Jaelan Phillips – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips
(Two turnovers in the second half. What got into you guys there?) – “Just continuing to play as we’ve been playing. Good things happen to those who wait. We just kept our head down, kept playing disciplined football, kept playing hard, kept playing for each other and, obviously, good things happened.”
(Your first interception. Is that the way you pictured it?) – “It’s funny because it’s exactly how it happened in college so I’ll take it. I got one in college and one now so far and it happened the same exact way. The quarterback getting sacked and he just threw the ball up and happened to be at the right place at the right time, so clearly my karma is all right. I’ve been living right, so I’m going to keep doing good.”
(You mentioned CB Jalen Ramsey. Only his third game back and doesn’t seem like he’s missed a step and missed training camp or anything.) – “That’s what happens when you’ve got elite talent and elite preparation and just the mentality really. Throughout that whole process I can’t imagine how tough it was for him just to see us out here playing. Obviously all the hype during the offseason and he doesn’t get a chance to come out during the regular season, so for him to come out and perform that way, it’s a huge credit to him because I know how tough that can be and he really had that fortitude and showed up.”
(Does it feel like you’re going to have to win a game in December or January like today?) – “Oh, 100 percent. I mean we might have to win the rest of the season like that. You never know how it goes and on any given Sunday in this league teams can bring their best stuff and we might not have our best stuff. I think the key is to just keep our head down and have that confidence in each other – defense, offense, special teams – and no matter what the situation is we’re going to pull it out.“
Jalen Ramsey – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
Q. Where does the clutch gene come from?
JALEN RAMSEY: God. Everything I’ve got comes from God, all my gifts, everything. All my gifts, all my blessings, they all come from God, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Q. Were you okay after the pick, you got the wind knocked out of you or?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m good.
Q. Did you – I’ve seen you do it a couple times before – but did you more or less bait O’Connell into making that throw?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m just playing football. Sometimes it’s part of the game. I guess you can call it that, make him look open a little bit and then go burst a little bit, but just playing the game the way I know how to play it.
Q. How special was it for you given everything you’ve gone through to not just make plays today but make plays at the biggest moments to seal the game?
JALEN RAMSEY: I mean, it means a lot. The game, it’s all to God, Jesus Christ honestly. I wouldn’t be here without all the grace and mercy that I’ve received in my life, without my friends and family praying over me and praying for me. And then my teammates and coaches pushing me extremely hard, training staff, as well, weight room staff, as well, pushing me extremely hard to be the best version of myself, so I just get out there on the field and I just try to prove all of them right, and all the hard work that they’ve invested in me, just try to make it come to life in the game in whatever moment that it may be. It just so happened that it was that moment but it could have been any moment where I tried to just express who I am.
Q. The Dolphins have been on the negative side of turnover margin for most of this season. Based on your experience, what kind of role do turnovers, key turnovers, lots of turnovers generally play in the results of games?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m personally not like an analytics guy, but I think like the analytics are like if you’re plus 2 you’ve got an 80 percent chance of winning, but in the same token, if you hold a team to under 17 points then you’ve got an 80 percent chance of winning. I guess it’s kind of like pick your poison. Would you rather have a lot of turnovers or like locked-down defense. Obviously you would want both, and that’s what we’ll strive to do for our defense and then our offense, to correct some of their mistakes. They’ll be explosive and do what they are. They are who they are. We’ve got all the confidence and faith in them. But yeah, it’s all good.
Q. Do you feel this is a defensive team now?
JALEN RAMSEY: No, no, I don’t never like to say nothing like that. It’s just a team. We’re all together. At times they’re going to have our back, at times we’ve got to have their back. We’ve got special teams, as well, and them guys can go out there and make some plays. Yeah, it’s just a complete team. We do have to play a little bit better complementary football at times, and we’ll continue striving to do that and be that team that we feel like we can be. But no, I would never say anything like that.
Q. Is the knee better now than it was three weeks ago, and do you think it still has room to grow?
JALEN RAMSEY: Definitely still has room to grow. I get fatigued a little bit, in the second half a little bit. Just my body overall. I do feel great. I feel extremely great. Put in a lot of hard work. But at the same time the only way to get ready for football and be really in football shape and feel like the guy I am is to play more football, and this is only my third game. Technically I’m just now ending my training camp preseason really, and then I’ve got to continue to grow.
Q. How were you feeling that last snap because you looked pretty good.
JALEN RAMSEY: I felt good.
Q. From a fatigue standpoint I was wondering –
JALEN RAMSEY: When I say fatigue, I don’t mean necessarily like my wind. I did get my wind knocked out, but I don’t necessarily mean my wind. I mean my muscles, my body, I feel them getting fatigued a little bit, legs getting a little shaky, not as crisp, so that’s something I’m still working my body into that shape, premier shape that I want it to be in. I’ll get there because I ain’t going to mind working my ass off, and my teammates are helping me a lot with that. So we’ll get there.
Q. That first interception I think a lot of DBs probably see it as pass breakup as best. Do you see that ball and you have to dive for it as that’s a pick?
