Chad O’Shea – September 17, 2019
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(How do you measure improvement with your offensive line?) – “I think that it’s an ongoing process and some of the things that might go unforeseen we measure improvement in. Obviously, the way the game went for us is not what we want as far as not scoring points and those things, but we thought that there was a lot of improvement at all positions on some small things that we’re asking of the group to try to make progress on. Certainly, I think that was true of the offensive line. This is a work in progress for us. It’s one of which we’re embracing the challenge. I know that the players are, the coaching staff is. I think that what we’re asking is to improve every week and to get better and certainly, they’ve done that.”
(With the issues you’ve had on the offensive line, why not move the pocket more, why not change launching points for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick or QB Josh Rosen?) – “I think that there’s – that’s a good question. I think there’s a lot that goes into our plan and the pass game on offense. Certainly, there’s a number of factors one of which is the defensive scheme that we’re presented each week. That may change and that may vary what we do as far as our protection systems. Like I’ve always said, we’re always going to try to do what’s best schematically to produce points and contribute to winning football. The protection scheme is one that we definitely look at very closely each week. I think there’s a number of factors involved that would determine what protection scheme we’re going to use on a weekly basis. I think there’s a number of factors involved in that. It’s a great question on moving the pocket and those things and that’s certainly one way in which we could do things. And I can just say that we do everything on a weekly basis to try to evaluate everything whether it’s the protection scheme, whether it’s a pass concept that we think is going to work. And that’s one of our jobs as coaches is to do what’s best for our team.”
(When you have a lot of drops like you guys did with WR Preston Williams, WR Jakeem Grant and RB Kalen Ballage, do you hammer on that the next week in practice? Because obviously these guys know how to catch. Or do you kind of do your normal work? How do you handle that?) – “The first thing I’ll say is those guys have done a good job in that area thus far. Obviously, I thought it was uncharacteristic in the game. Certainly Kalen is somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for and no one (was as) hurt and was as disappointed as much as Kalen after he dropped the football in the game, because he’s one that really takes a lot of pride in his work and one of the areas he takes a lot of pride in is catching the ball. Is it something that we work on daily? It is. Is it something that we’ll continue to emphasize because of some of our issues that we had in the game of not catching the ball? It is, and we’ll emphasize those fundamentals that we think we need to improve on, but certainly catching the ball is one of our everyday fundamentals that we try to emphasize as an offense.”
(There’s been a little bit of mention I guess of how much QB Josh Rosen had to grow when he got to you guys. Can you quantify a little bit of where he maybe was and where he is now?) – “I think we’ve made progress. He’s made progress, certainly. I think anytime that you have to learn a new offense and you have to learn a new language and you’re doing it at a place in which it’s your first year, there’s challenges along the way. But I certainly think there’s progress that’s been made. Last week was a good week for him – and during the week – of preparation. He stayed well prepared during the week. He worked extremely hard in the meeting rooms, in the walkthroughs and in the settings other than in the practice field to try to improve as a player and help our team. And I think that’s what we’re asking of our players right now in general is let’s control the things that we can control. One of the things that we can control is our improvement. Certainly, Josh has been an example of somebody that I think has really tried to do that and tried to improve. The quarterback position is a difficult position to play regardless of what system you’re in. There’s a lot that it entails and a lot of responsibilities that you have that are unique to the positon. I think that it’s a difficult position to play in the National Football League. I think that there needs to be a number of factors involved to get to the point where you’re a consistent player at that position. Certainly, he’s aware of what those are and he’s continued to work on those and we’ve bene pleased with his progress. Although he’s not out there playing in a game, we’ve bene pleased with some of the things at practice and he’s making progress.”
(Where is QB Josh Rosen in terms of reading defenses and getting the team into the right play?) – “Again, I think it’s similar to some of the other positons: we’re making progress in that area. I think it’s a great challenge at that positon, because there’s so many other things that are going on prior to the snap that they’re responsible for and then the ball is snapped and you’ve got to read the coverage as the quarterback. It’s something that he has worked tremendously hard on. I think anytime you put in the effort that he has, that you’re going to make improvement. I would say we’ve made progress in that area. It’s an area that was been well stated that he needs to improve on among other things that all of our players need to improve on. That’s one of them for Josh and I think we’ve made improvement in that area.”
