Danny Crossman – December 15, 2020
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I always try to learn something when I talk to you, so maybe you can help me learn. On the punt return, it appeared to me that all the players who might have had a shot to make the tackle were well-blocked by the Chiefs. Can you tell me, was it simply a matter of none of those five guys defeated their block or is there something else that maybe I might not see that wasn’t so obvious? Like maybe they weren’t perfectly aligned?) – “There’s a lot of different things that went into that. I think No. 1, you give Kansas City credit for doing some good things and making some good blocks on the particular play. Obviously there’s a lot of things that we could have and needed to do better on that particular play with maybe better location, hang time on the punt, certain guys with better landmarks on where they were going. So any time you give up a big play, there’s going to be some things that the successful team is doing really well and then there’s always some things that the team on the back end of the thing could do better to put themselves in position to make a play and we didn’t get it done.”
(I’m curious with WR Jakeem Grant banged up, the possibility that he doesn’t play this weekend, what is your thinking at returner? I know WR Antonio Callaway was back there some last week. Is he your guy going forward?) – “We’ll look at it through the course of the week and see where we’re at with the injuries and how the plan comes together and keep working on the guys that we’ve been working with all year and see what we end up with on Sunday.”
(You guys had to go to an onside kick on Sunday for the first time in what seems like a while. I was curious since the rule change a couple years ago, onside recoveries are way down. I’m just wondering from your perspective, is there something you could do to maybe try to increase your percentage? Have you tried more types of kicks, different types of looks? What’s the approach to changing with this new onside kick rule that has really made recovering the ball so difficult?) – “I think to your point you do see a lot of people doing a lot of different things. We’ve done some different things and the biggest thing is, yeah, with the rule change – and again, the rule changes were for safety and anything that’s for safety is a good thing – but the stagnant start is really what makes it difficult, when you look at trying to make a play on that play. It puts so much emphasis on – you really need a really perfect kick on some of those situations to have an opportunity. So we’ll keep working at it and see what we come up with in the future.”
(I just wanted to ask how disappointed do you think you and Head Coach Brian Flores have been because of the fact that special teams may have accounted for maybe a swing of 10 points in that game? Do you feel like those were big reasons why you guys came out with a loss?) – “I’m never happy and obviously when you leave points on the field with a missed field goal or the other team is able to generate points, you’re really never going to be happy. I’m not going to speak for anybody else, but of course you’re always going to be disappointed.”
(I wanted to ask you, I know nobody’s looking for excuses about special teams performance, but how much does it impact your unit when guys who are core special teamers have to play in the base defense and base offense?) – “That’s part of it. Everybody deals with it. We get the – what you refer to maybe as the trickle down. You lose a guy on offense and defense, and that’s well-known; but then obviously those guys that are core guys for us, they have to go fill those roles. So that’s part of it. That’s what we all signed up for. We had a nice stretch there for a while where we were really pretty healthy and working and using the same guys week-in and week-out, but this is part of it and along with injuries, now you have the COVID adding to it, to the mix this year. But it’s what everybody’s dealing with. You’ve just got to try and find a way.”
Josh Boyer – December 15, 2020
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jerome Baker. What was your impression of what he was able to do on Sunday, especially filling in at times in the pass rush role?) – “I think (Jerome) Baker, he’s been a very multiple guy for us all year. We’ve asked him to do a lot of things. He’s able to handle that. He works very hard at it. He’s had some success at multiple different positions, so I’m glad we have him. Hard worker. He’s been productive for us and had some good plays for us on Sunday. Just collectively as a group, we just couldn’t make enough to get it done.”
(It seemed like there were two plays in particular, especially when S Bobby McCain went out the game to be evaluated in the first half, Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill had the running touchdown and then the second injury, Tyreek Hill had the 44-yard touchdown. Just what can you say about those instances where your centerfielder, your safety, is out of the game and they just kind of take advantage of that situation?) – “I would say and like we’ve talked about all year, Bobby (McCain) has been very productive for us. He’s done a good job communicating and he is a very good football player and he’s hard to replace; but we have things in place – we need to coach it better, we need to execute it better when he’s not there and we’ll work hard to do that.”
