Kalen Ballage – December 17, 2018
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Monday, December 17, 2018
RB Kalen Ballage
(Your first opportunity for double figures in NFL carries. You obviously had the long touchdown. How would you assess how you played?) – “It was okay. Not to be rude or anything, but we lost. I don’t really care about the 75-yard run and touchdown or any of that. Most importantly is getting back out there this week and working hard and go getting the next one.”
(How many times in practice in recent weeks have you had long runs? Head Coach Adam Gase said there have been several. Do you think a half-dozen or more?) – “Yeah. That’s about right. (We’re reminded) constantly that practice turns into what happens on game days, so I just try to prepare myself for that.”
(Have you felt that you would be getting more opportunities as the season went on?) – “I just wait. I’m patient. I don’t think about those kind of things. Obviously, (we have) two great running backs – Kenyan Drake, Frank Gore. When my number is called, I try to just go out there and do the best that I can.”
(What have you learned just seeing RB Frank Gore throughout the year and what he brought this year to the team as veteran leadership, for you as a rookie to learn?) – “I think most importantly, just his toughness (and) the way he goes about this business. He comes in here every day, he works hard, he takes care of his body and I think he’s just a great teammate ultimately at the end of the day. It’s been nice to watch him.”
(There was a report today that RB Frank Gore is not going to play in all likelihood this season. Have you seen him this morning? Has he given you any indication he’s down?) – “No. I just sent text messages back and forth. I asked how he’s doing. He said he’s doing good. The other extent of that stuff, I’m not sure. That’s all I know right now.”
(What did you see on the long run?) – “Open. Wide open. Those guys did a great job up front. Like I said, we practice this all the time. I saw the hole, I hit it and was fortunate enough to score.”
(Do you think you might have caught them by surprise with your speed, especially at your size?) – “I’m not sure. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe some of them knew. Maybe some of them didn’t.”
(You guys do the two-back set a lot with the run-pass option that you do. How much more comfortable are you now at this point in the season doing that?) – “It just comes with repetition. Obviously, I did a lot of that stuff in college as well, so it translates a little bit. Obviously, we do it a little bit different, but I think that the more that you rep stuff like that, the more comfortable you’ll be.”
(If RB Frank Gore is not able to go these next two games, the opportunity for you for not only more workload but just to be a part of that like you were yesterday – what do you think of that?) – “I’m ready. Just stay ready. That’s how we do things around here. It’s next-man-up. Obviously, you don’t want to lose somebody like a Hall of Fame running back. Scrimmage yards, he can catch it, run. Frank can do everything. Moving forward, I’ll just be ready to step into whatever role they need me to be in.”
Adam Gase – December 17, 2018
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Monday, December 17, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Have you gotten any indication yet if we’ll see RB Frank Gore again this year?) – “I’m not … I don’t have information as far as the extent of the injury right now. I’ll know something here in the next couple of hours.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake, just to clarify, CBS said during the broadcast yesterday that you were being cautious with him because of an ankle injury. Shoulder has also been reported. Was that the reason for one carry? He was obviously very involved in the passing game. Or was there another reason for having one carry?) – “I don’t remember saying that to them. I don’t know if we were talking about different people but I don’t recall saying that to them. It was just kind of how it went with the carries and touches where (Kalen) Ballage was playing fairly well and we had some protection issues early where they both took their turns. It just kind of worked out the way it did. There were a couple of times where we tried to dial some stuff up for Kenyan but we either allowed a sack or a pressure or something broke down to where we couldn’t get the ball to him.”
(How do you see the situation in terms of workload for RB Kalen Ballage and RB Brandon Bolden going forward?) – “I don’t know. We’ll worry about it when we hit Wednesday. I’ll have a better idea. I have to find out what’s going on with Frank (Gore) and see where we’re at after that.”
(RB Kenyan Drake’s injury wasn’t a factor as to why he wasn’t the primary rusher?) – “I didn’t think it was. I think (Kalen) Ballage did all right.”