(You’re always evaluating QB Josh Rosen. How many games does it take to give him a fair full evaluation at the end of the season?) – “It’s a good question. We’ve talked about that as a staff and I don’t think there’s a set in stone number. I think this is an ongoing process whether it’s practice reps, whether it’s his familiarity with what we’re doing scheme-wise and where we think that is. I think that you can’t put a number on it and that’s how we’ve approached it. We’ve looked to see improvement and that’s certainly what he’s done and how he’s approached it is he’s tried to improve. That’s what we’re asking all of our position groups. I know the offensive line and the quarterback position is being talked about more than the others, but certainly we just mentioned the receivers and the running backs having to focus in and catch the ball better and be better fundamentally. I think that that’s probably true of all positions right now. There’s no set number to see whether we make improvement – it’s just over the long haul, the progress needs to be made.”
(I know that you mentioned with us the Mike call is something that was difficult for QB Josh Rosen to pick up and he’s felt like that’s something he’s progressed with substantially since he’s got here. When you find younger quarterbacks, are there things that now in this new era that are harder for them to pick up as they transition to the NFL?) – “I think one of the things in general that’s happened is in college football with the amount of no-huddle offense and the spread offense, a lot of responsibilities in the NFL that you have at the line of scrimmage and in the huddle as far as communication-wise, it can be challenging for players to transition from college to the NFL. Certainly, that’s one of the challenges, but that’s probably true of other positions, too. You take the receiver positon for example, they line up and look to the sidelines in a lot of the offenses in college – which I have a tremendous amount of respect for those offenses and the way they do things in college – but it’s challenging as far as the transition that one makes from college to the pros because of simply not being in a huddle, breaking the huddle, seeing some of the coverage things that are different in the NFL to college. I do think that there’s challenges. I think that’s true of any offense you may go in, not just specific to our offense here at Miami.”
(Right now you guys are converting 20 percent on third downs. Obviously, it’s what’s handcuffing this offense. Is there a strategy that you think can work to get you in better down-and-distance situations?) – “I think the success of third down really relies heavily on the success of your early down success. Our inability to get ahead of the down-and-distance on early downs has been something that’s really hindered our success on third downs. To your point, when we talk about third down, it relies so heavily on early downs. Again, when you’re at third-and-longer and you play the game like that, that’s a tough place to play the game, especially with the multiplicity of what teams are doing defensively. They know what position they’re in defensively and that is they can be aggressive and bring pressure and do things they would not do if the distance was manageable at third-and-2-to-5. If we can do a better job on early downs and be at a more manageable third down distance, obviously, that’s going to really help our third down and that’s where we want to be.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage, obviously, the drop aside, he’s not even averaging a yard per carry right now. How much is that the line versus him finding the right hole?) – “I think that, and I talked about this last week with Kalen, that’s Kalen’s stats, but it’s everybody’s stats. I really, truly believe that. I think Kalen, I’ve been impressed with him as a runner and we really stressed to the team that it takes all 11 to be successful and this is certainly true of the running back positon. They rely so heavily on not only the offensive line but the tight ends and the receivers to block-run for us and for the quarterback to get in the right play whether it be an alert at the line of scrimmage or the right identification of the front. There’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle in the run game and unfortunately right now for Kalen – he’s a player in which I have a tremendous amount of respect for because of his work ethic and his professionalism and he’s a talented runner and one of which we need to help him obviously be better. We’re all in this together and it takes all 11 for an offensive play to be successful.”
Chris Grier – September 17, 2019
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
General Manager Chris Grier
(Obviously, we’ll ask about the S Minkah Fitzpatrick trade, shortly, but one big picture rebuilding plan we wanted to clarify with you. You’ll obviously – besides having a ton of draft picks – you’ll have a ton of cap space next offseason. Would your hope be to go out and spend on impact starting-caliber free agents before the draft with the hope of being a competitive team next year, or would you think it’d be best to hold off on major free agent spending until you’ve gone through a draft or two more in this cycle?) – “We’ve talked about building this long-term with sustained success right away, and for us, we’ll be very aggressive. We’re not going to sit here on a bunch of money or anything. The plan is to build a winner here. No one likes losing. We’ve talked about building a team that’s going to win and compete for championships for a long time instead of being in this one year, and then you fall back for two or three. Again, it is a long-term vision, but we will be aggressive.”
