Davon Godchaux – October 3, 2018
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Wednesday, October 3, 2018
DT Davon Godchaux
(When you found out about DT Jordan Phillips, what was that?) – “This was a team decision – (Head Coach Adam) Gase and the front office. It had nothing to do with me or any of the d-linemen. It was the decision that they made.”
(Was there a message sent, do you think?) – “I don’t think there was a message. It was what they thought was best for the team. It was their decision, so we have to move on with it. It’s on to the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s my main focus. The decision was made and I’m onto the Cincinnati Bengals. I don’t worry about anybody getting cut. I’m on to the Bengals. That’s the most important thing. We came off a lost to the Patriots and we’re on to the Bengals.”
(What needs to change this week?) – “As a team?”
(For you guys up front?) – “Just keep playing like we’re playing. Believe it or not, we needed that loss. We needed that to get back on track. We’re onto the Bengals. Just keep playing how we’re playing. Tighten it up a little bit, but keep playing our technique and believing in what (Defensive Line) Coach Kris (Kocurek) is saying and (Defensive Coordinator Matt) Burke and each and everybody. Just keep playing how we are playing.”
(You needed that loss, why do you say that?) – “I just felt like as a team, we just needed that to the back end of the season. We were 3-0. Now we’re 3-1 and got a wakeup call, so now we can get back on track.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said that the Patriots switched stuff up. When you are rotating linemen, how hard is it to make those adjustments with guys coming in and out?) – “It’s Tom Brady. He’s the best at it. He sees us getting off the field and getting fresh. He wants to speed the tempo up. A lot of teams will want to do that when they see us rotating guys in. It was the first team, but it won’t be the last team.”
(It’ll just be being sharper when you get in there from the get go?) – “Yes, 100 percent.”
(I’m assuming you’re going against the ones. You’ve gone against C Travis Swanson and C/G Ted Larsen and those guys. How are they looking now as far as a unit?) – “They’re ready. The o-line coach has done a great job. I’m not an o-linemen but I see their progression. They’ve been doing a great job all training camp and all season.”
(What’s your level of confidence in your group?) – “I’m very confident. That’s my group. I believe in each and everybody. Whoever they bring up off the practice squad, that’s our group and we believe in those guys. We trust those guys and it starts at practice.”
Adam Gase – October 3, 2018
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Would the release of DT Jordan Phillips have happened without the tirade? Was that the absolute last straw?) – “I don’t know. We’ve moved on already. I’m not going into details on that stuff. He’s not on our roster anymore.”
(With DE Cameron Malveaux, obviously both end and tackle, was that what made him appealing in terms of he has the size for both?) – “He’s done a lot for us. He knows a lot of different spots. We’ll figure out the best way to use him.”
(What about your defensive line gives you confidence to make this move going forward?) – “It’s a tough group. It’s a group that’s very prideful. They’ve got a certain way they do things. Those guys have been battling the last few weeks with less guys than what we started with. We’ll get healthy here quickly. Right now, the guys that we’ve got ready to roll, they’ll be ready to go.”
(With the changes you’ve had on both the offensive line and the defensive line here, is it fair to say that it starts up front this Sunday even more than usual?) – “I think it always starts up there. I don’t know if it’s any more than usual. I know that we’re looking to play better on both sides. Having a week to get ready for the game, that’ll be helpful for us. When you start throwing guys in and they haven’t really gotten a ton of reps with that first group, especially at center, that’s a tough spot to put a guy in. It’ll be good to get a full week’s worth with him and the quarterback and the rest of the guys.”
(On the offensive line, the other four guys are staying where you have them?) – “We’ll see.”
(Are you considering … I mean C/G Ted Larsen has worked at center before.) – “They’re working all over the place. We have to have contingency plans for a lot of different things. When you only go up and you have seven, and you’ve got to move somebody around (because) one guy goes down, you might have some moving pieces. We’ll see how it kind of shakes out for us.”
(Any further you can tell us on CB Bobby McCain?) – “He didn’t practice today.”
