Kenyan Drake – August 8, 2019 (Fourth Quarter)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
RB Kenyan Drake (transcribed by Vira Halim)
(You got a lot of work in there today. How do you feel?) – “I feel really good. It felt good to be able to get out there, get your feet wet a little. Offense did a – the furst offense got in there, got a nice little drive and got three points. We wanted to punch it in, but that all comes with a little bit of work that we’re going to continue to do in practice.”
(You got a feel for this offense during training camp. How do you like what you’re seeing out there?) – “I have a lot of hope for this offense. I feel like the more we’re out there and we communicate with each other and build camaraderie. I feel like we’ll go out there and score a lot of points this year, so I’m looking forward to the next game and continue to come out here and hopefully the second and third team will go out here and take care of this one.”
(How do you like running behind a fullback these days?) – “He’s an Auburn guy (Chandler Cox), but you know, I won’t hold that against him. (laughter) He goes in there, he’s still out there doing his job, so I know he’s going to be tired up in this game, but he’s a rookie so he’s got to get his dues in, so I look forward to him doing a lot more for this season.”
(With you and RB Kalen Ballage, it looks like a nice little backfield back there.) – “Kalen, you know, had a nice little dive in the end zone today. The backs scored three touchdowns today, so our room is doing pretty good, we’ll look at the film and see what we can improve on.”
Christian Wilkins – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
DT Christian Wilkins (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(First game, how was it for you?) – “It was pretty good, I was really excited before the game, my first NFL opportunity. It’s official, I’ve got a game in the books and it feels awesome. I’m just excited now to go watch the tape and learn from this. I’ve never been more excited to watch a game tape ever I don’t think. But, I’m really looking forward to it. I’m probably going to watch this tonight before I go to bed so I can see what I did wrong, see what I can improve and just get better. I’m just excited to learn from this game.
(Were you nervous at all?) – “I wasn’t really until the national anthem. That was when I first started to feel a little – not nervous but a little anxious, like this is really it, it’s go time. After that first play, I was good. I flushed all that and just started playing football.”
(What did you think of the d-line’s play throughout the game? You guys got some pressure especially in the second half?) – “I think we did a pretty solid job. It’s something definitely we can build off of. I feel like all my other guys like (Dewayne) Hendrix and (Jonathan) Ledbetter did a good job late in the game getting pressure – (Jamiyus) Pittman – all those guys did a good job making plays and so it was just fun to see and fun to be a part of.”
Michael Deiter – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
G Michael Deiter (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(Was stepping on the field as you pictured it – being from college and jumping into a professional sport and playing at Hard Rock Stadium?) – “It was awesome. I’ve played here before in college, and now I’ve played here as a pro. It’s awesome. It’s super fun to play here. It’s just – whenever you get to step onto a field there is always that feeling of, ‘man I’m glad I get to do this.’ It’s super fun. You just kind of smell it. There’s like a smell when you get to play football again. It’s comforting.”
(What was your anticipation like coming to this game and what do you think of your performance?) – “I was excited – super excited just to play football again and hit someone who doesn’t play for the Dolphins. I thought I did OK. There’s definitely some stuff I could clean up. Some good, some bad, but it wasn’t all bad and it wasn’t all good. There’s some stuff I can get better with and that’s all I can do is just focus on getting better, but I’m doing all right.”
(Can you put into words what type of strides you guys have made as a unit and how much still needs to be done?) – “We’ve come a long way, and like you said we have a ton more to do. Especially me and Shaq (Calhoun) being rookies – there’s a lot that we can clean up. We were not perfect at all and, we’ve got to get there. I think the other guys – the vets – are doing a really job of bringing us along, and I think that we are the two that have to kind of pick it up because we are rookies. There is a lot we don’t know, and there is a lot we have to learn and we are doing a good job of getting there but we are not there yet at all. We have a lot more to do, which is good. If we can get better and this is our starting point, then we’ve got to be happy with that, but we’ve got to get better.”
Preston Williams – August 8, 2019
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
Miami Dolphins WR Preston Williams (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(Did you expect that type of performance when you came out of that tunnel?) – “When coach gave me the opportunity, I was just tried to make the most of it. I didn’t have any expectations really coming into this game, but when my number was called, I just wanted to answer.”
