Reshad Jones – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins S Reshad Jones (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(On today being a tough game.) – “We knew it was going to be a tough game, a division game. It always is a tough game when we play those guys. We did just enough to win this game today.”
(RB Kenyan Drake said, and I don’t know if you see it at practice on Saturdays, they practice this.) – “They practice it every Saturday.”
(What are you thinking when they do it, and are you thinking, ‘If we get a change, is this going to work?”) – “I’ve never seen that happen. I’ve never been a part of it, but they do practice it every week. We’re just grateful for it to happen today and for us to win the game.”
(What was the reaction once RB Kenyan Drake got into the end zone?) – “Unbelievable. Like I said, I’ve never been a part of it. It was unreal. I’m glad he did cross that goal line to give us this W.”
Robert Quinn – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins DE Robert Quinn (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(I’m going to ask you to describe something here. You guys are sprinting towards that corner. The place is going nuts. What does that sound like? What does that feel like?) – “You just kind of said it. The crowd felt like we were out of it. Seven second left – anything is possible as long as there is time on the clock. Our guys believed until the very last second. I don’t know how they executed that so perfectly, but they did. At that moment, you just react. You’re happy you scored. The game’s over. No more time left, so emotions just take over at that point.”
(Can you describe the atmosphere, fans going nuts?) – “I was worried about my man ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake). I was so happy for what he just did and the offense. We were trying to go celebrate with them and enjoy the win. I think when we walk out of here, we did that.”
(A loss probably would have put you virtually out of the playoffs – not mathematic but close. Now you got a win. You’re right still in the thick of things. What does this mean for the Dolphins, this victory?) – “I guess we said it last week. Every game (is) important. We have to keep giving ourselves a chance. Don’t look too far into the future, but also know what’s at stake. A game like that – you can even look at the game last week. They’re right down to the wire. You just have to keep fighting until the very end. I love to win but I hate to have my heart pumping in this type of fashion.”
Bobby McCain – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins CB Bobby McCain (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(What does this say about this team? Again, the way it ended is unorthodox, but what does it say about this team, still fighting, and where you move from here?) – “Just resiliency. Resilient. We keep playing, we keep fighting, keep pushing, keep chopping wood. No matter what happens, we face adversity, we look at it in the eye and we embrace it. At the end of the game right there, Kenyan Drake made a huge play for us, won the game. And execution. As long as we can execute on both sides of the ball, all three phases of the ball, it should be a good outcome.”
(Kenyan Drake says on Saturdays they practice this. Do you see them practicing this?) – “Every Saturday. Every Saturday.”
(And what are you thinking when they’re practicing this? Are you thinking this is actually going to work if we do it?) – “I pray it does and thank God it did today. Thank God for Kenyan Drake. Get that. Make sure you get that.”
(Is this a team that now is starting to believe more in themselves?) – “100 percent. We’ve always believed. We just got to execute, do as the coach (says) and play our game. We go out, out- physical people, outplay people. We know we’ve got a big match up this next week. We’re enjoy it tonight, come back to work on Monday.”
Brandon Bolden – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins RB Brandon Bolden (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(Can you tell us about your touchdowns? Take us through those plays.) – “You kind of just practice those plays all week, waiting for a certain look and it just happened to be the perfect look. Once I got passed the safety I was just like, ‘I hope nobody catches me.’ I even peeked up at the board to make sure nobody was around me. I just hit the jets and just kept running until I heard the whistle blow.”
(Do you view this as redemption with the Patriots releasing you?) – “No. I treat this game like every other game. Yes, it was against the Patriots. Yes, it was against my former team, but we could’ve been out there playing a pee-wee team and I would’ve felt the same way going out there. I wanted to go out there and win. I wanted to go out there and fight with my team and that’s what we did today.”
(Take us through that last play, what that’s like when you see RB Kenyan Drake running and then score. What’s that feel like?) – “I was actually talking to Senorise (Perry) about that. Me and him heard the play call and we both stood there and we watched the play. When Kenyan got the ball, I’m going to tap him like, ‘I hope he scores,’ and he already took off down the field, so I was late to the party. I end running down there and then when we scored, it was crazy. I’ve been in that situation plenty of times and then to come back and win it on the last play like that, that’s amazing.”
Akeem Spence – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins DT Akeem Spence (transcribed by Jason D. Silver)
(On the final play.) – “Running down the field and get a key block, it was the greatest thing. And then seeing ‘Gronk’ (Rob Gronkowski) and ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake), foot race, I’m going take KD every time. And then when he got in the end zone, rush the field. I was like, ‘This is my greatest moment.’ To win a game like that, it took 60 minutes – offense, defense, and special teams. Guys just had to keep fighting, keep believing. That’s kind of been our season. It’s been ups and downs; but now, I feel like we finally started putting it together as a team – executing offense, defense – and just putting it together and it showed today and guys just kept believing.”
(On that final play, how many on the sideline were talking to the man upstairs?) – “I think everybody. Everybody and every Dolphins fan in the crowd. I’d say about 99, 99, 99 (percent).”
Cameron Wake – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
You’ve been around a long time.
CAM WAKE: You calling me old? (laughter)
No, just you’ve been around a long time and your thoughts on where that play, that won this game or finished this game, ranks?
CAM WAKE: Well, I’ll tell you, it was a lot of fun. I come in here and I tell you guys every week, you’ve got to play complementary football and it’s always going to come down to that one play. Now, of course, everybody is going to write about the last play, but there was a play before that that allowed that to be a possibility and there was a play before that and so on and so on down the line. From start to finish, it took every guy, every play, every stop, every time we got off the field, every touchdown, every conversion, all those things added up to the ability to even be on the field to have such a dramatic finish. It’s a great team win. We definitely make it exciting down here in South Florida. Give the fans their money’s worth, for sure.
