Raekwon Davis – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
DT Raekwon Davis
(After your guys’ big performance against Baltimore how do you think you guys followed it up against the Jets today?) – “It was a little sloppy, but you know, we got it done. Started off a little slow. Got the dub so we are going to go back, look at the mistakes we made and try to correct them.”
(I wanted to ask you because this is a collection of games where your presence has helped the defense limit teams and opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards. Do you feel like you’re making that kind of impact?) – “Yeah, I am. It’s a team effort, but I just try to get better and better at my position. I try to control what I can control.”
(How much pride do you take in the fact that you’re doing what everybody hoped you would do for this defensive line?) – “I don’t know. (laughter) I’m just getting it done, that’s it. Do my job, that what I get paid for.”
(With this performance that you guys had, how confident are you that you can defensively can lock it down and contain teams if your offense can score 24 points?) – “When we all come together and are communicating, just everybody on the same page, it’s a great thing. We’re all just on the same page.”
(What was it like for you when you were sitting and watching and could not play and watching the team struggle when they were losing?) – “I couldn’t do anything about it. It was out of my control. I was just, in my head, just looking at the little things and then when my time had come, I would just tell them what I took out of being out that long, looking at the team to try and just get better and try to help out.”
(What’s it like at the end of games when you can watch your offense put together these long time consuming drives and put the game away?) – “Great. You know I’m an early guy so I was already done (laughter). I was already done when they went in their pass mode so I was already done. I was done early but it was good watching the guys go. Tua (Tagovailoa) throwing the ball down the field getting it done.”
(So you do play defense in those four-minute offense situations. What’s it like when a team is just running it down your throat and you got to get them off the field and there’s really nothing that you can do?) – “When teams do that it’s just like a slap in the face. It’s just tells us we need to play our football, play Miami defense and get them off the field.”
(Who did your chain man?) – “(Laughter) Man, a guy in Houston, Zo Frost.”
(He does a lot of players’ stuff right? He’s kind of a big deal?) – “Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, he does all my jewelry.”
(What does it say because we can’t read it?) – “It says ‘Meridian,.’ It’s my hometown.”
(Do you know Big K.R.I.T. at all?) – “Yeah, I do.”
(Like personally?) – “I wouldn’t say personally, but we say what’s up when we see each other.”
Duke Johnson – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
RB Duke Johnson
(What’s it like to contribute to – you’ve been here and you’ve seen nothing but wins – but what’s it like to contribute to a win especially in a game where you guys killed six minutes off the clock?) – “Every little thing helps and I think it goes back to actually the guys on practice squad and the looks we get during the week on offense and defense to kind of get us ready for that moment. And it’s just up to us to go execute so for me it was a good moment especially doing it for my home team.”
(I was going to ask as a Miami kid, what does it mean to be playing for the Dolphins…?) – “I’m enjoying it. I’m taking it all in day by day just hoping I can keep it going.”
(What was it like to be unemployed in the NFL?) – “Man, it was a happy-medium because unemployed – yes, traveling a lot, trying to get on a team, trying to get it. Doors not opening; that’s fine. I spent time at home with my family kind of enjoying that because I know normally around that time I would be in someone’s training camp probably 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. So I took that time to really enjoy with my family and stay home with my family thinking I was going to be in a different state, but I ended up home which is definitely the biggest blessing I could have.”
(When you are away from the game what do you miss? What do you realize like “oh man, I miss this part”?) – “I think it’s the relationships. The relationships you create with the guys, the coaches and just being around something that you’ve been doing since you were a kid whether it’s new guys or old guys. Ever since I was maybe 6, I’ve been introduced to a new group of guys, and just kind of learning and experiencing things with them and just kind of feeding off them and just growing.”
(You got a couple of fourth quarter carries in your first game with the team. That must confirm some measure of trust with the coaches. How did you go about doing that after arriving?) – “Just doing my job. Really just doing what they ask whether it’s special teams, practice squad. Just doing my job and not complaining because I know everything I do helps the team whether I’m actually in there or not.”
(You’re out there killing the first-team defense) – “I’m trying. I’m trying. I wouldn’t say killing, but I’m trying. (laughter)”
(So your connection to the Dolphins – how far back does it go as a spectator?) – “Since a kid. I think since I’ve been playing football, for real. Just being the home team – anything Miami typically. Heat, Marlins, Panthers, Dolphins. So I’m a Miami guy. Went there – Miami Hurricanes. I’m Miami through and through.”
(You grew up in the neighborhood I guess in the shadow of the stadium. What do you remember…?) – “My high school. My high school is maybe 10 minutes up the road. Won the state championship my senior year of high school, went my junior year. I have good memories. I still have a lot of friends and family that stay close so it gives me a chance to go out to Norland and speak to the kids and hang out with the coaches and just continue my roots.”
