Darren Rizzi – December 6, 2018
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Depending on the rankings, you guys are anywhere from first to fifth in special teams. The last couple of weeks, I think special teams have played a huge role. Do you take pride in those rankings? Do you believe that they’re justified? How do you think you guys have played this year?) – “As far as the rankings go, I’ve seen a bunch of different ones. I know there are some analytical ones and there’s some ones they use to stick and kind of group them together. I think that’s why there’s a bunch of different ones. Obviously, we’re striving to be at the top of that, any of that. I think you take some of it with a grain of salt and I put some more stock into others because of what I deem as more important. I think sometimes statistics might not tell the whole story. I’m very pleased so far through 12 games with the fact that we’ve made a lot of big plays that have affected a lot of games in a positive way. As a special teams coach, you’re always looking to change he game in some way, shape or form whether that’s change the field, flip the field position, make a big play, spark the team. You guys have seen enough football in your day that you know that when you watch a game, a special teams play can really change the momentum of the game, whether that’s a big return or a block or a punt that’s downed inside the 10 or whatever. That’s what we’re always looking to do. We’re looking to change a game. Sometimes, statistics don’t tell the whole story. Getting back to the rankings part of it, it’s great to get mentioned like that. To me, as long as we’re affecting the game in a positive way and we stay consistent, those are things that we really strive for. Through 12 games, we’ve been able to do that. We certainly haven’t been perfect. There’s certainly some things that I’m not pleased with. I think we can be a little bit more consistent. I don’t like the roller coaster ride as much as sometimes we’ve been on, but I think we’ve really made some positive plays. The other nice thing is when you look at our team overall, it hasn’t been one person. It hasn’t been one-sided. It’s been a lot of different people that have affected games in different ways, whether it has been the kicker, the punter, a returner, a core player. There’s been a bunch of different guys that have made plays, so I take a lot of pride in that.”
(What formula would you use to rank? You say statistics aren’t the end-all, be-all, but what criteria would you use prove?) – “There’s a lot of different ways to attack special teams. It really depends on what a team is trying to do. For example, there might be teams that are not kicking the ball into the end zone and are running down and covering more kicks than others. There might be some teams that are pulling the ball out of the end zone more than others and their kickoff return yards are going to be different. There’s different ways to go about the punt game. For example, some teams are driving the ball far and maybe their gross number is really high. Some people are striving more for a net type of deal. There’s a bunch of different ways to attack it from a schematic standpoint. A lot of that plays into it. Sometimes, statistically you may see a really big number for some team and a smaller number for another team, but that smaller number may be more effective for the way they play the game and the way they game plan. It doesn’t always tell the whole story. It tells some of the story, it just doesn’t always tell the whole story. Again, I think the good thing is if you look at our special teams throughout the year so far and we’re always striving to continue that, is we’ve made plays in all the different phases. It hasn’t been lopsided and ‘I don’t like being a great return team but our coverage has been lousy.’ We’ve had some balance there. This is one of the years, when you look at us right now through 12 games, we’ve had a lot of balance in the special teams throughout all of the different phases and that’s been a positive to this point.”
(When you went to Albuquerque in March, did you know going into that meeting that K Jason Sanders is the guy I most like among college kickers or was he merely part of a group and you had no idea if you would like him or not?) – “I knew I liked what I saw prior to the visit. You really saw a lot of explosion in his leg and different things. I was really anxious and I was really looking forward to that visit. At that point when I went there, I didn’t have a final ranking. I did know I liked what I saw. When I came out of the workout, I was even more pleased. Then I spent more time with him. It was kind of every step of the way along the journey with Jason. I kind of liked more and more and more. We brought him out here for a visit. I got a chance to spend some time with him and kind of dissect his brain a little bit and kind of his approach. I got to know the person a little bit better. When I went out there, I wasn’t really set on anything yet. Once we kind of finished the process, I think we definitely had him higher on the list than most people did.”