That said, can you talk about the last defensive series where they had a first-and-goal on the 4, they could’ve gone in and got the touchdown and that would’ve been it. It took all the mettle you had to keep them out of the end zone, correct?
CAM WAKE: We say it all the time: as an offense. go puts points on the board, as a defense, we get the ball back to you guys. It probably would have been better to have more time on the field. It probably could have stopped them earlier. But at the end of the day, you have to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘Listen, we got to get off the field, give the offense a chance. Whatever chance it may be, just give them a chance.’ Like you said, it came down to everybody gritting their teeth and making plays. I think four or five different guys made different plays to stop them from getting in the end zone.
You get in the end zone, it’s over.
CAM WAKE: Like you said, that play doesn’t even exist. Obviously, (Kenyan) Drake had a tremendous, tremendous effort. Guys blocked for him and started the play off. Again, that started back on defense and (the) defensive stand started even before that and all over the field. It goes on and on. It took everybody literally every play down to the last one to seal the victory and that’s the way football is in the NFL.
What happened at the end of the half? Looked like the Patriots were going to at least get something out of that and you came in.
CAM WAKE: Again, that probably won’t make headlines but maybe they gets points there. Still, it’s a completely different game at the end. Again, you’ve got to treat every game or every play like this could be the play that is the factor later on. Maybe if they would have got seven points before the half, again, it wouldn’t even have been that Hail Mary type finish. It starts from the first snap of the game, and you have to be on top of it, start to finish. Offense, defense, special teams all have to work together, or else that play wouldn’t even happen.
Patriots QB Tom Brady said that he thought he had another time out at the end of the half. Does that illustrate some of the struggles that New England has here, the thing they can’t overcome when they come to Miami?
CAM WAKE: That would be a great question to ask him. Probably couldn’t care less. I just want to go out there … Again, I focus on us. I don’t care what their issues are or aren’t. I care about my guys and the guys who go out there and are making plays for us. Those guys, take my hat off to them making plays. But guys wearing a different color, blank, blank and blank.
Difficult year for this team, a lot of injuries, a lot of up and down. Can something like this, you’ve got three games left, what can a play like this do for a team from a mental standpoint?
CAM WAKE: Well, I can assure you … Who do we play next? I have no idea.
Minnesota.
CAM WAKE: They probably couldn’t care less either about whatever happens today. They are going to go at us just like we’re going to go at them. The confidence and the belief, yes, you can carry that on as far as believing in one another, the seriousness of each play, the intent and the execution that is required to play at this level. That’s what you can carry over. They are not going to change their approach and neither will we seven days from now. I think we’ll enjoy it. I tell you every time, we’ll enjoy it for the next 24, 36 hours, but come Tuesday afternoon, it’s over with and you have to move on to the next. I’m sure guys will enjoy this thoroughly for the next few hours.
You’ve been here for nine years. What has this season been like comparably speaking, in terms of the roller coaster?
CAM WAKE: Life in the NFL is a roller coaster. It’s so different from so many other sports. You think about … You have 16 opportunities, the only 16 opportunities that are promised, to go out there and perform. So many other sports, I don’t know, 80 games, 100. Each game doesn’t have the same kind of weight. Whereas, you put your entire season into 16 opportunities to go out there and make-or-break your season. Every game has its ups and downs. Every play means more. Every guy has a role. It’s not like we can just assign a superstar and all of a sudden you’re a lock-in for playoffs or whatever. You have every game, every player, every play is necessary. And like you said, we’ve had injuries, we’ve had record-long games. We’ve had a lot. But at the end of the day, you look at our team, and again, today is another example, just keep believing, keep swinging, and eventually if you keep your nose down and do your work, things will turn your way. With all the injuries and all the issues and all the things that have happened this season, today was another one of those days where you keep swinging, keep fighting and believing in the guys who are out there with you and good things will happen. I think today was a beautiful, beautiful example of that.
DeVante Parker – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins WR DeVante Parker (transcribed by Jason D. Silver)
(When you had the ball on the final play, did you think you guys were going to score or did you think ‘Man, we need a lot of things to go right for us still.’) – “When I caught it, I just wanted to get some extra yards. I got what I could get and then pitched it back to ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake) and then he took care of the rest.”
(Did you see RB Kenyan Drake right away or was it like the last second you saw him pop up?) – “It was the last second. I just wanted to get a little yard. I just looked back, and he was right there, so I pitched it to him.”
(What was that celebration like?) – “It was wild. The whole team was over there. It was crazy.”
(What does this mean for your season?) – “We’re still in it. We’ve got to keep executing one game at a time.”
Frank Gore – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins RB Frank Gore (transcribed by Armando Gonzalez)
(What did the stadium sound like when he RB Kenyan Drake scored?) – “Oh, it was crazy. Especially a divisional game with one of the top teams in the NFL and we beat them.”
(Did anybody tell you your numbers for today? First of all you’re fifth all time in scrimmage yards, ninth in all-purpose yards and 90 yards on 12 carries.) – “Oh, you just told me. (laughter) I just keep working hard. The o-line did a great job and when my number gets called, I’m going to do my best to do it right.”
(Where does this rank, as unorthodox as it may be at the end with how it happened? What does it do for this team?) – “It keeps lifting us up. We’re taking one game at a time. We’re looking at every game from here on out, even today, as a playoff game. We fought hard last week to beat the Bills, came back this week against the Patriots and got it done. At this time, you need some luck on your side. We’re just going to keep fighting, keep believing in our coaches, keep standing as one and we’ll see what happens.”