JALEN RAMSEY: Again, I feel like I’ve been extremely blessed by God, with my body, my long arms, my abilities. I just tried to go make a play, and yeah, I always – PBU is cool. I always want to get a pick no matter what. It’s just different techniques at the time, if I feel like I’m in phase or out of phase, but in that particular instance I felt like I was in good enough shape where I could dive and try to go get that, and yeah, that’s just what happened.
Tua Tagovailoa – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
Q. Who gets most of the credit for maintaining the run game – RB Raheem Mostert, offensive line? Who gets the credit there?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: The entire offense gets the credit. Needless to say, our defense was able to will us through that game and help us win that game. We need to be better in the second half offensively, and it starts with me. As we came out, can’t turn the ball over the way I did, and that’s what it was. State of the union was that, and we can be a better team. We can be a better offense for our team when I stop turning the ball over and doing things like that.
Q. All the metrics offensively have been great this year except short yardage. How do you clean that up and execute that stuff on the third and fourth-and-shorts?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it takes a lot. It takes all of us. With the play, with me understanding what we’re trying to do with that play, if we have a read key, if we’re trying to hand it off, if we’re trying to pass it. We all have a job, and we just haven’t been in sync, and we’ve just got to do a better job at that.
Q. Next week you guys have a Friday game. You probably haven’t played Friday football in a while since high school. What would you tell your high school self to get to the point where you’re at today?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would tell my high school self to be right where he is. The things that have came up in my life throughout my journey, I couldn’t have foreseen them, and they’ve made me who I am as a person. My character has been built through all of those with what I’ve learned in high school, through college. So I would tell him just be where you are and just continue doing your thing. There’s nothing that I could tell my high school self that would potentially get him to the NFL where I’m at. God has a way for everyone, and that was just my way.
Q. You said that when you stop turning the ball over that the offense can click there, but is there a common theme? I know one was an interception and one was a fumble, but what’s the common theme right now in the fact that there were a couple turnovers today and you want to clean that up?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, that’s all it is. The common theme is miscommunication, and that’s starts with me. Maybe I have to talk to the guys and express certain routes to them differently, and so it all starts with me. That’s what I’m going to say. I’ve got to be better with that, and we’ll be better for it.
Q. On top of that, did you see anything specific that defenses are doing to this offense the past couple weeks, or do you see it as more self-inflicted stuff like the turnover situation?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I see it as more self-inflicted things that we do, turning the ball over, not being able to convert on downs that we should be converting on. But then again, these are good teams. All these teams are in the NFL. The NFL is a tough place to play football, and we’ll take this win and we’ll learn from this.
Q. What’s it like having CB Jalen Ramsey on the other side for your team?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It’s amazing. He got the entire crowd going. But he’ll be the first to tell you that all these interceptions, all the things that he’s been able to do has been because of the pass rush and because of the pass lanes that they’ve been practicing throughout practice. Our team is a better team having him in the back there, and like I said, those guys on that side of the ball, they willed us to win today.
Q. It’s been a long time since this team was 7-3. Just the significance of being atop the AFC East at 7-3?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, the job is not done. There’s nothing accomplished to being 7-3. But as far as our focus today, we won the game, and we’re going to take that and we’re going to learn from that film.
Q. Head Coach Mike McDaniel had mentioned that after you played the Chiefs game, the bye week, you were hard on yourself. It sounds like you’re hard on yourself again today. How do you balance your own gratification versus giving yourself grace?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I have a standard for myself just like everyone in here has a standard for themselves with how they go about doing their job, and I take pride in doing my job. And for me, if I’m not doing my job to the best of my abilities and to be the best in the league doing it, I shouldn’t be out there doing it. I’m sure each and every one of you here would feel the same within your profession. It’s not me being super hard or me not extending grace to myself. It’s just understanding, like you know you can do better. It’s to a place where I’m not beating myself up as much as I probably would have my rookie year or my second year just because of the people that I’ve had to help me through that. So that’s what I would say. I understand the state of the union, and I’m not blind to the mistakes that I’ve made, but it’s not more so that I’m hard on myself, it’s more so I know my expectation and the standard of what I can do, and it can be better, and I want it to be better. That’s really what it is, it’s being real with yourself.
Q. How do you feel physically today? You took a couple hits.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I feel good. As good as I can be with whatever week we’re in, being 7-3.
Mike McDaniel – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. I think you guys put up the yardage that we’re kind of accustomed to seeing but 20 points. What would you say was the biggest thing hurting the offense or the offensive performance today?
MIKE McDANIEL: Two fumbles, and then we didn’t take advantage of the one time we got down there, and it was fourth-and-1, so we turned it over on downs. Then there were just some things – we’d usually get the drive started – I think we had only one or maybe two three-and-outs, but there would be something, whether it was a holding call or something we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. Those are things that you expect in an NFL game. You don’t expect to score 30 every time. I think our crew will feel as though they had the ability to for this game, but hats off to the Raiders team in general. That’s a five-win team that played as hard as anybody here at Hard Rock, and they get paid, too, so we’ll learn from the stuff that we can and get better from it, but ultimately it’s a team game, and when you do come up short offensively, you need somebody to pick up the slack. To have two fumbles on the 30-ish yard line in your own territory and have that equal six points, I believe, and then to have a couple very timely interceptions, that’s what you have to do to win in the National Football League. You’re not always going to supremely execute on one side of the ball or the other.