(I wanted to ask you about the run defense. Obviously in the opener, New England got it going a little bit; but since then, your numbers are pretty good on run defense, particularly yards per game allowed. What in your mind has improved in the time since then?) – “We work on a lot of things. We work on run defense, pass defense, pass rush. You’re constantly trying to improve things and the opener of the season, there’s a lot of unknowns that go into that. There’s a lot of evaluation and stuff that go into that. New England, they’re a completely different team than we saw in Week 1 and so are we. When I throw on the tape, it’s like watching a new team and we kind of approached it that way. Obviously we’re striving for improvement on a week-to-week basis with everything that we do, and I think some of that evolves over time and a lot of it is credit to our players putting in the work. It’ll be a big test for us this week. We’re going against a group that is extremely well-coached. They’ve got great scheme. They do a good job of disguising their runs, their passes and they do a terrific job of creating angles. And they’ve got good players. Their offensive line is physical, their receivers are physical and they’ve got good backs, so it’ll be a big challenge for us this week.”
(I was going to ask what impresses you most about DT Raekwon Davis down there in the middle?) – “I think the thing that impresses me the most is his work ethic and his effort. We’ve talked about this guy a lot this year. He really loves football and he’s doing everything he can to get better and a lot of that is his work ethic and his effort. I can’t say enough good things about that. He plays really hard and he works really hard and he’s constantly striving to improve.”
(Going back to the improvement of the defense, how would you rank the improvement over the course of the season and where do you see the greatest area of improvement?) – “In terms of looking at it from a holistic view, it’s not something that you kind of go, ‘oh man…’ We just kind of look at it as, ‘here are some things that we’ve done well, we need to build on those. Here are some things that we’re not doing so well, we need to improve.’ Ultimately, you’re striving to coach a perfect game; you’re striving to play a perfect game. I don’t think that’s ever happened, but what I will say is the consistency of being able to play well down-in and down-out is something that we’re striving to do and I don’t think – there’s not a lot of time that’s spent on, ‘hey, this has gotten so much better.’ There’s a standard of where it needs to be and that’s what we’re striving to do.”
(I wanted to give you the chance to talk about the four turnovers you guys forced last week and maybe explain how you were able to turn over a team that doesn’t turn the ball over and how that kind of portends for the last few weeks of the season that it seems like you’re fearless to go after any quarterback, even the MVP.) – “Again, Kansas City – very good offense, very well-coached. They make it hard on you. You can’t give them the same looks over and over again. The turnovers – it’s a credit to our players and the way that they play and obviously turnovers, turnovers on downs or getting them to punt – ultimately again, that’s what you’re trying to do as a defense. You just want to get the ball back to the offense as quickly as you can and hopefully you eliminate points as it goes and that would be the same this week. Like I said, we’ve got a very good opponent – a division opponent – and it’s a big game for us. There’s a lot of things that we’ll have to do defensively this week to try to create turnovers and try to get ourselves off the field, so it’s a big challenge for us. We’re looking forward to it and we’ve moved on to New England so that’s kind of where we’re at.”
Chan Gailey – December 15, 2020
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey
(How do you assess the play of WR Lynn Bowden Jr. on Sunday and his development in the past few weeks?) – “He did some really good things in the game. He made some plays on the field. We asked him to do a lot last week and he responded very well. He’s learning. He’s getting more comfortable. He’s understanding what we’re trying to get done. I think he’s going to be a part of what we’re trying to do going forward. He’s done a good job.”
(When you went back to watch the tape, the third quarter when you guys really couldn’t get it going, was there a common theme then? And then the fourth quarter, was it just the nature of the game that you were going to throw every down and play up-tempo?) – “Lack of execution is the No. 1 thing that I can tell you. We made mental mistakes that we have not been making, and you can’t make against a good football team. We just didn’t make the plays we needed to in the third quarter there and then in the fourth quarter, we were trying to rally back into the ball game, which our guys fought back and did. We had several different guys make plays after our receivers went down. We had some guys step up. I thought (Wide Receivers Coach) Josh Grizzard did a great job of getting those guys organized and where they needed to be and running the routes they needed to run, doing a patch work job there. We had a lot of guys step up and do some good things and step up and Tua (Tagovailoa) took a good step there bringing us back into the ball game.”
