Anthony Campanile – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(Last year, LB Sam Eguavoen coming from the CFL – mostly used in pass coverage early on playing inside, then used more of a pass rusher role late in the season and played well. Your vision for him would be what – a guy who you think is good at both, a guy you think has pass rushing upside and how has he looked in camp?) – “I think he’s done a great job in camp to this point, and he’s a guy who’s been able to – he’s really done a good job with everything we’ve asked him to do. I think that’s been his – what you saw of him last year as well. He’s an awesome guy to coach. There’s nothing that he won’t do for the team. He’s a team guy – a guy you love to coach – and like I said, has a great skillset. (He) can do a bunch of things.”
(I’m going to resist the temptation to ask you about your Sunday menu and instead if we could address the LB Raekwon McMillan trade. He filled some roles for you last year and I’m wondering what you saw from this group of linebackers that enabled you to part with McMillan. Who’s going to take over those roles and what are you seeing from those guys?) – “I think all the guys – like I said last time we talked, I guess a few days ago – everybody’s really done a good job. Everybody’s been a total team guy. Great room. Been able to fill a lot of the roles and things we’ve been asking them to do throughout the summer, and I said this a few days back – I loved coaching Raekwon (McMillan). Great guy. Great kid. And I think he’s a really good player in this league and I think he’s going to have a lot of success – continue to have success – but some of those decisions are obviously the organization and I think he did a great job. I think everybody here thinks he did a great job, so I enjoyed my time coaching him and I think all the guys in our room have been awesome the whole way. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do throughout the summer, like I already said. So I’m really, really excited to get started here.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Elandon Roberts. He has come in and seemingly been sort of one of the more vocal players on that unit. How many spots can he actually play and what are the skillsets that he brings to your group?) – “Somebody asked me something similar last week. I think he’s really a physical guy. He’s been that way throughout his career. A lot of fun to coach. You had just alluded to his communication skills, his leadership skills. I’ve really enjoyed being around that. I think the guys on the team and the guys in the room have enjoyed being around that; so to me, that’s the type of guy he is. He’s a real throwback football guy, high character person. You can see like I said, the guys the room, myself; everybody loves being around this guy, so I’ve enjoyed my time coaching him and he’s done a great job for us as well this summer.”
(I want to ask some of the first-year guys on the staff about their coaching philosophy so I wrote down what are the keys to helping a player reach his potential? I know it’s a very general question, but I’m kind of interested in coaching approaches. What are the keys to helping a player reach his potential?) – “I think one of the things that is often overlooked in coaching but is certainly very, very important, is I believe a coach’s job is to organize information so that the player can process it and play faster. I think that’s our job, so organizing the information so the guys are thinking in sound bites, not sentences; and they can play fast. I think good football players and good football plays are made with anticipation so you’re trying to take away all anxiety because anxiety – obviously you’re in fear or unsure of what’s going to happen in the future, whether it be in the next few seconds or the next few weeks. Anticipation is you have a pretty good idea, ‘hey, this is probably one of two or three things, not one of 10 things.’ And I think guys that have great anticipatory skills when they’re playing; you can take a guy that maybe runs a 4.7 (40-yard dash) but he looks like he’s playing at a 4.4 (speed) and vice versa. You can have a guy that is a 4.4. (speed) running the wrong direction; so I think our job as coaches is to get that progression down because your eyes, feet and hands – I think it usually goes in that progression each play. My eyes are going to tell my feet what to do. My hands are buying me time. And a lot of information is sent from the eyes to the brain, telling your feet what to do each play. So I think that’s a big role in terms of the schematics for our job as coaches.”
(I wanted to ask you, you guys have that multiple feel with the defense. You’ve got players playing – some guys playing d-line, some guys playing linebacker. I wanted to ask how you kind of go about coaching some of those guys – the DE Shaq Lawsons, the DE Emmanuel Ogbahs – who in some fronts may be with Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby and then on some fronts may be with you?) – “I think one of the great things about this organization and ‘Coach Boyer’ (Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer) and ‘Coach Flores’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) – I may have mentioned this in the past – everybody really gets an opportunity to coach all the guys the way practice is set up. There’s no egos in our defensive room, so everybody, really, it’s a collaborative effort. And that’s really a lot of fun. I think you get a great feel for all the guys on the unit and you really get to kind of spend time with players from all different groupings on the field. So that’s been awesome. It’s a great – I think philosophically – it’s something I’ve really enjoyed as well, and I’ve enjoyed getting the opportunity to be around all these different guys every day. They’re awesome. It’s a great group of guys.”
(Maybe this is a question for Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer or Head Coach Brian Flores, but I’m curious because typically the player that wears the green dot – the communication helmet – comes from the linebacker unit. I’m just curious, last year we had LB Jerome Baker wearing it. Now you’ve got some more guys that can probably communicate the defense as effectively. I’m curious what goes into the decision to who wears the green dot – the communication helmet – on defense?) – “I think what you’re striving for is to have a bunch of those guys on a unit that can do that, and that goes back to communication. Do you have players that are – obviously you want to built your unit full of smart, football guys who have a relatively high football IQ and we feel like that’s the case here. We’re fortunate to have a bunch of guys who love football. It’s not only their profession, it’s their passion. So the more guys you have like that who kind of understand the inner workings and schematics – the front, the back end, how they work together, what the offense is trying to do – that affords you more of an opportunity to find players who can step into that role on Sunday. And we felt the guys throughout the course of the spring and summer have done a very good job of that.”