(Does the calm demeanor at all mean anything to you in terms of how a kicker comports himself off the field? Does that to you suggest this guy is likely going to be calm in game situations?) – “Yeah. You definitely look at a personality. I think I’ve mentioned this before with Jason. First of all, he’s a very level-headed guy. He’s never too high, never too low. I think that’s a really good mindset for a specialist. You’ve heard me liken it to a golfer before or a batter in the batter’s box and there’s some other analogies. I think it’s really good to have a calm demeanor. You’re never going to be perfect. There’s no kicker that’s ever been perfect. You’re going to have your plays where you have to be able to respond, so I think that personality is big. I do think in my spending time with him throughout the draft process, I got to know him a lot as a person. To me, coupled with his ability, that’s why we thought we’d take the risk on him. I really thought it was a pretty good situation at that point and I felt very strongly about him as a person going into it.”
(Can you explain to me all of the roles that S Walt Aikens plays and what he means to your special teams unit?) – “I’ll start with what he means. Walt’s leadership has really been – really the last two years – has picked up tremendously in terms of him being a more vocal guy. I think when Walt first got here, you certainly saw him make some plays and you certainly saw his athletic ability flash. You saw all of that. I think where Walt has taken a major step forward in the last two years is in a leadership role and starting to be kind of a role model, if you will, for the special teams room. He means an awful lot. His energy; his emotion. You see him on the field. He’s definitely a guy that’s a catalyst, if you will, on the sideline. He’s very much into the game. He’s an emotional guy. Energy, effort, all of that. That’s really what he means to the room. That’s really, really important. In terms of the different roles that he plays, Walt has done a little bit of everything for us. Certainly he’s a gunner on punt. We move him around in the punt block/return game. He can be a blocker, he can be a rusher, he can be a bunch of different things. On our kickoff team, he’s also done a bunch of different things. He’s been everything from what we call a Speed 5 to a contain player to a safety. Throughout his years here, he’s played multiple roles. It’s the same thing in the kick return game. We’re able to move him around. Sometimes it might be a matchup, a game plan. He’s very versatile. He’s certainly not a one-trick pony. He’s a guy that we can move around and do a lot of different things with, so he brings that to the table. Special teams are a little bit like a chess match in terms of you’re moving pieces around and kind of trying to predict the opponent’s next (move). It’s no different than offense and defense but special teams is a little bit more of a matchup game than offense (and) defense. You see a lot of times if you create some mismatches on special teams, you end up with either a successful or unsuccessful play, depending on which side of it you’re on. Walt gives us the ability to move him around and create some of those matchups, maybe some mismatches for us. He presents a matchup problem for the opponent.”
(So S Walt Aikens is like a Michael Jordan of your special teams unit?) – “I’m not comparing anybody to Michael Jordan. (laughter) I’m not doing it. Do you know the heat that I’m going to take if I sit here and compare Walt Aikens to Michael Jordan? (laughter) No, I’ve got a lot of respect for Michael Jordan. What he does for us is again, he’s able to play a lot of different roles for us so whatever name you want to throw out there. I’m happy as heck when we signed him in the offseason. I love having him here. I love what he does every day at practice. He’s an energizer guy. He’s a guy that gets everybody going. He gets me going some mornings, to be honest with you. He gets me fired up to get in there and get in front of everybody and get the game plan out and get everybody going in the meeting. I can’t say enough positive things about him. It’s great to have him.”
(Was it this last game that DE Charles Harris almost had a punt block?) – “It was.”
(How close was it? You seem to have a little anxiety about it.) – “Yeah, we should have blocked a punt. Forget about the scheme and all of that. Charles (Harris) ended up past the ball. I can get real technical on it but when you’re blocking a punt, you really don’t want to leave your feet. From a technique standpoint, Charles got a little giddy. I don’t know what the word is but he jumped and that caused him to kind of miss the ball. We timed it up well. It was a protection breakdown by the opponent and Charles got there. He actually … The ball went almost behind him. His arms were out and it looked like it went through them for crying out loud. I got upset because those are game-changing plays. It’s what I talked about earlier. Those are game-changing plays. I’ve been doing this long enough that if you make a game-changer like that, it completely changes the football game. If we can imagine that ball getting blocked and going the other way, whether we score or not, the field position flips. It’s going to be about 40 or 50 yards if we don’t score. That, again, creates a snowball effect and changes the entire game. That was a missed opportunity. A lot of people were all happy that we tipped the ball and I’m pissed off because we should have blocked it and went the other way with it. In my estimation, that was a missed opportunity; but so be it. That’s what I mean about we’ve made a lot of positive plays, but I feel like in some games, there have been some opportunities that we’ve left on the table. That’s just one of them. That’s really what happened on that one. We did get a piece and we did force a bad punt, but it could have been so much better. Those are the little things we just have to get better at. We’ve got a few of those.”