(What is the time schedule as far as, say, getting to the playoffs, getting to a Super Bowl, having a winning record – things along those lines?) – “I don’t know if you really put a time frame with it. For us, it’s – we’ve positioned ourselves to where we think the organization will be in a good place here shortly. How long that takes – like I said, we’ll be aggressive (in) free agency. Again, we’re not going to sit back and not do anything. We’re going to be very proactive and try and get this turned quickly.”
(Why have you given up on two of your last four first-round picks?) – “I wouldn’t say ‘given up.’ With Laremy (Tunsil), that was one where we got a phone call and they kept pursuing us. Multiple, multiple times, we talked and kept telling them ‘no’ and what it would take and they came and offered it. A funny story I was saying the other day was I called Laremy about the trade, and Laremy walked in my office and saw it on the board and goes, ‘I would trade me for that.’ (laughter) But seriously, we were not trying to do it. With Minkah (Fitzpatrick), it was just one of those things. The player had expressed that (it was) maybe time for him to change, so we tried to make it work. Myself, (Head Coach) Brian (Flores) and (Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner) Steve (Ross) – we had multiple conversations with him, saying we wanted him here and viewed him as a core piece and wanted him here. The kid just felt it was time for him to move, and we told him what the value was. We told teams we had multiple offers, and we felt that the Pittsburgh one was the one best for the organization.”
(You’ve lost the first two games by a combined roughly 90 points. Obviously season tickets are not cheap. What would you say to fans who are wondering if they’re getting their money’s worth?) – “I would say to the fans that I appreciate their support, and they deserve a winner. We’re trying to build them a winner. I would think the fans would also say that the cycle we’ve been in the last 10-plus years is not good enough, and we’re trying to right that as fast as we can. They deserve a winner, and we’re trying to do that for them.”
(What do you think you can do with up to seven picks in the first three rounds next year?) – “We can do anything we want. (laughter) Whether it’s free agency, as well, and the draft. For us, we’ve positioned ourselves where we think we can do anything or get whatever player we feel that will help us as soon as possible.”
(Are you looking to trade anybody that wants to be traded? It sounded like S Minkah Fitzpatrick came to you and said he wanted to be traded. So will you try to move people if they want to be moved?) – “No, no. For us, we had multiple conversations with Minkah. We told him we wanted him to be here multiple times. Brian (Flores), Steve (Ross) and myself – we all expressed that. For us, when we got to a point where we weren’t sure if it was going to work, we said, ‘Hey, if we get the value that we deem was worth moving him, we would do it.’ There’s no precedent here where any player is going to come in here and say, ‘I want out’ and we’re going to do it. Again, I have not had calls from any agents or any players asking to want out. We’ve extended some of our younger players –Xavien (Howard), etc., Jakeem (Grant) and all of those guys are bought in 100 percent. They’ve told me again as much Monday. So we have a good group of young guys that want to be here.”
(Did S Minkah Fitzpatrick say why he didn’t want to be here?) – “I’ll let him talk about that if he wants, but it was nothing – he likes Brian (Flores) a lot. He likes it here. He had talked a little bit about some of the position stuff he thought, and Brian I know told you guys the Patrick Chung story and stuff. I’ll just leave that for Brian and Minkah.”
(What have you said to Head Coach Brian Flores about the situation?) – “Brian and I have been lock-step on it. Again, we’ve had a lot of conversations. Brian and I communicate every day. I talk to Steve (Ross) every day. We’re in this 100 percent together. I believe in Brian. He’s a great leader, a great man. I think he’s the right guy to lead us through these times. So for us, Brian is a good football coach, he’s a good man, and Minkah said he appreciated that about Brian. He really liked him. It was just too bad it didn’t work out.”
(What is the plan for QB Josh Rosen this season, and have you guys kind of zeroed in on a quarterback for next season?) – “In terms of Josh, we just want him to keep developing. For him, it’s been a – and he will tell you – it’s been an eye-opener. He said he’s learned more here in the last couple months than he has, he said in his whole career. For him, having someone like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) to mentor him and to be that kind of veteran influence to help him has been great. I think when he’s ready to go, if the coaches deem it’s time for him to play, he’ll play; but the good thing for us is we see him every day. We see him in the meetings, see how he prepares and learns and handles himself. We’ve been very pleased so far, so when the coaches feel they want to make a change – if they want to do that – then, that will happen.”