(Your favorite Dolphins player growing up was who?) – “That’s tough because… The big three – Zach (Thomas), Jason (Taylor), Ricky (Williams) – was my big three.”
Jaylen Waddle – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
WR Jaylen Waddle
(What is it like to see everybody like WR Mack Hollins make these big plays and you haven’t caught a 65-yarder from QB Tua Tagovailoa yet?) – “It’s exciting. It’s a play that we went through, it ain’t nothin like when a play you worked on actually works in the game. So, it’s exciting. I’m happy for everyone when their number is called and they make the most of it.”
(How close were you to breaking that one on the sideline in the fourth quarter?) – “I was close, I thought I had it. He did a good job of making sure I got out of bounds, but I thought I was going to tight rope. I saw a lot of green.”
(It seems like whenever you guys are in the red area like the tight red area, inside the 10-yardline, it seems like they are always trying to put the ball in your hands. How does that feel as a playmaker on the team?) – “It’s good just knowing that they trust me to have the ball in those type of situations and critical downs like that. It’s good. I feel good throughout the week just knowing that.”
(What impressed you the most about QB Tua Tagovailoa today?) – “It didn’t really impress me. He plays good like that all the time. Nothing really impressed me or like wowed me. It’s just the usual, he came to work.”
Emmanuel Ogbah – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(You got to break it down for us, you seem like you’re the master of batted balls. How do you get your hands on a pass every single game?) – “Practice, instincts, too. I know the ball is coming out hot so best-case scenario, you just put your hands up and bat the ball down. That’s how I do it.”
(It didn’t take too much time for you guys to get back there, QB Joe Flacco was getting the ball out pretty quick. I’m sure you guys went into it thinking that right?) – “Yeah I know coming off the Baltimore game, I know they going to have answers for it. I know they were going to try to get rid of the ball quick so the best thing you can do as a d-line, as a defense is just get your hands up and try to get there as fast as you can.”
(Can it be frustrating?) – “Yeah it’s frustrating but we’re still stopping them from making a play so that’s good.”
(What do you feel like the defense did best today?) – “We played together. They had some good plays on us and we just didn’t go down. We just kept on fighting until the very end. I’m proud of us.”
(When the offense scores 24 points, how confident are you that you guys can take care of your business and maintain your lead?) – “We just need them to do their job and go and do ours. It’s a team sport. They got us some points and we put them back on the field.”
Tua Tagovailoa – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by N.Y. Jets)
On the touchdown pass to WR Mack Hollins…
Yeah, it was a progression on that play. In the first progression of that play was Mike (Gesicki) and when I came off of Mike, there was about three people including the safety who were on him. Then when I turned out, Mack was wide open so I threw it down to him and he made the play, obviously scored for us, came back to the sideline and realized how open he was.
On if there’s any plays more relieving than going through your progressions and seeing a guy that wide open…
That’s just part of the game, that’s what I could say. It was definitely a big sigh for us offensively because we really wanted to find our rhythm in the game. Obviously, the interception, turnover, stopped us, but I would say that’s what I’m most proud of of our offense. We continued to put our head down, continued to fight. We had some mishaps, but it didn’t matter we just kept going.
On the drive where RB Myles Gaskin scored, how big is it to have a drive that eats up the clock and extinguishes games…
I think those types of drives are very key. Especially ending those drives in points, I think that’s very key. Obviously, that’s kind of what we wanted to do this entire game, it didn’t happen, but like I said, I’m very proud of all three phases, just continuing to play and trying to play complimentary football.
On what were the keys that led to the high completion percentage today…
Just my keys. Whoever I was reading in the RPO game, whatever my progressions told me to work, that’s what I did.
On the interception…
It was just a bad ball. It would have had to have been a good throw to Jaylen (Waddle) as well. There’s some pressure, that’s just part of the game, so we took that and like I said, very proud of how we came back from that to win the game.
On what happened in the moments leading into the touchdown pass to Gaskin…
Yeah, I was really looking to hit Durham (Smythe) on a quick out that he had. Durham was open but I felt like I was late to that read, so next in my progression would have been Myles so tried to stand in there and Myles came in and threw it to him.
On if there have been more discussions on trying to test defenses in different ways…
I just think we’re trying to do everything possible for us offensively to find ways to get the ball moving down field. With these trick plays if they’re there, they’re there, if they’re not then live to play another down.
On the tempo of the first drive and what he liked about it…
I think the thing that I like about going fast-paced offense, tempo offense, it forces defenses to communicate with the linebackers to the back end, to the d-line, what front they want to be in, all of that. Then when you do get things going, those guys up front get a little tired and that’s what I’d say I like about it.