(I know you’ve experienced just about everything there is to experience in the game, but can you recall a time a time where your offense has evolved as much as this offense has over the course of the year? I’m not talking about quarterback, but when you look at running back, receiver, not so much on the line – what do you see in terms of how much this offense has evolved?) – “We’ve had a lot of different people playing and people in different spots and totally different people as well. There has been more change on this team than probably most any team I’ve been around. I think our guys have handled it fairly well. We’ve got a long way to go. You play a long season and these guys have got to learn that with as many young guys as we have. They’ve got to learn that they’ve got to fight through some things. We have some more evolving to do, I’m sure. We’ve got to keep pressing forward with what we’re trying to get done not only this week but today. It’s a day-by-day process when you have situations like this.”
(You referenced the rally in the fourth quarter earlier. It looked like the Chiefs really turned the heat up in the fourth quarter with some blitzes. What can you say about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to find the answers to all of those pressure packages they showed late in that game?) – “I wasn’t sure he’d be able to do that because he hadn’t had to do that yet. I thought he handled that part of it really well. He saw things that you can’t simulate in practice – at the speed – and handled it well. I thought that was encouraging from our standpoint to know that he’s seeing things and understanding where to go with the ball and making plays when they are bringing all of that pressure. That’s not an easy thing to do for a young quarterback. As I said earlier, I think that was a real positive for him. They did – they turned up the pressure and he handled it. I thought that was good.”
(I’ll ask about a specific play that I thought was interesting – the one where QB Tua Tagovailoa was an option to catch the ball with WR Lynn Bowden Jr. I was kind of surprised that the Chiefs covered him. Maybe you were thinking they wouldn’t. But the fact that he was out there as a receiver, what should that tell us about how you and he and the medical staff are feeling about how far he’s come since his injury?) – “We think he’s full go. I don’t see any restrictions whatsoever. I think he’s full go and that’s what he’s shown. There have been no residual effects from anything that we have been able to see or that he has talked about. To me, we’ve got to use every option that we can use to try to score points. We tried that one. It didn’t work, but we tried it.”
(We never asked you back when you were hired about your vision for this team, about how long you wanted to do this and what your plan is. I don’t know if you had a three-year plan, five-year plan. If you want to share that plan, great. Has it changed? And how have you enjoyed the experience being back here coaching?) – “It’s been very interesting with COVID and everything that’s going on. It has been so interesting this year. It’s been a challenging year in many ways. No, I don’t have a plan. I’m taking it really one day at a time right now. I just take it one day at a time. I haven’t thought about that.”
Jerome Baker – December 14, 2020
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Monday, December 14, 2020
LB Jerome Baker
(I asked Head Coach Brian Flores about you earlier today and he said that some of the things you did in this game was kind of take on a different role where you did more pass rushing. Obviously that worked out well. How much do you enjoy when you get the opportunity to stand up on the edge and sack the guy for a 30-yard loss?) – “I enjoy it a lot. It’s fun. It’s different. I mean, it’s football. Anything I can do football-related, I love to do it. It’s a little new to me, but I definitely had fun out there.”
(Have you ever had a 30-yard sack before and did you need oxygen after that play?) – “(laughter) No, I’ve never had a 30-yard sack or nothing like that. No, I didn’t need oxygen either. It was third down so we got off the field and I was good.”
(In the previous four games, you averaged 36 snaps on defense and then you played 61. What was going on? Were you practicing poorly? Was it just the role? Why were you playing so little during that stretch?) – “It’s a game plan thing. That’s really all it is. It’s game plans. In certain game plans, I’m not asked to do as much. For me, whenever I’m out there and I get the opportunity to play out there, I just try to take advantage of it. This game I got more snaps. So whenever coach feels like he wants me out there, I’m just going to go out there and do what I can do.”