(Drafting a quarterback in the first round, are you committed to that for 2020?) – “We’re going to do whatever we can to make our team better right away. For us, yeah, we’ve all talked about the quarterback being an important piece, and it’s competition. We’re not shying away from that, so whoever’s here, there’s going to be competition at every position whether it’s quarterback, o-line, wide receiver, o-line; so, yes.”
(When you guys set up a strategy last January, February, March, was this part of it? Or as the season predicated, you’d make – trade S Minkah Fitzpatrick, trade T Laremy Tunsil and take the roster down further than you expected?) – “I would say (it was) very unexpected as far as the Laremy and Minkah situations. You can’t prepare for that. I’m not going to sit up here and lie about it; but for u,s the opportunities as well were kind of unique with a little bit of the historic haul for him (Laremy Tunsil) and Kenny (Stills), with what we’re getting. So I think for us, to strike on this opportunity – because we know as the team was built right now, it wasn’t going to win a Super Bowl, much less – it’ll be hard to compete for a playoff spot. Again, we’re trying to build a team that’s going to win right now and do it, (and be a) long-term winner and bring a championship here hopefully to South Florida.”
Vince Biegel – September 16, 2019
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Monday, September 16, 2019
LB Vince Biegel
(How did you feel about what you were able to do on Sunday?) – “After looking at the film, I was really happy with what I was able to do. I think the coaches are starting to get confidence in me to be able to go out there and do what I do, which is rush the passer and have some good rushes to put some pressure on (Tom Brady). Obviously that helps the back end and helps the defense win games. As I continue to learn the playbook and I get familiarized with the defense and what they want from me, I’m going to continue to grow; but it was definitely a good showing on Sunday. (I was) happy with what I did and (will) continue to stack those.”
(So what was it like to sack New England Patriots QB Tom Brady? That did happen, right? You got a sack?) – “Yeah, I had a sack against (Tom) Brady. When I first got in the league, I said, ‘if there’s one guy I want to sack, it’s Brady.’ Probably the next guy would be (Green Bay Packers QB) Aaron Rodgers. (I have) a lot of respect for Brady and what he’s done. He’s a great player. So to be able to kind of check that one off the box is big. (I was) definitely excited, though.”
(Did you get Packers QB Aaron Rodgers during your time with the Saints?) – “No. Never. We didn’t play them last year. I was obviously in Green Bay my first year, but we never had them on the schedule last year.”
(Can you take us through that play where you got the sack?) – “It was – I think the defense was kind of working well together. It was me rushing up to the passer, getting to the second level, coming underneath. I think it was more a coverage versus me having a good move. It was kind of a second effort. Secondary on my rush. Good coverage in the back end and kind of fell off and slipped off and made a sack. It was a good sack. I’ll chalk it up to a good overall defensive play, and hopefully there are many more to come this year.”
(Speaking of that defensive play, as a defense, how do you try to take away some positives from some of the things you did yesterday and trying to grow and turn this around a little bit?) – “I think there are a lot of positives on defense. You flip on the film and for two and a half quarters, we’re in that game. Obviously, we have some balls that don’t go our way. The defense – I think as you see the game go on, we’re starting to get fatigued and being on the field a lot, but I think as we start continuing to improve as a team overall – offensively, defensively, special teams – I think those things will fall into place. I think the score doesn’t really speak for what was out there. I thought we had a really good showing on a lot of ends. There were a lot of positives; but at the end of the day, we’ve still got to grow and continue to develop and get some wins.”
(Are you confident the kind of pressure you were able to show during your snaps will lead to more snaps, even starting this week?) – “Absolutely. I think for me – that’s the guys upstairs – but for me, I’m going to go out there and rush and do what I need to do to be able to get those snaps. For me, it’s continuing to get better every single day, have good showings like I did on Sunday and the reps and the more PT (playing time), that will come. For me, it’s continuing to develop and grow and get better every day here.”