(You’ve been here for a number of years and you know what it’s like when you go to Gillette Stadium and how difficult it is to play the Patriots up there. You know that the Patriots in just about every NFL stadium have a pretty good record and yet down here, of late, that’s not the case. What is it you see out of your guys as they’re getting ready to play the Patriots, especially coming down in December? Is there a change? What’s going on that the Dolphins always seem to play their best game or one of their best games when they play New England down here?) – “I think the natural rivalry certainly has something to do with it. This is a division opponent that’s won the division for X amount of years, however many they’ve won it. You guys know all of the stats. It’s certainly a challenge for us every time, whether it’s there or here. I think you’re always trying to protect your home and I think if you look throughout our division … I think if you look at all of our division opponents, I think all of them are pretty darn good at their home. We’ve done a pretty good job, especially since (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has been here, of protecting our home turf. Our win percentage is pretty good at home against everybody, not just the Patriots. Certainly I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you that there’s not a little extra incentive that … Usually when they come to town, they’re in first place. That’s the way the division has gone. Let’s just call it the truth. We certainly know how important the division games are. So not only the Patriots, but the Bills and the Jets included. Any time a division opponent is coming in, you treat those division wins like they’re a couple of wins because usually those divisional wins are very, very important. So I think that certainly has something to do with it. I think our guys get a little more locked in on the divisional opponents – not just the Patriots. All division opponents, those are natural rivals because you play those teams twice. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I know people talk about the weather and all of that good stuff but I’ve been here long enough to tell you that we’ve also lost to some northern teams here where the weather maybe didn’t affect it. It’s never one thing. There’s always a couple of factors involved. But to sit here and tell you our guys don’t get a little more amped up for the division opponents at home, I’d be fibbing. I think there’s a little bit more extra incentive there and whatever is, we’ve done fairly well against those guys the last few times here. I think our guys are locked in and usually, like I said, when they come to town they’re usually leading the division. You’re playing a first-place team and there’s a little more added incentive there.”
Kenny Stills – December 6, 2018
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
WR Kenny Stills
(What is your reaction to being selected as the Dolphins nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award?) – “Obviously it’s an honor to be even mentioned in the same breath as Walter Payton and just to be recognized with 31 other guys across the league for their work that they’re doing in their communities and across the country.”
(How important is community work for you?) – “I know that I wouldn’t be where I am without the help of others. I never want to forget that. So it’s important me to give back and try to use the position of power that I have because of what I do to try and help others and be a positive influence.”
(What would it mean for you to win an award like that?) – “Honestly, I haven’t thought about that. … If it’s something that was recognized by the fans, it would mean a bunch to me. I’ve got to look more into who’s choosing this, but it would mean a lot either way.”
(It’s your second time around, how do you not know?) – “I’m focused on ball. We’ve got the Patriots this week and it’s important for us to win if we want to stay in this hunt. I understand how important it is to be recognized, but I also don’t do it for the award. I’m really just focused on ball. When I get the time, I’ll check on the other stuff.”
(With the RV tour that you did last year, I know you mentioned continuing to do it again. Is there a plan? What is the thought process behind that?) – “My plan is to do the trip again this year, visit a lot of the same places that I visited last year, organizations that I visited last year, and then add a couple of stops. I like to keep things low-key before we do it because I’m not doing it for media attention. I plan on doing that again this year. Yeah, I do plan on doing the trip again. We’re slowly planning things right now. I’ve got a team kind of helping me reconnect with everyone that I haven’t spoken with throughout the season and then trying to find other organizations that I can work with in other states across the country.”
