Raekwon McMillan – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins LB Raekwon McMillan (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(What needs to happen for this run defense to be better?) – “We’ve got to play together. The front seven and the back end, we’ve all got to play together, fit it correctly, attack, and we kind of fell back on our attack mentality and it got to us towards the end of the game. ”
(You guys only have four days until Houston, quick turnaround. How important is it to try and figure out ways to recover quickly?) – “I mean we’re on to the next game mentality. We have to recover, get our body right and keep playing.”
Bobby McCain – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins CB Bobby McCain (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(What was it that they did most effectively? You were in third-and-short a lot.) – “They run the football pretty good. They were throwing it pretty good. They were taking plays we were giving them. With a veteran quarterback like that, they’re going to take what you give them. If you give him second-and-5, he’ll take it. You give them third-and-1, he’ll take it. At the end of the day, we know we got to play better in the back end and up front. As a defense, we got to play better. As a team, we got to play better. We didn’t do enough.”
(Not a whole lot of time to regroup with the game coming up on Thursday, right?) – “You got to have a short-term memory, because we play Thursday. We got to get ready and make sure we’re ready to play come Thursday night, because it’s a national stage. We just took an L so now we got to come back and we have to fight and go grind this week to get a W.”
(What happened with the tackling today? That seemed to be kind of an issue that kept coming up.) – “Like I said, we didn’t play well. We didn’t play very well. They played better than we did at the end of the day. We missed tackles. We have to be better. We’ll be better.”
Frank Gore – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins RB Frank Gore (transcribed by Anthony Gutierrez)
(When WR Albert Wilson went out, was there kind of a change of maybe what you guys wanted to do offensively?) – “No because it’s always next man up. We have a bunch of guys who can play ball here. We just understand we have to start faster. I think if we start faster, the better we’ll be.”
(How do you guys go about this quick turnaround with a game on Thursday?) – “We’ve got to get it out of our heads and get ready for the Houston Texans.”
(You guys have been so good about scoring and coming back so resilient this season. Why didn’t that happen today?) – “We just didn’t make the plays when they were there. We kept fighting, but we just have to start faster.”
Davon Godchaux – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins DT Davon Godchaux (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(Was this just the issue of third down struggles?) – “We were always in third-and-one, third-and-two. We never could seem like we could get in third-and-long. The Detroit Lions, they just played better than us today.”
(You guys have been playing so well on the front line. Is this kind of a humbling performance?) – “I wouldn’t say humbling. I’m in the five more hour rule because we have to move on. We have to play Houston, a team who’s won four straight. They’re not going to feel sorry for us. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, so we have to move on from this one quick because we have a Thursday night game against the Houston Texans and they are playing really good ball right now.”
(What would you attribute the inconsistency to, because last week you guys were doing pretty well?) – “I wouldn’t say it was inconsistent. They just made plays and we didn’t. Detroit made plays. They get paid like we get paid. They made plays we didn’t, bottom line.”
Brock Osweiler – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins QB Brock Osweiler
What did you think of the offense today?
BROCK OSWEILER: We didn’t do enough to win the game as an offensive unit. It’s our job to score more points than the other team and we didn’t do that today, so we need to be better.
Can you describe your comfort zone today, as opposed to the last week, having a full week of practice to work with the ones? Was it smoother for you today than it was last week?
BROCK OSWEILER: I would say my chemistry with some of the skill guys is growing. I didn’t get any reps with the ones in OTAs or training camp or anything like that, so the first time I was throwing the ball or handing ball off to a lot of those guys was last Sunday. So I’d say my chemistry is growing, getting the game last week with them, getting a week of practice and then getting today; but as far as my overall comfort in the offense, I was extremely comfortable last week and I was comfortable this week.
How did WR Albert Wilson going out of the game impact what you guys were able to do going forward after that?
BROCK OSWEILER: It definitely hurts us. Albert is a tremendous football player. He brings a lot of energy to this offense. He brings a spark. Any time you get the football in his hands, he might, make a big play for us, so we definitely missed him. But in saying that, the motto of this football team is next man up and whoever needs to step into that role needs to step in and play big because Albert set the bar very high for that position. Whoever needs to step in needs to play up to that bar.