(Is CB Bobby McCain sidelined for weeks or days?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
(Did you look at the C Wesley Johnson signing purely as depth or because he’s a starting-caliber player, do you want, at some point when he learns the system, to give him a chance to compete with C Travis Swanson?) – “I don’t know. I think that’s a ways down the road. Right now, it’s just trying to get caught up as fast as possible.”
(How is C Travis Swanson’s grasp of the offense? I think he’s been here three weeks.) – “Good. Really good. That’s usually … centers are really good about picking it up. They take whatever system they learned and they know how to translate it over and really know what’s important for them. It’s just, really a lot of times for them, it’s terminology change. But him being with (Offensive Line Coach) Jeremiah (Washburn) in the past, some of that has carried over to where he picked everything up really fast.”
(What was your assessment of C Daniel Kilgore before he was injured?) – “I thought he was playing well. He was steady for us. He was kind of like the anchor of that group and the leadership is hard to put a price on.”
(What do you like about C Travis Swanson?) – “When we got him in there, that’s a tough matchup for any center in the league when you’re going against the size – Danny Shelton – and the way that he can move guys around. I thought he held his own pretty good. Like I said, I wish we would have had a whole week to where he could have really got reps with those other guys so he could work with the guards and those guys could really play off each other. I thought he did good in the game and we had a good day of work today, so we’ll just keep trying to find a way to get better.”
(What happened to WR DeVante Parker at the end of last week?) – “It was weird. We thought he was fine and then it was his route. He just ran a route and didn’t really say anything, and then he just couldn’t go.”
(You’ve made in the last three years some pretty eye-opening roster moves in the middle of the season. Whether it was your intention or not, it can serve as a message to the team. Do you think any message has been received this week?) – “No, I don’t think that had anything to do with any kind of … There was no message behind this. It was just time for us to move on.”
(When you’ve had situations here, whether it’s a personnel move, weather-related or a tough loss, how do you know when your time is refocused and where you want them to be? Are there things in practice and meetings? Discussion, demeanor? How do you know?) – “I think in practice you can tell. Energy level. Today I felt like there was a really good energy level. Guys understood what happened, watching the film on Monday, getting another day away from it, coming back, resetting. We’re not going to sit here and keep pounding on what happened on Sunday. We fixed what we needed to fix. We addressed the things that we needed to address. We’ve moved on to the next opponent. I think guys have done a good job of getting themselves ready and when they came out to practice today, they were ready to go.”
(How would you assess LB Raekwon McMillan’s progress so far this season?) – “He’s a young player and is getting better every day. He’s trying to get better every day. The more things he sees, the better it is for us.”
(How would you evaluate QB Ryan Tannehill’s play Sunday?) – “We didn’t have a great game. There were some things I wish I would have done different. He felt the same way. We didn’t play good as an offense. Frank (Gore) probably played good. Besides that, a lot of guys struggled. We didn’t do anything we talked about.”
(WR DeVante Parker ran a route in the Friday practice, or was it …) – “Well, it’s like one of those things where on Friday, we couldn’t get him going. We were trying to get him going and we thought we were going to be all right. It just didn’t work out.”
(Was that something new for WR DeVante Parker?) – “It was out of nowhere.”
(Will QB Ryan Tannehill have to take on more vocal responsibilities on the offensive line as far as protections since you have a new center?) – “No. We’ll be able to do what we normally do.”
(What message, if any, have you given or would you give to RB Kenyan Drake?) – “Just keep practicing hard. I mean, we’ve got to get more than 47 plays in a game.”
(As long as CB Bobby McCain is out, you’ll have young corners you’ll be relying on there. Was the thinking that you’re good enough there with Torry McTyer and Cordrea Tankersley and Cornell Armstrong and you don’t need to find a veteran to fill in in interim?) – “Yes. I mean going to get a guy on the street that hasn’t done anything doesn’t really help you. Those guys know our system. They know what we want to do. They know how we want to play. That’s why they’re here. If you’re on the roster, you’re expected to be ready to go and contribute and we shouldn’t have too much of a drop-off.”
