter) I was very serious when I said that there’s – I think it’s important not to get ahead of yourself. You talk about being deliberate and present every day at practice, so every practice I try not to get ahead of myself. I will say that based off of the last couple practices, I’m encouraged about the idea of not playing him. But again, that remains to be seen from what happens today and again, that has nothing to do with bottom-line results offensively. It’s more how prepared he is at practice; I just want to continue to build off what he’s building on. All those things, there’s certain players that I feel pretty confident might not play, but I do not get ahead of myself. I did talk to the team this morning about it and as far as they’re concerned, everybody is expected to be prepared to play, but there’ll certainly be players that don’t, which today will have a good impact on.”
(What is your goal to get out of the preseason? Obviously you get a lot of value from this and you will against the Eagles as well, but the preseason game itself, what do you want out of it?) – “The preseason to me – and this might blow your mind – I look at it to prepare for the regular season. It’s an extension of practice to a degree. There are elements of it that feel a little game-like, but really you’re just trying to make sure that you’re your best self before the regular season begins. So whatever that takes to get there, I think that’s something that’s important for the head coach to ultimately decide, but to utilize all of his resources and all the information there to see how to best do that as it relates to preseason games.”
(With QB Tua Tagovailoa, how do you balance the obvious injury risk versus this specific potential benefit, which is communicating to your quarterback from a sideline in a stadium during a game environment? There seems to be some potential benefit to that.) – “Exactly, so you’re weighing that and it’s not an exact science so that’s why it’s important to let all the information progress before you make an ultimate bottom-line decision. There is value in it, but every time that you don’t have a red jersey on, you have the ability to get tackled. That’s risk. There’s a lot of risk in the game of football, but you also have to weigh that upon what’s the best thing for regular season (Week) 1 and it’s a constant battle that you just have to take your time and make the best decision hoping that it’s the right decision.”
(Have you decided that you would at some point in the preseason like to see QB Tua Tagovailoa do at least a few series or quarters, something?) – “Yeah, I would be surprised if he didn’t. That being said, I honestly try to take it day by day and not get ahead of myself because if you start thinking that way, then you can start creating reasons to fit what your agenda is. I understand the value of doing both things. There’s tremendous value in preserving and going through that rep, but that’s why I don’t spend time that far out. It’s in the immediate. But yeah, I’d be surprised if we didn’t get some of that done before the regular season starts.”
(What did you see from your team after the first day in joint practices?) – “I was pumped about how they went about it. Like I kind of articulated before, there’s adjustments that have to be made by techniques of the opposing players on both sides of the ball. What I saw were people that were prepared for that which means that them and their coaches have isolated, watched and digested from a position-specific element that, okay, we can do that. I also was pumped how they played for each other, I thought. There was some really good work and one of my favorite parts about it is that there’s no score kept, so guys can really pay attention to the bottom line. Sometimes ironically – we get paid to win and you’re trying to win every game, but lost in the black and white win and loss, are the opportunities to get better. In joint practices, that doesn’t occur. It’s just straight in front of you. So then that’s what makes Day 2 so exciting for me, is to see how they handle those adjustments. That is such an evaluation and I know that good teams that I’ve been on, the collection of players make the necessary adjustments and that’s really what we’re working on for the whole season.”
(I wanted to ask you a couple quick questions about your football team. One is about the offensive line. It seems like it’s been an issue for this team going back many years, several coaching staffs. How do you feel about where your offensive line is right now?) – “You know, I’ve heard that. I haven’t witnessed it. I know a standard with which I’ve historically thought things should go. When you’re playing good defensive players, it doesn’t always go the way it should. I think like I’ve said before, that doesn’t surprise me. It may surprise other people, but that’s probably why I wasn’t as concerned as everyone else before we got to this point in the offseason. There’s some guys that are really – they’re being coached well and they’re passionately going about their business trying to make footing in the league at their position, so it didn’t surprise me. I was pleased with it, but again, there are several plays that, man, if we had performed with our proper technique, X, Y or Z might have happened. So now it’s just a great opportunity to watch guys take what they had from yesterday and apply it moving forward and hopefully see improvement as well as new ways to get better throughout the practice.”