(It seems like you play the game with passion. What is sort of the genesis of that?) – “I think every good football player, you need to play with passion. I grew up in a football family. My dad played college football. My grandfather is in the National High School Hall of Fame for head coaches, so football is in my blood, and that was one thing my dad always taught me was effort. There’s a lot of things you can’t control, but there’s one thing you can control and it’s your effort. I obviously had some coaches at Wisconsin, too, that really emphasized effort, so that’s kind of the way I play: high-motor guy. For me, it’s a compliment when people say, ‘hey, you’re a high-motor guy.’ That’s something that I wear, the chip on my shoulder, being able to go out there and play with a high motor and make some plays.”
(How can you encompass the last couple of weeks of your transition here in Miami and how did you feel getting in?) – “I really do love being here. When Miami traded for me, I knew it was going to be a great opportunity because this is a young team. There are a lot of opportunities. I came from New Orleans where they’re one of the oldest veteran teams in the NFL. So for me to come over here, there are opportunities for obviously more playing time, there are opportunities for me to develop as a leader here. I was extremely excited, and for me, it’s to be able to continue to show myself, develop myself and show this team and organization what I’m about. I’m extremely thankful to be here. It’s been a whirlwind from just figuring out my living situation, learning the playbook, learning the guys in the locker room, names, everybody; but I’m excited to be here, and I’m excited to hopefully stick around here for a long time.”
(Have you settled in with your living situation, or are you still looking?) – “We are settled into our house, but we’re kind of still working on some of the details. We’re getting settled in, and the wife – I’ve got my wife and our daughter down here – so the family’s settling in. We’ll just continue to get more comfortable with time.”
Brian Flores – September 16, 2019
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Monday, September 16, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Have you made a decision on who your starting quarterback will be this week?) – “It’s ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). But we’re – after a couple of weeks like that – we’re evaluating all positions: quarterback, running back, o-line, d-line, corner. We haven’t made any final decisions yet. We’re evaluating all positions, like I just said. Right now, it’s ‘Fitz.’”
(RB Kalen Ballage had a couple of drops yesterday and I’m wondering if you know the reason. Was it just lack of focus or was he trying to run before he caught the ball? Do you know?) – “It’s a fundamental we work on every day. He wasn’t the only one who had drops. We had drops at multiple positions. We had drops that if we make (the catch), the game is a little bit different. Kalen is a professional. He works extremely hard. I have a lot of confidence in him. I think he’ll get it corrected. But at the end of the day, he has to make those plays in the game, along with some of our receivers who had some drops as well. We all – as a team, there was a lot of good out there I thought – especially early in the first half. But we’re making those corrections right now that we need to make and we’ll come back on Wednesday and work to improve.”
(Speaking of that good, tell me a few things that you like that you saw out there, especially with the defense.) – “I thought guys played hard. I thought the communication was better. I thought we tackled better defensively. We didn’t give up very many big plays. I thought they fought. There were a couple of third-and-longs there I wish we were better on. It was a step in the right direction but we still have a long way to go – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(Is there something that can be done besides lineup changes to improve the offensive line?) – “Just constant communication, constantly working together, working through the protections, working through the run game. Communicating – we got a lot of games yesterday that we struggled with. We need to do a better job there. But again, when you work with a group week after week after week and you build a better rapport, I think that will help the entire situation.”
(What was your initial reaction when you saw QB Josh Rosen rolled up on the other sideline and what were your conversations with him when he came over to your own sideline afterwards?) – “It’s the same reaction I have when any player goes down. I hope it’s not serious. You want to see him pop right back up. When they’re on the ground for a minute, you start to think that it’s a little bit more serious; but he jumped up. We had to take a timeout to put him back in the game. He went back in there and finished, so that’s a good thing.”
(How would you evaluate QB Josh Rosen’s play?) – “He went in and obviously the game was where it was. He made some good throws. I thought we could have helped him out by catching a couple of those passes. He turned it over at the end. He could’ve thrown that ball away that he got dinged on. Overall, when you’re in the game in that situation, it’s pass, pass, pass. You’re not really managing the game. He’s trying to push the ball downfield to create some plays, which I thought he did a good job of that.”
(What does QB Josh Rosen need to show you to get a start?) – “It’s like everyone else. If you do a good job in meetings and do a good job in walkthrough and do a good job in practice – that’s at all positions, to include the quarterback.”
