Jerome Baker – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins LB Jerome Baker (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(Describe that pick-6.) – “My d-line did all the work. He threw it up. I came and got it and I ran as fast I (could) to the end zone. That’s pretty much it.”
(What’s that feel like when the crowd is behind you and you’re running and you’ve got real estate in front of you?) – “There’s nothing like it. It’s just the sweetest feeling ever, especially getting into the end zone and you see all your brothers run towards you. (You) get a little tired, but it’s all worth it.”
(What is it that you’re holding there?) – “This is the ball. This is it – my first one. I’m very thankful.”
(What did it mean to the defense to have a bounce back effort like this after the past couple of weeks?) – “It means everything. When we just execute and do our jobs and play together, we can be one of the best defenses out there. We’re just happy to be back in our Dolphins defense and I’m grateful.”
Ja’Wuan James – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins T Ja’Wuan James (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(How wild of a day was it that you felt the need, because of T Laremy Tunsil and all that, to be out there?) – “Yeah, as soon as I came back in, he went down. I’m like ‘Man, it’s crazy.’ But like I said everybody, especially the defense, did a good job today trying to get us this ‘W’ and that’s what we got. Now we can go watch the film, correct it, get everybody back healthy hopefully, and move on.”
(Are you pleased with the offensive line right now?) – “I feel like with the o-line, you’re never really pleased as an offensive lineman because technically, we do so much technical. We do so much with who we have to go mentally, so there’s always sometimes errors. We’re never going to be completely perfect, so we’re searching every week to better ourselves throughout this process, and then at the end, we can look at what we were; but right now we just have to keep our head down and just keep working and getting better.”
(But when you take everything into account, all the injuries, guys who have been lost for the season at the very beginning, do you feel like this group is pulling through?) – “I feel like we have a group of guys that play hard. That’s all you can ask for. No matter the circumstances, we have guys who come up each week (and) that’s what it seems like. Somebody’s back up or now somebody’s active, and they come in with the same mindset of if they have to play, it’s their opportunity. So I give everybody credit for how hard they play and how hard we practice every week.”
Frank Gore – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins RB Frank Gore (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(Today it was the defense stepping up. How great was it to see the defense play the way they played?) – “I was happy. They came out and they played well all game. We got the win and it was big, the way they played. The Jets, their defense is tough. They came to play and they played hard.
(I know before the game we were talking you said you wanted to get that rock. I mean you got it a bit but like we said the Jets defense came to play as well.) – “We tried. We had good plays. We had bad plays. That’s the game of football. You have good days, you have bad days. The main thing is we won. That’s the key of it.”
(You probably heard but you passed Barry Sanders – number 6 now in the all-time yards from scrimmage list. How does that feel?) – “I didn’t know that, but I’ll take it. Especially a guy who I looked up (to) when I was coming up as a kid. I felt like he was one of the top running backs I’ve ever (seen). I’m blessed by that.”
Akeem Spence – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins DT Akeem Spence (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(How was the defense able to respond today after the performances the last couple of weeks?) – “Just paying attention to detail. Our number one focus was just going out and stopping the run, and then reacting to everything else. Stopping the run, making them one-dimensional, then now our pass rush can work, now our back end can do the things they do well. That was pretty much it, just going back to the basics, not over-thinking things, not trying to do too much. Pretty much everybody just doing their job in the defensive call and just getting it done, play in and play out, one play at a time.”
(As the game progressed, did you feel any desperation coming from their end?) – “Oh yeah, because they were definitely trying to get some chunk plays, get on our side of the field, get things going, and it was a close game all the way until the end. They actually got the ball back and were moving it pretty well, so our defense had to stand up one more time, which we did. I was kind of proud we got to end the game on the field and go out there and close it out because that was really big for our defense after the last two weeks.”
(You put a lot of pressure on the Jets. Was there any trickery, or was it just constant pressure?) – “No, just me pushing the pocket, Cam (Wake) doing what he does outside well, and just everybody rushing together as one, and also our back end doing a great job covering and buying us that extra second that we need to slip off a guy and pounce on the quarterback. Just us constantly all day pressuring in his face making him bubble, overthrowing the receivers, and our back end picking it off, catching the ball when it was thrown to them. We just played a good brand of defense today and that’s just something that we had to get back to – not trying to do too much, not trying to cover up for a guy, everybody just doing their job and letting the calls play. Just playing defense.”
Brock Osweiler – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins QB Brock Osweiler
A little bit of a struggle out there this afternoon. How did you view it from your perspective?
BROCK OSWEILER: It was just a hard-fought and a tough football game. We knew going into this game offensively we had a great challenge. The Jets have a lot of good players on the defensive side of the ball. They play really hard. They are talented and they have a tough scheme to go against. We knew we were going to have a challenge today, and it was just a good, old-fashioned fight out there on the football field. It was fun.