(It’s Sunday dinner question time. Favorite time of the interview, baby. All right, tell me about the best lasagna you ever had and what makes a great lasagna?) – “That’s my mother’s (lasagna). That’s my mother’s. But you don’t want to take that right out. You can’t take that right out. You’ve got to let that sit a little bit so then everything kind of hardens up. It’s all got to kind fit together for a little while. So the people that take right out (of the oven) and serve it, I think that’s a huge mistake. You can’t cook it too – like to me, you get the macaroni done, then when you throw it in the oven – you’ve really got to know what you’re doing there because you can mess up lasagna. You can easily mess that up. That’s not an easy one. That’s a great question though. (laughter)”
George Godsey – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Tight Ends Coach George Godsey
(Obviously you don’t coach the quarterbacks. It seems even defensive players, even the tight ends, everybody has been sort of impacted in some way by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. That’s sort of what I was driving towards. Your tight ends talk about how he drops into the tight ends’ room just to check on them and maybe go over some detail or something. Can you kind of give us a since of your impressions of Ryan and what he means to the whole room? Obviously in the light of him going through a hard time right now.) – “Playing quarterback and knowing Ryan really since 2014 when I specifically coached him in Houston, the most important thing about that position is communication and communicating to everybody on the team. When the ball is in your hands as a quarterback, everybody sees it through your eyes and how a defender is playing you, he may expect something that maybe another quarterback wouldn’t have expected at the top of the route to look a little different. Getting on the same page, that’s hard to do when you’re not together and have already experienced it in OTAs. So now that we’re in training camp, it’s that much vital. Just personally, Ryan means so much. He talks to us daily at all of the positions. Our heart aches for him, and I think I’m speaking for everybody on the team when I say that.”
(You’ve obviously worked with Head Coach Brian Flores before you guys both came down here to Miami. Where can you say that he has maybe changed of evolved as a coach, and where can you say that he’s stayed the same and kind of kept the same values he’s always had?) – “The three years in New England from 2011 to 2013, we were both kind of making our ways as far as turning into position coaches. We would use each other as sounding boards. When he had a certain area on defense and I had a certain area on offense, we would always spend extra time at the end of the week reviewing on future talk, meaning how are we going to get ourselves better as coaches. We’ve stayed in touch since those days. He’s a good mentor right now, a good friend. He’s always been. As coaches, we improve every year. We don’t have all of the answers. Sometimes unfortunately we learn from mistakes, and sometimes we’re better. I’d say that his mind is always focused on what’s best for the team. With that mindset, you’re going to be ahead of a lot of things and that’s where I see us. I see Brian a lot of times a step ahead of maybe a question that’s about to arise. That’s encouraging not only from a coaching standpoint, but I’m sure they see that as players too.”
(It was interesting what you were just talking about with Head Coach Brian Flores. It kind of made me wonder, I know obviously you guys have a job to do now, but as a position coach, how do you balance wanting to ascend in your own career versus preparing for your day to day current task?) – “That’s a tough question because sometimes there is not enough time for that, to build and type something up because you’re worried about your current job. Usually when you succeed at your current job, it will show; and obviously it extends to what else you can do. If you’re given certain responsibilities and you’re able to overcome those, or let’s say go beyond those, and then provide more. We always think that your role is really defined on how you – what you make of it. Being efficient and being quick with your decisions, and being accurate, those will be the quickest things to put more things on your plate. That’s kind of where I individually start at. Just being like I said, efficient, quick and accurate as far as making decisions.”
(I wanted to ask you about TE Adam Shaheen, in terms of where his progression is now. Obviously when he first got here, he was behind the eight ball; but then we started to see him make some more plays during the second week of training camp. Where is he in the understanding of the offense? And skillset wise, can he be an inline guy? Is he a flex guy? What’s your vision for him?) – “Just the first question with Adam, daily there is some – it’s very similar to what I was saying, you usually make – sometimes as a player, you make some mistakes and then you learn from those. It’s a lot easier to sit back there in a meeting room and coach them up. A lot of times, it’s getting out there, getting those reps, and we’ve done a good job as far as everybody from a cumulative-wise on the offense is making sure we’re slowly adding more to the plate. For Adam’s sake, it’s not only just learning the offense a little bit more and spending more time on that; but also getting on the field for more reps. We put him in roles where he’s blocking. I feel confident about that. He’s got good range. Obviously when you’re a taller guy like he is, pad level is very important. That’s constantly something we’re working on. I’ve been a part of that in the past with tall guys. We kind of have a good plan on that one. Again, it’s showing reps of what he’s doing in practice and how those individual drills can transfer over. In the passing game, not only is he a good protector just with his length – he can match up with those defensive ends – but also the size matchup on a safety or a linebacker. He’s a big, athletic man. He has some basketball background, so he makes good decisions in space. We can improve that and I think he knows that too; but we’re trying to keep adding to some reps. He got 20 to 25 reps in the scrimmage. That’s a sign of good improvement from our standpoint.”