(A bigger picture question about the defense. On offense, you guys have a lot of change, a new coaching staff and a new offense. How important is it to have that continuity on defense and trying to build off what they did last year?) – “That is a competitive advantage when you’re afforded that ability. It really is. It’s a great thing. You don’t always get it. But players are playing a game and especially on defense, you’re reacting. So the faster that you can process your assignments, the faster you can react and more comfortable (you are). You can play more aggressive and the better defense you can play. That is the ideal and I think for our defensive unit, it’s good to be going over calculus and not algebra.”
(I wanted to ask you about OL Connor Williams and the transition that he’s making to center. In your career, how many guys have you transitioned to center? I know you’ve had some guys who’ve played that position and there’s some guys who have made that transition in your many stops. What’s the biggest challenge in making hat transition? And why do you feel that’s the right route for this team?) – “Well, I do know the hurdles. You can boil it down to the simplest form. So you have to block these guys that are trying to murder your quarterback, and you have a ball between your legs and you have to snap it – that is different. That’s something that you just don’t half-heartedly pursue. It takes a particular type of person as well as athlete for you to have a shot is what I’ve learned. It was obvious from the first week that I knew him that Connor Williams had the type of disposition that it would take. You have to be obsessed. You have to be confident but hard on yourself, and it’s a process that’s daily that – to his credit, all that I think I’ve heard you guys talk about are maybe some high snaps, which means all the other snaps are pretty solid. That’s not something that I lose sight of. If you have one thing to fix, it’s a lot better than if you have 14 things to fix. It is not something that every player can necessarily execute, so I wouldn’t necessarily put that on all sorts of people. It is a tremendous challenge but one that we thought, and I feel very good about, that Connor would be up for.”
(With the understanding that we don’t have all of the information about what you’re trying to accomplish every day, I’m just curious, TE Mike Gesicki’s targets seem to be less now than in year’s past. Is that a function of your scheme? Is what you’re trying to accomplish?) – “It’s compounding. The tight end position in particular in our offense, we try not to force any behavior. We try to exploit the defense where they’re most vulnerable. You can go down the stat line of George Kittle if you wanted, where he’ll have, I think, the game before and after, one that he set a record for like the most – he was like five yards away from setting the game record for a tight end of receiving yards in the first half against the Broncos, and then the next week, I think he might have had two catches or whatever. There’s a – it’s something that we’ve talked to the tight ends about it at length, it comes in waves. There have been practices where he’s got seven or eight – he had more targets maybe Practice 7 – it was (Practice) 7 or (Practice) 8 – than Tyreek (Hill) had. It’s just one of those things that you try in the game of football, especially when you are a pass receiver at any position, to really focus on what you can control. You can’t control the defenses. You can’t control the progression. You can’t control the pass rush. There are a lot of times where he’s No. 1 in the progression and maybe the right guard or something whiffs on the three-technique. So it’s not something really to look into, it’s more executing your job. I think the tight ends as a whole, and Mike (Gesicki) in general, is confident that when the defense is vulnerable, we’ll find a way to exploit that with his pass skills. But right now, we’re just football players trying to be football players.”
(If I may just add, when you brought in WR Tyreek Hill, you brought in WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. Obviously, they’re going to get targets – they’re big-time weapons. Did you have to have a talk with TE Mike Gesicki saying, “Hey, your role might be different?”) – “We discussed it. I didn’t have to have a talk. It’s more big picture, what do you really want? Really, if you’re trying to be on a really good offense in general, it is – there are probably good playmakers, so the ball is going to be distributed. The most efficient offenses that I’ve found have pretty equitable ball distribution, because that’s what really – defenses, if they lock in on something, they get paid too, but that gives them vulnerability somewhere else. So understanding that everyone’s success helps build more success for people. The more that Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle) and the running backs and other receivers do well, the more favorable the matchups are for the tight ends and vice versa.”
(Have you been field level or coaches box for most of your career? Now that you’re obviously going to be calling it from the field, who is your primary eye in the sky?) – “It was probably evenly distributed. The beginning of my career, I majored being in the box. Then from I want to say 2012 or 2013 to 2017, I was on the field. Then I went back to the box. So I’m used to both and understand the values of both. One of the things that is important for an efficient quality gameday process is that you have other people to lean on. There’s going to be, I think it’s four or five offensive coaches upstairs with each of them having a given expertise that they’re focused on. On the headset, you’re probably going to hear – (Offensive Coordinators) Frank Smith will probably talk to me the most, but we’ll be resourcing everyone for tangible, equitable information on a down-in, down-out basis.”