(Do you expect QB Josh Rosen to be a full participant in practice this week or would he be limited?) – “He’s in today. He looks good. We’ll see where he’s at Wednesday.”
(Looking at your offensive line, I think you had seven guys up yesterday. C/G Evan Boehm and G Shaq Calhoun were the two guys that didn’t start. What would you have done at backup tackle? Who was your backup tackle?) – “We had a plan for the backup tackle position. I’m not going to hand that out right now. We didn’t have to get to it; but yeah, we definitely had a plan for a backup tackle. We wouldn’t go into a game without a backup at every position.”
(We hear all of the talk all across the league. It’s a week-to-week situation and these guys are professionals who get paid to play. But how do you talk to them about the emotions of these historically bad losses the last two weeks?) – “I think we come in, we make the corrections and we move on. We don’t point fingers. We don’t make excuses. There’s a room full of guys who aren’t doing that. That’s how you do it. You move on to the next day, to the next practice, to the next meeting, and you start preparing for the next opponent. Like you said, it’s week-to-week, so we’ll try to turn things around as quickly as possible and we move on. I coach these guys to move onto the next play – play after play after play. The next play is the most important one and I think that has to be the case off the field as well.”
(You said after the game that S Minkah Fitzpatrick played well. Would you like to find a way to keep him here?) – “He’s here, and he played well yesterday. We’ll go through the Cowboys tape and find a role that we feel is best for him and the rest of the group as well. Yeah, I though he played well, and hopefully he continues to play well.”
(He looked like S Minkah Fitzpatrick played a lot of deep safety. He said after the game that he enjoyed that. Is that something that you can anticipate him doing more of?) – “He’s capable of doing a lot of things. Again, I’ve said that over, and over, and over again. He’s a heck of a player, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical, plays deep, he can cover. I think at the end of the day, we’ll do what we feel is best for the team and put him in positions to do what he does well.”
(I’m sure a lot of it is necessity-drive but G/T Jesse Davis at left tackle, how would you assess the job he is doing and do you think maybe of sliding him back to guard?) – “I think he’s done a good job at left tackle. Again, it’s a new position. I think he’s done a really good job showing some leadership on this team and he’s a guy that obviously we extended him and we feel like he’s going to be here for a long time. I think we’ve got a good young nucleus of guys that we expect to be here for a while. He’s part of that. I think one of the things that’s – he brings his versatility. Left tackle, right guard, right tackle, left guard, we’re going to see if he can snap a little bit. I think he’ll do whatever helps the team and those are the kind of guys we want.”
(WR Antonio Brown has the touchdown yesterday I believe against CB Jomal Wiltz where it appeared he pushed off. Is that an example of something you would send to the league to get a clarification on the ruling? How do you handle that?) – “Yeah. I took a timeout there to see if we could get a better look at that. They ruled that there wasn’t a push off. Yeah, that was the call. Whether we agree with the call or not, that was the call that was made. We’ve got to play through it. I thought the guys did. That made it – obviously that was a big play in the game. It made it 13-0 right before the half. (It was a) tough call; but that’s a part of the game.”
(Have drops been an issue for this team, have you seen at practice? Or was that kind of out of character yesterday?) – “Yeah, I think it was out of character. I think if there is something we’ve been consistent with, it’s that. But you can’t take anything for granted. We’ll go back to the drawing board from that standpoint. It’s something we work on a day-to-day basis – throwing, catching, blocking, defeating blocks, tackling and all of those fundamentals. That’s why you do them because you want to be sharp in all of those areas. When you’re not, it hurts you in the game.”
(You mentioned that the Patriots completed some third-and-longs. Philosophically and strategically for us and for the fans, can you share a little bit: when the team decides to rush three and drop eight, what in generally is a potential positive for that and what can be a negative?) – “I would say anytime you rush three, it’s three on five. If you do the math on that, it’s not a good matchup form a rush standpoint most of the time. Now I’ve seen instances where you can create a rush from a three-man rush. So, I’m not saying that there is no rush there. When you drop eight, you just put a lot of bodies out there and force the quarterback to take a look at eight guys in coverage and see if he wants to take a shot with something downfield. That’s the thought process. That’s really the thought process. If you feel like eight bodies in those zones will give the quarterback problems, then you do it.”