(Tuesdays are the players’ day off. When was the last Tuesday that you actually took off and didn’t do any kind of community service?) – “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. Probably one of the days that we had to come in and work. If we play on a Thursday night or something, then we don’t get the opportunity to go out in the community. I try to reach out to friends and family and when people talk to me about what we’re doing, I let them know. If you can do one good deed a day, then we change the world. And that’s what I truly feel. Regardless of if it’s a day off or during the season or whatever, I just try and do something nice for somebody else and know that it’ll come back to me.”
(Do you ever run out of energy?) – “Yeah, I definitely run out of energy; but then I get in bed and get some sleep, and get up and do it again the next day.”
(What did you learn from the first meeting against the Patriots?) – “That they’re good. (laughter) We were 3-0 at the time when we went up there. Just the same things that you always learn from losing the game. You’ve got to go up there and execute. You can’t turn the ball over. You can’t have penalties. We know we’ve got to play a good game in order to beat these guys.”
(When you play against the Patriots, why is it they just expose your mistakes the way that they do?) – “I think the Patriots do a good job of being really fundamentally sound, playing team ball and allowing the other teams to mess up. And then they capitalize on that. So they do a good job of that.”
(Why have the Dolphins been able to give this team as much trouble as you have down in Miami? Unlike any other stadium, when they come here they have trouble a lot of times?) – “I couldn’t give you an honest answer on that. I just know that if we come out and execute and play our game, we’re a good team and we’ll be tough to beat.”
(I know we’ve got a long way until the game, but when does the chirping start with S Minkah Fitzpatrick and RB Kenyan Drake on the playoff game between Alabama and Oklahoma?) – “It’s already started. (laughter) It’s already started. The Alabama guys are pretty comfortable and confident, but I’ve got confidence in my guys too. I’m excited for them to be down here. I’m bummed that I won’t get a chance to see them play; but hopefully I can stop by practice and get to holler at those boys and give them a little words of wisdom, some confidence and a little motivation to go into the game.”
(Did you try to get the Orange Bowl game rescheduled so you could attend?) – “No. (laughter) My mom will be here. I know a bunch of friends and family and stuff from Oklahoma will be here. I think they lost the last time I was there, so I try to stay away from the game. (laughter)”
Robert Quinn – December 6, 2018
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
DE Robert Quinn
(Have you emerged from the last two games thinking you were more impactful recently?) – “I mean, I guess. Making a few more plays will get you excited; but again, at the same time, I know I sound so nonchalant but I’m just doing my job. It’s pretty simple. Of course, coming out of the game as a d-linemen with a sack or TFL (tackle for loss) or whatever it may be, or a few of them, that’s a great day; but as long as you can keep building on that one week at a time, and as we gel together as a d-line and as a team, as we push forward these last few weeks, I think there’s a lot more possibilities out there. We’ll see what happens.”
(Do you believe that success begins with the defensive line this Sunday against New England?) – “I think it’s going to take our whole team. I wish I could just say our whole d-line but … Of course (Tom) Brady gets the credit but their defense is pretty solid too. They make plays when they need to and give Brady opportunities. It’s not just going to be the d-line. It’s going to be the whole team. Regardless if you’re a starter or a backup, everyone has an important role. Don’t try to overlook your role or make it too big or too small because each role is important to help this team win. It kind of starts with everybody. It starts with the man in the mirror and then you can trust your brother to the side of you.”
(How important has CB Xavien Howard been for you guys on the d-line?) – “Well, you’ve seen he’s been playing great all year. But again, that’s not our first injury this year. We just shrug it off and keep the next-man-up (mentality). Now granted, we’re going to miss him out there. I’m not trying to just shun that off; but at the same time, it creates an opportunity for someone else. Hopefully they take advantage. No disrespect to ‘X,’ but hopefully we don’t even realize he’s not out there because the next man stepped up so well. We’ve been facing injuries all year so this is just another.”