(I know that you are hoping CB Byron Jones will come back, but right now you have CB Xavien Howard as really the veteran leader in a room of a lot of inexperienced young guys. How have you seen ‘X’ really go about being a leader? Because he said he feels like it’s on him to set the tone for that room and the entire defense?) – “I had never met ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) before I got this job. We had played against him once or twice, but it didn’t take me long being here to understand what he means to the rest of the players. There’s something to be said about when you do something at an elite level, you get notoriety from it. And then you continue to do it, people don’t really do that justice where they don’t have the option to show up and (say), ‘Maybe I don’t feel like being good today.’ So I think he possesses that. I think one of the interesting things is I think he plays off Tyreek (Hill) as well. Two great competitors that are prideful, that know that every day, they can’t afford to be, ‘Oh, I’m just not on,’ because of the consequences and ramifications for the rest of the team and what we count on them to do on a day-in, day-out basis.”
Tua Tagovailoa – August 10, 2022
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Earlier today, Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked a little about coming out a day early so you guys had time to build that camaraderie and team bond. I just wanted to get your perspective on being out here with the team for a whole week and the value of that?) – “It was good. We got to go out to dinner with a couple of the guys the first night. Also got to walk through the mall with the guys yesterday, with a couple guys, and then go to dinner again. I thought it was a pretty cool trip. It felt a little weird because we’re still in training camp, but we’re seeing every – we’re seeing the guys on an off day. That felt a little different for us, but it was cool to spend some time and then also be with the guys in preparation for a practice like this. So we were able to talk through some things that we don’t normally get to talk through until the day of practice.”
(Who’s picking up the dinner tab?) – “I actually picked up the dinner tab last night. That was a big dinner tab. (laughter) But it was good, everyone enjoyed themselves. I picked up the Uber, too. (laughter)”
(Where did you guys go?) – “We went to Ocean Prime.”
(How many people?) – “I can’t say. I don’t even know. I was barely talking to half of the guys, because everyone was kind of far away from each other.”
(What’s the biggest difference between practicing against yourselves and what’s the biggest takeaway from today?) – “I would say technique. Tampa’s technique is different than the technique that we face a lot in camp where we get a lot of press man (coverage). Tampa has a lot of off man (coverage), off zone (coverage). They have a fair amount of disguises with what they do, but they’re a really good team. We’re very fortunate, as a team, to come out here and be able to compete against some of the guys that played on the Super Bowl team two years ago. So it’s good work for us, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
(They obviously have pretty talented personnel on defense. How do you feel today went for the offense?) – “I would say you can never be too high, you never get too low. We’ll obviously look at the film. I think there are some things operationally that we can work on – getting guys set, understanding the snap count, just little things. But I think for the most part, it was really good to build off of to go into tomorrow with.”
(Two-part question. So you walked through the mall in Tampa, you’re the Miami Dolphins quarterback and played at Alabama. Are a lot of people recognizing you? Not a lot of people recognizing you?) – “No, no, no. I don’t think anyone recognized me. No way.”
(Does that surprise you?) – “No, no, no. (laughter) Not at all. I was wearing – you just wear some shades, a hat and a hoodie. (laughter)”
(Are you serious? They didn’t recognize you?) – “Yes. Nobody recognized me. They recognized the other guys, but then I went to the bathroom when they recognized a couple of guys, or I just walked out of the store. (laughter)”
(Who did they recognize that they didn’t recognize you?) – “I don’t know. If you guys get to interview a couple of the other guys, you guys ask them that question and then they’ll tell you. (laughter)”
(The other part is you said it was a large bill, so help us.) – “Yes, anything over $1,000, that is, my gosh, that is a lot of money. That’s a lot of money.”
(So it was over $1,000?) – “Just over $1,000, yes.”
(Fair to say in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and you’re walking around, you get recognized there, right?) – “No, no, no, no, no.”
(No? C’mon Tua.) – “I mean, yes, of course. (laughter) Yes, but I barely go out. It’s weird because every time I go out, I try to find a gas station, when I have to put in gas, where I think no one is going to be at, and then when I do get out, everyone I feel like just starts coming and pulling up. No one, sometimes, knows it’s me. A lot of older people go to the gas station that I go to. So I like it, I love it. So it’s good. (laughter)”
(I know you’re focused on your reps against the Tampa defense while Tom Brady is on the other side going against the Dolphins defense. But with him on the other side, were you able to get a chance to talk to him, pick his brain a little bit, anything like that?) – “Yes, I was able to talk to Tom (Brady). We were talking on the side for a good bit. He was just asking how the offseason was. We were talking a little about golf at the same time. But for the most part, 23 years playing, that’s a long time. That’s a lot of knowledge, so I was asking him some things and he gave me some good insight on. I’m going to keep that between me and Tom. Then if you guys want to ask Tom, you can go ask him.”