Q. Did you feel there was some rust in the operation a little bit coming off the bye?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I didn’t feel that during the game. There weren’t that many – I was happy with the overall operation. There were times that we were changing the play based on unanticipated defensive personnel changes. They were trying to pretty much keep us off balance and not have a pattern. So there was a couple times that we were late in the play clock, but I thought overall the operation was solid.
Q. Three of the last four weeks now haven’t been up to I’d imagine the standard you would want. Has it been something common or just three bad games?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I mean, I look at a game like this: It’s not necessarily a bad game, it’s a game that we came up a little short. I wouldn’t see any consistency with that in terms of like a pattern. How many yards did we have? I mean, that’s hard to do. Again, we’ll always be super critical. To call it a bad game I think would be – I guess hats off to us for raising your standard. But I was really happy with the way the guys approached coming off the bye. I think you learn a lot about people, how they handle – you probably learn more how they handle failures than successes, and I thought guys were intentional and deliberate to another level this week. I think that our team in general has kind of captured the idea of worrying about ourselves and each opponent is very threatening, and you have to bring your best. I think there is some stuff that we’ll really see in the film in the run game that we could have had more in. They were just kind of playing soft and really, really wide. Their alignments were different. There was some space there and I thought we could have had more, but overall I’d just like to see us hang on to the ball and not have some of the mistakes that really kind of cost us. But it was the first game that I can remember not playing with Durham Smythe and we lost (De’Von) Achane early and Braxton (Berrios) wasn’t up, so I thought overall guys in different roles stepped up, and we’ll continue to progress.
Q. Speaking of RB De’Von Achane, what happened to him? He only played three snaps and he was never ruled out but obviously didn’t come back in the game?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I think it was when he came off the field mid-series and ‘SA’ (Salvon Ahmed) ran on, we had two backs in the game, I think it might have been the second series, he kind of got landed on, and it was a little painful and we weren’t – he was politicking to try to come back in the game, but I was a little worried off the rust to go and do that. We kind of held him back, and we’ll see what it looks like tomorrow.
Q. Is it the same knee that he had just come back…?
MIKE McDANIEL: Someone landed on the same knee. So that’s kind of – we just didn’t want to mess with him. We had some positive feedback from the training staff at the end of the second quarter and after halftime, but I didn’t feel like at that point that would have been fair to him.
Q. Just so focus on your defense, this is the second game in a row with a second half shutout. With DT Christian Wilkins on the drive before the CB Jalen Ramsey interception, he had a touchdown-saving tackle. Can you just touch on that?
MIKE McDANIEL: That’s Christian (Wilkins). If you ever watch him at practice and you watch him in games, he does that literally every snap that the ball is down the field. And I think on that play in particular when we go and review the film, there will be a couple guys that are salty at themselves because Christian probably wouldn’t have had to make that tackle had they had the same kind of mindset. But that’s what happens when you have players like that that have standards with which they go about their game, that you raise the level of everyone. Sometimes players don’t like to see that. They’re all competitive. When you get somebody pursuing pass to you, that sticks out to them, so hopefully we’ll get back from it, but he has continued to progress in his game all season, something that he’s done his whole career, so I’ve been very happy with him and what he brings to us is very important.
Q. With CB Jalen Ramsey, can you talk about the level of clutch he has, especially at the end of a game like this? How much confidence do you have in him individually that he can step up and make a play?
MIKE McDANIEL: I’m really hoping they throw at him, honestly. I mean, both interceptions were out of control in difficulty level. You could see him on the first one, see the ball, and he was the aggressor. I think he was behind the receiver on an in-break, and he bypasses him to get that thumbs-together catch that he’s diving for that a lot of receivers don’t make that reception. Then to track the ball down the field and to get contacted in the moment of truth and hang on to the ball, I mean, it’s huge. I think the whole team has gotten a little bit better to a degree since he’s been on our team or since he’s been back and that’s the type of effect that players of that caliber can have on people.
Q. When you look at the some of the short yardages, you mentioned the fourth-and-1 and later on the pitch to FB Alec Ingold. What would you say were some of the issues? Do you wish you had some play calls back or was it more of an execution…?
MIKE McDANIEL: Ultimately we have to – I think all the players will look at the second one. I think the first one – the fourth-and-1 I’d rather that have play call back for sure based on the defense that they did run. Every play I call, the intent is to work. I’ll always look at myself for each and every one. I think the one later in the game, I think the players will learn from that one. We had some open eligibles, and I think several guys were a little too amped up and didn’t let the play play out because we had some open eligibles and didn’t come up with anything. Yeah, those situations, it is what it is. Every single time something doesn’t work, inherently it’s like, yeah, I wish I would have called a different play that worked.