(Do you look at the depth chart? Do you look at who’s around you? Do you start assessing your chances of making this team at this point?) – “I got a lot of great guys around me, a lot of vets. I learn from a lot of them. I’m actually glad they’re here. It’s my first year, I can learn from everybody; everybody has a different past. I’m here taking from everybody, learning.”
(The one-handed catch down the sideline, the left handed catch, did you expect that all along? When you knew you had to reach with one hand, just kind of take us through that.) – “When we were warming up, I practiced it earlier and the opportunity presented itself. So it happened the same way I practiced it.”
Brian Flores – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What did you think of the quarterbacks?) – “It’s hard to tell. I’m going to have to go back and watch the tape. Obviously, the turnover, Josh’s (Rosen) turnover we didn’t like that, but I thought he made some good throws. I thought ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) was off target on a few throws as well. I thought the protection for both guys could have been a lot better, which would have given us a little bit better evaluation on the – as I was watching it. But I’ll probably have a little bit more – I’ll have a better feel for how each one of those guys played after I watch the tape.”
(Do you feel like there’s a good point where you want to see QB Josh Rosen play with starters behind the starting offensive line to get a feel for what he can do?) – “I think the rotation we had today was a good one. He played the second and third quarter. I thought the protection with both lines could have been better. I thought he had a few good throws to Preston (Williams). I thought Preston showed up today. Again, it’s hard to say how a guy played without really going through it. Just at first glance there’s a lot going on, offense, defense, special teams. But I thought Josh managed the game well, he got the guys in and out of the huddle, obviously didn’t play turnover-free. But specifically in the second half I thought he put together a couple good drives.”
(How do you feel about QB Josh Rosen making throws when in the grasp? Obviously he completed that one to WR Preston Williams.) – “Yeah. A couple times there I thought, maybe, those are a little dicey. And at some point as a quarterback you’ve got to take the sack. That’s the best play. But the guy’s got a little bit of a gunslinger mentality and wants to let it rip and obviously got the nice one out to Preston, but I think we want to play smarter than that I would say in that situation, not just let the ball go like he did.”
(You mentioned WR Preston Williams a couple times. What have you seen in him in practices and how did it translate to the game?) – “I think he’s worked extremely hard really since he got here, post-draft. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s got good hands, he’s tough, and he’s really worked every day to get better. We tell him to block in the run game, he blocks in the run game, play more downhill on your end cuts, he does that. He works hard after practice, he works hard in meetings, and it showed up tonight.
(We heard comments earlier that WR Preston Williams can get to be a No. 1 receiver. Obviously it’s early for that, do you see potential in him that he can be that type of player?) – “Very early. I think this is a talented young receiver. There’s a lot of talented people in this league. To get to a number one status is, he’s got a long way to go, but does he have that potential? I would say he does and it’s up to him to do the things he has to do to reach that potential. We’ll help him though. I think he’s done a really good job over the course of the spring and summer.”
(You mentioned the offensive line. Obviously, T Laremy Tunsil didn’t play. Are there issues more than that?) – “No. He’s a very good player and we just wanted to see some other guys.”
(The offensive line as a whole, were the issues more than just having T Laremy Tunsil not be there?) – “No. At first glance you got to take a look at it, but we had two rookies in there. And their first game action in this league as you could imagine the game moves fast. I think there’s some getting used to the game speed was something that showed up just from the naked eye that I saw. I think it got better as the game went on for those guys. And then the next group came in and they had some of those same issues. I think it’s a little bit of first-game jitters, a little bit of you can’t simulate game speed, you just cannot – the kicking game, offensively, defensively. We do as much as we can from a practice standpoint, but you can’t simulate it. We talked about that specifically the last couple days, but you really got to feel it as a player and then adjust. I think we made some adjustments. I thought the protection was better in the second half and hopefully it will be better moving forward.”
(I know it’s just preseason, but your thoughts stepping on the field for the first time as a head coach?) – “I had a lot of fun tonight. I was excited, the players were excited. It’s a different role for me, but it was fun. I think the main difference is I’m on the entire game – offense, defense, special teams and really just managing the game and feeling the ebbs and flows of the game and calling timeouts and ripping red flags. It was fun.”