(What’s something from Tom Brady’s game that you take away? What impresses you with what he does?) – “I would say Tom’s composure in the pocket. Nothing really rattles him. When you have a guy in your face, he’s just – subtle movements and throwing the ball. I would say those are top trait qualities in a really good quarterback with him, ‘Russ’ (Russell Wilson), Aaron Rodgers, all of those big time guys.”
(The Dolphins pursuing QB Tom Brady with the tampering, did you have any reaction to that at all?) – “No. I think I answered that last week.”
(I wasn’t there.) – “Sorry. Yeah, I think they were doing that in 2019, but then I came in 2020.”
(Well, also in 2020.) – “I mean, they picked me.”
(Yeah, well it was 2020.) – “So, 2020? It’s 2022. I’m still here.”
(2021 last year.) – “Yeah, I mean, I’m still here. To me, that’s all noise at this point.”
(Does anybody else leave a tip at least?) – “(laughter) No, no one helped me with the tip. No one helped me with the tip. No, because it’s – when you put the card in, there’s the custom tips that you can’t – the guys don’t carry cash, they just have their cards. So I just had to customize the tip.”
(Do they do that thing like they do in the Miami where they add the tip into the final bill and ask you for a suggested additional one?) – “I don’t know.”
(You have to watch that.) – “Dang, they might have got me. (laughter)”
(Who’s the biggest eater on the team?) – “Who’s the biggest eater on the team? Um, I don’t know. We have some big boys, but I don’t know. I’m not too sure. I couldn’t tell you.”
(Did you get the tiny Uber or did you get the UberXL?) – “No, I got the big Uber. I had to get the big Uber and I was the one sitting in the back. (laughter) I was like, ‘dang.’”
(Was this dinner your idea?) – “No, it wasn’t my idea.”
(How did it come together?) – “It was for a buddy’s birthday. There were a couple people’s birthdays yesterday so I’ll let you guys figure that one out.”
(OL Connor Williams told us earlier that the relationship between you and he is obviously an important one. I just kind of wanted to get your perspective on how it’s going with Connor whether it’s film study, out here in practice, and just kind of how you guys are developing that relationship.) – “Yeah, it’s been really good. Every time we see each other – I mean, I sit by him in our team meetings and we’re talking about getting the guys going for the day and then just snap locations on certain plays that will help us execute the play that much better. And then just our timing with everything. He’s taking care of the front, I’m taking care of the back end with things and just us being in sync will help this offense go.”
(In what ways have you seen the offensive line developing in general?) – “I think they’ve developed a lot. You look at our run game, it makes it a little harder for guys to really read keys with the o-line because of how much stretch we do, how much stretch action we do. So it puts a lot of stress on not the front guys, but the secondary guys as well with the linebackers getting them to come up and obviously replacing them with throws and then also deeper play-pass throws. So I think we’ve come a long way and I think the guys would also say that we’re not close to where we want to be, but shoot, it’s exciting for the guys.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel is also kind of going through these kind of game reps for the first time as a head coach. How’s today in this kind of scenario? How’s the communication and everything going? How’s it been?) – “Yeah, I think the communication has been good. We’ve had some miscommunication out there on some team periods, but one of our team rules is when you fail, failure is a chance for opportunity. So we’ve had many of those opportunities today to recover from a misthrow, a missed assignment, a missed cadence and it was against a good defense.”
(DE Emmanuel Ogbah basically said they remember what happened last year against the Bucs. I’m curious how much is it on your mind?) – “Yeah, I was on the sideline throughout the game. Any competitor would want to be out there to compete against a team like that and it was just unfortunate that I wasn’t able to be out there because of my injury, but I’m looking forward to this year. We got done with our first practice with them. We’re looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll come out and see what they bring new and see what we can do to improve.”
(What do you think about WR Tyreek Hill so far and how do he and WR Jaylen Waddle complement each other?) – “I think Tyreek is, shoot, maybe the fastest guy in the NFL. It’s been Keion Crossen because he’s had many kickoff reps so he gets vertical speed every time. Tyreek doesn’t really get to open it up as much. (laughter) But shoot, everyone loves Tyreek in the organization and I think him and Jaylen do a really good job complementing each other by one goes deep – if they’re doubling him, then we’ve got another speedster coming across and vice versa. But those guys also help other guys get open on our team.”