(TE Durham Smythe has really come onto his role in the last couple of years trying to do a little bit of everything. Where has he kind of taken this training camp?) – “I really think Durham’s a leader in that room. He does a good job of communicating when he’s right and when he’s wrong, but explaining exactly what he saw so as a group we can get better. He was put in a lot of blocking roles last year and did fairly well. He improved tremendously from his first year. He put on a lot of weight. I think we found a good spot at his weight. He’s in shape. He plays a lot of reps out there at practice. He’s hydrating. He’s getting his nutrition back so he’s maintaining his weight. He’s able to help in all three phases – whether it’s blocking, protection, or running routes. I feel really confident about Durham, and I really feel confident about putting him in any role and him knowing his assignment, which that’s the number one thing in a coach to player relationship. We trust him. Like I said, his leadership in that room is invaluable.”
(I was really impressed, as I’m sure you were, about TE Mike Gesicki and TE Durham Smythe showing the maturity to get together this offseason, even by phone, trying to work on their areas of improvement to become less predictable in terms of what teams anticipate you’ll run with both in the game. Do you have any way of knowing through about 12 padded practices if Durham is a better receiver now and if Gesicki is a better blocker?) – “The way that we kind of work things from a scripting standpoint, I like to rotate them all and make sure that – like right now we’re not specifically game planning something for one particular player. So in case something happens, during training camp there’s always something that happens whether it’s a slow pull here or maybe he needs to sit out a couple of reps because he took multiple reps. We put those guys in that role. I know we put Durham in a couple of two-minute situations where last year we didn’t necessarily put him in those situations. I could’ve did a better job at that, just preparing for maybe the what-ifs that occur. And the same thing with Michael (Gesicki), putting him in some situations where he does have to cut out Shaq Lawson, (Emmanuel) Ogbah. These are some good players that they are facing on the defensive end – Kyle (Van Noy). The list goes on and on. They are getting good work and they are kind of learning different roles. I appreciate them kind of leaning on each other, and that shows you the chemistry in that room. It’s not just those two guys. I know Adam (Shaheen) asks a lot of questions – Chris (Myarick). We rely on Chandler (Cox) too on some of his blocks, because obviously a tight end is going to do some of those roles. It’s a good room as far as communicating back and forth, and like I said, I appreciate the professionalism.”
(Just asking you about TE Mike Gesicki, I know last year was kind of viewed like a breakout for him because of the stats he was able to put up. Is that like a realistic expectation of what could be in store for him this season? Or does the new offense change anything on maybe how he will potentially be used?) – “I just expect him to continue to improve. Like I said, I see all those guys as young improving players. I don’t think any of them have reached their ceiling. I think that when the ball is thrown to those guys, those guys have the ability to catch it. They work hard at their craft. They work hard at catching the football. Mike’s the last one to come off the field with the JUGS machine. He takes pride in that. The one thing I mentioned to him was if you’re a go-to receiver or tight end in this case and the ball is thrown to you, and you have a chance to catch it, it’s your job to pull that down. It’s not always going to be on the numbers and with separation from the defensive back. Those guys have started to understand that, and you understand that going from the first year to second year to third year. You realize that those opportunities are not as easy. They know that they continually have to work. There are new players that they will be going against this year. Defenders, they have to study their positives and negatives. I think that we’ve got them in a good position as far as learning to weekly prepare for an opponent and work on their craft at the same time, because it is constant and it is every minute of the week as we’re preparing for a game.”
Robby Brown – September 2, 2020
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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown
(How have you seen QB Tua Tagovailoa over the course of the last month? Where was he when you got your hands on him and where is he now as far as not just health but playbook and all of that?) – “He’s really – you come in day by day and try to get better each and every day. I think he’s done a good job at doing that. Just like every other quarterback in the room, that’s the goal. ‘Can we be better today than we were yesterday?’ Whether it’s assignments, communication, reads, whatever it may be. I think he’s taking that challenge seriously.”
(I wanted to ask about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Is there anything different about him than years past?) – “I don’t think different. He’s not changed as a person in any way, shape or form. He loves to play the game. He likes the mental aspect of the game. I haven’t noticed anything different but we haven’t been back together but really for a month here. Really and truthfully, he seems the exact same to me. He loves to play, he loves the game, loves the mental part of the game and loves to compete.”
(I know that guys haven’t made a starting quarterback decision but I want to talk about the backup role and maybe what you ask for in that player and having to be ready for that role and active on game days, and how you look at maybe what are you asking for or looking for specifically when you try to figure out if a player is ready for being the backup?) – “I think really in that spot, you’re always looking for a guy that’s competitive that really loves to play. It’s the same things that ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) always talks about. You want him to be mentally ready. It’s really the same thing you’re looking for in the starter. You’re looking for a guy that wants to come in and compete, knows what to do, when to do it, knows how to lead. It’s the National Football League. There’s 64 guys if you count starters and backups. You’re looking for the same thing and the differences are usually very small. You hope it’s as small as possible.”
(I’m asking all of the first-year assistants about their coaching philosophies and then kind of putting it all together into one story. I wanted to ask you what’s your approach as a coach to helping your quarterbacks?) – “We talked about it a little bit the first time but I think coaching any position, any sport, coaching anybody, is really about knowing people and knowing the differences – what makes them tick, how they learn, does this help you? Well if it doesn’t, let’s try something else. In my room – and really in the NFL in particularly but specifically quarterbacks – you have guys who are ultra-competitive, they want to learn, most of them are field house rats. So you’re really just trying to figure out what works for them and their personality and what makes them tick, I would say, because every guy is a little bit different. Maybe their strength is what you’re trying to find and how to play to that strength and how they learn. I think that’s the biggest key is their personality and how they learn.”