Q. Sanders made the 51-yarder for a seven-point lead. Obviously it was not an obvious decision. What went into your choice to go with the field goal attempt?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, that’s definitely not to my pattern or stereotype, but that was me adjusting to the particular game, and I was really super confident in the defense. I felt like a touchdown lead, they would really, really have to – I thought it was pretty safe. I thought those were big points, which is why I didn’t go for it, which kind of my knee-jerk. But I was adjusting to the situation.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the fourth-and-1 play where WR Tyreek Hill got hurt and then there was a play before the half where QB Tua Tagovailoa took a hit in back on the last play of the drive. You wanted the plays to work when you called them in and you had no way of knowing that Tyreek would get hurt or Tua would take a hit on those plays. How do you balance your aggression on those plays as a play caller and just trying to get more in the moment where an alternative decision could have worked, as well?
MIKE McDANIEL: I think the fourth-and-1, to me I think we would have gotten it – the reason I want that one back is because I think the execution of it could have been better, but for the execution to be better, I would prefer to put them in that exact scenario and be crystal clear. It was the difference between having a ball fake and not having the ball fake is what cost that one. The end of half, I didn’t question my decision Week 1 when I did the same exact thing. We did two of those plays starting with nine seconds and threw it down the field and got a DPI. I think you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Again, if I had a crystal ball it would be easier to call plays, but there’s an inherent risk in every play you try to execute. I knew the risks in that one, but I also knew the reward. If the defense played out the way I thought, it would be a down the field opportunity that we could have had the same situation as the Los Angeles Chargers Week 1, which those three points were pretty important.
Q. It was quite an emphatic challenge flag throw?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I apologized to those guys. I’m not a ‘look at me’ flag thrower. What was happening is I was engaged in a conversation. I told people to speed me up on the replays that they got, and then I lost track that I told people that, and I was deep into the conversation, and then people were yelling at me, and I wasn’t next to an official, so I just wanted to get it in view. It wasn’t like, ‘yeah, take that, officiating.’ (laughter) Their job is hard and I was just trying to make sure that my – I literally instructed someone to tell me and then went and got in a conversation and blacked out, so the second they got back in my ear, because I saw live that it was going to be close, so there’s people in the box that have multiple replays that can – that’s how we kind of do that whole procedure. It was just me being out of position.
Q. How would you assess Tua’s game today?
MIKE McDANIEL: I was very, very happy with Tua because I’m always wary of Tua because he is so hard on himself. I knew he was going to be frustrated with the last game, and we had so much time in between. But all of my anxiety was kind of alleviated in the practice week. I think he might have had his best Thursday practice that he’s had since we’ve been here overall as a quarterback. Then the one pick he threw was – like the timing of the play, and (Jaylen) Waddle was running to the middle, he was running the deep post, and at the time he threw it, Waddle, it was single safety, so Waddle has to make a decision to go over the top or underneath it. And at the very moment that he threw it, Waddle hadn’t made that decision yet. Waddle went underneath, Tua threw it over the top, and immediately when they came to the sideline, it was like, neither one of them was frustrated and understood it was probably one of those things that will help us moving forward in terms of how I coach stuff because that scenario had never come up. I thought he was playing very well, and he had command, and he had a very even keel disposition, which is so imperative for that position.
Q. You’ve been praised all season for the offensive effort, but the defense especially in the last couple games has been equally impressive, guys like LB Jaelan Phillips, DT Christian Wilkins. Just how impressed have you been with that side of the ball?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I told the team probably a couple weeks ago that – my personal opinion, it wasn’t if but when that would occur. I think that there’s a lot of very prideful, very high-quality players on that side of the ball, and you figure it’s just a matter of time with the way that our defense is orchestrated from a coaching perspective, starting with Vic (Fangio), but really down to all the assistant coaches, and then you see guys strain each and every week. I talk about practice a ton, which gives you a little clue that I think that’s the difference maker in professional football, and all I’ve seen are guys continuing to get better at how they prepare for games, and it’s exciting because you tell the team that it’s a matter of time before you’re able to go punch for punch in any phase, and we’re starting to see that now, so I think that just generates more excitement within the locker room and more investment into each other because it’s a lot more obvious now at the beginning of the season. There was a couple games, our first two wins, in particular that the defense, that our defense really, that we ended up winning the game in the last possession, and so the whole season it’s been kind of a team oriented game, even though there’s been a lot of conversation about the offense. But now that we’re starting to see this team ball, I think guys are that much more motivated to do the very best they can with this season because this team has a tremendous opportunity every week and hasn’t shown anything but complete devotion to each other. They like playing football together, and that’s just an example when people don’t get down, they just continue to hone in on their details and work together. It’s a cool process to be a part of.
Tyreek Hill – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
Q. I know you’re getting closer to your 2,000 goal, but when you hear the third grade class when they’re marking your stats, did you want to just improve the numbers from last game to this game?
TYREEK HILL: Man, I’m just trying to help this team win. That’s my mindset. Two thousand yards is just something just to get the fans and Twitter going crazy, but obviously the main goal for me is to win games, help this team win games. That’s my mindset.
Q. What happened with your hand?
TYREEK HILL: I got my ass popped. Unfortunately – I was able to make a play – but got my ass popped, and my hand, it was just in the middle of me catching a ball when dude helmet hit my hand. But it’s nothing serious, thought. It was just a little pain.
Q. I know obviously as an offense you want to put up more points, but in a game like this where maybe you don’t put as many as you want and the defense comes through, what’s that like to see them step up and seal the win?