Connor Williams – August 10, 2022
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
OL Connor Williams
(Earlier this offseason, we heard Head Coach Mike McDaniel talk about snapping the football, coming off the ball and making plays that way. I’m curious how DT Vita Vea accelerates that challenge for you in that position?) – “We’ve been only able to go against our defense and obviously we have a great defense. Being able to go against a new face and a good player like Vita that plays different techniques and a little different game than ours, it’s good to see that and it’s good to be able to work on that, just to perfect a craft at a new position.”
(What do you think the offensive line did well as a unit today?) – “I think we responded. We came into a new area and I think we all kind of came together and responded well throughout all of the groups.”
(What is DT Vita Vea like to go against?) – “He’s an islander so he’s a big ole hunker down man. (laughter) He’s down to the earth, so you’ve just got to go low on him and get under his pads. He’s a well-respected player and he’s a great player. I love being able to go against him just to fine-tune yourself.”
(What’s the different intensity in these joint practices as opposed to a real game. I would assume it’s pretty close.) – “It’s obviously pretty close. We’re all super competitors. Just to be able to go against somebody you don’t know, there are always those nerves and always that level of competition. This is the highest level, so obviously you want to compete at the highest level. It was good work today.”
(What’s your level of confidence at center this point. What are you doing to work on the snaps?) – “I’d say I’m fully confident. Over the past work we’ve been able to do, I think moving into the season,, I’m fully confident as I’ve been at any position prior to the season.”
(The snapping situation, obviously they are not errand snaps, but they are not ideal snaps from a target standpoint. How do you get that corrected?) – “That’s kind of harsh. (laughter) Obviously it’s just perfecting your craft. It’s day in and day out, just trying to hit the (strike zone). We get reps whenever we can, however we can. It’s just being able to get it in the box every time. Even in those stressed out situations where you know you you’ve got to move wide really quick right at the snap of the ball, being able to snap it and then get out, and being able to perfect that.”
(How has Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith helped you transition to center? Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us the other day that he was Ben Roethlisberger’s center in college. Did you get the sense of that or have you felt that former center mentality?) – “He’s been a great resource. He’s been a great coach and definitely knows the o-line game very well. The biggest thing he’s said to me was like Avatar, like that connection to riding that horse. That’s what me and Tua (Tagoavailoa) have to have. That’s what we’ve been forming and filling that. He’s a great coach, a great resource. You can go tell him whatever you need and he’s there for you.”
(How much has that connection grown in just the 10 days of camp?) – “Tremendously. Being able to know the guy you’re playing with, and definitely when you’re under center, you’ve got to have that connection so you know where to put the laces and everything. I think we’re getting that and growing that.”
(Is it nice to have OL Michael Deiter back and how did he look?) – “He looks good. I think he was really excited to be able to get back on the field and we’ve obviously missed him. He’s a great person and he’s a great contribution to the o-line, and we needed him out there. I think he did very well.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned before practice that the Bucs defensive front has a high penetration rate. What did you notice coming into these practices and what did you notice today relative to how they try to attack and how the offensive line can counter that?) – “Obviously every defense has their pros and cons and their focuses. They are really focused on good get off and then being able to read. With that, you’ve just got to be able to get your first steps in the ground and work in unison, get the play calls down and being able to take that initial surge and being able to extend the play.”
Mike McDaniel – August 10, 2022
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(How much can a young quarterback learn from just having Tom Brady on the other side?) – “I think it’s more about learning stuff from going against an opponent and an opponent as qualified and that has as much esteem as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – winning the Super Bowl two years ago, being in the divisional playoffs. Contrary to popular belief, Tua (Tagovailoa) doesn’t play one snap against Tom Brady. (laughter) They’ll be on separate fields, but it’s more about the quality of this organization and the type of football they play is a tremendous opportunity for really all the guys when we’re trying to play football at a high level.”
(Will QB Tua Tagovailoa be watching Tom Brady at all?) – “Again, I would actually be very disappointed if he did. He’d probably be taking a sack if he was watching him because it would be simultaneous plays. (laughter) I think again, it’s more about going against a different defense, not just schematically but how they play football with different techniques that they emphasize. Those things are a big part of the NFL game. You’re adjusting every week, so those subtle differences are huge differences. That’s what I want really, and really what I’m focused on them taking in.”