(All of the quarterbacks in your room, they didn’t sustain a significant injury like QB Tua Tagovailoa did. Are you surprised at how he’s progressed from a health standpoint? Did you imagine you’d be coaching him so early during your time here with the Dolphins? And what do you think of how far he’s really progressed thanks to his health?) – “I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not a medical expert. I’m not a weight room expert. You can probably tell from my build that I’m not a big weight room expert. I’m more of a jogger-type guy for exercise. (laughter) I wouldn’t say I was surprised. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never experienced that type of deal. But from what I’ve seen on the field, he’s done well. He’s run around. To ask me the medical aspect of it, I’m probably one of the worst people to ask. I listen to what they say. ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) helps make those decisions but that’s not somewhere that I’ve spent a lot of time. I sit in on those meetings and hear what they say, but that’s about it.”
(I wanted to ask you about the physical nature of the quarterback position. I know you don’t know the medical reports on QB Tua Tagovailoa, but would you feel comfortable putting a guy who just had his hip surgically repaired out on the field to potentially get hit by a 300-pounder 10 months after having the hip repaired?) – “Like I said, I know ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) got asked this the other day and he said it plays into his mind and all of that kind of thing; but that really – really and truthfully that would be like the surgeon coming to tell me throwing mechanics or something like that. I don’t know. You’d have to trust those guys and that’s a decision that really is not my role to make. I’m not trying to avoid the question but it’s just really not – I sit in on the meetings and hear what they have to say but my job is to go out and try to get all three of those guys ready to play. If they say they can go, then that’s what ‘Flo’ has to make a decision on.”
(From a football standpoint, how ready is QB Tua Tagovailoa for the National Football League?) – “That is a good question. What I would say is – ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) talked about it the other day for all of the rookies – you don’t know until they go out there and they see that level of competition and that speed. We haven’t had the preseason games. We’ve tried to I guess simulate that the best that we can and go through all types of situations. There’s a lot of situations that a quarterback has to be aware of – down and distance, time on the clock, matchups, all of those kinds of things. My goal has been to get him better each and every day and be better at those situations today than he was yesterday. Then when it’s time and coach makes that decision, we’ll go with it.”
Marion Hobby – September 2, 2020
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby
(I wanted to get your thoughts on the development of DE Jason Strowbridge is going and how you feel about the depth at defensive end beyond the top two.) – “I think Strowbridge has done a really good job. He’s had a really good camp. He’s a young player. He’s done better than the last time we talked. He keeps getting better and better every day. I think he’s got a role on this team. It’s a long season. I think we’re going to need him – maybe the first week, second week, we don’t know when his number is going to be called, but I think we’re definitely going to need him.”
(Your philosophy on rotating defensive tackles, obviously DT Christian Wilkins and DT Davon Godchaux come back with a ton of experience. You have a rookie in DT Raekwon Davis. Do you feel like you need to see your top guys for at least 65-70 percent of the snaps or is that too much at that position?) – “Well, with all of the double teams that those guys get and all of the pressure they get on the inside run game, you like to kind of keep them as fresh as possible and try to get a good rotation on each one of them. Just different packages that some people might play a little bit more than others, but it’s definitely a conscious effort to keep them fresh.”
(I wanted to ask, in this defense you obviously do a four-man front and you do a three-man front. What are the advantages to both that you feel like it gives you on the defense?) – “Well, it’s kind of like when the offense gives us a different formation, it’s the same thing with the defense. We’re giving them different looks so they can’t tell who always the fourth rusher is. Are we bringing five? Are we bringing four? Are we just rushing three? Are we maxing the box out? So we’re giving the offense a lot of different looks too to give them something to work on.”
(I wanted to ask about DT Raekwon Davis. Before the scrimmage, I remember vividly he had a pretty good team period. It might have been when he had his jersey ripped off. That specific day he was interrupting both the pass and the run game. What are your thoughts on him and how he’s progressing through camp? Obviously he has that massive build.) – “You’ve got massive correct. He’s a big man. He’s a big, athletic man and he does a great job. He’s very conscientious of his play. He wants to be coached. I think he’s growing and growing each time. Last week’s scrimmage was really the first game-day atmosphere for him in the stadium, and I thought he did a good job.”
(I wanted to ask you on DT Zach Sieler. We saw such a good performance from him in Week 16 last year. How has his camp been and do you see potential for more there?) – “Yes, there’s definitely potential for some more. I thought he’s had a good camp. I think there’s a lot left in his tank. He’s still a young player; but he shows up. He’s another one of those 6-6 guys that has a lot of wingspan in there. I think he does a great job.”
(When you guys looked at the film from last year and tried to figure out what went wrong in the run defense, what were one or two things that stood out and why do you have confidence that this year will be better than last?) – “Well, I think a lot of things go into that run game. If that team’s ahead, can they lean on you? The number of opportunities that they get at you is always tough. I think we’ve got to just focus on playing better. We got down to our fundamentals. We’re looking at every play we played last year in the run game and getting coaches all on the same page. We’ve just got to play better as a group, more or less, than anything. We’ve got to make sure that thing is kind of even when we do play and give them less opportunities.”