TYREEK HILL: It’s good. I’ve been saying this all year. We always want to end the game with the ball. That’s our mindset because we feel like we’ve got the playmakers to do it. We’ve got obviously the head coach to dial up the plays. We’re more than capable to be able to hold on to the ball at the very end of the game to keep our defense out of those situations. But it’s a team game. That’s the beauty of the sport. You can always rely on another phase, which is defense or special teams, to make plays, and that’s what defense did today. They made plays for us.
Q. You guys obviously put up a lot of yards on the field but maybe not as many points as we’re used to seeing. Was it some bye week rust or anything the Raiders were doing?
TYREEK HILL: No, I wouldn’t say that. The Raiders, they also get paid over there, too. They’ve got a lot of playmakers, Maxx Crosby, Marcus Peters, (Robert) Spillane, those guys. They do a great job of leading that defense, and they did a great job of stripping the ball out, forcing us to check the ball down and stuff like that. Yeah, they did a good job. Their head coach has changed the mentality of that team, and you can definitely see it, and you can feel it when you’re on the football field, the way those guys fly to the ball, the way those guys are having fun. I love what they’re doing over there.
Q. Can you explain that touchdown celebration?
TYREEK HILL: I really can’t. I really can’t explain it, man. I was just fired up. Just fired up. Any time I’m able to get in the end zone, it’s a blessing. Very grateful for that today.
Q. On that touchdown, picture basically four defenders that you ran. How much did you see them?
TYREEK HILL: I definitely seen them, but it’s one of those things that our receiver coach, he tells us, man, like you guys are fast enough to split guys, and sometimes me and Waddle look at him like, bro, you don’t know what it’s like to be fast. (laughter) But that’s one of those situations that he wasn’t wrong. So I know we’re going to go back into the film room, we’re going to watch it. He’s going to be like, I told you, you guys could have been doing this since last year, and ‘Reek, if you would have listened to me, you probably would have had 2,000 last year.’ It’s just one of those things. I’ve just got to trust my speed, and that’s what I did right there. I was like, (expletive) it, if I get tackled, I get tackled.
Q. To clarify, we’re talking about Wes, right?
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, Wes Welker, the slot guy. He’s a slot receiver.
Q. Next week you guys play on Friday night. Probably the last time you played on Friday night was in high school. What would you tell your high school self?
TYREEK HILL: Man, just have fun. Just do what you’ve been doing your whole entire life when you play football, and that’s just be you, be the ‘Cheetah,’ and just play fast. That’s something I’ve always been, the fast guy, the high-energy guy that’s on the sideline to get the crowd hyped. That’s me. I’m a character. That’s just me. That’s what I would tell my high school self.
Q. What do you think of being part of a first of its kind game on Friday?
TYREEK HILL: Definitely excited about it, but obviously we’re going to miss Thanksgiving with our family, so that kind of sucks, but like I say, any chance we get a chance to play this beautiful game of football, I’m honored, blessed, grateful, all that.
Q. What do you think of Jalen Ramsey?
TYREEK HILL: Oh, he’s a dawg. He’s the best corner in the league. For him to be able to go against two of the best receivers in the league, that also helps, too, me and Waddle. We can go tick for tat with that, but the way he laid out for that last pass goes to show how much he cares about this team because a lot of guys, they’ll knock it down, they’ll say, I could land weird. But the way he just laid out for his team really shows about how he cares about his brothers. I said that on the sideline. I’m like, bro, this dude is next level. For him to be All-Pro each and every year, for him to have made all this money, he’s still out there going 110 miles an hour, and he’s the same way at practice, too, though. I love it. I love it. I’m glad we’re on the same side.
Q. With the hand, did you get an x-ray or you just came back and got it taped up?
TYREEK HILL: No, I just came back and — actually I did do an X-ray. But it was quick. One of those quick things. Then I got it taped up and I was like, I can’t catch like this.
Q. Is it something you’re going to have to manage going up to the game on Friday?
TYREEK HILL: No, I think I’ll be fine, man. The only thing I’m really bummed about, I won’t be able to play Fortnite. That’s the kind of thing I’m bummed about. I won’t be able to play video games. Which is good for my wife, though. She’s got this new show she likes. She wants me to watch it.
Q. What show is that?
TYREEK HILL: It’s called – the Tyler Perry movie, the Family Business on Netflix.
Q. Did you wear the ring on your gloves?
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, I did. I actually got to get a rubber one because playing with this one, I didn’t too much enjoy it.
Jalen Ramsey – November 17, 2023
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Friday, November 17, 2023
CB Jalen Ramsey
(How are you feeling?) – “I’m feeling like training camp mode. Got to get myself together. But it’s to be expected. I just give credit to my teammates for holding it down for me and making it easy for me.”
(How much do you feel like yourself?) – “Nah, not yet. This is nearly only my third week of playing football this year. (laughter) No, I do not feel like myself yet. But it’ll come. I feel great though. My limbs and all that, my body feels great. But in terms of knocking the rust off, being in my rhythm, not yet. But it’ll get there.”