(Do you have an idea on which guys will be here for you in the long term and what guys won’t?) – “I think that’s – Yeah, I feel like we got a young nucleus that will be here for a while. I like that group and I think they’re coming together and improving. I’m excited about that group. Yeah, I think it’s a good group.”
(Do you coach a young nucleus different than you may a veteran that might not be…?) – “No, I coach everybody the same. I’m trying to get everybody better. My goal in coaching is always to try to help guys maximize their potential – so a veteran, old guy, new guy, it doesn’t matter. Everyone, to me, needs to be coached, and the really good players want to be coached. Young players want to be coached, and they need to be coached. This game is about development, and everyone is developing. Everyone is trying to improve and get better. That’s what I love about the job.”
(How would you assess the work of DT Christian Wilkins?) – “I thought Christian had some good plays yesterday. Obviously, he was never perfect, but he plays with great energy. I think he’s starting to get a little bit more comfortable with the NFL game. I think he’s an ascending player, and hopefully he continues to build and improve as the year goes on.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is your starter, as you said, but there have been some quarterbacks around the league that have been going down the last two weeks. Have you guys fielded any calls or entertained calls for Ryan?) – “We take calls every day. Again, about players – we take calls every day. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) – those guys do a great job as far as handling that; but yeah, we field calls every day.”
(If somebody did approach you with a trade for QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, would it be something for the team to consider?) – “Those conversations we have – there are calls that are made on a daily basis for every team about players. There are talks every day; but those conversations are all confidential, and they’re internal. I like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), and I like (Josh) Rosen. I like a lot of players on our team. No, we have not had those conversations. That’s where we’re at.”
(Could you talk a little bit about how your own personal circumstances in growing up prepared you for professional difficulties, and on a lighter note, would you mind telling the story that the first time your uncle Darrell Patterson introduced you to football…?) – “My uncle Darrell – Darrell Patterson – he was a firefighter in New York. My dad was a merchant marine, so he was gone 10 months out of the year. My uncle Darrell was basically a father figure. He’d take us to the arcade. He’d take us to bowling and things like that. We’re driving home one night, and I see a Pop Warner league, and I asked if I could play. I was 12 years old at the time. I’d never played, and no one in my family had every played football. He played football in high school and played for the FDNY football team, so he was excited that I had some interest. I went to practice one day, ran a 40(-yard dash) and ran somewhat well, I guess. That was kind of the start of my football career. So he’s somebody who’s very special to me, and I don’t know if I’d be standing here if it wasn’t for him.”
(Could I ask you about your personal circumstances growing up, and how that prepared you for these kinds of difficulties?) – “I would just say I’ve had very difficult moments. Growing up in a tough neighborhood – I don’t want to get into all that; but yeah, I’m very prepared for difficult moments. I learned resilience at a very early age. I think when you deal with tough times, you want to lean on the people who you trust and care about you and have your back. You always know that if you put your head down and work hard, things normally turn around and get better.”
Jerome Baker – September 15, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 15, 2019
Postgame – New England
LB Jerome Baker (transcribed by Devin Davis)
(S Minkah Fitzpatrick was saying that each week has been a learning experience. What do you take out of this game that you think you’ll be able to learn from without looking at the tape so far?) – “I learned a lot about these guys I’ve played with. No matter what, they didn’t quit. They never quit. They looked me in my eyes and they want to go to war with me every snap. It’s a true honor to play with those guys. We’re going to go back and watch the X’s and O’s; but ultimately I learned a lot about our defense as far as our heart. That’s one thing I definitely learned and ultimately I’m just proud to play with this team.”
(What made you successful the first half as far as a defensive unit as opposed to the second half?) – “We played together. We made some mistakes but ultimately we played together. We communicated, we played hard. That’s the little light that we had. Ultimately, we didn’t get the job done. So we have to go back and watch film. We just have to get better.