(How comfortable were you on the sidelines? Did you know what you were going to do or where you were going to be and stuff or did you feel that out?) – “I think you feel it out. I had a little bit of a plan going in, who I was talking to on the head sets, who I was going to stand next to, where I was going to stand. I had good dialog with the officials which I thought that’s new, that’s brand new for me. All of it is a learning experience. Hopefully I’m better the next time out. Again, just like the players, I ask them to improve and get better; I ask the same of myself.”
(As a coach and wanting to win, how do you manage dealing with things like QB Josh Rosen, WR Preston Williams, your offensive line, needing to develop, needing time to mature on the field, when you’re just trying to win games?) – “I think that’s what this time is for, that’s what training camp is for. It’s to develop these guys, help develop them, help work on their techniques, fundamentals, consistency. That’s what training camp is for. That’s why I got into coaching, that’s what I love about coaching. We want to win, there’s no doubt about that. But we’re going to try to develop these players as best we can and try to win at the same time. And I think development of players is something that’s ongoing. We could bring in eight or 20 eight-year vets and still I would still be trying to develop those guys too because they don’t have all the answers. I don’t have all the answers. I think we’re constantly searching to get, trying to get, better and I’m on a quest to help young players get better.”
(What was sort of your overall assessment of the defensive play?) – “I thought tackling was an issue, a major issue. And it’s something that we’ll work on, it’s something that we talk about. Tackling, communication, defending the deep part of the field. It wasn’t good enough. When you don’t tackle well you’re going to give up yardage. It’s as simple as that. That’s something we’ll spend a lot of time on. I can think of four or five missed tackles off the top of my head that would have kept the score down a little bit more than it was. A couple on third down, a couple in let’s call it scoring territory, that would have helped us. Again, if you could tackle well and you communicate and you defend the deep part of the field, more times than not, you stop the run, more times than not you’ll be in decent shape. So we got to do a better job in all those areas.”
(What did you think of CB Nik Needham?) – “I think Nik has had a good camp. I think he’s had a solid camp, he’s worked hard, he’s gotten better, he’s been consistent really throughout the spring and in these training camp practices. I think tonight he struggled. But I still have a lot of confidence in Nik Needham. I think this is a young player who – There’s been a lot of tough games for a lot of young corners in this league. It’s definitely a learning process. There’s some talented receivers. The speed of the game is something that I’m telling you, it’s new to these young guys and it’s something they got to adapt to quickly. We’ll try to help them do that. I think he had a couple good plays, but he definitely missed a couple tackles and had a couple tough coverage situations and some penalties. Overall, look, we got to watch the tape and see really what it was. He had some struggles, that’s for sure.”
(DT Christian Wilkins, did you feel him out there or is he a guy that you have to see the tape) – “I saw he made a couple plays. He brought great energy. I got to watch – Those interior guys it’s hard to tell, it really is. It’s hard to tell if they’re – He could have been on two blockers the entire game. It’s hard to tell. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
(Did you have a conversation with WR Kenny Stills or the team about his comments about the owner and Trump yesterday?) – “I talked to Kenny. The one thing I said to Kenny was – I understand kind of where Kenny is coming from. He wants to be a voice. I talked to him about that a couple weeks ago. I understand him wanting to be a voice for people who don’t have a voice. I respect that. My conversation with Kenny, I asked him why he didn’t talk to the owner, why he didn’t talk to Steve (Ross) first before putting something out. And I think that’s something that we have to do more of. There’s got to be more communication, more conversation, more communication if we want to really make change. And I wish he would have done that. I told him that. But yeah, I talked to Kenny.”
(This, I know we had asked earlier this week about reflecting on this opportunity. Have you had an opportunity to reflect these seven months you’ve been as coach or is it, win a Super Bowl, been hired, you get QB Josh Rosen as quarterback to kind of tie your future here, the coaching situations on your staff, Mr. Stephen Ross and WR Kenny Stills yesterday. How do you deal with all these things?) – “That’s the job. That’s the job. Look, when you’re in a leadership position there’s a lot on your plate. It’s something that I think I welcome it all, to be honest. I don’t run away from any adversity or really any situation. And I don’t want our players to run away from anything. I think I need to be an example to them. So, yeah I reflected on this entire process and I’m having a lot of fun. I am. I’m fortunate. I’m humbled to be in this position to lead, to be an example of hard work and try to be consistent and try to do things the right way and at the same time be demanding and tough and try to help these guys become the best version of themselves. I take a lot of pride in that.