It looked like this game was a game of starts. They started out quickly, scored on every drive they had except for one punt and then you guys came out in your first three or four series without getting any points on the board. You scored after that. What was the … Did you get a feel for the reason that you had a slow start like that?
BROCK OSWEILER: Yeah, there was just no rhythm offensively and this offense really gets going and is really effective when we start stacking first downs together and we weren’t able to do that early unfortunately. We kicked ourselves in the butt with some negative plays and we weren’t able to overcome them.
From where you were standing, the difficulty running the football, certainly in the first half?
BROCK OSWEILER: That’s the National Football League. It’s tough every Sunday no matter who you’re playing. The guys across from you, they are big, they are tough, they are physical and they are fast. So give Detroit credit, they came to play today. They had a great scheme. Coach (Matt) Patricia and his staff put together a great game plan and they executed it very well.
How did you feel you played?
BROCK OSWEILER: I was happy with some of the things we did but there’s definitely a lot of room to grow; and ultimately, we did not score enough points to win the game, and I’m the only guy on offense who touches the ball every single play, so that bothers me. I feel like I need to find a way to play better, to find a way to put the offense in the end zone more, and that’s something that Coach Gase and I will sit down and look at and talk about.
I think your quarterback rating is over a hundred. I’m wondering if it’s more frustrating to play pretty good and still lose because where do you go from there?
BROCK OSWEILER: I think I know what you’re asking. I don’t care about stats. I don’t care about stats at all. The only thing I care about is wins and losses, and so when we win, it’s a great day. When we lose, it’s a bad day, and it’s really that simple for me. I think there’s a lot of people that get into passer ratings and third-down efficiency and red zone, and obviously those things matter at the end of the day. But the biggest stat is wins and losses in this league in my opinion, and today we lost and we didn’t do enough on offense to put our team in a position to win the game.
In terms of your receivers going down – WR Albert Wilson and then WR Kenny Stills – is it to a point where you don’t know which five guys will be out there and is that at all difficult for you?
BROCK OSWEILER: Well, we had to get creative in the fourth quarter, let’s just put it like that. There was a lot of in the huddle, rather than calling plays, you would point at a guy and say, you line up in the slot, you run this route, you run this route. There was a little backyard football to it. I will say this: our coaching staff did a tremendous job of communicating to me who was in the game, where they wanted them to be and what they wanted them to do. There was no one on our sideline who blinked an eye, regardless of the adversity we faced. We were ready with answers and that’s what we did.
Could you give an example of that creativity?
BROCK OSWEILER: No, I can’t.
Reshad Jones – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins S Reshad Jones (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(On what went wrong in the game defensively) – “It’s hard to tell you what went wrong, right now, in the run game, pass game, whatever. Once we break the film down, I’ll definitely give you a better answer.”
(How challenging is it going to four days to get ready for the next game?) – “It’s part of the NFL. You have to have a short-term memory. We’ve got another tough opponent in the Houston Texans. I know this coaching staff and these players, we’ve got resilient guys – like I always say – in this locker room, and I know these guys will be ready Thursday night.”
(How tough is it to respond to this, considering you guys have played so well earlier this season defensively?) – “It’s kind of tough. We want to win every game, but we can’t. Like I said, we just have to break the film down and see where we went wrong. We have to continue to play as a defense. Everybody has to play together. It takes all 11 guys to get the job done. We have to give credit to the Lions. Like I said, they did enough today to win a football game.”
Danny Amendola – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins WR Danny Amendola (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(It seems you were getting some body woes there as far as injuries today to the receivers, to the pass catchers. Is this a particularly tough day for you guys? ) – “We got a tough group, but it’s a rough sport. That’s the way it goes sometimes but we’re very resilient and we battle.”
(What had WR Albert Wilson meant to your guys’ offense to this point?) – “He’s a great player. He brings a lot to our team. He’s a great teammate, he plays really hard and he’ll be back. He’s a really tough player.”