(A 30-yard sack, what was the best reaction you got? Was it from your mom? Somebody had to give you a pretty good reaction to that.) – “For me, just hearing my teammates talk about it, that’s pretty cool to me. Kyle (Van Noy) called me after the game. I talked to him. It’s really just that. Just hearing from your teammates, it means a little bit more. I always appreciate that.”
(You mentioned the game plan specific role you had as a pass rusher. I’m curious how that changes the week of work for you. When LB Kyle Van Noy and LB Elandon Roberts are on the injury report as questionable and then you find out that you’re going to be playing more and have that more adjusted role like Head Coach Brian Flores had mentioned today, does that add an element of a challenge to the week for you or is it business as usual?) – “I’d say business as usual. I’m asked to do a lot of things. If it’s covering running backs, if it’s playing the middle of the field, if it’s pass rushing – whatever it is, I’ve been asked to do so much in my time here in Miami so I’m kind of used to it. If they throw something at me, I kind of take it as they trust me to do it and I go out there and do it.”
(The first time you guys played the Patriots this year, there were some issues with the run defense. I think they had over 200 yards rushing and QB Cam Newton had 75. Since then, it has been much better. As a team, what has changed? What has gotten better? What personally have you done better and how big of a challenge is that ground attack this week?) – “I think what changed is we just communicate better. We take pride in making sure teams don’t run on us. I think that’s the main thing. We have extra meetings just for players. We did pretty much all we can to get that under control. This week is going to be a big challenge, but it’s definitely going to work out.”
(Another thing that Head Coach Brian Flores said today that I didn’t know, but I probably should’ve known, is that you’re also the signal caller. Can you tell me what goes into being the signal caller for the defense and what kind of responsibility that is for you at this point in your career?) – “First, it’s a lot of communication. You have to communicate with the back end. You have to communicate with the d-line. You’ve got to be in constant communication throughout the play. Last year, I got quite a bit of doing that, so I have a little bit experience. Now this year, it’s not a big problem, it’s not a big thing. I kind of do what I have to do and communicate just to make sure we’re all on the same page as a defense.”
Eric Rowe – December 14, 2020
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Monday, December 14, 2020
S Eric Rowe
(With you guys knowing what’s at stake in the final three games, with all these injuries mounting, what do you tell the team about these December games?) – “It’s part of the league. Everybody gets injured, especially towards December. I don’t even know – what is this, like our 12th, 13th game? Stuff happens. Just regardless, the only thing you can tell is, ‘hey, people got to step up,’ because these last few games – really the whole month of December – is crucial.”
(You talked about the importance of this week. For you personally, the significance of facing the Patriots. I don’t know if you know this, but if you win on Sunday, they’re eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2008. Your thoughts on having this kind of critical game against a team that you know very well?) – “Yeah, it’s a crucial game on both sides. They’re trying to keep their playoff hopes alive. At the end of the day, we’re trying to keep our playoff hopes alive, too. If we lose these last three, I’m pretty sure we’ll be out. We’ll be 8-8. So it’s a big game for both us and then not just that but it’s a division game, too. Those are always that little bit – adds a little ‘umph’ to it.”
(I wanted to ask you, the two years you’ve been here, last season you saw plenty of weekly changes to the lineup and guys stepping up and still producing. And then yesterday you go into a game with plenty of guys nicked up and exiting the game mid-game, and you guys are still able to stay competitive. I’m wondering what’s that common thread that allows a team to be able to continuously replace guys that go out of the game and still get production out of the guys that come into the game?) – “It’s just the message of – ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) has been preaching it since even in the offseason and virtual meetings – that if one guy goes down, then the next guy has to take advantage of this opportunity. And so when we have guys go down, especially like last game and it was kind of unfortunate it was against of the best teams in the AFC; guys stepped up and they made plays. DeVante (Parker) went down and Mack (Hollins) stepped up. Bobby (McCain) went down and Kavon (Frazier) and Clayton (Fejedelem), they stepped into the role. That’s the kind of team you need to have that type of depth and to build throughout the season because not that you want to say it, but not all 11 guys that started in August are still playing in December – injuries, stuff happens.”