(What’s your message to the team at this point?) – “We have to worry about getting ready for this week. That’s our focus and always is and always will be. We take it one week at a time. The different part right now is the next two weeks, we can handle our business but that doesn’t mean anything. You have other teams that can affect our season, good or bad. But none of it matters if we don’t handle the next two games and figure out a way to win.”
(How difficult is it to re-group in this situation with the standings?) – “This is what it is. This is what we get paid to do. This is what all of these guys signed up for: 16 games. It gets tough sometimes when you’re coming off a loss like this. It’s not easy. You go into a game feeling you’re ready, prepared and everyone is doing a good job of playing team football and then we just played poorly.”
(Is any part of you surprised that RB Kalen Ballage had that kind of big-play ability?) – “No. We watch it every day in practice. That long run he had, that’s how he runs every day. That’s how he finishes every day. There’s a reason why he’s able to do that and was confident to just gas it and run by everybody because every day in practice, we watch the same thing. When he gets a carry with the offense, he finishes in the end zone. It’s a good trait to have.”
(Do you want to clutter your mind at all this week just looking at what you need to do to make the playoffs?) – “No. We need to focus on winning this game.”
(As you look back yesterday, is nine sacks solely on pass protection?) – “No.”
(Are there any plays that you look back where QB Ryan Tannehill could have…) – “It was everybody. We all took a part in it, including myself. A couple of the protections, we probably should’ve done something different. The quarterback, running backs, tight ends, o-line, receivers getting open faster, it was the whole group.”
(With those routes and with the pressures that were coming, were the hot routes working?) – “We had one time where we should have had a hot and we missed it. But all of the other ones, we had enough guys to block who they had and we didn’t get it done.”
(With being down three scores as early as you were, how hard was it to resist the temptation of becoming a one-dimensional offense?) – “Not hard with their pass rush. We have so much game left. I wasn’t worried about having to hurry up and start throwing it because we’ve run the ball fairly efficiently over the last few weeks. With Kalen (Ballage) and (Kenyan) Drake, you never know when that one play is coming. We just tried to put a drive together. We got down in the red zone and we had a couple of opportunities there to possibly stick it in the end zone. It would have been nice to get seven there and then go into the half and try to get another seven and see how much we could swing that game. We didn’t get that done. We got three. It was a tight game there for a minute. We had three bad plays, we punt it, they have a great return and then we hold them to a field goal but that seemed to suck the air out of us.”
(I wanted to ask you about the defensive line. You guys have so many resources in it and opponents have nearly been averaging 150 rushing yards per game. At some point, is it scheme? Is it personnel? Is it play-calling? What is at the route of the issue?) – “Our money is on the edges. They’re there to pass rush. Cam (Wake) does a great job of setting the edge on his side. We haven’t been consistent setting the edge on the other side, whoever it has been over there. But it takes a full group to stop the run. The d-line can’t do it by themselves. The linebackers have to fit where they’re supposed to fit. The safeties have to fit where they’re supposed to fit. If we do let them get the edge, we have to tackle at corner. Nobody did anything well yesterday. Minkah (Fitzpatrick) probably had close to the best game out of our group but he still had his mistakes. That was a great play on the pick-six but we didn’t play well enough as a group. We always want to say the d-line, the d-line, but it takes 11 guys to play well in the run game. Just like on offense, it takes 11 guys to run the ball well. It takes the quarterback faking on an outside zone to pull out the defensive end to get the cut back. It takes the whole group. One group doesn’t do anything. It takes all 11.”
(But if the d-line is giving pressure to the linebackers, if they’re not protecting…) – “If they’re giving up their gap, then yeah, that’s an issue there. But that’s not always the case. It’s we don’t fit something right or we miss a tackle or when we pressure, we have two guys kind of popping their head in the same gap. That kills you. We make that mistake too much. We have to go back to work and keep working on it. The New England game is a great example of we did it right. We played physical. Everybody stayed in their gap. We played disciplined and we did a better job of stopping the run.”
