Mark Walton – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
RB Mark Walton (transcribed by Katharine Bohlmann)
(How good did it feel to catch that touchdown pass and give the team the lead and get in the end zone?) – “It felt good. That was something we worked on throughout the week – catching the ball out of the backfield. That’s just something we’ve been doing since training camp started and ever since I got here. I’ve just been trying to play my role – whatever it is – catching the ball out of the backfield or running. So since the day I showed up, catching the ball in the backfield helped. Throughout the preseason, I think the running backs have been doing a great job catching out the backfield and it’s just been showing up week to week.”
(Third preseason game – obviously a big one – players trying to make a statement, and RB Kenyan Drake not playing. How early did you know that he wasn’t going to, meaning you were going to get more playing time behind Kenyan?) – “You know, we just go with the flow of the game. The coaches make that decision. When that decision came up, they announced it and you’ve just got to move forward with it. You don’t expect a big amount of playing time. When I found out he was down, I rode that train instantly.”
(What’s it do for your confidence to get that time with the first team with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and getting a chance to show what you can do with the first team?) – “Just trying to get me to gel with them guys. My main thing with that – when I’m in with the first group is just go and do my job. Don’t make a big deal about what it is, just go out there and do my job just like I’ve been doing all week … I’ve been preparing myself throughout the whole in practice, leading up to the game and that’s what I have been trying to do.”
Bobby McCain – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
S Bobby McCain (transcribed by Devin Davis)
(What do you guys have that’s working so well for you right now?) – “Honestly, communicating and being on the same page. When you can communicate and everybody can be on the same page, that’s half the battle. When you don’t have mental errors, that’s half the battle. Just going out and executing and finishing the play is the rest of it, so that’s the hardest part. As a defense, we have to understand we have to keep going and keep coming together, and keep putting together good series back to back to back. ”
(Do you think this defense is ready for the season?) – “We don’t have a choice. We don’t have a choice. We’re going to have to be ready for the season. We’ve still got a ways to go. We still have some things to clean up, we still have some things that can help us. But we have been doing some good things as well.”
Josh Rosen – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
QB Josh Rosen
(Maybe not as well as you would have liked to have played, but how do you feel you played in that second half there, especially with that scoring drive?) – “I thought I made a couple of good plays. Still definitely messed up a couple – even two plays that actually were successful plays. I kind of messed up a little bit, but there’s always ways to improve. It was a little more good than bad last week, but my motto has been making the next day better than the previous, and I think today was better than yesterday and last week.”
(In the one play that really stands out, I guess you stepped up, flushed out, just went to your right and I think TE Mike Gesicki you found?) – “Isaiah (Ford).”
(WR Isaiah Ford. What did you see and how did you get to that point?) – “I dropped back in the pocket. Tackle did a really good job of keeping areas high. I stepped up and kind of flushed it a little bit, and I knew Isaiah (Ford) was coming across the field on the concept we have, so I was kind of trying to run it a little bit. I just kind of knew he was back there, and, I found him.”
(Do you feel like your pocket presence has improved over time?) – “Yeah, I think, just as my grasp of the offense increases and I get more comfortable with it, I think that also helps to be more at ease in the pocket because you know where your answers are. Like if one or two isn’t there, you know exactly where your back is or you know where three is. I think that just comes with reps.”
(How do you feel like you’re putting it all together?) – “Pretty good, better, not great. Pretty good, but hopefully tomorrow is better. It will be.”
(Earlier you said that your focus is not on the competition. Two minutes ago Head Coach Brian Flores said that your performance kind of makes his decision more difficult, tougher. Do you feel you achieved your goals for tonight?) – “You’re going to hate my answer, but my goal is to play better than last week, and I think I did that to a small degree, to a degree. The competition, that’s his thing. So questions you ask with him go back and forth between you guys, but for me, I’m just trying to handle my business and trying to make next week better than this week.”
(Are you able to quantify how much you’ve grown since the beginning of camp to where you are now?) – “Yes. With three capital letters, yes.”