(I asked Coach McDaniel about the confidence with this team and the aura that surrounds this team when it comes to confidence. Is it because everyone is buying in? Everyone’s kind of putting in all the work that they need to?) – “Sure. Yeah, I don’t know. We’re just putting in the work. When you put in the work, you have no reason to have doubts or not be confident in your ability, your teammates’ abilities, whatever it may be. Everybody likes to make a big thing out of ‘buying in’. That’s not really a thing. It’s either you work hard or you don’t work hard. It’s really that simple to be honest.”
(You have to have talent too.) – “Everybody in the NFL has talent.”
(Obviously a great secondary with you, CB Xavien Howard, S Jevon Holland and S DeShon Elliott. Your first experience playing with all them together Sunday, what takeaways do you have from that?) – “It was cool. We got a long way to go still. Getting more familiar with each other games, knowing where we’ll be at certain times. Getting more familiar with our communication on the field and certain things like that. That takes actually playing football together to be able to do it. That’s not something that you can go through in film or anything like that. You actually have to play football to grow in that area. So, the more football, the more we’ll continue to get comfortable.”
(Have you been aware of the Hard Knocks cameras this week? Or have they been a non-factor?) – “I’ve noticed just because they’ve asked me to do a few things. But it is what it is. It’s not my first time.”
Mike McDaniel – November 17, 2023
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Friday, November 17, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Barring a setback, will RB De’Von Achane be activated for Sunday? And are you ready to rule out OL Robert Hunt and WR Chase Claypool?) – “If today doesn’t exist, then tomorrow cannot. (laughter)”
(A true remark.) – “We have practice today. I know, patience is small. We’re prepared to, if everything goes well, we’re very optimistic about that. But you don’t know. As we’ve held our ground on, we’re not going to rush processes. But it’s been so far so good. Encouraged by that. We’ll make a decision on that after the completion of the said most important practice of our lives, today.”
(OL Robert Hunt and Chase Claypool?) – “Rob Hunt, he’ll be out for this game. It’s not that it’s that far away, it’s more that I think it’d be pretty risky this week. So we’re going to keep working, but he’s doing a good job. He hasn’t had a setback. Then Chase Claypool, he had, over the bye week, just a little minor procedure on the knee. We’re not expecting it to be – it wasn’t a major issue, but we’ll just take it week to week with him. He’s doing good.”
(WR Braxton Berrios?) – “He’s a part of a crew that there’s a couple guys that we have to get through today. For him, especially soft tissue, he plays the game one way, and it is very vulnerable if he’s vulnerable, because he knows how to go one way. (laughter) But I feel good about it. It’s a day-to-day thing with that. He’s working his way through it, and there’s a chance, for sure, that he’ll play in the game. But if not, it’s proactive. He’s definitely close.”
(OL Liam Eichenberg detailed to us that he’s been working at right guard. What went into that decision? I think he said he’s more comfortable on that side.) – “Liam Eichenberg holds the crown of versatility. The thing that really opened our eyes was the residuals of him playing center at other positions on the offensive line. There’s a certain amount of ownership that the center position takes when you’re not a quarterback Mike point when he’s making all the calls, but also you have to know the assignments. You kind of get an extra window of the vulnerabilities of a play if you kind of get (and) understand if you’re in a combination block as a center, trailing the guard, what you need from the guard. Yeah, you hear it, but you can really feel. So he’s a very, very prepared smart player. But what he’s really done is completely committed to all of our fundamentals and techniques, but then he’s kind of learned guard in a new way from the center position. So that versatility along with some consistency at some other spots of the line, it just made a lot of sense and he’s done well working there.”
(Anything in your Yale experience that helps you prepare for a certain defensive coordinator for the Raiders this week, Patrick Graham?) – “You threw me off for a second, because I didn’t go to college with him, but I went to the same college as Mr. Graham. Patrick is a great dude. When I was in the UFL for a couple years, he took the time at a Combine, I think it was 2009 maybe, to sit down with me. At that time, we were the lone Yale soldiers in the National Football League, and he had such a cool experience with winning so many games with the New England Patriots. Then through mutual friends and connections in the business, I know him pretty well. He’s been in league for a while. He was the defensive coordinator with the Giants in 2020 when we played against them. It’s cool when you see people go from different teams and you can find a consistency. The one thing with Patrick is of the various teams that he’s coached or the position groups that he’s coached, you have a bunch of guys that they develop during the season, but they always play hard. So I know that’s a cool piece of his coaching DNA. From an X’s and O’s standpoint, I would say that I don’t think Yale really helps for any sort of competitive advantage. But I think the starting point of his system that he runs, getting more experience going against that in the AFC East, is probably more helpful than Eli Whitney, or Whitney Gymnasium or Naples Pizza – Yale references. Somebody somewhere is like, ‘Yes, he said, Naples.‘”
(Going back to the decision to hire Butch Barry as offensive line coach, what convinced you about him? Because he was a guy that was much maligned at Denver last year. He was known down here for not having a great year at University of Miami the one year he was there. So what convinced you that he was the guy for this job?) – “What was funny about the process is, for me, a lot of people in the business just really gravitate to familiarity, which is important. However, for me, when I’m making decisions like that, I don’t want to take the path of least resistance at all. That irks me. So immediately I thought of Butch. I thought it’d be a great fit. Then you do your checks and balances to make sure you’re just not chasing familiarity, and when you do things like that, you come full circle and become that much more convicted on he’s the right guy for what you want. And how I knew that is as a head coach, I realized that one of the most important things to me, that are so important for the players, and for me to do my job and the organization, is absolute commitment to the development of the players they’re coaching. That can come in many different shapes and sizes, but what that is is what I see my duty to do for the organization and the players anyway, is make them the best they can be. So when you’re doing that, you realize quickly that it’s cool if you believe it, but you need everyone to believe it. You need people to that you can rely on, that you can trust, that will leave no stone unturned and put themselves behind as a secondary priority to what they’re asked to do. Butch Barry takes his job as coaching players very serious. When they fail, he fails. When they succeed, he succeeds. He lives that. I could tell the guys on this team, the tremendous human beings that Chris Grier and the personnel department have been organizing and gathering together, they flourish when they know that they’re invested in. So I can’t say enough good things. He has done a tremendous job, is an unbelievable asset for me and everyone. He rolls his eyes and scoffs anytime you tell him good job, because his devotion is to getting guys better. You can have a 76-yard touchdown, he’ll be like, ‘Eh, we’re just too flat – too flat on the backside.’ That’s what you want and that’s what the players want. So I think they’ve connected in a cool way, and the residuals have been obvious.”