(S Bobby McCain was saying today was probably an away game for you guys. Is that the way it’s been feeling that past few weeks in this stadium?) – “Our fans are amazing. They do so much. Our fans are pretty amazing. Out in Miami, they speak to us. Even before the game, they give us so much love. I never take for granted the fans that come out and support us. I don’t know about an away game, but you can definitely feel the love that they definitely support us.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick – September 15, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 15, 2019
Postgame – New England
S Minkah Fitzpatrick (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(Some good and some bad for the defense. Tell me first about what thought was better for the defense?) – “I think we did a better overall job of just executing the game plan. I think last week, we didn’t execute the game plan as well. It was the first game – jitters or whatever, maybe – the first time playing together as a defense, so there were probably a lot of jitters. But like I said, we just did a better job of just executing the game plan and just communicating what the coaches called. I think we did better.”
(And what would be one thing that was a little bit disappointing or frustrating?) – “I think we could have won third down a little bit more. They won third down. We’d stop them first and second down and then on third down, they’d win, and they would get the first down. I think if we would have stopped them maybe three or four more times on third down, it would have been a better result.”
(Did you appreciate and enjoy the opportunity today to play some deep safety?) – “Yeah, that was the game plan. Like we always say, week to week, it’s a different scheme. So I knew that’s what it was going to be. Yeah. I’ll say yeah.”
(You’re so used to winning, whether it was high school level or collegiate level, but to come into this kind of situation that you’re enduring right now, how difficult is that to deal with?) – “You could look at it one way. You could look at it as losing, or you could look at it as learning. There’s a saying, ‘I never lose, I just learn.’ I forgot who said it but that’s just what we’ve got to do right now. This whole entire process has just been a learning lesson for me, my teammates, my family, these coaches, everybody. It’s just been a learning process. I’ve lost before. I’ve never had a season that was perfect. I’ve lost games before. Like I said, you’ve just got to learn, and if you don’t learn, then you really lost. Like we did last week, I think something we wanted to focus on was executing the game plan better. We did that today, as a defense. The score doesn’t reflect how we actually played better; but like I said, I think we’ve just got to learn.”
Eric Rowe – September 15, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 15, 2019
Postgame – New England
CB Eric Rowe (transcribed by Devin Davis)
(How do you guys bounce back from this game?) – “Yeah, the process – we just have to stick to it. Especially now, there’s a little adversity so it’s really tough. We’re not seeing the results right now but that’s something we have to overcome and just keep working. We have 14 or 15 more games left. We can still turn this around.”
(You were just saying you have 14 more games right? I remember the Redskins were 0 and 6 and won the Super Bowl. Where do you guys go from here?) – “Back to the practice field. Back to work. It’s the only thing you can do. I feel like compared to Week 1, even though the score doesn’t show, as a defense we fought a little bit better this week and we just have to build on that. We can turn things around this season.”
(Once you have that consistency, everyone comes together and pulls together right?) – “Yeah. It’s all about teamwork. It’s the ultimate team sport. Everyone is kind of new but that’s just an excuse. We’re all going to pull together. We’re going to get it rolling.”
Daniel Kilgore – September 15, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 15, 2019
Postgame – New England
C Daniel Kilgore (transcribed by Katharine Bohlmann)
(How do you let these two blowouts not inject doubt into the team?) – “Lift each other up, remain positive with the guys, point out the good. There are some good things. This team – we work too hard during the week to not have some good things happen. Tipped balls at the line, the sacks – again, not establishing first, second down positive plays – those are things we need to work on. Really, just pointing out the positives and what individuals are doing and build off of that. That’s a good way to start.”
(With the run game, it’s second straight week where it has been stifled, and you guys are putting difficult down-and-distance situations. How do you do a better job of establishing the ground of attack?) – “Just get back to it and do what we do best. Attack, give the guys our creases and work to double teams and get up to the second level. That’s the basis of any run game. We’ve just got to be better at our fundamentals, our techniques, and make sure we are all on the same page.”
(How do you guys stay away from getting frustrated and still keep going. You still have games to play?) – “It is a long season, right? So obviously we are 0-2, but it is a long season and we have to point out the positives. Yeah, we’re 0-2 and we just got blown out we got our asses kicked honestly; but to stay positive you have got to point out the positives. When guys are doing really well individually and obviously point out the negatives. What we have to do to get better? What do we have to do to run the ball? To protect the quarterback, to score points? And on top of that, just point out the good things. Try to stay positive, come into work and get ready to work, because this is one group and one team that is going to come to work and is ready to get better.”