(Is the way the first game against New England unfolded providing you any extra motivation for this one?) – “No. We just need a win. You win by one point or you get beat by 50, whatever the case may be, you’re just trying to win a game. The first game against New England wasn’t pretty but that’s in the past. They’ve got to come down here on Sunday and see us, so we’ll see what happens.”
Laremy Tunsil – December 6, 2018
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
T Laremy Tunsil
(Your pass protection has been great this year. How much is it ‘I’m just more comfortable playing a second year back at tackle,’ or how much is it ‘I’ve made mechanical, technical changes that have improved?’ Is it both, either?) – “I really don’t know. I just try to play my game as best I can do it. It’s nothing special, I promise.”
(Are you pleased with how it’s gone?) – “It can be better.”
(How much would the Pro Bowl mean to you?) – “That’s just a stepping stone. I just want to keep it going. Hopefully, I get Pro Bowl, All-Pro and all of the things that come with it. Right now, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about winning these four games so we can make a playoff appearance.”
(How can this offensive line improve in the final month of the season?) – “Just fix our mistakes. We go and watch practice, watch film and hopefully fix our mistakes.”
(How much of what’s been going on has been communication stuff?) – “A lot of it. We started off with five guys and then everybody started going down then it’s the next man up. Communication is the big key. We have to stay close together and that’s what an offensive line does.”
(Good players always say that things could be better and I know you’re always looking to improve, but how much more comfortable are you at tackle compared to a year ago?) – “I would say I’m more comfortable with being more experienced, if that makes sense. This is my third year in the league and last year was my first year playing tackle, and this is my second year playing tackle. I’m more comfortable just being in the league and being around football, I guess.”
(The toughest guy you’ve faced this season is who?) – “I still have four more games. Can I answer that at the end of the season? I still have some guys. I still have (Everson) Griffen, I still have ‘91’ (Yannick Ngakoue) from the Jags. I have some guys now, so I don’t know. I’ll get back with you all on that one, for sure.”
Adam Gase – December 6, 2018
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Thursday, December 6, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Just to clarify something, did CB Xavien Howard have a surgical procedure on his knee this week?) – “Any of that stuff we always keep in house. I’m not getting into all of that stuff.”
(Is the prognosis still week to week for CB Xavien Howard?) – “Yeah. It is. We just have to see how fast of a healer he is. We have to make sure we do the right thing for him. When he’s ready to go, he’ll be ready to go. We can’t put him in a bad position to where his movement isn’t what it needs to be to play at the level that he wants to play at.”
(Is CB Xavien Howard here in the building?) – “Mhm. He came out and watched practice (and was) just making sure he knows everything.”
(Was CB Xavien Howard on crutches?) – “No. He was not on crutches.”
(The Patriots use RB James White a variety of ways. Is he like a RB Dion Lewis type of player? How do you approach defending him?) – “It’s hard because he can do everything. He can come out of the backfield, empty (sets), run it, pass protect, catch the ball. He’s got all of the traits you want at running back. Obviously he gets a lot of touches, both in the passing game and in the running game. He’s a tough guy to really know where he’s going to be and what they’re going to do with him from play to play.”
(What’s the latest on C Jake Brendel?) – “I’d say week to week but we’re almost done with the week. In practice yesterday, we just had one of those situations where he was running and felt something. We’re just going to see how he progresses through the rest of the week.”
(Is this the same calf or a different calf for C Jake Brendel?) – “I think it’s the same one.”
(When you said CB Xavien Howard was kind of watching things to see he’s on par with everything, is there a likelihood he could play this week?) – “Yeah, that’s what these guys do. They want to make sure that whether the guy ends up playing one week or not, it’s still gaining knowledge. It’s football. Guys like being around it and even though he can’t practice, he still wants to take it all in. I don’t know how this is going to go. Like I said earlier, we’re going to do what’s best for him and to make sure that he – the physical ability that he has – can maximize that.”
(Would CB Xavien Howard be a player that you could foresee yourself playing if he didn’t practice all week or do you need him to test out the knee?) – “If that point came about, we’d want to make sure that he’s good.”