(How would you explain that to us as best as you can?) – “This offense puts a lot on the quarterback to make calls in the run game, the protection game, and make a lot of checks and audibles and stuff like that. That can be a bit of a hindrance at first, but as you sort of learn to kind of tackle it and you can start to use those things as an advantage. So I think I just need to get more and more comfortable with that much control and start to use it to your advantage. I think Fitz will tell you he doesn’t have the most gifted physical skill set, but his ability to take that much command of the line of scrimmage and get in the right play and make sure everyone’s lined up in the right spots and running the right routes, I think that’s why he’s been so successful. I’m just trying to add that to my game. I didn’t expect to come in here, but I’m welcoming the challenge and trying to conquer each day.”
(We heard through the broadcast, I guess you’re working through some of your MIKE calls. Where is your comfort level in that particular area?) – “Better than last week. I will tell you, though, that the first team and second team stuff does make a significant difference because there are some fronts out there, the ones, that I’m definitely going to have to ask (Quarterbacks Coach) Jerry (Schuplinski) to break all those down. But it’s on film now, and I’ll try to learn them and master them, so if I ever see them again, I’ll knock them down.”
(The MIKE points thing, you said earlier this preseason, this is the first time you were doing that. At UCLA was the center doing it?) – “Yeah. Most offenses, even in the NFL, I’m pretty sure a good chunk, the center still does it. But it’s not just like the MIKE point and calling out the MIKE because the MIKE could be different on any play. It more has to do with what entails with calling the MIKE. You have to sort of center the run game or the protection game and then organize your receivers on who’s blocking safeties, and you’ve got to understand who can and can’t blitz and where your hots are because, like you have options. If it’s third-and-long or something, you can’t just throw hot because you won’t get the necessary yardage. You’re probably better off trying to shore the thing off and then throw it somewhere else in some deeper routes. So that kind of control, I think, is why Tom and Drew and Philip and Aaron in the toughest of crunch times, third-and-12 in a big game, will walk up to the line, and they know exactly where to go and what to do.”
(Are you getting help from C Daniel Kilgore and C/G Chris Reed?) – “Oh, yeah.”
(You feel like you’re trending upward and you feel good about that. Do you feel that degree of improvement will continue indefinitely as long as you’re continuing to play?) – “Yeah, going to infinity and beyond. (laughter)”
(That’s a pretty exciting idea for you, a month from now you’re that much better.) – “Diminishing marginal returns a little bit. (laughter) So you get a lot of improvement off the bat and as time goes on, maybe a little less over time. But as long as it’s some improvement, I’m good with it because I think constant upward momentum is better than a roller coaster.”
(You had a 99-yard drive tonight. Have you had one of those before?) – “Probably somewhere sometime.”
(It’s pretty rare. What’s it like to have your back literally on the goal line and then get the touchdown.) – “I don’t know. I’ve got 11 dudes trying to tackle me, so it’s more focused on the here and now. I just know we tried to get on a hard count, get them to jump offsides, buy some room. Our running backs made some, definitely swept through some holes there, and it was a team effort. It was a good drive. It wasn’t like a walk off, go-ball that went 70 (yards). It was a drive, which was pretty good to feel as an offense.”
Patrick Laird – August 22, 2019
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
RB Patrick Laird (transcribed by Devin Davis)
(Describe your comfort level with the offense right now and then how things are going.) – “I’m still learning the offense. I think everyone is still learning certain parts of it. Like all of the other rookies I’m in my playbook everyday trying to learn it as best I can so when I’m out on the field, I feel comfortable. But when I’m in the huddle and the QB calls a play, I know what to do. There’s a lot of stuff that I can do better that I’m working on so I’ll show back up tomorrow and start working on those things.”
(Your touchdown, was it physically a case that you were not going to be denied? Because the guy made contact at the 2- or 3-yard line and you kind of bulled your way in there.) – “I think there was another teammate helping me out. I think some other teammate was pushing on him, it might have been Chandler Cox or Chris Myarick. But yeah, when you’re close to the goal line, you just want to do whatever you can to get that in.”