(Have you seen any signs that CB Cordrea Tankersley is in the right state of mind?) – “Yeah, he’s working. He’s working and he’s trying to get better. I think he’s trying to challenge on the scout team or if he’s getting reps with the first-team defense, he’s trying to challenge guys, get hands on them and stay tight in coverage. That’s what he just needs to keep doing. I think really trying to make a major push to contribute on special teams. I know he’s taking that very seriously and he’s trying to basically break through the door and just keep trying to get those guys’ attention.”
(Do you have a sense for what happened to CB Cordrea Tankersley?) – “That’s just the NFL. Sometimes guys come in and they go past you and it’s a battle. It could be one phase or the other. We feel good about him at corner and we need him to improve on special teams. Now, it might come up to where he plays. If he plays at corner, I’m good. And I think his special teams has improved, so we could use him there.”
(What more do you need to see out of DE Charles Harris? He has fewer snaps than DE Jonathan Woodard last game.) – “That’s kind of one of those things where when you play New England, you have to be careful about your substitutions. I thought (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) did a good job of making sure that we didn’t get caught with 12 guys on the field because if they don’t sub and you try to sub, now you’re asking for trouble. You’re going to get 12, 13 guys on the field and you’re going to have a problem. I think he got caught kind of in that little game that gets played to where that was not a planned deal to where it was said that this guy is going to get this many snaps. It just kind of worked out that way in the game.”
(You had CB Torry McTyer and S Maurice Smith in the secondary last week at times. What did you like from both of them and what did you see from both of them?) – “Any time you get thrown in there and you’re going against that quarterback, that’s tough for young players because he’s going to try to pick on you a little bit and take advantage of that. I thought those guys, they’ve played enough football now for us to where they know what to do. It’s just really at the end of the day, just pulling the trigger, trusting their training and trusting what they do at practice. We see a lot of good things at practice and when we get in a game, we just can’t (see) a drop-off. They’ve got to just trust what they’re doing.”
(How much has the turnover on the offensive line hindered what you can do running the ball?) – “It hasn’t. We kind of ran … The way Oakland was playing us was different and then last week we just got crushed. We need to be more physical at the point of attack. We have to execute our assignments better and a lot of things will get cleaned up.”
Laremy Tunsil – October 3, 2018
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Wednesday, October 3, 2018
T Laremy Tunsil
(When you’re trying to bring two new people into the mix, how hard is it to…) – “It’s not hard at all. They learn the plays and we just get to it and work hard.”
(So how easy is it?) – “Pretty easy. Just get it done.”
(There was a huge emphasis on continuity with you guys with the original five. Do you feel like that’s something you can build again with some new faces in here?) – “Yes, of course.”
(Is that something that develops quickly?) – “It takes time, of course. But I feel like it’ll come pretty fast.”
(When you went back and watched film from Sunday, what did you see?) – “We didn’t execute our jobs. We have to do way better than what we did; but that’s behind us. I don’t want to talk about that game anymore. We’re looking forward to Cincinnati and having a good game.”
(Your belief is that was a one off, and you guys will play much better than that?) – “Yes. (We) have to.”
Ja’Wuan James – October 1, 2018
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Monday, October 1, 2018
T Ja’Wuan James
(On how the offensive line can improve.) – “We’ve just got to do a better job of consistently doing stuff. In the game, late in the game, where we had to pass the ball the whole time, we were just trying to come back; but we have to consistently keep the pocket consistently good so we can give Ryan (Tannehill) time and consistently switch guys off and things like that. That’s what they’re getting us on. There’s a lot of different twists.”
(You’ve got some bad luck with the group with G Josh Sitton out and we don’t know how long C Daniel Kilgore will be out. Do you all feel like why is this happening?) – “No. I feel like you can’t do that. Stuff happens all of the time in this game like that. You just have to be able to … The next person (has to) be able to step up and we can’t miss a beat.”