(Two questions I’d like to point your way. One is just the significance for you of getting an interception against Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes. That’s No. 1 and No. 2, you’ve had a lot of experience on the Dolphins-Patriots rivalry. Most of the time it’s been where other teams are trying to play spoiler toward your team at this time of year and what is it like when you play a team that’s in that kind of position?) – “For the first question, I feel like every interception is significant because they’re not easy to come by. Not everybody’s like ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) who gets one each game, (laughter) so any interception that comes by me is pretty up there. It’s high up there. But as far as the Patriots rivalry, like the ‘spoiler,’ yeah, because usually the Pats when I was with the Patriots, the Dolphins kind of spoiled our season; but I guess now, I guess the tides have turned and they’re going to try to wreck our season. At the end of the day, honestly that’s not something that we think about. We really think about getting our job done, executing and winning. That’s just the main thing, so ‘revenge game,’ all that stuff; that’s cool, but all we think about is – if you look at me, like, ‘all right, how am I going to shut this tight end down?’ That’s all I’m going to think about week-to-week.”
(How different would you say the Dolphins defense is now from the beginning of the season? The team had a lot of trouble with the Patriots in that first game. How different is it now other?) – “We’re a lot different than the team in September, which you should be, right? They’re a lot different team than who they were in September. How us as a defense, we were still trying to come together. We only had training camp, a couple weeks of practice, no game, no game reps; and then now until today, you can kind of see how we’re doing as a defense. We’re all playing with a lot of energy and getting a turnover each game, trying to make good stops. But also, they’re different, too. So we’ll have to see on Sunday, but us as a defense, we’ve made some huge strides.”
(I wanted to ask you how close – now that we’re in December and the playoff race is so tight – do you keep tabs on scores around the league and in that vein, whether you’re planning on watching the Baltimore-Cleveland game tonight, which obviously has ramifications for you guys?) – “As things get closer, like me, I’ll keep an eye on like last night with the Bills, for the division; but then they end up winning and I was like, ‘ah.’ But nothing like we need to sit here and focus on the game. But any prime time game, I really watch. Honestly, I didn’t even know until probably y’all told me, that this Baltimore game has an effect on us. I was going to watch the game because Cleveland’s been balling and you got Lamar Jackson, so I was going to watch it for that; but now that you said something, yeah, like, I hope they lose, but all I know is we got to get ready for the Patriots though.”
(I was wondering what, if anything, you told your teammates about yesterday about lessons learned from a game like that? Obviously you’ve been on the wrong end of some results that were probably tough to handle and impactful. What was your message to your guys?) – “I think we all kind of understood we were in the game. If you take a couple – we could really count three or four plays, at least defensively – and I think we had a better shot of winning. But at the end of the day, we were in it. Obviously the (Kansas City Chiefs are) the best team in the AFC. With us being injured – I mean, we went through like three running backs. We lost them from the jump. DeVante (Parker) injured, Bobby (McCain) goes down; so to have that type of competitiveness with guys going down, with things kind of going against us, it kind of shows something in the team and then the fact that we didn’t quit. We could’ve quit when was 30-10 and kind of hung the towel, but we just kept that fighting. I feel like that’s a good sign, good keys of a team.”
Lynn Bowden Jr. – December 14, 2020
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Monday, December 14, 2020
WR Lynn Bowden Jr.
(I read a story that when you were playing quarterback, that you liked to watch film of QB Lamar Jackson, who is a local guy down here for us in South Florida. I know you’re not playing quarterback anymore, but are there moves that he made or can make that you’ve enjoyed and tried to incorporate into your moves on the field?) – “Lamar, he’s a good player. He’s a great player in the league. Me and him had similar playing styles coming out of high school. I was a quarterback in high school and he was too, so I felt there were some similarities between me and him. When I moved to quarterback at Kentucky, I was like ‘why not watch him,’ because he was basically a splitting image of me. I took it from there and ran with it.”
(You talk about the positions you played. Obviously you played receiver and quarterback in college. I know the Raiders tried to make you a running back early on. Were you surprised they tried to make you a running back and do you feel more comfortable now playing receiver?) – “You can’t live in the past. You can’t worry about the past. Everything happens for a reason. I’m a Dolphin now. Without answering your question, but answering your question, I’m a Dolphin now. I’m not worried about that. To answer your second part, I do feel good playing receiver.”