(The 99-yard drive, can you talk about what they drive was like when you guys were clicking on all cylinders as an offense?) – “Mark (Walton) started that drive out when we were backed up and he had a couple of nice runs. I think just the offense as a whole, we wanted to come into this game with a good operation and so to take the ball down the field 99 yards, you need a good operation. I thought that Josh (Rosen) and the offensive line and all of the receivers did a good job staying in control and making sure we got down the field.”
(How do you assess your camp so far?) – “A lot of stuff I need to get better at. A lot of stuff I need to work on. I think I can speak for most rookies or all the rookies, there is a lot of stuff that we need to catch up with the veterans on. There’s a lot of stuff in my game that I want to work on. The veterans here and the coaching staff here have done a really good job of bringing us in and trying to get us up to speed. The competitive atmosphere, that’s what I love, that’s why I love football. I’ve really enjoyed being a Miami Dolphin; but there’s a lot of stuff that I need to work on and get better at, and that’s what this next week is for.”
(You talked about the stuff you have to get better at. What do you feel good about, because you have been able to produce. What do you feel good about?) – “I let my coaches think about that stuff, what they like about me. What you want to do as a player is build trust with your coaches. So far, I think I’ve done an okay job of building some trust in the coaching staff or having the coaching staff have trust in me. That’s what I’m focusing on, those sort of things – the little things, do the little things well, build trust in the coaches and that’s all I really think about.”
Brian Flores – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores
(What was your assessment of QB Ryan Fitzpatrick?) – “I thought offensively – (Jacksonville is) a good defense. It was a tough start. The first half – running the ball, moving the ball – I think we had three or four three-and-outs. It was a tough start. It’s a good defense. I think our defense and special teams kind of kept us in the game early. We got us a couple of field goals and went into halftime 7-6. I thought they fought and played well. We had a drive to start the second half. Ryan (Fitzpatrick) went out, and Josh (Rosen) came in and had a couple of good drives himself.”
(What is your assessment on the second half – how they handled both of those scoring drives?) – “We were backed up on the 1-yard line, and put together a nice drive there. Josh (Rosen) played with his feet, kept a couple of plays alive, made a couple of throws. (Patrick) Laird, I think he had a run in there as well. They were able to keep the drive alive.”
(Are you able to – where do you stand on the quarterback battle here?) – “It’s still an evaluation. I think we saw a lot from both guys today. ‘Fitzy’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) did a good job, Josh (Rosen) did a good job. I think that as a staff, we’ll get together and really talk it over, and we’ll make a decision. We’ll make the decision we feel is best for this organization, for this team.”
(When do you want to make this decision?) – “Well, we’ve got – we’re, what, two and a half weeks away from opening day? We’re going to get started on Baltimore fairly soon, and we’ll make that decision hopefully or definitely by then, by the time we get started for Baltimore.”
(S Bobby McCain got hurt in the first half. What do you do in that back safety position? You’ve got S Montre Hartage there. How do you kind of evaluate where you want to go moving forward if you have to lose Bobby for an extended amount of time?) – “The next guy’s got to go in. Look, it happens in this league. Guys go down. We’ve got a backup for that position. If somebody goes down, Hartage is ready to go. He went in there and played well. That’s what we need at every position. Things happen. It’s a violent sport. There are injuries, and we need our backups to go in and play well.”
(When you evaluate the quarterback situation, do you take into account who played against the starters and who played against the reserves, or is this just results oriented from that standpoint? – ”It’s results oriented always. It’s a production business. I don’t care who you’re in there against. You want them to produce. That’s what we see, and that’s how we kind of evaluate it. We want to see good decision-making really at all positions, but definitely the quarterback position. When it’s time to check it down, we check it down. We don’t want to make throws into traffic. We’ve got to have good ball security. I thought from that standpoint, we were good. So I think all of it kind of goes into it.”