(You mentioned S Minkah Fitzpatrick’s pick-six. RB Kalen Ballage had a long touchdown run. The way this rookie has evolved as the season has gone on, your thoughts on that?) – “It’s a mature group. They’ve done a good job of being guys that have come in and made plays. You hate to waste plays like that and not be in a tight game towards the end. It’s almost … you always try to debate are you better off getting blown out or losing in a heartbreaker. No matter which way you do it, it just hurts the same. You just wish those plays would have mattered in the grand scheme of things to where it’s a tight game and you give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. We just didn’t do that.”
(Your early outlook, I guess, on CB Xavien Howard?) – “We’ll see how it goes this week. Like I said, no matter where we’re at when it comes to postseason play – which right now I know we’re on the outside looking in – we’re going to do what’s best for him and make sure that he’s in a good position to where he feels good about his lateral movement, his straight-line speed and all of those things to where he can play at the level that he needs to play at. I’m not going to throw him out there just to say he needs to play this week.”
(So you’re saying that RB Kalen Ballage, from what he’s shown you so far in practice and in games, shows that he’s ready to be a lead back?) – “I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying for that game, that was our best option right there.”
(How is QB Ryan Tannehill physically?) – “I’m sure he’s sore. He’s not going to tell me anything. I’m just going off of what I see. I’m sure his ankle is sore. I’m sure his body hurts. But he never lets you know.”
Torry McTyer – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins CB Torry McTyer (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: What happened on the long touchdown pass at the end of the game?
A: We didn’t get lined up.
Q: So, you’re saying the defense wasn’t in the right formation?
A: I wasn’t lined up. That’s all that happened.
Q: On the defense’s performance today…
A: We left plays out there.
Q: The Vikings had an offensive coordinator calling plays for the first time. What did you notice about what they did, especially on their first three possessions of the game?
A: We knew they were going to try to run the ball on us. Every team is going to try to hurt us with something new, and that’s what they did.
Ryan Tannehill – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: You were sacked nine times today. How did you come out of this game physically?
A: I feel fine. I did not take anything that was lingering or would hurt me in the future.
Q: You have talked about the team is playing for something after the season and how there was no room for error. What kind of errors did you see today?
A: There were a lot of errors today, especially on the offense. I cannot speak for the defense, but I think that all around, starting with me, we were not good enough anywhere. We need to come back next week and get those things fixed because we have played well several times this year. Today we just did not come out and play as well as we can.
Q: The Vikings went up 21-0 in the first quarter. Were you guys still celebrating last week’s victory?
A: I don’t think so. It was never discussed throughout the week. We talked about it Monday, came in on Wednesday and from then it was getting ready for Minnesota. From my perspective, the guys did a good job of moving on to prepare for Minnesota and not letting it bleed into the next week. We did not come out and execute well from the first snap and the Vikings marched right down the field. In that type of game the offense has to be able to answer, we saw it last week when the Patriots were able to score early and we had to answer. Today the offense did not step up to the plate and answer, and so we have to do much better.
Q: What were the Vikings doing early on and throughout the game that made it difficult to move the ball?
A: They did a really good job. We had a lot of third and long situations, which we knew coming into this game that if the defense keeps you at third and long, they can throw many different looks at you that will be tough to protect. That was something we talked about and that we did not want to be in, but unfortunately we were. We were able to convert on a couple, maybe, but we have to be more efficient on first and second down and move the ball early on.
Q: The wide receivers were not involved in this game very much. Why is that?
A: I think it is because we just did not move the ball. We got down quickly and some of the passes that we were trying to complete down the field were longer and further down the field. The Vikings did a good job at applying the pressure and we were not able to get the ball off. It takes a little time for a long play to develop down the field and we were not able to make those happen. We have to give credit to those guys who did a good job on the pass rush.
Q: There are two games left. What motivates you for these last two games?
A: We’ve got to keep plugging away. Things are out of our control at this point, but we have just got to keep playing. Win the games that are left on our schedule, and whatever else happens is out of our hands. We have a big game against Jacksonville at home this week, so we will go from there.
Q: What do you attribute the team’s one-win road record to?
A: I do not know if there’s one thing specifically. We have not played well overall. We have had a couple of opportunities but those did not turn out. We did not play well from the very start today, and it was an uphill climb for us. I think that we just need to play better all the way around.
Q: What do you think the chances for this team to make the playoffs?