It was fun?
BROCK OSWEILER: Yeah, we won.
Wasn’t the most fun game to watch.
BROCK OSWEILER: I’m sorry for that. (laughter)
You guys didn’t put up a ton of points, ton of yards, but no big defensive disasters either. Did you come out feeling like the offense played well today?
BROCK OSWEILER: I haven’t watched the tape yet. That’s just my immediate reaction. I’m sure there are things we could have done better as a unit. I know for starters, I missed a throw to Danny early in the game. That could have been a huge play for this team, potentially a touchdown. That’s something that I know I need to hit that throw. Danny did a great job getting down the seam, and I need to make that play. I’m sure everybody, when they watch the tape, they are going to have one or two plays like that. By no means do I think we played perfect. There’s always going to be things to clean up. It’s hard to win in the National Football League, especially a division game, especially when the opponents really know each other. The fact that we went out there today, we fought for 60 minutes, we got a win, I’m happy with it.
Talk a little bit about your defense. It was a game where both offenses were challenged trying to get points on the board, but defense came up, get 10 points off of takeaways from them and it certainly made the difference in the ballgame.
BROCK OSWEILER: Our defense was outstanding, they really were. Hats off to those guys. I think the coaching staff did a tremendous job all week with the guys getting the schemes in. And then for the players to go out there and execute today the way they did, create those turnovers like you’re talking about, the sacks were huge, that was really the difference in the game. Like I said, hats off to those guys. Tons of credit to the defense, and they had a tremendous day.
You ran for first down and looked like you were pretty nimble on your feet there as you were getting to the yard marker.
BROCK OSWEILER: Running is always my last option. (laughter) I’m always going to try to exhaust my progression, but sometimes it calls for a scramble and I’m just trying to do my job.
Talk a little bit about … First you lose JaWuan James for a while, he goes down, he’s able to come back in. And then you lose Laremy Tunsil on the very next series. Both your tackles at one point were out. Certainly a lot of adjustment at that point. How did you manage that?
BROCK OSWEILER: Injuries and adversity, that’s part of football, especially at this level. As you get into November and December, you’re going to have more and more injuries. To lose those guys definitely hurts us, but at the same time you don’t have time to think about it, you don’t have time to blink an eye. I think the guys who did come into the game, they fought hard and we did our best.
Green Bay next week. I would assume you’re going to prepare as you do as you’re going to get the start and go into that football game. What challenge does that present for you now that you guys are back over .500 with a chance maybe to get a little distance there?
BROCK OSWEILER: I would say every week in the National Football League is a challenge, whether you’re home or on the road. There’s no easy games. We know going to Green Bay is going to be a great challenge, but we look forward to that challenge and we invite that challenge. I’m sure the football team will have a great focus at practice all week just like we did last week and we’re going to try to build upon this. After Green Bay, we go into a bye, and we know as players that if we can go up there and get a win and go into that bye week and get healthy, we’re going to be sitting in a really good position.
How would you describe the character of your offensive line?
BROCK OSWEILER: Those guys fight. I’m the first one to say that football is never a perfect game. It’s just some days it’s just a good old street fight and that’s what it was today. The thing I love about those guys is they just keep playing. They just keep playing. There’s never a time in the huddle where anybody ever looks concerned or flustered. We are always organized. We’re talking. We’re communicating. We’re working as one and I love playing football with those guys.
What do you see when something goes wrong like Zach Sterup when he came in at right tackle? His guy got by him a couple times in the third quarter. Do you see the other guys picking him up or do you say something to him?
BROCK OSWEILER: People are always picking teammates up. That’s one thing Coach Gase and the front office staff have done a tremendous job here in Miami, they have put great people in the locker room and so there’s never people pointing fingers or getting on teammates. As teammates, we’re one unit out there and we’re always picking the other guy up, doing our best to help each other out because like I said, it’s a tough football game out there, and nobody’s perfect.
While you guys did enough to win the game offensively, their defense seemed to present some difficulties for you today. What were they doing that created a challenge for you guys offensively?
BROCK OSWEILER: It’s twofold. One, give credit where credit is due and the New York Jets, they have great players on their defense, they really do. Up front in the secondary, a lot of talented guys who constantly make plays and they play very hard as well. Then I think Coach Bowels and his defensive staff do a great job of creating the schemes that they play on defense. They always have you guessing. Very rarely do you see the same coverage back-to-back plays. They bring a lot of pressure. They move the front around and they are a good football team.