(With the running game, we saw how Detroit ran all over the Patriots last week. What went wrong? Was it a matter of not having enough reps to get the running game going?) – “I just thought we never got the opportunity to get in a rhythm. We shot ourselves in the foot early with some penalties. We got a couple of first downs and then just got behind by a lot in the game. We had to go ahead and pass a lot. It’s going to be our job to find rhythms and not put ourselves in bad situations on the chains.”
(You guys have gotten banged up on the offensive line. That’s not an excuse but you have to get the running game going. How do you get that going?) – “Like I was just saying, with a rhythm and repetition. We can’t get ourselves behind the sticks early on first down where you force yourself to have to pass, and the penalties we’ve had in those situations. We can stay ahead of the sticks and get into a rhythm and get on schedule with everything and then we can add those runs in.”
(There’s got to be a confidence that you guys are able to do that, right?) – “Yes, we do. We’ve shown it. It’s just one game where we definitely got exposed (on) some things. We have to go in there and correct it.”
(What is the potential of your running game once you get it going, do you think?) – “I feel like the past three years we’ve done a lot better in the run (game) since (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has been here. It’s just the opportunity. Once we find a rhythm, I feel like guys are going. The running backs, we’re on the same page with them. I feel like that takes time. Like I said, we have to be able to stay ahead of the chains to create that. When we’re backed up all of the time and you’ve got to pass the ball, you can’t find that rhythm.”
(That third-down situation has to be frustrating for you.) – “Yes, it honestly is. But it’s our job to get it done. We’ve just got to go to work this week and fix it.”
Albert Wilson – October 1, 2018
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Monday, October 1, 2018
Wide Receiver Albert Wilson
(What are some things the team didn’t do well that came to light against the Patriots?) – “Kind of the same thing we were going through earlier in the preseason. Penalties, long third downs. That’s not the type of offense we are. When we keep it third-and-minimum, second-and-minimum, we do pretty well. I felt like early in the game, (they) got us out of positions to make plays and continued to keep the ball driving. They got up quick and I feel like it was pretty much history.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said you guys got out-physicaled. When you hear that, how do you guys take that knowing that that’s something that can’t ever happen?) – “It is what it is. We’ve all seen the tape. We’ve all seen what happened. That’s pretty much what happened all game, from the jump. We can’t go out like that.”
(This seems to be the blueprint of how to beat you guys. This is probably something that you’re going to see from other teams, how do you try to combat that?) – “What’s the blueprint?”
(Jamming you guys at the line or making you guys make mistakes with penalties and stuff like that.) – “I don’t feel like that was the problem. No team can force penalties. I feel like we did that ourselves. We shot ourselves in the foot. I feel like if we came out with energy – like I’ve been saying all week, teams are going to have to match our energy. I feel like we didn’t have any energy going in and that’s what happens.”
(Is it more of a challenge to overcome a loss by 20 or 30 points versus one or two points?) – “Are you saying if we were down by that many?”
(No, after you lose a game.) – “A loss is a loss, no matter what it is. One point or 50 points. It really doesn’t matter once the score is over with. It looks bad on paper, but a loss is a loss. We just have to overcome it.”
(You’re new to this team. What did you see from the fight throughout the game even when you guys were down big?) – “We kept fighting. I feel like when we scored late in the fourth. That was pretty good to see. When we got back and saw the film, we were getting the chance to run the ball in the fourth. I feel like we just go off of that. We put that last drive out there, we build off of that and we continue to play football.”
(We see you guys rallying on the sideline, there’s a lot of talking from leaders on this team.) – “Yes. We’re just trying to keep the guys up. You don’t want to see anybody get down or anything. Adversity happens. We just have to adapt and adjust to that. We’ll be better.”
(I know this is probably the bad end to finish these four games, but you’re still 3-1, still on top of your division. Is this something to take away from that?) – “You’re just as good as your last game. That’s what it’s all about. We took a big L. We’ve all have to play better. Myself, I have to do better. I have to be there for Ryan (Tannehill) when he needs me. I have to get open faster and make plays down the field. I can’t allow a guy to intercept the ball on me. I have to block better on the outside, stretch to finish. I just have to play better.”