(You signed DT Robert Nkemdiche. Can you tell us your thinking on adding him to the roster?) –“He’s a talented young defensive tackle. I think any time you can add somebody with this type of talent you got to at least explore it. We did that, we did a lot of research homework on Rob. We felt comfortable making the move, (General Manager) Chris (Grier), (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore), myself, we had a lot of conversations about it and we brought him in and we signed him. We’re looking forward to working with him and, again, helping him reach his potential. But that’s going to be up to Rob. I’ve told him that. He and I have had some … I’ve had very direct conversations with him. He knows where I stand as far as him coming in, working hard, doing things our way, getting himself back into shape, rehabbing, and then hopefully we get to see, or he gets to realize, his potential. I enjoy taking on that type of challenge and helping guys reach their potential.”
Josh Rosen – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
QB Josh Rosen
(How would you grade it for you?) – “I think there was some good and bad. I don’t know about a specific grade. The pick was pretty bad in the sense of my read told me to go here and I didn’t. It wasn’t like a ball play kind of pick. It was a read kind of pick, so it’s definitely something to build on. I think there was some good, some bad and everything in between. I’m looking forward to breaking down the film and trying to get better from it.”
(Can you take us through that play to WR Preston Williams where you were kind of getting tackled and the defenders were on your legs and you lobbed it up there?) – “Yeah, probably – I don’t know. I felt some guys at my ankles. I knew Preston kind of had a stop coming back to me. I saw he was a bit inside of him, so I knew if I just put it up he would kind of have the break on it. It might have been a little bit too dicey; but I don’t know. A couple fall in your favor, a couple don’t. I probably should be a little smarter with that, even though this one worked out.
(Was it WR Preston Williams specifically? Do you have that level of trust in him already that he might come down with that?) – “Yeah, yeah. I think you’ve got to know what certain guys are good at and Preston can go get the ball. So you’ve got some guys that are smaller, quick and fast, some guys are physical, some guys – and Preston will go get the ball, so you’ve got to give him those opportunities.
(On that play we are talking about, Coach Brian Flores said that was one he probably would have preferred you to take a sack, but you have a ‘gunslinger mentality’ that he would like to see you manage. Is it easier to let it loose when you have a guy like WR Preston Williams out there?) – “Yeah, just you just can’t fall into that trap because bad games will turn really bad really quickly if you don’t learn to kind of mitigate that risk. So I’ve been kind of battling that my whole career. I’ve got to find that balance of knowing when to kind of push the edge and when to just take the sack and live to play another day.”
(How was your sort of overall comfort level right now compared to like two weeks ago?) – “Oh, to the moon and back, but I’ve still got ways to go. I feel substantially better now than I did two weeks ago. But like I said, I’ve got a long ways to go. The way ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) in our meeting room can break down a defense and how quickly he can make comments on where everyone is, where the ball should go, is pretty impressive and I think if I can kind of hedge that gunslinger attitude a little bit and put a little bit more thought into it, I think I could develop pretty nicely.”
(How tough was it to pick yourself up off the grass there?) – “Well that’s football. It is what it is. I think we’re all working on things. Yeah, I mean, it’s football. You kind of – it’s a physical game.”
(What’s your approach in general about a lineman who is maybe struggling, who’s having a tough day, had a tough series or two, just in general how do you try to approach that player?) – “I don’t know. Support him? I threw the pick in a completely clean pocket. So football is football. You’re never going to have a completely clean pocket all of the time. When you get it, you’ve got to take advantage of it and when you don’t, you can’t make stupid mistakes by trying to play hero ball. I did kind of a little bit of everything, so I’ve got a lot of film to watch. Just because like good plays gained yards doesn’t mean that the way we got that was like a sustainable way to do that in the future. So I think that like I said at the beginning, there’s good, bad and everything in between.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – August 8, 2019 (Postgame)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Postgame – Atlanta
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(On the team’s first preseason game…) – “It warms my heart because for so long I was scratching and clawing and trying to make rosters and all these reps in games and whether it’s first, second, third or fourth really meant a lot to me. And so it’s so much fun to watch guys – Mark Walton, Myles (Gaskin), Preston (Williams), Patrick (Laird) – the guys stepping up and making plays and Jake (Rudock) having a couple nice drives, too, at the end there. It’s just, it’s good to see because there’s a lot of hard work that goes into this thing by a lot of different people and it’s nice to see guys get an opportunity to go out there and show what they have.”