(And QB Josh Rosen, has he satisfied you as far as his decision-making?) – “Yeah, I thought he did a good job today. I really did.”
(Did going up against that defense give you a good read on what you may have wanted to see from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in the first quarter?) – “Yeah, absolutely. Look, when you’re up against a defense like that, the big thing is ball security. I think we did a good job from that standpoint. We didn’t move the ball the way we would have liked, but we didn’t give them the ball either. The defense played well. We made a couple plays in the kicking game. Look, it’s all three phases. If you put them together, you get what we had out there tonight, which is the other units picking up for the offense until the offense got rolling in the second half. That’s kind of the way this game’s played. So I thought, from that standpoint, it was a good team effort.”
(As you look back at the film, what did you learn from your offensive line?) – “I thought it was a tough opponent this week. We’re going to have tough opponents every week in this league, but they battled. I thought they fought. We had a couple of penalties there in the second half, but I thought they battled. I did. I thought we were ready to go. I mean, I asked those guys for great effort, intensity, and they brought that.”
(Do you foresee QB Ryan Fitzpatrick or QB Josh Rosen playing next Thursday?) – “That’s something we’ll discuss as a staff. They may both play. They may both not. We’ll see. That’s something that – we’re still evaluating both guys. If we feel like we need to see a little bit more, we’ll do that. If we don’t, then you’ll see more of one or the other.”
(Has Jerome Baker taken over the reins of this defense? It seems like he’s pretty much in control out there.) – “I think he’s made a lot of progress over the course of training camp. He’s a guy that’s taken on a leadership role. I really appreciate the work he’s put in and the leadership role he’s taken. He’s playing well too. Hopefully, we’ll continue that and we’ll continue to progress.”
(As far as the offensive line, is there still time to make changes among the starters, or at this point, do you figure out strengths and weaknesses and kind of go in that direction?) – “Yeah, there’s always time to change. That’s always something we could do. I think the guys who are in there right now, I think they’ve started to – the communication is better with the group that’s in there. They’re starting to understand how to play together, their strengths, their weaknesses, like you said, and I think they are starting to gel a little bit. Hopefully, we’ll continue to do that.”
(Is there anything QB Josh Rosen did today to make your decision harder?) – “He played well, and that makes the decision harder. I think that’s pretty clear, clear and evident. But there’s – again, there’s other things at play here. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) played well, I thought, and there’s some things – when you’ve got a young quarterback, again, I’m a proponent of not rushing that, not rushing the process for young players. So we’ll make the decision for what we think is best for Josh, ‘Fitz,’ and this team.”
(CB Eric Rowe had an interception and also had a pass interference penalty. Where’s your comfort level with him? And is it to the point where that’s his spot?) – “There’s still competition all over this team. He did have the PI (pass interference). We want him to turn and look at that situation. It’s something we harp on in practice and talk about constantly. I would have liked him to make that, just turn and look and not get the PI (pass interference) penalty. He came back and made an interception, which is good; but that’s kind of the ebbs and flows of the game. What he does a good job of is never getting too high, never getting too low, staying right, staying even. But I would have liked to see him turn and look for that ball. There was another one to start the second half that I think he could have turned and looked and made a play on that one as well. But, hey, it’s a learning experience. He’ll probably get tested on that moving forward and hopefully he learns from it.”