Jesse Davis – September 1, 2020
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Tuesday, September 1, 2020
G/T Jesse Davis
(What’s the past couple of weeks been like at practice? I know moving to right guard is nothing new to you, but what’s that experience like trying to improve your communication with both of the rookies?) – “It’s been good. Moving around has kind of been my forte now recently, but moving around with those guys, it’s been good. They’ve been receptive to everything and just kind of bringing them along with what we see out there, what we’re calling and just helping them get where they need to be.”
(You’ve played in 47 of a possible 48 games over the last three years at a position that’s not exactly easy to show durability at. I’m just curious what is it about your regiment that makes you available for this team every Sunday?) – “Staying healthy is probably the biggest one and then playing through the little things which everybody does. I just want to be anything this team needs to me to be. That’s what I’m going to be and I think that’s why we kind of extended before the season last year, but I love being – the wanted feeling of ‘hey, we can put this guy anywhere and hopefully he can succeed there.’ And I take a lot of pride in doing that for this organization.”
(Obviously like you said, you’ve played just about every position on this line; but it seems like this year you’ll at least be delegated to either right guard or right tackle. What do you sort of view both of those positions? Where do you see your strengths at when it comes to those two spots?) – “I kind of bring a lot to the table in both of those positions; but playing next to either Ted Karras or rookie Solomon Kindley or Rob Hunt, it doesn’t really matter to me where they stick me. Right now I’ve had my most reps recently at right tackle so for me moving forward, that’s where I’d like to play. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter, like it always has been. If they want me to play left side in the future, then I can do that as well.”
(What is the biggest challenge building chemistry on a unit that actually hasn’t taken any live reps? This is a first for everybody, but you guys are basically putting together an entirely new offensive line. I’m not sure anybody in the NFL is doing that.) – “It’s very different. Like we can’t just go hang out with each other afterwards or go build chemistry that way or go to lunch. So it’s just been a lot of film, a lot of meetings, a lot of before practice stuff. And a lot of the vets on this team have come together and helped these rookies along and tried to build the chemistry, but we can kind of feel it in the locker room as well. The camaraderie has been very high, and just moving forward, we’ll see come game time exactly what we’ve got.”
(Differences you’ve noticed between T Robert Hunt and G Solomon Kindley? Obviously two very talented kids. How do they differ? How are they alike?) – “How are they alike? They’re big guys that can move people. They’re smart. They’re very coachable people. The difference is, I would probably just say the height of them, but they’re two good rookies and I’m glad we have them on our team.”
(Like QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, I find you to be a very selfless guy. Like you’re not going to hold back. You’re going to help your teammates no matter what. That’s my opinion, so on G Solomon Kindley, what are some things that you really wanted to make sure he knew how to do? What have you told him that maybe you wish someone had said to you early in your career?) – “I don’t try to really tell them how to be or anything other than when we’re in the huddle, don’t talk. That’s kind of a thing where as a rookie you want to kind of talk a lot and you want to try to figure stuff out. I just told them to hold on. We’ll get to it. Just focus on this next play kind of thing, but Solomon (Kindley) – he’s been great in how he’s been taking the reps and he’s made the most of it. And I think he’s coming along very nicely.”
(How do you I guess compare where you guys were on the o-line at this point last year to where you are right now?) – “I feel like we’re more solidified at positions than last year. We had a lot of guys coming in. We didn’t know exactly where they were going to be including myself. A lot of changing, a lot of moving parts as it was all season; but this season has been, I would say, a lot more solidified in the position-specific spots. And so I think guys have learned technique a lot better and how this offense has been running, so it’s been nice to see.”
(We saw a clip on social media of DE Shaq Lawson complimenting DE Emmanuel Ogbah’s big heavy hands. I’m just curious, going up against Ogbah as much as you have in practice, what are some of the challenges of that length and power that offers presents to you as a lineman?) – “Yeah, that’s the one thing I’ve noticed as well, is how long his arms are. It’s kind of hard to get a punch on him in pass pro. We’ve had our bouts there in practice, and he’s a good d-end. I’m glad he’s on our team. But yeah, he’s a very strong, long-armed, heavy-hand guy.”
(I wanted to ask you how has QB Tua Tagovailoa’s presence been when he’s commanding the pocket? Now obviously for rookie quarterbacks they have to find their voice a little bit there. How has he kind of responded and how have you guys kind of taken his leadership in those moments?) – “Yeah, he’s been good. Every week he is more vocal, more confidence in him, which is kind of the thing that goes about with rookie quarterbacks; but he’s been really good. It’s fun to see him out there playing and throwing that deep ball. He can actually get it out there and what he’s been doing and what ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has been doing helping him along and everybody else – little things here and there – but he’s been really good.”
(How’s the leadership journey been going and what kind of things do you find yourself doing?) – “Just kind of mixing it up a little bit in the locker room – having a good time. Doing what we can when we can amongst ourselves, but it’s been good. I think – I’m not like, some stern leader or try to be. I just try to mix it up when I can with every rookie.”