(How is WR Danny Amendola doing?) – “He seems like he’s doing well. Him going out there and being able to run routes and practice, that’s encouraging. We’ll just keep an eye on it and see how he feels tomorrow. It’s the same thing. We’ll just progress through the week and see where we’re at on Sunday.”
(With the interior of the offensive line having a rough game last week, how much of that is chemistry versus the players that you have in there or all of the mismatching of…) – “I think some of it was we played a good defense. Their d-line has played well this year. That’s one of the highest ranked defenses that we’ve gone against. We let those guys loose a couple of times and they made some plays. The thing about it is you just have to keep battling, clean up technique, get your hands on those guys, use our size to our advantage. We just didn’t do a very good job of that last week.”
(With C Travis Swanson, is he looking better? Healthier?) – “Yeah, he is. So that’s a positive for us.”
(Patriots RB Sony Michel went for over 100 yards the first time you faced. What made him so effective?) – “He’s a tough runner physically. He has really good vision. He picked up their system very quickly for a young guy. Usually it takes time, but he was able to just jump right in there. That was one of the reasons that we had him here and visited with him and took a hard look at him. Obviously they loved him too. He’s been a huge part of what they’re doing this year.”
(I was talking to LB Kiko Alonso a couple of weeks ago and I asked him about that play against Detroit where he bats down the pass and an offensive line knocks him on his back. I asked him if that pissed him off and he said ‘No. We got off the field on third down.’ I said ‘But you were kind of an unprotected player,’ and Kiko goes ‘I want football to be a blood bath.’ Does that kind of square with your understanding of his attitude?) – “Is that how he said it? (laughter) Yeah, probably. I just can’t picture him saying it like that. (laughter)”
(LB Kiko Alonso’s success this year, do you attribute it more to an attitude like that or physical gifts such as speed and things like that?) – “I think it’s both. His ability to run, hit, tackle. He’s sharp with what’s going on within the game and what we’re doing on defense. Sometimes he has to find that right place where it’s that emotion amped up for the game and being able to kind of hyper-focus on his job. That’s where sometimes he puts himself in a bad position. It’s almost like he’s too emotional and he’s going so fast. That’s where he’s made mistakes in the past. It’s like finding that fine line. You see a lot of top tier guys over time that could do both. He’s working to get there and trying to control the emotion and keep his focus, but it’s always great to have a guy with that kind of intensity and emotion throughout the game.”
Ryan Tannehill – December 5, 2018
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(How are you feeling?) – “Good. Physically, I’m good. I got hit a few times but nothing got dinged up or anything like that. I’m feeling really good.”
(Any discomfort you had the first couple of weeks, has that even gone away further, or about the same as when you returned against Indy?) – “The shoulder is definitely feeling better. It’s still not 100 percent, but it’s definitely trending in the right direction. Every day that goes by, it just feels a little better. A week goes by, it feels a little better. So I’m really excited about how things are progressing there.”
(There was a play during the game where we all kind of cringed a little bit. It looked similar to the Bengals game when you got hurt. I know you were trying to make the play, but were you kind of cognizant of it? Did you see a replay show that it was eerily similar to the play in Cincinnati?) – “Yeah. Someone mentioned it to me on the sideline after it happened. When it happened, I didn’t even think about it. I kind of stepped up through the contact and tried to get the ball to DeVante (Parker). Honestly, I didn’t really think about it too much during the play, and I don’t think you can. I think if you’re thinking about that in the pocket then you’re going to have a tough time finding an open receiver downfield. Thankfully, nothing happened and I was able to kind of shrug off the contact.”
(How is this Patriot defense similar or different than the Patriot defenses you’ve seen three, four, five years ago?) – “They’re playing physical right now, which you see every year. They still do some of the same stuff, mixing up their pressures. I think over the past five weeks compared to the last time we played them and in years past, they’re bringing a lot more Cover 0 pressures – bringing everyone and trying to get a guy free up front. I would say that’s probably the biggest change-up from what I’ve seen as opposed to what we’ve seen in the past and even earlier this year.”