(What do you think about QB Brock Osweiler the last two weeks, what he’s doing for you guys?) – “He’s a competitor. He battles. He’s played a lot of good football in his career. He’s a good player.”
Cameron Wake – October 21, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Postgame – Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
The run defense, they put up 248 rushing yards today.
CAM WAKE: I didn’t realize (it was) that much but a lot has to go wrong for that to happen. (It was) a very odd situation because, when something like that happens, you want to sit down and pick apart the whole game play-by-play; but the reality is today’s Wednesday and we have a game coming up very quickly. We have to move on. I know for sure that our guys will go back and look at the tape. Any time that happens, very rarely is it just somebody comes in and runs all over you. It’s miscommunication or somebody not where they are supposed to be, not playing complementary from front to back is the only way I can describe it.
How would you evaluate the pass rush?
CAM WAKE: Not good enough. But I think, if you’re running for 250, you’re third-and-short every time. I mean, there’s not going to be much of an opportunity. We always say as a front, you’ve got to do your work first. Stop the run so you can play and rush the passer. I don’t know all of the details but I’m pretty sure there weren’t too many third-and-longs out there because we weren’t stopping the run. So pass rushing on third-and-2 is probably not going to be an advantageous position for getting after the quarterback.
How much of a challenge is it now to try to put this behind you when you have a game coming up behind you?
CAM WAKE: It’s going to be … I just said, it’s Wednesday. To the rest of the world it’s Sunday, but for us it’s Wednesday. In a very normal week, we wouldn’t even be talking about the (next) game. Usually I say you’ve got about 24 hours to pat yourself on the back or lick your wounds. You’ve got about 30 minutes to figure that out now. You’ve got to already be getting ready for the next opponent. It’s an away game obviously, so we are traveling there, too. It’s a lot, but everybody has to get their job done. We are all big boys, grown men. You’ve got to have a short memory, wipe the slate clean and start focusing on the next task.
I don’t have the stats in front of me but I don’t imagine you guys have given up that kind of running stats all season. What happens when someone does that?
CAM WAKE: There’s no way you could have told me that would be something that would happen today. I’m pretty sure, I don’t know the stats either, but that hasn’t been something we’ve encountered in the past season and maybe if you probably look back to last season before you find something like that or numbers like that. But if that was a recurring thing, then I would probably be a little nervous. Again, I think that has to be miscommunication. Out of position, wrong fit, whatever it is. That’s the only way I can explain without seeing the tape; but at the same time, as frustrating as that is, that means it’s very easily fixable. Be where you’re supposed to be and as you’ve seen, we’ve done it in the past. So it’s not, ‘I can’t do.’ It’s ‘I didn’t do,’ and we’ve just got to make sure again on defense, it’s every single play for 60 or more minutes. You’ve got to play four quarters. We didn’t.
How did you feel out there, your first game back?
I felt good. I’m glad to be back out there. It’s hard watching (from) the sidelines. I want to get out there and help. It eases my soul.
How frustrating are all of these injuries?
CAM WAKE: It’s football. Every game you turn on, somebody is going to get injured. That’s the way it is. You roll the dice. It’s not if, it’s when, and nobody can predict when. So there’s nothing you can do about it, unless we put on flags. But that’s not … I mean, we’re going in that direction though.
So three weeks ago, you guys are in first place, and now, I don’t even know if you’re in third place. Does that concern you that you’re going in the wrong direction?
CAM WAKE: It’s early. We’ve got nine more games, I think. I’ve played a lot of football and I’ve seen things change. So we have a lot of work to do, but we have a lot of time, as well. I’m not panicking yet. We’ve got a lot of time but at the same time, we have to make sure we don’t play like this on both sides of the ball. So it’s not an impossible task. I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of, but you’ve got to do it consistently. You can’t be up, down, up, down. You’ve got to play every week, play together and start stacking wins so that whenever it comes down the line, Week 13, you’re not saying, ‘Oh, we should have, or I wish we would have.’ You (have to) put yourself in a place so that you don’t have to worry about that.