(When you guys lose like this, is there much needed to be said by the leaders in the locker room or do you guys just know ‘as a man, we just have to do better?’) – “Everybody knows. One-on-one challenges, it goes on every week. We all took a beating. Like you said, no man wants to lay down for anybody. Things don’t have to be said, but things need to be said. We said what we need to do. We all watched the film, we all saw what happened from the jump. We just can’t go out like that.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said it was kind of a somber day today. You guys are kind of quiet, real upset about the loss. Is that the case, are you guys just kind of down a little bit today?) – “No, I don’t feel that way. I feel like we took it on the chin. It didn’t go as planned, like I said. We just have to do better. Everybody knows they have to play better. It’s a new week and we’re focused on the Bengals.”
Danny Amendola – October 1, 2018
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Monday, October 1, 2018
WR Danny Amendola
(What went wrong yesterday?) – “I’m worried about Cincinnati now. We’re ready to get back to work. On to Cincinnati.”
(How important is it to wash away that loss and move forward?) – “We’re going to learn from our mistakes and get better and focus on this week. That’s it.”
(When Head Coach Adam Gase says you guys got out-physicaled, how do you guys take that knowing that as a man, that’s something that definitely can’t ever happen, especially on a football field?) – “Football is a physical sport. You’ve got to play it that way – offensively, defensively and on special teams. That’s it.”
(With the way the loss went, is it okay for you guys to look back and think you guys are 3-1 and in a good position?) – “You never want to lose. You go out to win the game. We went out there expecting to win. We tried to win the whole game. We tried to score every time we got the ball and it didn’t happen for one reason or another. So we’ve got to clean those mistakes up and get better this week. It’s going to take a good week of practice, a good week of preparation, work on things that didn’t go well last week and the week before that and try to get better, try to put our team in position to win.”
(Is this a week where a veteran like yourself comes into play and kind of settle down the other guys who may be making more of one loss than it should be?) – “Of course it’s on us. It’s on everyone. It’s on everyone to do our job throughout Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and continue to prepare and do our job in the game. That’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
(Do the losses hurt more than the joy that wins bring you?) – “That’s a good question, man. That’s a good question.”
(Hard to measure, right?) – “Yeah, man, I’m going to go home and think about that (laughter). I love that. I love that question. That’s why we play, right?”
Davon Godchaux – October 1, 2018
Monday, October 1, 2018
DT Davon Godchaux
(As a defensive guy, I’m sure you are disappointed to hear that and know that you got out-physicaled yesterday?) – “We’ve just got to get back to the basics in practice, get the pads low, play our technique and just get back to playing Dolphins football.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said there is a 24-hour period after wins or losses and that guys will be down and that’s expected. How do you get over that?) – “That’s the NFL. Once I walk in here in the morning, I’ve got my mind focused on Cincinnati. The past game is over. I watched the film last night. I watched it on the plane. My focus is on Cincinnati. New England, that’s history. That game is over. It’s on to the next one.”
(How correctable are those mistakes, what you saw on film?) – “We made our own mistakes. We just made plays … We just didn’t execute our plays. Point blank, period.”
(Is it hard to kind of look at the whole picture, that you guys are 3-1? Or is the way you guys lost yesterday saying everything?) – “Like I said, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a long season. We’re 3-1. We’re going to face New England again. It’s on to the Cincinnati Bengals.”
(Is it harder to overcome a 31-point loss than, say, a 1- or 2-point loss?) – “I mean, a win is a win, a loss is a loss. Whether you lose by three points, two points or 24 points, or whether you win by three points, a win is a win and a loss is a loss in this league. We’ve just got to get back and regroup as a team.”
(Does losing hurt more than the joy that winning brings?) – “Of course because it’s losing. Nobody wants to lose, especially as a competitor. We don’t want to lose. We want to win. But at the end of the day, we lost yesterday, so we have to get back in on Wednesday and practice hard and get back to the basics.”