(Does it seem like you always see something new from them when you play them?) – “Yes. I think they play their defense but they’re always going to throw some wrinkles at you. Whether it’s a pressure or playing a little more Bear Cover 2 than they show on tape or whatever it may be, they’re always going to throw some sort of wrinkle at you. They’re going to have a wrinkle on first and second down. They’re going to have a wrinkle on third down, changing up the pressure. Maybe it’s personnel. They throw a lot of different personnel at you, whether it’s dime, dollar, nickel, nickel big. They’re going to throw everything at you and try to make you take all of that into account and figure out what they’re doing. I think they do a good job of that, of just mixing things up and trying to make it harder on the offense.”
(How difficult is it to gauge how long you’re holding the ball when you’re looking for an open receiver and trying to make that connection?) – “You have a clock in your head. I think that’s just something that’s ingrained over time, whether you’re playing in the backyard or you’re playing out here on Sundays. You have a clock in your head. You have a rhythm of when guys are supposed to be open, when they should be breaking and all of those types of things. All of that comes into account of the clock in your head. Sometimes the clock happens faster because the routes should happen faster. Sometimes it’s a little more longer developing because the routes are further downfield. Every play has a different clock. You just kind of have to match that up with what you’re doing.”
(Do you feel like the buzzer may be going off in your head, at some point it says ‘I have to get rid of the ball?’ It looked like on two of those sacks, you might have been holding the ball a little bit too long or a receiver wasn’t open.) – “Yeah, of course. There’s always situations where the clock is going off. Sometimes you’re waiting on a receiver to get to his spot and get it out there. Sometimes the rush gets there a little faster than you want it to and you can’t get the ball out.”
(Every game and every season is different, I get it; but it so happens that you’ve won your last three games against the Patriots here with seven touchdown passes. Thinking back to those games – I know they were a couple years ago – but do you recall any sort of common denominator for you and the offense?) – “You’re going back years now. (laughter)”
(You’ve found success against the Patriots’ defense. Why is that?) – “I think first and foremost, when you play this team, you have to play smart football. You can’t have penalties. You can’t have turnovers. You can’t put your defense in a bad spot. I think that’s all where it starts and then all the other things, we look for each and every game. You convert on third downs, score in the red zone, get explosive plays – all that is something we look for every game. I think this team, more than any other team, they’re not going to beat themselves. They’re not going to give you cheap flags, cheap penalties, cheap anything, really. So you can’t give them any. You have to play clean football and everyone has to do their job.”
(The Patriots have had more trouble down here than just about any place else. Do you have any thoughts as to why you think they’ve lost four of their last five games?) – “I don’t know why. I think we’ve played good football against them. I think that’s one thing that we want to establish and we’ve been establishing is we play well at home. It’s our home field, we have home-field advantage and we need to take advantage of it and win the games at home.”
(You’ve been back for two games since the injury. What would you say would be your self-evaluation over that time?) – “Some good, some bad. I think we’re heading in the right direction. Obviously, some plays I would like to have back. Some plays I’m really happy with. I think that’s the continuous evolvement of playing the position is you’re always going to find some things that you do well, some plays you’d like to have back. As long as you’re improving and not making the same mistake twice, I think you’re heading in the right direction.”
(Do you know what your quarterback rating is in those two games?) – “I don’t know exactly.”
(112.) – “I think that’s a good start. Quarterback rating doesn’t tell you the whole picture, obviously. It means something. If you have a high rating, you’re obviously playing decent football. But I think I’ve done some things well and some things that I’d like to improve upon and get better at.”
(Are you ripping yourself?) – “(laughter) No. I like to be honest with myself of where I’m at. You’re not going to have the perfect game, but that’s what I’m striving for. I’m striving to go out and play the perfect game. I think if you’re happy where you’re at then you’re going to be in a bad spot moving forward. You’re not going to get any better. Obviously, I have a long way to go to get where I want to be. I think I’m doing alright, but (there are) a lot of plays that I’d like to be better at. I think we have a lot better football in front of us as an offense.”