(You guys are undefeated at home and there’s a lot of confidence that surrounds this team, even through wins and losses, the ups and downs of this football season. What do you think is contributing to that aura of confidence that surrounds this team?) – “I think they know they’re committed more to each other and to their craft then they ever have been before as individuals. And I’m serious, every guy on our team is in that process or in that moment of going, ‘How much better can I get? How much more can I do? What can I do with my game?’ You stack a bunch of people – or list of the people that have the same mindset, that competitive mindset to be them best selves together, that to me is what more than anything is an energy of preparedness, commitment. They’re very confident because they know they’ve put in the work. They know they’re talented and that doesn’t mean we know or expect to win every game. We expect to learn from every game, win as many as possible, but continuing to build everything we do. That is not fake confidence, which is what’s cool about it. There’s a lot of energy when things are going well. But also, it’s not like a quiet, all of a sudden retraction of your personality when tough things happen. I think you get a lot of confidence going through things with people. I think you gain confidence when you fly overseas, go all in into a game and then you lose it. Then you come back to work and you see how your teammates and how yourself responds to that. In many ways, we’ve gained confidence through the course of the year with losses as well as wins just because you experience live speed who you’re dealing with. Everybody loves to high five each other when you’re winning. What are you going to do when the inevitable happens and what is it going to like when you are all in and that happens? So I think our confidence is really, really organic, real and earned by the daily work and investment that these guys are doing. It’ll be a confident team at home and we are very aware of narratives, but don’t really care about them. So we’ll be confident on the road and when we play a team that’s good, by the way every team is good, but when we play a good team, we’re going to be confident too. You just understand that kind of stuff. Our world is a little bit different. You understand that people will say you are something until you prove it otherwise. So, we have no reason not to be confident because we continue to get better and they know that in the realest way with their own eyes watching their teammates play and playing with them.”
(Are WR Robbie Chosen or CB Kelvin Joseph known to be joining the practice squad at this time?) – “The reason why we made the move with Robbie yesterday is in hopes we can get him back. But that isn’t in our hands. Had to do a tough thing there. I can’t say enough about the commitment that Robbie has had to the team. He’s a tremendous human being that has taken ownership over his life, acknowledged anything that he’s not happy about and worked to improve that on and off the field. He’s a human being that’s really earned a ton of respect with his humility and his commitment to being a part of this team. I see him as a part of it, and you just hope you get him back. Such is the nature of the NFL and random numbers that our roster is.”
(From my eyes, OL Austin Jackson seems like he is playing the best season of his career. I know a big pillar of yours is to get the most out of guys. Can you maybe take me into what Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry and your staff has done, specifically with Austin, to get the most out of him?) – “If you think it’s cool and obvious, I get goosebumps thinking about it because it’s not as simple as – when you’re trying to coach and get the best out of someone, it’s not just saying the right thing. It is getting your hands dirty by earning their trust on a daily basis. The connection between coaches and players and the journey that they’re on, it starts with the earned trust. I don’t believe in entitlement. So you have to show players that you care and you have to earn the respect that you know those coaches are giving you the right information and the right emphasis. On top of that, the player has to really want to be the best version of himself really with a resiliency that is pretty awesome. The daily commitment, the relentlessness, the intent, the coachability of Austin, and then I think it’s so cool that the world tried to beat Austin down and tell him he was something. It’s funny, people don’t have sympathy for it. Traditionally, I think guys that are trying to prove the team’s investment in them. First-round draft picks are kind of attacked a little bit. No one wants to be labeled as a bust. That’s hard. A lot of people don’t have the mental fortitude to withstand narratives, which is why he’s doing an abnormal thing because he’s 24 years old, got in this league before he could drink alcohol and has been the focal point of many people’s conversations and opinions. Fortunately, he’s the type of person he is and fortunately Butch and Lem (Lemuel Jeanpierre) do the job they do for him. Every day they know, regardless, they’ve done everything they can to best prepare him and then he takes that and doesn’t worry about anything else. It’s a very, very hard thing to do but admirable and very, very enjoyable for me to watch Both Butch and Austin had opinions out there of them that I don’t share. It’s cool to watch them not worry about that and just do their jobs with passion and love for the game, love for the position they’re in and regard for the position they’re in and love for each other.”