(On going against another team) – “The first part of it is a big deal. You’re going against another team so you want that rep. Guys are sick of going against each other generally 10 days into camp everywhere you’re at, so it kind of revitalizes football to a degree from the practice perspective. We’ve been practicing against each other for a long time. But then outside of that, it’s all about how we really – I’m not even that concerned about the actual outcome of anything. It’s more whether it’s a successful play or if it’s a negative play and it’s about how we respond because you know that this game, that’s all that it’s full of. You’re never just – any time you’re content or any time you’re satisfied with the last play, that’s when you get hit in the face and hit in the mouth moving forward.”
(These are only practices and I get that, but over the next couple of days, does it give you a measure of where your team is at and how far you’ve come?) – “No, every time you’re on the football field, something I really try to instill in the guys – every time you’re on the football field is telling you where you’re at. Everything else is fake. It’s all made up, so you’re exactly right. It’s something that you’re excited to see where your team is at that day and then whatever that is, can they best handle that for the next? Do you use whatever’s happening – successful or failure – you use that for the next day. To me, that’s the trick because whatever records are in the first quarter of the season, for instance, nothing is decided by that. There’s countless number of teams that are 4-0 that don’t make the playoffs. There’s teams that start behind the 8-ball. I think I was on a team last year that was 3-5 and we were in the NFC Championship game, so it is all about that day and it tells you a lot, but then even more so, you get an opportunity to figure out what they’re going to use with whatever the result was for the next day which is why we’re all so pumped to be here.”
(You mentioned that you’re going to make sure that everyone knew the rules of engagement going into today, so what are the rules regarding tackling, blitzing, fisticuffs and shenanigans?) – “The shenanigans, that’s a subjective thing. A lot of things that you guys perceive as shenanigans by me are not shenanigans. (laughter) Really, we’re approaching it like it’s exactly like we approach our own practices where it’s important to me for guys not to fight with their teammates. Sometimes it happens, but you make sure that players understand why anything outside of the whistle is only hurting the team and there’s a lot more implications in whatever you’re doing than just yourself. So we’re handling in terms of tackling those things the same way that we’ve done in practice where if you have a direct shot on someone, we’re thudding up. If you’re on the side of someone, you’re protecting the team because there can be unintended consequences about drilling somebody on the side. And then we’re taking tracking angles and tagging off down the field in space. So it should, and the way that I addressed it, was the same way that we’ve been in Miami Gardens. That this is to get you better. Anything outside of getting people better, we don’t really have time or patience for that.”
(What are your thoughts so far of Todd Bowles and the opportunity he has in Tampa?) – “I’ve been familiar with Todd for a while and I have nothing but the utmost respect for his defense. His coaching ability as a head coach, he commands respect but is himself. I really respect that. The bottom line is his teams play hard. They always have whether he’s been a position coach, coordinator or head coach. Whatever his elixir is, he inspires his players to play very inspired football which is why it’s a great challenge for us to bring our energy and our commitment to each other out here against this whole opponent who’s extremely formidable and should be outstanding work for all of us.”
(Just given what happened with the organization last week, is there any awkwardness…?) – “For me, nothing happened. Everyone else is the one making it awkward. IT doesn’t occupy a single iota of space with anybody. It’s hard enough to be good in this league. As the Miami Dolphins, all of our energy is very coordinated and only has to do with us getting better and everything else would be an opportunity cost that we’re not willing to expend.”
(You guys traded TE Adam Shaheen yesterday. Do you guys feel good about your tight end depth?) – “Everything in NFL training camps, I’ve always thought it was kind of funny. Like, general managers are working day in and day out while the rosters stay the same, so different opportunities come across your board and Chris (Grier) is outstanding about communicating and talking with a bunch of general managers about everything and the bottom line was to Adam Shaheen’s credit – he’s a well-thought-of NFL player as he should be – and to our tight end room’s credit, we thought that we could afford investing in the future draft capital because we felt pretty good about the position as well. So the nature of trades, both sides end up having an advantageous situation. This is why they agree upon the. So we were happy for Adam, we were happy for the Dolphins that we could do that.”