(The one thing that hasn’t been showing up a lot is yardage. How important is that? 170, 160 yards a game, I’m sure you want more, but is that important?) – “Points are important. I think that’s ultimately what my job is, is to get the offense in the end zone. Usually to do that, you have to get yards and move the ball down the field, so it kind of goes hand in hand. Ultimately, we’re trying to get points and however many yards it takes to do that then that’s great.”
(The read option in years past has been part of your game. I know Head Coach Adam Gase has said there have been some situations in the last couple weeks where it’s been called and it just hasn’t really materialized. What are your thoughts on running the ball and tucking a little bit more?) – “I’m game for that. I think that’s something we have in the game plan almost every week, if not every week. Some games it comes up more than others. You think back to the Jets game early on. It came up a lot. It depends kind of on how teams are playing us, how we’re going to call it whether it’s a hand off or a keep. It really all just depends on the look that you’re getting from the defense. It’s not something that you call it more and you’re going to have more quarterback runs. You might call it more and end up handing the ball off every single time. It’s just something that we have to evaluate as the game goes on and how it fits in our plan.”
(With the shoulder, though, you’re not at all concerned about tucking and running?) – “No. I’m not concerned at all with the shoulder.”
(There’s a lot made of the heat and humidity down here. How as a quarterback does that affect you versus maybe playing in a cold weather area?) – “I wouldn’t say it affects the quarterback position more than any other position. I think conditioning is always important. We train in this heat and humidity every day so we’re pretty accustomed to it. I think that’s probably the advantage of teams from the north coming down here is they don’t have the luxury of practicing in the heat and humidity. They have to be able to adapt and keep their conditioning high in other ways.”
T.J. McDonald – December 5, 2018
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018
S T.J. McDonald
(What did you guys learn from the first game against New England?) – “You can’t kill yourself. You can’t make mental errors. When you have opportunities to make plays, you have to make them. It’s the same stuff. We have to be on our details and make sure we do our job.”
(How much is the front important against a guy like that?) – “It’s very important. They try to get the ball out quick. For us, once we’re sticking on them and we make him hitch or go to a second read, it’s important to get pressure on him.”
(Now that they seem to be at full strength at this point, how difficult is that offense, especially if you do lose a player like CB Xavien Howard?) – “It’s just matchups. I don’t know if ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is actually out or not; but it’s just matchups. Everybody has to win their one-on-one. Everybody just has to do their job.”
(What’s the challenge of facing Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski like?) – “He’s a big body. He’s tough. He has great hands. You have to kind of disrupt him. If he gets going, he can get hot. Tom Brady is going to put the ball where it needs to be, so you have to be sticking (to your receiver) and try to disrupt the timing of their routes.”
(This place has been kind of a house of horrors for the Patriots over the last couple of years. Five of six games the Dolphins have won. Is there something about this building even for a team like the Patriots to come in here?) – “I think that’s just at home in general. We’re a good team here. We’re comfortable. I think that’s kind of the story of the NFL right now. Teams are winning at home and losing on the road. For us, we want to protect home field as much as possible.”
Frank Gore – December 5, 2018
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018
RB Frank Gore
(Obviously you go against the Patriots this week. What’s kind of your thoughts, because standings-wise, I know you guys don’t pay attention to them, but is this a must win?) – “I think every game is a must win. It’s towards the end of the year and we’re looking at it like it’s a playoff game. Take one game at a time and just stay together and stay as one and go out and try to get a win.”
(This place has been a house of horrors for the Patriots the last couple of years. The Dolphins have won five of six. Is there something about playing in the heat here in December?) – “It was tough for me when I first got here, when I got back here. It’s tough playing in this heat. We’re just going to go out and believe in ourselves and our coaches and try to get us a win. We’re looking at this like a playoff game, from here on out.”
(Have you ever seen a team suffer this many injuries and stay in the hunt?) – “That’s tough. No. That just lets you know how hard and tough we are as a team. Our coaches are doing a great job and we’re fighting. As long as we keep fighting and believing in ourselves and in our coaches, we can probably get this win, try to get this win.”