(You watched as a bunch of your teammates got hurt yesterday. What was that experience like for you? How many different positions did you have to play yesterday to fill in? And if you’re asked to do it again this weekend, what kind of challenge is it?) – “It’s a challenge, obviously just being in the NFL. But since Day 1 when I got here, the coaches implemented you just don’t learn one position, learn them all. When things took place like that in the game yesterday, we all were ready to go in and fill in where we needed to be, and it was stuff like that that we prepared for – the extra walkthroughs coach gave us and a lot of stuff that you guys really don’t see how we prepare to keep us ready for stuff like that.”
(Sticking with yesterday, you came out of it with seven catches for 82 yards. I know you didn’t get the win which was the most important thing, but how did you feel about the way you played and does it give you that much more confidence if you were in a key role again this Sunday against New England?) – “There’s really no feeling about the way I played because ultimately we didn’t win the game. I could’ve went 10 catches for 500 yards and we lost, so it doesn’t matter how I played. At the end of the day, I want to win. If I don’t have any stats and we win, I’m ok with that. Having stats and losing is not really something I’m really high on because I don’t like losing. The stats are going to be the stats – whatever they maybe – but I’m really focused on this week. It’s a short turnaround, but I’m already looking at this Sunday and preparing my mind for that.”
(I’m looking up your information to back when you were a high school prospect. Did you always want to be a receiver or did you want to play quarterback at the college level? What made you move to receiver when you were asked to moved back to quarterback?) – “I wanted to be a quarterback. There was no question about it. I probably let some people downplay me and tell me what I was going to play instead of where my heart was at. I listened to them. It worked out for the best. It got me this far. I really wanted to play quarterback, but things worked out on the other hand at receiver for me and I really just ran with it.”
(It looked like Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey had a couple of plays in the playbook for you to be a quarterback. What was that like, for those couple of plays, to be back there in that role?) – “It felt good. I really don’t know what you all want me to say about it. (laughter) I’m here. They brought me here for a reason. Without really saying too much, I’m going to keep doing what I got to do to prepare and be ready for my name to be called, and we’re just going to run with it from there. No pressure, no nothing. Just one step at a time and look forward.”
(Does your background as a quarterback help you as a receiver, and if so, how?) – “Definitely. Just having a history on both sides, I get to read the coverage faster than most people do, even when they’re trying to disguise it. Everything starts to slow down for me because I had it from both sides, receiver and quarterback.”
(I like that you can get open, that it looks like you’re not afraid to catch the ball when you’re about to get hit and make a guy miss. Those are all attributes that really fit well for a slot receiver. Have you studied any slot receiver or another guy who you think ‘I can do some of that stuff?”) – “De’Anthony Thomas, when he was in college. Him and Marcus Mariota were my favorite two players. When I was a young kid, they were in college. I still watch him and sometimes Tavon Austin. I had Randall Cobb to watch when I was at Kentucky. I still watch some people around the league, even some college players, just to see how I can implement some things that they do into my game. There is always room for improvement.”
(A couple of months ago when you weren’t playing as much, you wrote on Twitter that on some level you were a little wistful about your time in college, wondering if you made the right decision to go pro. What were you thinking about that time and has your thinking on that changed?) – “It changed. But I’ve got to put this out there just to be 100 percent clear, when I tweeted that, it wasn’t anything about football. There wasn’t nothing wrong. Like I said in the tweet, it was something I was thinking about. I was talking to the guys at the moment. It was more of the education for me than the football. I felt like I probably could have put more into class my junior year than I did. There’s always time to go back and get my education; but at that time, that’s what that was about. It was never about not playing because I knew what it was when I got here. You don’t just come here and get the playing time right away. You’ve got to compete on every level. That’s what I’m going to keep doing, day-in and day-out.”