Jason Sanders – September 1, 2020
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Tuesday, September 1, 2020
K Jason Sanders
(We’ve had a chance to ask all of the players how COVID has impacted their preparations for the season. Obviously this thing has been going on for like six months not. When everyone was kind of sheltering down and their lives … How or in any way did that impact you?) – “From a kicking standpoint, it wasn’t that bad. It allowed me to – I had more time in the offseason. We started later, so it allowed me to get ready with a couple of more weeks to spare. The only down part in the offseason is that a lot of places were closed. There weren’t a lot of places for me to train, so I would have to work my way with that; but from a kicking standpoint, it kind of helped a little bit.”
(I wanted to ask you, from a kicker standpoint, did it make more of a difference to you that there were no preseason games this year?) – “I think it will help you save your legs for the season. The season is a long, long grind. Having that one game in the preseason might get you into that game shape that you’re not used to. You’ve got to stay warm for about four hours, or even longer than that – pregame, maybe five or six hours before, and now we are getting about an hour, an hour and a half or two hours at practice.”
(Have you convinced Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman to let you throw on the trick play this year?) – “(laughter) There are no secrets coming out.”
(I was telling Head Coach Brian Flores that Austin Peay went down to their fourth long snapper in their first college football game of the year due to COVID. He revealed a secret – he said that WR Mack Hollins is an emergency snapper. I remember LB Mike Hull used to do it. Do you have a WR Mack Hollins long snapper scouting report and is anyone else pretty good who is not a lineman?) – “That’s the tough part about the whole COVID protocol. If a guy goes down, you have to go through the whole protocol to get a guy in. Even as a kicker and punter, you have to know whose going to go in if something happens. As a player, I don’t know whose going to be there. We haven’t gone that far yet.”
(You just mentioned that the fact that COVID makes things uncertain obviously. Kickers seem to be the most likely option to kind of fill in if something was to happen to you guys. When was the last time you punted, and how is your punting ability?) – “We’ll mess around every once in a while at practice. I would say I’d be a good emergency punter. I’m not going to be an NFL punter in the league, but an emergency punter, I’ll be there.”
(With two years under your belt in the NFL, I’m just curious how would you assess your second season in comparison to your first?) – “The first season, I felt like I didn’t have as many kicks. I definitely didn’t have as many kicks as I did last year. The first season I think was a rather short year where we didn’t back it up very far; but when the second year came around, it was good to see the confidence that Coach Flores and Crossman had in me to throw me out there when we needed three points. Reflecting back, as low as my percentage was last year, I liked the things I did. I had a lot of big kicks. It was a slow start, but I had a lot of big kicks and a couple of big plays.”
(What are the areas of improvement that you would like to see from yourself this year?) – “Just try to – every kick is going to be the same kick. So if I go out there for a nice little PAT, I want that same mindset, same stroke on the ball going into that 40-45 yard field goal. For me, it’s all going to stay the same. As long as I keep my mind in the right place, you keep swinging the way you’re swinging, it’s all going to work out for itself. I don’t treat any kick differently. Every kick in my head is the same kick.”
(I know over the last couple of years, they made some tweaks to how you do onside kicks, and kickoffs in general. How has that impacted how you guys go about that kickoff play?) – “Every kickoff, or onside kick, is going to be a lot harder. You don’t get that running start as you would two or three years ago. It changes the kicks. It changes what somebody was good at, they can no longer do because it’s harder to get the ball back. I think having a kicker that can do a different variety of onside kicks is going to have that kickoff return team guessing on what’s going to happen. I think that’s what may give you an edge on the kickoff team to get that ball back.”
Matt Breida – September 1, 2020
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
RB Matt Breida
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about the running back position in general. For a while now, it seems like running backs weren’t getting the respect that they once did, financially, around the league. Now we’ve seen just in the past day that an 1,100-yard rusher in RB Leonard Fournette is released. When something like that happens, what is your reaction? Did it shock you?) – “Yeah. I think it shocked a lot of us. At the same time though, we don’t know the circumstances. We don’t know the situation and what all went into that decision. That’s out of my control, obviously. That’s got to do with their team. I just focus on my team. Yeah, it was shocking but like I said, there’s probably more to that story than we know.”
(We saw a clip of you kind of jawing with LB Jerome Baker a bit during the scrimmage. I just kind of wanted to get your side of not only that battle but just in general, talking about the challenges that these Dolphins linebackers present both in coverage and defending the run.) – “They’re all very fast, very physical and they all can cover and run and hit. It’s a very unique situation – we have a lot of guys on the team that can do all of that. It’s just fun competing against those guys because they’re making me better every day. Iron sharpens iron. It’s just great having those guys out there to be able to compete and talk a little bit of trash to.”
(Have you guys got a better view at this point of how you and RB Jordan Howard are going to be used and what specific roles are better fits for each one of you guys?) – “I think they’re going to use all of us – me, Jordan, Myles (Gaskin), Patrick. They’re going to use all of us in all different types of ways. I don’t want to give out any secrets or anything, so you guys will have to wait until Week 1.”
(Going back to that LB Jerome Baker video we all saw, it seemed like a really cool interaction obviously between you guys. How has this transition kind of gone for you, being a new guy on the team and kind of meeting some new guys yourself and also getting to meet with some guys who were here last year, as well?) – “It’s awesome. Like I was telling people before, this locker room kind of reminds me a little bit of San Fran(cisco) when I first got there. We’ve got a lot of young guys, guys don’t have big egos on the team. I think a lot of guys feel like they’ve got a lot to prove in the league, and that’s only going to help our chemistry as the season goes on. We’re just going to build on that. We’ve got a lot of guys who love to compete. I’m just very happy to be here.”