(So a win doesn’t feel as good as a loss hurts?) – “Oh, yes. One-hundred percent. I’d rather win all day. But when you’re losing, it’s a tough loss. We just have to regroup. Like I said, it’s a long season.”
(When you watched the tape, were there things that they did that you weren’t expecting?) – “We just didn’t execute on our plays. Once we executed on some of the plays that we did, we stopped them; but once we didn’t take advantage of it, a guy like Tom Brady, he’s going to take advantage of it.”
(Not having as many players on the d-line, how did you guys feel about the rotation?) – “We were good. We weren’t even focused on that. Guys went down. It’s part of the league. We just focus on getting better. We’re going to play with the guys we have in the room.”
Adam Gase – October 1, 2018
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Monday, October 1, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Will CB Bobby McCain or C Daniel Kilgore be out for an extended period or out for the season?) – “I’m not sure of the injuries right now. We still have a lot of guys out getting MRIs and things like that. I’ll know later today.”
(Is this a game that you’re going to go over the film with the team or do you just kind of move on?) – “I mean we did what we normally do as far as going through film with each side of the ball. We’re going to move on. I mean we have to get things corrected. We have a lot of things to get corrected. But that’s what happens when you play a good team and you make mistakes that you can’t make against this team.”
(What were you disappointed most by in your team? You guys went in there pumped up.) – “I think just getting out-physicaled. Then we didn’t execute things the way we needed to. We didn’t adjust the way we needed to. Nothing was good.”
(When you get out-physicaled, how correctable is that?) – “Since it hasn’t happened the last three games … We just have to do a better job of the fundamentals and making sure we don’t get caught up emotionally in the game. (We just have to) focus on what our job is and then we give ourselves a better chance.”
(Do you have to tell the guys much or do the leaders of the team let the guys know we got out-physicaled and that can’t happen on a regular basis? Do you lean on some of the guys like DE Cameron Wake?) – “I mean those guys know. It’s no secret. We didn’t sugarcoat a whole bunch today.”
(How close were S Reshad Jones and WR DeVante Parker to playing yesterday? Do you project them as far as likely to play next Sunday?) – “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out during the week. They didn’t play. It doesn’t matter how close they were or not.”
(As you looked at why the run game didn’t get going, was it blocking primarily or did the backs leave anything on the field, do you think?) – “I think it was just a combination of what they were doing, we didn’t execute right (and) we probably missed a couple of opportunities. Nothing went right. Nothing we did was good. It just was not a good game.”
(Can you elaborate on why T Ja’Wuan James didn’t play?) – “For me, it wasn’t a performance-based thing. I think he got pretty banged up in the game and we got to the point where we put Sam (Young) in there. It’s the same thing we did with Ryan (Tannehill). Ryan was taking a pretty good beating and after he got bent backwards on the one (play), that probably freaked me out a little bit to where I started thinking ‘What are we doing?’ It was good to get Brock (Osweiler) in there too and just kind of get him in a live-action game. That was one of those ones where my gut was saying to get him out of there and he’s trying to talk me into leaving him in there. (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) did a good job of reinforcing that this was the right thing to do.”
(With the receivers and tight ends, was there any issue in terms of separation? Were they just not open for large chunks of the game?) – “Danny (Amendola) and Jakeem (Grant) were open the whole game. We had times where we were open on certain things. It’s just nothing was clicking as far as we’re open and (we have) pass protection. (When the) pass protection was good, we’re not open. They fell into a couple of things with some of the stuff we did, which they did a good job on scheme-wise and just guys being disciplined in what they were doing. The misdirection stuff they did a really good job on. It was just an ongoing something different each time. So it wasn’t a consistent pattern.”
(You’ve talked a lot about how the makeup of this team that you have now, you feel like when the waters get rough, you’re confident in how they respond. What do you expect to see from the players this week?) – “We’re coming back to work Wednesday. They’re not going to cancel the season. We’re 3-1. We’re out of the first quarter. The thing is we have to reset 0-0. That’s why today is always the toughest because everybody is brutally honest and you’re going to have conflict and you’re going to have some back and forth. Guys, they put a lot into this game and the same thing with coaches. It’s an emotional game. Today is an emotional day. And then once you get past today, you move onto the next opponent. Tuesday you get ready. Then when you come Wednesday, guys reset, they go back to work and then you forget about the last week.”