Brian Flores – December 14, 2020
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Monday, December 14, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I’m sure everybody wants to know what’s the latest on TE Mike Gesicki? Is he done for the year? It is possible he might suit up on Sunday? What are the results showing?) – “I think it’s too early to tell. We’re still going through the evaluation process with our medical staff. Too early. I’m not even going to go into how he felt this morning. Obviously I talked to him, but I think it’s too early to tell with Mike (Gesicki), but also some of the other guys who got banged up yesterday.”
(I know you’re not big on individual awards or anything like that, but CB Xavien Howard’s name is going to be mentioned for Defensive Player of the Year. Your name’s been mentioned for Coach of the Year. I’m curious what each of those awards, if anything, would mean to you or him?) – “You said it; I’m not really into individual awards, especially in a team game like this. I think my focus right now is just on this team and helping this team make the corrections and improve on yesterday’s game. Again, individual – my job is about service. It’s about helping these guys get better. That’s where my focus is. ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) has had a great year. He’s played well week after week after week, but he doesn’t do it alone. He’s got teammates – he’ll be the first person to say that. I’m just worried about helping this team get better on a daily basis, on a weekly basis.”
(I wanted to ask you more about the receiver position. I’m curious, with WR Isaiah Ford, is he eligible to practice this week if he passes his COVID tests and if so, what might you look for from him? And second of all, have you given any thought to maybe reaching out to WR Kenny Stills? I know he’s a free agent.) – “The second part of that with (Kenny) Stills; that’s more of a (General Manager) Chris Grier question. He and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and (Assistant General Manager) Marvin (Allen), they handle all that and those conversations – they’re obviously internal if and when they happen. Isaiah Ford, obviously he’s got some familiarity and we’ll see how it goes this week. Obviously I have a lot of respect for him and I’m excited to have him back.”
(TE Adam Shaheen obviously signed a contract. You guys showed commitment to him earlier in the year. TE Durham Smythe has had several catches the past few games. What’s the confidence level in the tight end room if TE Mike Gesicki does end up being unavailable, whether it be the next game – and the rest of the guys in that room?) – “I think Adam (Shaheen) and Durham (Smythe) have both played well this year – from a blocking standpoint, from – they’ve been efficient when the ball’s been thrown their way. I have a lot of confidence in both guys, as our entire offensive staff and the team has confidence in both those guys. They end up doing a lot of the, we’ll call it ‘dirty work’ – blocking, pass protecting, chipping and whenever we have, let’s call it ‘tough matchups’ on the outside with the defensive ends. Those guys have done a good job all year and have a lot of confidence in them and we’re going to need them down the stretch.”
(Every team is dealing with injuries at this point in the season. I know “next man up” is always the mantra. How did you feel your team adjusted yesterday and will adjust this week to all the injuries?) – “I think they adjusted well yesterday. We had some young receivers go in there and play well. Same thing defensively – we had guys go down and we needed the next guy to step up and step in and hop into the game. I think it’s been that way for every team the entire year, whether it’s injuries, whether it’s COVID. The teams that are able to adjust the best give themselves the opportunity to continue to play well and it’s a great opportunity for the guys who get to step in. I think everybody wants to play on offense or defense, and when you get your opportunity, try and make the most of it and hopefully earn more snaps with productive play. I think guys like Lynn Bowden and Malcolm Perry have stepped in there. Mack Hollins made some big catches for us down the stretch. We may need it moving forward and we’ll see.”
(Last season you guys won five of the final nine games by using the most players in NFL history. Then this season, yesterday, you were without your top eight players in terms of yards from scrimmage at the end of the game. Is there a common thread about those adjustments? What is it that allows a team to lose so many key parts and keep on producing?) – “I think we just have a bunch of guys who compete. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) and the offensive coaching staff and (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) and the defensive coaching staff and (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) and the special teams staff, they adjust quickly. I think (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) does a really good job of getting us the information we need and we adjust and we adjust quickly. I think these are conversations we have throughout the course of the week. We try to be ready for worst case scenarios. ‘If this happens, we’re doing this. If that happens, we’re doing this. If these four or five things happen, we’re going to do this, this, and this.’ At times those become long conversations and things that we need to think through the best – what’s the best thing for our team. I think our staff does a good job of that and it’s not easy. At the end of the day, it comes down to the player – or players, in the case of yesterday – going in and executing. There is an adjustment period. We try to make the best of the situation. Every team deals with it every week or I would say a handful of teams deal with it every single week. We dealt with it before the game with Myles (Gaskin) going on the COVID (list) and then dealt with it in game. Obviously we’ve got to do a better job. It wasn’t good enough yesterday. That’s the goal for this week is to be better and as a staff, put these guys in better position to have success.”