On being one of three quarterbacks from the last three draft cycles in possession of winning records and learning how hard it is to win in the NFL…
Well, I learned it last year. It’s not easy at all to win and then obviously the mishaps and the ups and downs that we’ve had this year, but that’s what you love about this game. You never know what’s going to happen and that’s why you prepare. I’d say that’s the challenging part and that’s also the fun part of playing my position, but also playing football.
On what he’s learned this season…
I would say I learned a lot more being able to play and then also being on the sideline, understanding a little more of the protections, understanding where guys need to be within their route distribution and then also for myself, stepping up in the pocket, maneuvering my way throughout the pocket and then finding the open guys.
On how the offensive line played…
I think the o-line did good. I put us in a bad situation towards the ending of the game taking that sack but then obviously it was a penalty which is good. It got wiped away so other than that I thought it was good.
On how watching from the sidelines when he was out has helped him and if that process is something he picked up from his first year at Alabama…
You know, I’d say no only because the amount of information that you need to know weekly is always different, it’s not the same things you’re really taking in to the game. It’s always dependent on what the defense runs and what kind of coordinator it is, so it’s different. At Alabama you just knew where the guys lined up and you just go out there and play. Whereas in the NFL, you have to know what everyone is doing, the protection, where you’re hot, we could go on forever about that.
On his pajamas…
Oh yeah, the pajamas? Yeah, I love Christmas and I have three dogs, so I got dogs with Christmas hats on, that’s all it is.
On having Christmas pants on before Thanksgiving…
Trust me, I’m thankful for a lot of things. I really am, but Christmas is just – I’m a big Christmas guy.
On if he’s a skip Thanksgiving and begin celebrating Christmas person…
No, I mean, what I’m saying is I’ll wear Christmas things, but I’ll still celebrate Thanksgiving. We’ll probably have a couple teammates coming over this Thursday.
On being thankful for Christmas…
Thankful for Christmas, thankful for the Miami Dolphins, thankful for my teammates, thankful for my family, lots to be thankful for.
Brian Flores – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by N.Y. Jets)
On getting their third-straight win….
It’s always good to win. Our guys played hard for 60 minutes. We knew it would be a tough game and a tough environment against a tough team, and that’s what we got. We were able to make a few more plays than they made.
On what has worked on offense lately…
I think it’s just truly a series of things: good preparation in meetings, in walkthrough, in practice, execution in practice. That gives you a chance to execute in the game. We’re seeing some of that, and we made enough today, but we’ll just keep preparing the way we’ve been preparing and try to string good days together.
On what a good week of practice looks like…
Good energy, good preparation, when I ask questions in a meeting guys will have the answers. They have a good understanding of what we’re trying to do, what our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses are so when asked, they can answer, and then it looks like they understand the things that we talked about in meetings and practice. So generally, that’s kind of the thinking.
On what led to the sloppiness of the team in the first half and the way the team bounced back in the second half…
I think it always comes down to execution – our operation, getting in and out of the huddle offensively, defensively and in the kicking game, communication. And look, you’ve got to give credit to the Jets, they created some situations that forced some communication issues for us. I thought they did a nice job and had a nice game plan, so credit to them. They played hard, they made some plays for sure, we just made a few more plays than they did.
On if there has been an effort between the coaching staff to be more creative in play-calling with trick plays…
I think we always want to be creative, really in all three phases. You’ve got to practice them, you’ve got to feel good about them, not running them from practice. We felt good about some of the plays we ran today, had some success. Some of them we didn’t really execute the right way – I’m thinking about the one in the low red – but I think again, we did enough. We always want to be creative and try to run plays that are going to get us positive plays. Some of those trick plays allow us the opportunity to do that.
On how he felt about the execution at the end of the half…
We had an opportunity to kick a field goal, Jason (Sanders) missed it, but Jason came right back and made one at the end when we needed it.
On QB Tua Tagovailoa’s performance today and how he would assess where he is right now…
I think he’s getting better every time he steps out on the field. I think he made a lot of good decisions today. I thought we moved the ball pretty efficiently, especially in the second half. Those drives in the second half are big drives, and I think we answered their score with a score and then we were able to go up two scores with the next drive. Tua is leading the way from that standpoint, so I think he’s playing well. I think he played well today, obviously there’s some throws he wishes he had back I’m sure, some decisions he wishes he had back. I think we all feel that way, that’s how everybody feels after a game, but he made enough plays for us to win.
On his FDNY shirt…
My uncle is a fireman – or he was a fireman – he’s retired now. He was very instrumental in my life and he gave me this shirt. His work for ladder 118, they were one of the first fire houses to go in on 9/11, and no one came out of there. So, he’s been very instrumental, he introduced me to football. He gave me this shirt and I figured this would be a good time to wear it.