(Totally unrelated issue, was it like a coincidence that it was eight consecutive Jay-Z songs at practice?) – “Yeah, I figured I would get this question. (laughter) So after the playlist was done, what you guys don’t know is I walked up to Kenny in front of the entire group and said, this is a challenge to you to get open, catch the football and make plays for this team regardless of what’s going on outside of this building. The next day – because there was a lot more attention paid to this than I ever would have imagined – I got up in front of the team and I told them that I support Kenny. I support Kenny. I support the player protests. I mean, quite honestly, they’re bringing attention to my story. So let’s talk about that. I’m the son of immigrants. I’m black. I grew up poor. I grew up in New York during the stop and frisk era, so I’ve been stopped because I fit a description before. So everything that these guys protest, I’ve lived it. I’ve experienced it. So, yeah, I applaud those guys who protest. So whether it’s (Colin) Kaepernick or Eric Reid or Kenny (Stills), I applaud those guys. I told Kenny that in our meeting, in front of the entire team. So that’s where I stand on this thing, and I think it got – it got way more press than it needed to. I’m trying to challenge one of my players, and I’m going to do that how I see fit. Look, what these guys protest about is important. I lived it. I experienced it. I don’t know how many people have, but I lived it. So I understand why guys protest, and it’s important. But you know what else is important to me? That guys perform. There’s 89 guys in that locker room who are counting on Kenny to get open, catch the football, and perform for this team, and that’s important to me. If anybody’s got a problem with that, then we’ve just got a problem. We’re going to agree to disagree. I feel like that’s important, and that’s where I stand on this thing. Whatever scrutiny or media or whatever I get, then that’s what I get. I believe, and that’s it. Look, the player protest, I lived it. I mean, I don’t know how many people in here have, but I lived it. So that’s where I’m at on that. It was a challenge to Kenny to perform regardless of whatever’s going on outside. I would say – and I’ve said this to him – he hasn’t performed to that level over the course of this training camp as I’ve seen him. So that was a challenge.”
(So if you support what they’re doing, how come you stand?) – “Why do I stand? I stand because I want to stand. I feel like it’s important to stand. I do. I feel like it’s important to stand. I feel like it’s – I don’t know what you want me to say on this one. I think it’s important to stand.
(When did you have the meeting with WR Kenny Stills?) – “When did I have the meeting with Kenny?”
(Yeah, was it before? Was it after the comments on Monday? Was it before practice on Tuesday? When did you guys have that meeting where you issued him that challenge?) – “I talked to him right on the field.”
(On Tuesday, before Tuesday’s practice?) – “I talked to him on the field. You guys weren’t there. I talked to him on the field and issued the challenge to him: ‘Hey, let’s get up here, and let’s make some plays regardless of what’s going on, and I talked to him after practice.”
Kenny Stills – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
WR Kenny Stills (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(What do you think this performance says about your team today?) – “We played well for four quarters and we came out with the victory. (Head) Coach (Brian Flores) has been staying on top of us about fundamentals and technique, creating turnovers, and I think he’s seen little bit of that out there on the field today.”
(We’ll probably know pretty soon who the starter’s going to be to start this season. Your thoughts on how this quarterback competition has played out?) – “Both guys look good. We’ll let the coaches make those decisions, but as receivers we just go out there and make plays, regardless of who’s in there.”
(Obviously you’re trying not to be a distraction to the team, but it seems like the team created a distraction when they played eight straight Jay-Z songs the practice before this game. What was your reaction when that happened, and did you know it was going to happen before it happened?) – “It was just music, was my reaction. We play music at practice every day, and Coach (Flores) kind of came up to me during practice, and was like ‘we’re going to be playing Jay-Z today,’ and that was it.”
(Did Head Coach Brian Flores give any reason why? Eight or nine straight is interesting.) – “No. We talked about it in house and he handled it in house, but for the most part I think it was just him trying to see if I could handle if someone was going to heckle me, or play Jay-Z music in another stadium, if I was going to be mentally strong enough to withstand that type of treatment I guess. I’ve been dealing with this since 2016 – music, boo’s, racial slurs, so I don’t think a little bit Jay-Z is going to really ruffle my feathers that bad.”
(Did you hear from your teammates a little bit?) – “Oh yeah, that’s part of the locker room. Guys talk trash, but it was just music.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(Was tonight’s performance more than meets the eye?) – “You want me to comment on that? (laughter) We had talked about what we want to see out of this game. It was obviously very sloppy in the first half, had some third down throws that I think I could have made better plays on. There was communication issues that we kind of worked through. So in terms of … Thank goodness it was a practice game I think is how we look at it, but I think we got better. I think we got a lot better. Some of the communication stuff we had to deal with no matter who it was against and who was in the huddle, we go out there and put a nice drive together in the second half. But maybe in terms of did we do what we wanted to? No. We didn’t establish a good rhythm early, a lot of three-and-outs. I’m glad it was a practice game.”