A: It is out of our hands right now. We do not have any control in this situation. We are going to need a lot of help. Ultimately, I like the fight of this team and there is not any quit in these guys or this team. We have obviously faced a lot of adversity throughout the season and responded well at times, but sometimes have not been able to answer. I just think that we have to dig deep, be ready to practice on Wednesday, and just play to our best. I think what it comes down to is executing and playing good football, regardless of what is going on. We need to control what we can control and execute the calls.
Q: Are you disappointed with the team’s performance today?
A: I think it starts with me. We can all play better, but it is disappointing. We come out and have a big opportunity on the road. We came in confident that we were going to play well and then things quickly unraveled. It is frustrating and I cannot put my finger exactly on what happened and could have prevented it or slowed it. It is a disappointment. I love playing this game and competing with these guys, and I love winning. To have this game go the way it did hurts, and it is frustrating.
Robert Quinn – December 16, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins DE Robert Quinn (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: What do you think is the biggest reason for their offensive success?
A: I don’t know. They found the guys that were open and didn’t look back. But then again, they were running the ball well. When they needed to pass, they found open guys. We just had a long day.
Q: Do you have any sense as to why you guys struggle on the road?
A: If I had that answer, I would already have the magic recipe by now. But no, I don’t know why. I wish I could give you a better answer.
Q: When your team fell behind 21-0, what was going through your mind?
A: Make a play. Someone has to make a play. We kind of went flat and they just kept the pressure going. They just did a great job on their side.
Q: How would you describe the season with only two left?
A: A rollercoaster ride, from game one to now. We’ve been battling our tails off. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for us, we have two more, so we’ll see what we can do.
Q: How do you think you guys will come out in the last two?
A: Whatever happens, we have to win our next game. It doesn’t matter where we’re at. We have to win our next game.
Reshad Jones – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins S Reshad Jones (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: On the defense’s performance today…
A: We didn’t make plays today. I give credit to the Vikings. They’re a good football team and they made more plays than we did today.
Q: It seems like the Miami Dolphins are a different team at home than they are on the road. What is the reason for this?
A: I’m not sure what the problem is.
Q: What is the mood like in the locker room?
A: It’s a tough loss. We are not happy about it.
Minkah Fitzpatrick – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: On touchdown return…
A: I was actually on the blitz. When I walked into that 3 by 1, Diggs and those two, they were vertical. I had a couple guys call it out. I was able to just go since I was on the blitz, and I didn’t have to be patient. So, I just went. Kirk was looking at them the entire time, and I just looked at him.
Q: On defense during 2nd and 3rd quarter…
A: We did our job well around the board. We stopped the run, stopped the pass. Covered more on the back end, even when he was running around. Our 1st quarter, nobody was doing their job. We weren’t covering the back end, we weren’t stopping the run. When that happens, we work off each other. When we can’t stop one, it is hard to stop the other. But the 2nd and 3rd quarter, we did a good job of stopping each phase of the game.
Q: What surprises you most about what happened on defense overall?
A: It surprised me how fast they got points on the board. It hasn’t happened all season, 21 points in the first quarter is way too much. We’re not happy about it, but we’ll use it as a tool on the next games. There’s not much we can do about it now.
Kenyan Drake – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: Describing today’s game…
A: Personally I played my worst game of the season. I let the team down, missed a couple key blocks on third down. So you got to look yourself in the mirror and be motivated to get better.
Q: What were they doing up front?
A: Whooping our ass, that’s what they did. So we got to look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we want to finish the season.
Q: CBS’s report on apparent ankle injury sustained in the game…
A: Yeah, I got twisted up earlier in the game. It’s not an excuse for anything; it’s football.
Q: How do you feel about you and Kalen [Ballage] finishing things out for the rest of the season?
A: I am so proud of that kid because all he does is work hard in practice and gives his best effort and shows up. He’s finishing with the ball every time in practice and it shows in the game. He has a bright future in this league.
Q: Were you okay on how you were used today?
A: That’s not my job.
Q: What are the challenges that popped up today?
A: We just didn’t do our job. That’s plain and simple; that’s all I can say.