(You’re obviously capable of playing every down but as a third-down back, is that a role you enjoy? What skills do you have that you think make you effective in that role and historically in your career, have you been more comfortable when you come in during a series or had an entire series?) – “I’m a football player at the end of the day, so whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do. That’s how I look at it. I play running back. I can do it all; but at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about the team. So whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do. I’m very comfortable in my skillset. I can run, I can pass block (and) I can catch the ball out of the backfield. So like I said, I’m one of those guys that’s not selfish. Whatever the team asks me to do, I’m going to do.”
(Without a preseason, I’m guessing that you probably have not been tackled since last season. Have you actually been tackled once?) – “You’ve got some young guys in camp who maybe even though they shouldn’t tackle, they tackle. I’ve gone to the ground a couple of times; but you’re absolutely right. We haven’t actually had like a live game because we don’t have preseason this year or anything. One thing I think that helps for us more than the young guys is that we’ve actually had some seasons or actually played some NFL games, so we have some experience as far as getting hit. The offseason is different. You haven’t done it in a couple of months. But that’s for everyone. We’ve all got to adjust. Every team is going to be like that. You’ve got to adjust to the first game. I think we’re all on an even playing field.”
(I think the defense is going to miss a lot of tackles in the first game. I watched the first college game and there were safeties that were running in circles, like they hadn’t tackled in…) – “College is a little different than the NFL. We’re still able to practice tackling without actually having to go to the ground or actually hurt each other. That’s one thing I feel like we do a great job of – Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) does a great job of emphasizing every day is tackling, ball security, turnovers and we work on it every day. I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of missed tackles.”
(WR Jakeem Grant basically said he challenged you, or wants to challenge you, to a race. I know he’s not healthy now but what terms would you accept this challenge under?) – “Oh, man we’re going to have to wait until the offseason for that. Me and Jakeem did talk about that a little bit. Maybe we’ll get something together. Maybe we’ll get somebody else in there – I’m not going to mention names. But we’ll just have to see. We’ll worry about that in the offseason. We’ve got a season to play right now. We’ve got to focus on training camp right now and then our first game, so that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
(When you see a back as fast as you are, it’s tempting to just say ‘Oh, he must be an outside guy.’ But we’ve seen you do a lot of work inside as well. How do you feel about running up the middle and getting the tough yards? How do you feel about doing that role as well?) – “I love it. That’s one thing that since I was a little kid, I love the I-formation, getting ISOs, running up the middle. That’s the quickest way to the end zone to me. Outside zone is great but I love going straight down because I feel like I can burst through the line, get to the second level and like I said, it’s the fastest way to the end zone.”
(Obviously Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey has been out of the year for a years before coming back here. I was looking back at the last time he was there and he had RB Matt Forte and RB Bilal Powell running his system. Have you guys watched some of the old 2016 Jets tape and kind of get an idea of what he wants?) – “Yeah, we watched a little bit of tape of that. I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t seem like he’s been out of the league because it seems like to me he’s been coaching every year since then. He’s a great coach. He knows what he’s doing. His mind is crazy. He just comes up with things off his head that just make sense. I feel like we’re in a good situation with him as offensive coordinator.”
(I know you don’t want to mention any names but it sounds like some other people on the team want that smoke from you and WR Jakeem Grant. You’ve got to give us a little something here.) – “(laughter) I can’t. Like I said, I’ve got to leave you guys with a little tease. Maybe I’ll mention something later on but like I said, right now we’re still focused on training camp. We’ve got a long season ahead of us. It’s the first time in NFL history that we had to go through these circumstances, so we’re just focused on right now and like I said, we’re just trying to get ready for Week 1.”
Brian Flores – September 1, 2020
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Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With the news of RB Kalen Ballage failing his physical with the Jets, where does he stand with the organization? And also, what is the team’s level of interest in RB Leonard Fournette, now that he’s available?) – “Well, we look at the waiver wire every day so to your Fournette question, (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and the scouting staff, they’ll make their evaluations, write a report and we’ll just kind of see – like all players who hit the waiver wire or street free agents, we’ll see if we feel like it will be a good fit for us. If we do, then we make a move. If not, then we won’t. As far as the Kalen situation, obviously he reverted back to us. We’ve had obviously discussions internally and that’s an ongoing situation. We’ll address it when it’s necessary to address.”
(I wanted to check in with you on your stance on how the rookie class as a whole has done, knowing that they had no OTAs and preseason and now that we’re in the last week before you guys make some big decisions. How do you think the rookie class that you drafted, as a whole, has done to adapting to everything that comes with being a Dolphin?) – “I think given the situation, I think they’ve worked hard. They’ve improved over the course of training camp. But the big thing with the rookies on our team and really across the league is you never really know about a player until there’s live action. Some guys get tight when there’s live action. Some guys play better when there’s live action. It’s hard to know, so we’re going to go into the unknown this season. You know a little bit more in the preseason, but even that isn’t a regular-season game. I’m pleased with our rookie class. From the guys we drafted early to the undrafted guys, I think they’re all working hard. I think they’re all bought in. But there’s a lot of unknown here, as you guys could imagine. Playing an NFL game, the speed of it, the pressure that’s involved in playing in the game, the players you’re playing against – these guys are big, they’re physical, they’re strong, they’re tough, they’re angry. When you get put into that situation, pressure busts pipes is a phrase that’s been used for a long time. We’ll see. It’s not just us. That’s every team.”