(The defense caused some problems there up front. Do you think you gave Head Coach Brian Flores and the team kind of the look that you wanted to give going up against those guys in the first half?) – “Like as an offense?”
(Yeah.) – “I think there were some … In every game, there’s going to be stuff that comes up, whether it’s unscouted stuff or stuff maybe that is new that they haven’t shown. There’s one or two things that just hadn’t shown up yet in the preseason, and we had to get on the sidelines and talk about. So I thought, in taking positives out of the game, that was a positive one, and having to make some adjustments on the sideline and go out there and fix them.”
(What are some things that helped you out on that drive, that touchdown drive that you had?) – “I think, obviously, just getting some completions going and third-down conversion to Kenny (Sills). That was probably, at least for me, that was my favorite play of the day, just to get that with Kenny and keep that drive going a little bit because we needed that. Nice to see other guys, Nick O’Leary take one up the sideline, and (Mike) Gesicki get up and make a nice catch on that one, Mark Walton in the end zone. There was a lot of guys that made nice plays on that drive.”
(Is that something that has to happen for this offense to do well this season is for guys to make plays at every position?) – “Yeah and I think part of what this offense is, is you distribute the ball all around. There’s not one or two guys that you’re going to key in on because we’ve got a lot of different guys that we can put in advantageous situations and have them make plays.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said he wasn’t sure that it was possible if you and/or QB Josh Rosen could play in the final preseason game. I’m not sure how often you’ve played in the final preseason game?) – “Lots. Most of my career.”
(How would you feel if you that did occur if you didn’t play in the final preseason game?) – “There really haven’t been a lot of final preseason games I haven’t played in throughout my career, but whatever Coach says goes. There’s not really back and forth or argument. It’s what he wants to do. I know he always has the best interests of the team up front and first. So I’m fine with whatever he decides.”
(Do you feel like your work against – in the second half against Jacksonville’s second teamers – kind of mitigates what happened in the first half or not really?) – “Every year there’s the same narrative of preseason. Everybody’s panicking, and things are good or they’re bad. It’s preseason. So, yes, I would have liked to have gone out there and played better the first half for sure, but I think what you do is you try to learn from what happened. You try to grow, whether it’s throughout the game or the next week, and build up to that first game. I take positives out of this game because I think we got better because of it.”
(Do you feel like you’re on schedule for what you ultimately want to do to which start in the first game?) – “I think for me – and I’ve said this before – I think preseason kind of is a necessary evil, especially for quarterbacks, just getting out there and running around a little bit, getting hit a little bit. That stuff, you go a whole year without it happening. I feel very comfortable with where I’m at right now and am happy to have played and gotten the time that I did the first three games. I feel like I needed it, and I feel good with where I’m at right now.”
Jerome Baker – August 22, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Postgame – Jacksonville
LB Jerome Baker (transcribed by Paola Argueta)
(Is this defense ready for the season?) – “Not yet. We still have a long way to go but we definitely took a step in the right direction today.”
(What was going well for you guys tonight?) – “Just communication. Communication, playing hard, playing together. We set the tone.”
(Do you think there’s been some big improvements so far?) – “It’s just a whole different defense, to be honest with you. Last year, we were more experienced. This year, we are just young … We just have to establish our identity as the defense.”
(With the way you guys have performed, do you feel like you can consistently hold teams to less than 21 points, considering you’ve done it quite well during the exhibition season?) – “If we play together and play hard, the sky is the limit. It’s preseason, but it’s a step in the right direction. Ultimately, the regular season, that’s where we accomplish (things).”
(How many different ways did they use you? It seemed like you were all over the place.) – “It’s really a lot. I am definitely grateful. I definitely appreciate ‘P.G.’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham) and ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores). Any way they can use me, I am all ears and I’ll do whatever they say.”