Tyreek Hill – November 16, 2023
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Thursday, November 16, 2023
WR Tyreek Hill
(You got married?) – “I did. I did get married to my longtime fiancée. It was about time, man. It’s something that we wanted to do over the bye week and we did it. We went through with it. I finally went through with it. (laughter)”
(How’s it feel to be a married man then?) – “It feels good, man. I feel like everything that’s been happening to me, it’s been for good reason. I’ve been locked in at a different rate, disciplined with just my whole entire life, the way I just approach everything and I definitely – I eliminated a bunch of things so that’s probably why I’m having some of the success that I’m having this year.”
(What did WR Jaylen Waddle get you as a wedding gift?) – “He hasn’t gotten me anything yet. He’s been promising me brunch like ever since the beginning of training camp. I showed up to his place and he stood me up twice. (laughter) It really sucks because I really be looking forward to spending time with Waddle on off days.”
(Anything you can tell us about the wedding? Big ceremony? Any teammates there?) – “Nah, we kind of changed it up. Kind of just me and her and our family members. With weddings, Cheetah is the star of the show and it’s my job to allow her to do her thing. I just want to her smile.”
(Why the bye week?) – “Why the bye week? You know what, I just felt like it was perfect timing, man. I was spending a lot of time with my kids, spending a lot of time with her, and the conversation just came up. I was like, ‘babe, like we’ve been engaged so long, are you ready to tie the knot?’ It kind of caught her off guard. She didn’t believe me because we’ve been engaged ever since 2021. It was like, ‘ok, let’s go do it.’ She was like, ‘show me you’re for real.’ And then we did it.”
(You mentioned giving up some things. Any example you’d care to give?) – “I’ll say it, man, because I want every athlete to be successful as far as like drinking, as far as like women, as far as like partying, as far as anything. I feel like I’m at the stage in my career now where I’ve got to be more mature with anything that I do outside of football. It’s being a father, it’s being a son, a husband now. I’ve got to stand in that role of being the man that my grandparents raised me to be. I’m loving it.”
(And it’s because you’ve locked in that you feel like you’re seeing this difference?) – “Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. I’m feeling great. I’m feeling great. I promise you I’m feeling great with just everything, with just my routine in life right now. I know that some day it’s going to come to an end and I’ve got to find new ways to adapt to life after football. We’ll be fine. That’s just the way of life.”
(I want to ask you about the Raiders. WR Davante Adams obviously is one of the elite wide receivers in this league. When you watch him, what’s your favorite part of his game?) – “Just how he sets up his routes. Like you said, he’s one of the best receivers in this league. He does a great job of gaining leverage on opponents and I think that’s something that we all can take from his game as far as like all of the receivers in this league. So he does a great job with hat.”
(As a wide receiver, can you help teammates on the other side of the ball and explain what the wide receiver might be doing? You mentioned ways WR Davante Adams sets up routes. Can you help your cornerbacks with explaining what he is probably doing?) – “Oh, yeah. Today, I was actually part of the scout team a lot today and I was Davante Adams. I had a chance to run some Davante Adams-like routes. I was able to make Xavien Howard fall a few times, so that was fun. (laughter) Then when he fell, I was able to go over to him and explain to him why he fell.”
(I’m doing something on the defenses that you guys face and I know you guys face a lot of unscouted looks. Has every team done something unusual against you guys?) – “Nah. I just feel like those teams are doing what they’re good at. The Kansas City Chiefs did a good job of sticking to their gameplan. Their corners played exactly how we thought they were going to play, aggressive at the line of scrimmage. I feel like teams are doing exactly what we think they are going to do. We just have to do a better job of staying focused and doing the small things on routes and being in the right spot for Tua (Tagovailoa).”
(I know some of these players have told me Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick played the three-high safety look and they said the Giants DC Wink Martindale didn’t blitz and he always blitzes. So it seems some teams have done some out of character things. Would you agree?) – “I mean, I will say that. If you’re talking about the whole entire season, the New England Patriots with Coach Belichick, with the three-safety look, that was something that we’ve never seen before. They had both safeties down trying to get hands on me and Jaylen (Waddle), trying to protect the outside, not allowing the ball to get outside of them. We have been seeing a bunch of unusual things. It’s just something that we will adjust to because we got the personnel here. We got great coaches who are able to help us attack those things.”
(I’ve heard you and QB Tua Tagovailoa talk on the sideline and you do good in-game adjustments. Is that accurate?) – “Oh, yeah. I always do that. No matter what. Even if I’m running the wrong route or something, if I see a certain defense on third-and-two, I go back to Tua and say we have to remember this defense because it was successful this time, and the d-coordinator might come back to it. I’m always trying to overcommunicate. It’s something that I’ve always learned. Even if the quarterback may know it, you always want to put it in his head again, keep it fresh in his head.”