(How do you balance getting plays that you want to see … versus maybe showing too much of your hand in the preseason period against the Bucs?) – “No, it’s always – you’re always thinking about it. There’s a million different types of decisions that you have to make as a result. But the main focus, it was a little easier for me and our coaching staff with this joint practice because we just really want our players to go out and compete with a winning organization and put our best foot forward. I think there’s some of that chess match, but at the same time, there’s a lot of overlapping plays in the National Football League. So putting too much into ‘We can’t do X, Y or Z,’ isn’t the best thing as well. It’s kind of a fine balance.”
(As a first-year head coach, what do you hope to kind of get out of this experience, just observing how another organization operates?) – “You know, whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate, I’ve been – this is my seventh different franchise. I feel like the biggest thing is I just want the players to go through the emotions of what a joint practice is, especially against a good team. When you’re fortunate enough to practice against a good team, guys want to do well. And in that process, one of two things is going to happen. They’re either going to do well, or they’re not – either way, it’s our job to make sure that they understand that how do you use whatever happens to benefit you moving forward. So I just want to see a group of guys that are committed to this practice, which I think we all see that, and then I want to just play the hand that’s dealt after the fact and after we watch the film.”
(What have you learned about how your team responds to adversity in your few months here?) – “That’s such a big deal to me. That’s one of the pillars that we talk about a ton. Adversity is relative, and I think that we’re had our own set and our own share of adversity internally with little things that don’t go the way you want them to go. In that thus far, that’s one of the reasons I love the guys and love the team, because they’ve responded exactly the way that they’ve been called upon at each and every turn, so in the game of football, like the game of life, now we’re moving forward and steadily awaiting whatever piece of adversity falls our way in the near future because it’s not if but when. And when that happens, I’ve gained a lot of confidence in how they’re going to respond.”
(Once games begin to be played, are you willing to put WR Tyreek Hill or WR Jaylen Waddle on punt returns or RB Raheem Mostert on kick returns?) – “I’m willing to do anything at any given time at any moment. (laughter)”
(This is the only time you’ll be on the road before the Week 2 game in Baltimore. What’s the value of having the guys together on the road?) – “Tremendous value. We traveled down here on Monday before a player’s day off purposely, because this is where you get a lot of camaraderie. Guys have so many things going on in their lives, you spend a week together and there’s no where to go but hang out with each other, and I think that over the course of my career, I’ve found that to be extremely beneficial. You end up looking back at these type of days when you’re reflecting upon the entire season, and a lot of times, this is where the bonds solidify which is why it’s one of the cool experiences that we’re fortunate to do.”
(What do you hope to see from the offensive line group over the next two days?) – “That’s a great question, because there’s – like any NFL defense, the offensive line play is a game of inches, but every NFL defense has a different way that they play football. It’s not just Xs and Os on paper like structure; it’s how do they defend blocks. This group is awesome at coming off the ball. Amongst the entire league, they’re one of the top teams in defensive line penetration. They really launch off that, and that’s an adjustment for our guys, which is – I’m not necessarily concerned with the first play or the first period. In the game of NFL football, you’re mastering the week-by-week adjustments, so I want to see a progression of tailored techniques to what they’re seeing. It’s going to feel different. You watch tape, you know that it’s different, but you don’t get the true feel until it’s live bullets, and I want to see guys progress as we go and adjust their techniques to fit who they’re going against, which will be the name of the game in the regular season.”
(How would you describe the offense and what has stood out to you so far?) – “The Miami Dolphins offense? Offensive. (laughter) I think it’s a hungry group of individuals that are really getting into playing 11-on-11 football. What I mean by that is we’ve really started to see in the last week or two, every play you guys watch, you see 11 guys working together unselfishly for the sake of the offense. I’ve seen – we have some speed on our offense, everybody knows, but what I’ve seen is coordinated efforts to establish techniques. As far as defining it, hopefully, the idea is that we’re a good offense, but for anything like anything in life that’s worth anything, that’s hard to do. It doesn’t really matter if we’re executing on the Sunday the last time we practiced against each other or we’re executing against Tampa, we’re building all of it. We should be building toward Week 1, and then after Week 1, we should be building to Week 2. In that process, the players and the play of the players will define it. It’s something that I don’t have a cool, catchy phrase to really define, I guess, but it’s hopefully good. (laughter)”
(Is there an open competition at the returner spots?) – “There’s an open competition everywhere. Shame on me if I’m anointing for no reason. There’s – we have a lot of people that have the ability to return the ball in the punt and kickoff game. During the season, we plan to utilize everyone that makes the most sense for the team. Remember, special teams yards are yards – same as defensive years given up, same as offensive yards gained. So we’ll use our players to best move the ball down the field to score touchdowns or stop other people from moving it.”