(You know a lot of the coaches on the other side well, and they know you and some of the coaches over here well. How different is it in this week to prepare because of that familiarity from both sides?) – “Are you talking about the Chiefs?”
(No, I’m talking about the Patriots.) – “Oh. I know a bunch of guys at the Chiefs too. Yeah I mean look, this is a division opponent, so we know them, they know us. As far as the personal relationships, obviously there is that in this game as well. But this is the Dolphins against the Patriots. Again, there is definitely familiarity. I think it’s just familiarity that we have with any division opponent. This is a big game this week. Every division game is a big game. We know this team, we know they are tough, they are well-coached, they are competitive, they’ll be ready to go. They’re going to give us their best shot – we know that – in all three phases. They’re going to try to apply pressure in all three phases and it will be a tough, tough competitive hard-fought, 60-minute ball game. That’s just the way it is with that group.”
(I was curious when you watched the tape of the job QB Tua Tagvailoa did yesterday. Some things you think he did right and things he can do better?) – “I thought it was – bringing us back and putting together some touchdown drives there in the fourth quarter, I thought that was good. I thought there were obviously some throws that he could’ve made that he didn’t. I think overall, I thought he played well. I thought he took a step in the right direction against a good defense. I think we just need to continue to take these steps and try to improve and get better.”
(Regarding LB Jerome Baker, what are some of the traits and things he was able to do in yesterday’s game that allowed him to get a 30-yard sack loss and 2.5 sacks total?) – “We were down a couple of (line)backers and he had to play a few different roles yesterday. He stepped up in the pass rush role. I thought he did a good job rushing up the edge, playing off the ball and having coverage. Jerome is a guy who can do a lot of different things. He’s very talented, athletic, he can run, tackles well. He’s also the signal caller. He did a lot for us yesterday. He can do a lot. He’s one of the most versatile players we have. I would say probably a little bit unheralded in some regards. But this is a good player and he means a lot to this team and does a lot for this team. I appreciate the heck out of him. I thought he played well yesterday. Again, we didn’t make enough plays to win. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to do a better job from a preparation standpoint this week and be ready to play a tough, physical 60-minute ball game against a good team.”
DeAndre Washington – December 13, 2020 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 13, 2020
Postgame – Kansas City Chiefs
RB DeAndre Washington
(What was it like coming into this game or yesterday knowing that you were going to get the opportunity to be a featured back against your former team?) – “It’s just crazy how this league works. It’s been a crazy season with everything going on. When I got the call, I definitely was ready. Put in a lot of good work this week. I was just excited to get back out there and get back in the mix a little bit.”
(I wanted to ask you, what was the mood like on the sideline after you guys went down 30-10, and what was maybe the kickstart of you guys coming back there in the fourth quarter?) – “We knew what type of game it was going to be. These guys can score in bunches. That’s what they’ve kind of put on film throughout the year, so we knew what we were up against. We also knew that we had the ability, if we just executed, once we were able to get the hurry-up offense going, we were able to make some plays and just came up a little bit short at the end, unfortunately. I was just glad how this team, how we fought all the way to the end, for sure.”
(What was it like to play against your former team?) – “It was cool. It’s a crazy league. It was good to see some of those guys, but I’d definitely much rather walk away with a win. But we’re going to get back to it and make the stretch run and try to get in the playoffs.”
(Did you learn anything about the culture in just your time being here and just being able to come from behind the way you guys did and make this one a game?) – “This team fights to the end. I think, when adversity hit, guys on defense kept making plays after plays and really kind of kept us in the ball game. Guys didn’t flinch. We came up a little bit short at the end. Like I said, I’m just glad the way everybody fought all the way to the end against the reigning champs.”