(Do you like what you’re seeing today or is it too soon?) – “It’s quiet today. Guys are … it’s a bad feeling. When you get drummed in a divisional rival’s stadium, it’s not something you like to experience. You’re pissed you can’t do anything about it now.”
(DT Jordan Phillips I guess was upset on the sideline yesterday. I wasn’t there but I guess because maybe he was rotated out of the game. Do you want guys …) – “Well there’s a reason why we’re doing that. There’s a reason why we’re subbing the way we’re subbing against that team. It’s not a secret why we’re doing it. Whatever (Defensive Line Coach) Kris Kocurek wants the d-linemen to do, that’s what we’re doing.”
(How do you take a look at the season right now? You guys are 3-1. You had an ugly loss. Does that loss cloud the first quarter of the season?) – “It’s just that’s all anyone remembers. That’s why this league is what it is. It’s up and down every week. If you win, everything is great. If you lose, it’s like you lost 10 games. That’s just the way it is. That’s why you’ve got to reset and get going again.”
(Despite that narrative, how do you look at it?) – “Who cares? We’re moving onto the next one. Once we hit Wednesday, our job is to win that one. We’ll go back through the season in 2019. Right now, we’re in the middle of it. We’ve just got to figure out a way to win the game.”
(How did C Travis Swanson play and if C Daniel Kilgore is out awhile, do you have confidence in the fact that Swanson started a lot of games for Detroit?) – “That’s a tough position to get thrown in there, especially a newer guy in our program. Now all of a sudden … He’s taken reps in practice but then all of a sudden you go against those guys and then they’re all over the place. I thought he did a good job. I know there’s some things that he’s going to want to clean up, just some procedural things; but we brought him in here because we had confidence in what he could do as a player and his intelligence is off the charts. He’s somebody that (Offensive Line Coach) Jeremiah (Washburn) has been around before. Communication is easy with him. We’ll just kind of figure what’s going on, probably by the end of today, and we’ll move forward and figure out what our best road is to go down.”
(The key to extending drives yesterday, was it execution on your part or was it New England stopping it?) – “Let’s just get a first down. I don’t care how it happens. It’s the same thing with the defense. Get off the field. It’s like that first third down of the second half, I forget who it was but he catches the ball and we strip it out. It looks ugly, but who cares? It’s the same thing with the offense. Let’s get positive yards. Let’s have a third-and-2-to-5 somewhere in the game. When our only third-and-short is the last play of the half, that’s not good. The last two games have been not as good as what we need on first and second down to where we’re putting ourselves in position for third-and-short.”
(What does CB Cordrea Tankersley have to do to get into the mix at corner and on special teams?) – “I think he’s in the mix every week. We just have to keep practicing and doing things right. The best way to always grab a coach’s eye is you just practice well. Do it day in and day out and be consistent. The hardest thing is when you’re up and down. That’s when you see guys get frustrated and coaches get frustrated and the player gets frustrated. That’s where I think he can help himself is just be the same guy every day and find a way to make plays in practice. Then when special teams comes around, just be a guy that can be counted on.”
(DE Cameron Wake and DE Robert Quinn, how would you assess how they’ve done a quarter of the way through the season?) – “I don’t know. I’ll worry about self-scout at the end of the year. Right now, Cam does exactly what he always does. He does a great job of setting the edge and when he gets his opportunities to rush the passer, if he doesn’t have two or three guys hitting him, he usually causes some kind of pressure. Rob, I think he’s giving us everything he has. I think there’s a couple of plays he wishes he could have had yesterday. He had a great chance on that (end) around and he did a great job of sniffing it out. I think it’s tough enough to even get yourself in that kind of position to make that play. I would love to see him make the tackle because that would have been a huge loss but I think he’s working to do everything right.”