(You avoided pressure in a few positive moments. What emotion do you try to take when there is undue pressure coming your way?) – “I mean, I don’t think there’s a whole lot that you can, a whole lot of stock you can put into things that happened today, other than we’ll look at it on tape and just see what we can do. For me as a quarterback, you try to avoid sacks, so you get rid of the ball, sometimes you scramble, sometimes you throw it away. A lot of it is just communication up front, making sure everybody’s on the same page, making sure what I’m saying and they’re saying is making sense, and you build that relationship and you go from there. We’ve got a lot of guys up front that are working really hard right now and a lot of moving parts and different things where the communication level’s been pretty good.”
(You had two third down plays where you took off to run. What were some things that you were seeing out there that made you decide to make that play?) — “The first one – it was a shorter third -and-2, 3, 4 – whatever it was and there was nobody standing there, so I decided to waltz to get the first down. The second one – I wish I would have been able to do something with that ball, because we had some guys — we have got a lot of talent on the outside and a lot of guys that if I get the ball to them, they can do some good things. There’s — it’s going to be, I think it’s going to be a fun offense to be in this year with all the talent we have.”
(What were those two young guards like in the huddle?) – “We just weren’t out there for very long, so they — I didn’t notice anything, so I guess that’s a good thing, right? Yeah, there was no, nobody with tears in their eyes or shaking or asking weird questions, so so far so good, I guess.”
(Speaking of not being out there very long, I know you’ve played for a long time, and probably don’t need it, but would you have liked to have gotten a little bit more work?) – “I mean, we have got a few games left here in the preseason, so I think — I’ve come to really enjoy the joint practices. I think, and going to Tampa and doing that, going against a different defense, different scheme. But we have got a few more games where we’re going to get some more reps out there, so it was fine with what it was today.”
(Was it different for you going back to see some old teammates, how do you kind of approach that, seeing old teammates – Tampa Bay Buccaners QB Jameis Winston also trying to worry about this quarterback competition here?) – “I’m really excited about it. In general, the Tampa community really embraced me and my family, and it’s a place that’s near and dear to our hearts, so I’m excited to go back just to see a lot of familiar faces and friends. And then the team aspect of it as well, it’s going to be fun to see some of those guys and even Todd Bowles, who is my head coach with the Jets being the defensive coordinator, it will be great to catch up with him. So yeah, I’m excited for it for a lot of different reasons, but certainly the human aspect of it I’m excited for that.”
Davon Godchaux – August 8, 2019 (Second Half)
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Second Half – Atlanta
DT Davon Godchaux (transcribed by Vira Halim)
(You got some opportunity to work out there. How did it feel with that group you have?) – “It was great. We were flying to the ball. It’s always good to get out there with the guys playing against an opposite team. We’ve been banging on each other past couple of days. It’s good to come out here and play against another team and it’s a great opportunity.”
(You’ve got a big group in that defensive tackle room. You guys are going to be asked to do a lot of things in this defense. Do you like that group you’re working with?) – “Yes, sir. Day-by-day. We added Robert Nkemdiche. Day-by-day, we just keep working, listen to (Defensive Line) Coach Hobby, listen to ‘PG’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham), listen to Coach ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) each and every day.”
(You’ve been looking at this defense every day from front to back. How good can you guys be?) – “Scary. Scary because we’re young. We’re a young team. We’re a young defense, so we can be scary. We can be as good as we want to. The sky’s the limit … Like ‘PG’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham) says every day, we have to make it a great defense.
(It’s such a young team. You’re kind of one of the old guys on that defense now.) – “I’m not going to say old. I’m in my third year. I’m only 24-years old. I’ve got a lot of football left to play. I’m only 24, so I’m excited about it.”
(You’re a little more seasoned.) – “Yeah. I’m a little more seasoned. I’m going into my third season. I just saw some pictures; I’ve played with some good vets. I’m ready my third season.”