Emmanuel Ogbah – August 10, 2022
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(Do you get fined for criticizing refs at joint practices? – ”(laughter) No. I try to stay away from the refs because we’re going to see them during the season too.”
(They didn’t even give you that sack.) – “It’s all good. That’s what practice is for. We’ve just got to keep getting better even though they don’t count.”
(Is there a sense of a little more anticipation to go up against the Bucs’ offense given how things were in the regular season last year?) – “Oh, yeah. We’ve been waiting on this day. We feel like we got embarrassed last year. We’ve got to go out there and do better this year. It was a good practice against them and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
(You got you hand up on a batted ball. Almost midseason form with that timing. How did that feel to get that?) – “We had a game on. Zach (Sieler) had the guard and just pulled him. I came through clean and batted the ball. I got in front of the quarterback and put my hands up because he was getting the ball out quick.”
(What was the chirping going on at the end? Was that a part of the action?) – “With who? There was a bunch of chirping going on. I don’t know which one you’re talking about. We’re just competing against each other and getting each other better.”
(Is that the cool thing about this? That’s what gets you guys going?) – “It’s fun going against another team. You get tired of hitting your same offense over and over. It’s fun going against another opponent.”
(After you knock down a pass like you did, will you say anything to QB Tom Brady? Will you chirp at him?) – “No. It’s next play. The down’s not over. It’s the next play.”
(How did you guys feel going against someone else?) – “I would say this – we started off slow. We got to pick it up. Good thing we have tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ve got to pick it up fast and start fast.”
(How much juice does S Brandon Jones bring? It seems like he was mixing it up himself.) – “I love B-Jones. He comes down to hit somebody. He brings the energy to the team and we want him to keep getting better as a young player. Just keep getting better every day.”
(How much pressure do you think this group is going to get on the quarterback during the season?) – “As good as we can. We’ve just got to go out there and be dominant and help our offense get going. We all work together.”
(How do you feel about the pressure the group applied today in today’s practice?) – “Like I said, we started off slow. We picked it up a little bit at the end, but we’ve got to start faster. We can’t start that slow no more.”
(Do you know how much the first team defense is going to play Saturday? Have they told you?) – “I have no idea. I couldn’t tell you that.”
(I know it’s hard to tell from a practice. But do you feel like you’ve made up some ground on that team? That you are their equal?) – “I wouldn’t say that. We’ve still got to go watch film. Like I said, we started off slow so we’ve got to go back and watch film to see what we struggled at and what we did good at and just build on that.”
Xavien Howard – August 10, 2022
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
CB Xavien Howard
(How did it feel to finally go up against somebody wearing a different color jersey?) – “It feels great. I feel like we’ve got to start fast and finish strong. I feel like we have to have a sense of urgency around the ball and on the defensive side, that’s what I’ve seen mostly. It feels good though, to see a different jersey.”
(Last year’s regular season game was tough day for you guys against Tampa. Did that provide any sort of inspiration, any sort of energy for you guys?) – “Yes, the – when we were back at home, I already knew about it. That was on my mind 24/7. It still is. So I feel like that brings a little bit of fire to it. I feel like if you want to get motivated, you can watch that game, the people that were there last year, and they see what they did to us.”
(I know you still have CB Byron Jones on the team coming back from PUP, but right now, it’s you as a veteran and a lot of young guys in that position room. What has that been like, just kind of working with them, kind of mentoring them and really overall, your transition from a young guy to a real vet on this team?) – “I feel like it starts with me. I feel like I have to set the tone for the guys. The guys are getting better – I feel like everybody is getting better each week. I feel like we just have to keep striving. I have to take that leadership role in the cornerback room and set the tone.”
(When you set the tone, what do you tell them? What are some of the main principles that you want them to hear?) – “Make plays. Make plays, that’s what I do. So setting the tone by making plays out there.”
(What’s the most beneficial about these joint practices?) – “Man, really just to see somebody different. Especially – you get to compete against the best, especially Tom Brady. What can you ask for more? The guys (like) Julio (Jones), some of the guys are injured so we didn’t face them, but just competing with the best.”
(How do you think the defense did overall today?) – “I feel like we definitely can get better. I feel like we’ve seen a lot of stuff on film, but we just have to go watch film and see what we can get better at. I know there are a couple things we can get correct.”