(I wanted to ask you primarily about your rookie linemen – not necessarily T Austin Jackson but the decisions you have to make with T Robert Hunt or G Solomon Kindley, whoever fills into the right side of that line. What goes into your judgement? Is it where G/T Jesse Davis best fits? Or which rookie you feel is further ahead and ready to start? Conditioning? What goes into the thought process on that decision you have to make on the right side?) – “I mean all of those things. Everything you mentioned goes into the decision. Conditioning, best fit, best overall – I would say the number one thing is the overall – we’re talking about five guys we need to get on the same page from a communication standpoint. I think the three rookies – Austin (Jackson), Robert Hunt, Solomon Kindley – I think they’ve all played well at times during training camp. They’ve all made mistakes, as well. These are tough decisions that we have to make. Look, things change over the course of the season. Like I was telling (you guys) earlier, we may feel a certain way now and put a group out there; but if a player freezes up, we’ve got to make an adjustment. I think we all know that. But I like where they’re at. I think they’re all working. We’re still in a little bit of an evaluation phase here at practice today and a couple of practices later this week, so no official decisions have been made. Honestly, you guys probably won’t know until opening day exactly what it is. I like where they’re all at.”
(Are you open to using LB Elandon Roberts at fullback or do you want him to focus exclusively on defense? And also, I’m curious how close the QB Tua Tagovailoa and QB Josh Rosen competition is for the No. 2 job?) – “Obviously Elandon has played fullback in the past. Look, he’s someone who is willing to play wherever we ask him to play; but we’ve got a lot of guys that way. It’s definitely a possibility, I would say that; but it’s not something that we’re going to make any definitive decisions on right now. We’ve still got 12 days, so that’s where we’re at with Elandon. As far as Tua and Rosen – we might as well throw (Ryan) Fitzpatrick in there as well – that’s still a lot of competition at that position. We’re not saying somebody is one, two or three. It’s still a competition. Obviously ‘Fitz’ has played well – they’ve all played well in spurts, and they’ve all made mistakes. We’ve still got a few days here. I think we like where all three of them are and we’ll continue to leave that as a competition moving forward.”
(I guess we’re getting closer to cut-down day, so I wanted to ask what’s your comfort level on who you think your 53 is at this point? And I know you just mentioned the quarterbacks, but is there a day going into Week 1 where you would like to know who QB1 is or at least tell us who your QB1 is?) – “On the 53(-man roster), we’ve got a lot of competition on this team at various positions. There’s probably – let’s call it 60 players that we feel good about, and probably a little bit more than that when you start talking about practice squad spots as well. There’s 16 practice squad spots this season. I think we’ve got some talented players, some guys we can develop. So as far as forecasting who the best players and who the guys we think can develop, that becomes a little bit of a longer conversation, to say the least. As far as who the 53 are, I kind of look at it as who the 69 are, to be honest with you. We’re going to have to release some of those guys and hope that we get them back on the practice squad. But yeah, I’ve got a pretty good idea of who the 69 players are. The next question was about QB1 and when we would like to know – as soon as possible. You guys will know probably as late as possible is where I’ll leave it. (laughter)”
(Will giving QB Tua Tagovailoa more time and separation from his injury be a part of the discussion about who is active at the quarterback position? Or is that, at this time, no longer a factor – is it not a part of the discussion or the equation?) – “That is definitely part of the conversation, for sure. I think we’re at 10 months. It was a pretty serious injury. He looks good though. You guys have seen him. He looks good, he looks healthy, he’s moving around to his right, to his left. But yes, that’s part of the conversation. Look, he’s a great kid. I care about him. I want what’s best for him and that’s definitely part of the conversation.”
(I wanted to ask about T Julién Davenport. How would you assess his development over the past year?) – “He’s made a lot of improvements. He’s stronger. He’s made a lot of gains in the offseason. His technique, his footwork is a lot better. He’s made a lot of improvement. Obviously he started some games last year. I’ve been very happy with him. I’ve seen a lot of improvement. We’d have no problem putting him in a game.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about your comfort level with your receiver depth, especially considering the injuries that you’ve got and WR Preston Williams’ pre-existing injury. Where is that comfort level and what have you seen from guys like WR Mack Hollins, WR Isaiah Ford and WR Charles Rogers?) – “I feel – guys like Ford, Hollins, Rogers and obviously you mentioned DeVante (Parker), Preston and Jakeem (Grant) – I think they all, I like the depth. They’re all working. They all understand their role in the offense. Malcolm Perry is part of that as well. They all have different and unique skillsets. I like the depth. I think their role in the kicking game will also play a role in that evaluation, whether it’s Jakeem as a punt returner, Mack Hollins as a gunner, Malcolm Perry and his roles as a punt returner and as a ‘PP’ (personal protector) on punt. Isaiah Ford, who can move around and play multiple positions. I like the depth. It’s a hardworking group. They all block and it’s important to them. I think they’re – I like the group.”