On how important it is to use their four-minute offense and eat up the clock like they did in that possession…
I think at the end of the game anytime we’re at the end of the game with the lead, we always want to do a great job of kind of milking the clock, using as much time as possible. When you’re on the other side of it, you want to conserve as much time as possible. So, that fourth quarter and that time of possession in the fourth quarter and in the second half is very important, something to talk about. We were able to execute it today. I thought we ran the ball, picked up some third downs, some short yardage plays. Everyone contributed to that, it was Myles (Gaskin), Duke Johnson, (Jaylen) Waddle, Durham (Smythe). I think we got contributions from a lot of different guys and we were able to string good plays together, and that’s what we talked about, just stringing good plays together. Not having one good, one bad – that doesn’t get it done in this league, you’ve got to string them together. We were able to do that and punch it in at the end, and those are the winning points.
On the status of CB Jamal Perry and LB Brennan Scarlett…
We’ve got to run some tests. I don’t want to give an initial diagnosis and come back and tell you it was different tomorrow. Both guys were ruled out, we’ll go through the gamut of tests, X-rays, MRIs, etc. Hopefully it’s not that bad, but we’ll have more information after we run those tests.
Myles Gaskin – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
RB Myles Gaskin
(What did you think about getting the ball as often as you did in this game?) – “It was good for me, but the o-line did their job today. Proud of those guys up front. I know it hasn’t been what we wanted in the past but I think we took that step today against a very good d-line.”
(This was the type of game where the offense is really starting to generate chunk plays. In the run and pass game, what do you think is starting to click for you guys?) – “I think just over the time that we’ve had, it’s been a long season. I mean we didn’t start out how we wanted to, but I think we’re just getting more hungry, getting used to it and just I don’t know, it turned out the way it did today. We were just working hard today.”
(You’ve been on these teams in recent years when you haven’t started off the way you wanted to and then you put things together. Do you get that same feeling from the team in 2020 now that you guys are starting to click late in the season?) – “No, I just think about it as every team is different. I think we’re just starting to click like you said and just starting to work. I think we had a good week of practice this week. I think that contributed a lot to it.”
(This is the fifth game in a row that you’ve had at least 15 touches. After starting the season in kind of a timeshare for lack of a better word, do you feel like this recent stretch has allowed you to get into a better rhythm?) – “A little bit. I don’t think I’ve played my best the last couple of games. I think I played alright today. I have to go look at the film but I think just keep working, whatever it may be. Obviously, with Malcolm (Brown) going down a couple weeks back, my workload kind of picked up a little bit. But I look at every week as its own so just keep working, keep your head down and keep working.”
(On your touchdown catch, I don’t know if you saw the replay after, when QB Tua Tagovailoa delivered the ball he was about to get crushed. After seeing the replay or understanding what happened what do you think about his performance on that play?) – “He was doing his job. I think ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) is here so you should probably talk to him. He was doing his job, he had a great game today so yeah, y’all got ‘Flo.’ (laughter)”
Xavien Howard – November 21, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 21, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
CB Xavien Howard
(What are your thoughts on getting a third straight win and a road win in the division?) – “It feels great. Winning on the road is hard in this league every Sunday. To get a big win in an away game feels good.”
(What do you think about the way that QB Joe Flacco played on the other side? Just your thoughts?) – “I thought he did a good job. They were making some good calls. It was a lot of quick passes coming from him. We knew that coming in that they were going to get the ball out quick and not hold on to the ball. At the end of the day, we got the win and that’s all that matters.”
(Overall how would you rate the defense’s performance? Obviously outside of the long catch and run by WR Elijah Moore there wasn’t too much behind you guys.) – “I thought we did okay. There’s always room for improvement. We are just going to watch film and see what we did wrong or what they executed on and just get back in the lab and do our work.”
(What are your thoughts on the rookie WR Elijah Moore today?) – “I talked to him after the game, he’s going to be special in this league. He’s a smaller guy, quick guy. He made some tough catches out there and I respect his game.”
(I thought you said you usually talk to the cornerbacks after games?) – “Yeah, I talked to him. I guess he trains out there with Gold Feet so he said he is coming to Florida a lot and he be watching me so I ended up giving him his props.”
(How confident are you that when the offense can deliver 24 points that you guys can do enough to produce victories as a defense?) – “Very confident. I feel like all three phases, we got to play well. Defense doing their thing, offense, everybody making plays in all three phases of the ball. I feel like if we have the confidence then it’ll show, that we’re winning.”
(We’ve seen a couple long, time consuming drives from the offense. How hopeful is that to the defense?) – “I love that for the defense. We need that break sometimes so when we get that break we come back out there fresh.”
(What’s it like to see them take the ball with eight minutes and basically kill the clock?) – “I love that (expletive).”