Minkah Fitzpatrick – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(Considering how much you guys defensively have struggled the last few weeks, what’s it like to put together a performance where you not only produce four interceptions and four sacks but limit the team to 88 yards rushing?) – “I think that’s a real good thing because we had to stop the rush and in turn we stopped the pass. If we do that, it just sets up everything else in the back end so holding them, a team that averages (a lot of) yards per game rushing is a great accomplishment. I think we needed it a whole lot going into this week playing the (Green Bay) Packers because they’re a great team.”
(Do you get a lot more of a feel for the game when you’re in there as much as you were and you’re not coming off in the base?) – “When you’re going off and on the field you don’t see everything, or it’s hard to see everything. You just lose the adrenaline rush, or something like that, that you may have. So just being on the field 100 percent of the time or close to 100 percent of the time, it felt good just being able to play out there.”
Adam Gase – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase
Q: I know that you would like to see the offense score more points but you’re patched together in so many different areas right now. Do you come out of this happy with how the offense got through?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I think I’m happy that we took care of the football. We didn’t put ourselves in a bad position or put the defense in a bad position by creating a short field. They had to drive it a long way and our defense did a good job of either getting a turnover or making them punt. We had a couple of opportunities and we missed them. (It was) one of those type of games where you get the right thing versus what they are doing and we just have to find a way to make those plays.
I think one of the things people find confounding about football is how things change one week to the next. You go from giving up 42 points and playing a quarterback who has four incompletions to having four interceptions on the day. What was the turnaround in the defense from your vantage point?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I thought they did a good job playing together. We had all three levels trying to really complement each other, and that’s what you’re looking for. I’m sure we’ll go back and watch the tape and everybody will say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to do this better, we’ve got to do this better.’ Today we did a good job of all three levels playing together.
S Reshad Jones didn’t play for the majority of the second half. What was the reason why?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, I’ve got to look at that and find out what everything entails. It sounds like he pulled himself out. So I’ve just got to find out kind of what happened there.
Was it injury related with S Reshad Jones?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I’m not sure.
You said S Reshad Jones pulled himself out?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yep. I haven’t gotten in it. I haven’t asked a whole bunch of questions because we were having our own issues on the other side of the ball. It will be one of those things where I’ll probably learn a little more tonight and try to figure out what’s going on.
I know T Ja’Wuan James came back in, but how bad off was he and how bad off is T Laremy Tunsil right now?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: That I’ll find out probably more tomorrow. I know Ja’Wuan, going back in, was big for us because we were going to have to really start making adjustments there to where now one guy bumps out and we bring Jake (Brendel) in. Hopefully those guys will be okay, but obviously with Laremy not finishing the game, hopefully it not as bad as probably how it feels.
T Ja’Wuan James, it looked like he was doing drills to see if he could go back in. And just looking at his face, it looked like he was in a lot of pain.
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I’m sure he was. That’s the NFL. It’s hard. It’s 60 minutes, guys are battling and a lot of guys are hurt, especially at this part of the season. We’ll kind of see how he feels the next day. That’s what it is. It’s like a car crash every Sunday and you have to re-group for the next week and get your body right.
RB Kenyan Drake didn’t touch the ball much in the running game or the receiving game in the second half. Is that just the way the game played out?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: We tried to get him the ball a few times. Just they either called … (New York Jets Head Coach) Todd (Bowles) and his crew did a great job. Every time we called certain things, they had the right coverage to take it away. They were blitzing at the right time. We were trying to mix it up, call opposite of what they would; but he dialed up everything right and it made it really difficult to try to get our playmakers the ball.
RB Frank Gore averaged less than three yards per carry but do you still feel like he did the job you wanted and what was it like in the second half where it seemed like it was a struggle to…
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: There was nothing there. We’ve got to play better up front. I mean, he created some stuff. There was nothing there. All you have to do is give Frank a crevice he’ll get you 4 yards. If he’s not getting anything, that’s not good.
Every running back probably would like to get the ball 30 or so times a game. Has RB Kenyan Drake stuck with you pretty well even though he might not get the ball as much as he wants?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, he doesn’t … He knows the play calls. When he hears the play calls, he’s going, ‘All right, hey, he’s trying to get me the ball.’ He understands that. It just doesn’t always work out. I can’t know exactly what they’re going to do. A lot of times we try to make him the premier guy but if they run the right thing or they pressure us and the ball has to go somewhere else, it kind of screws that up.
RB Kenyan Drake has had some really good blocks this season, just anecdotally from things I remember seeing. It looked like you were having him help T Zach Sterup there a little bit at the end. Is he giving you what he can in that role?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Oh, yeah. He does a great job. Today, like the third down one he had, that’s rare. We usually see him clean up a linebacker and we never have any pressure there. If he works the edges and he’s working with the defensive end with the tackle, he usually makes sure that that guy is probably either on the ground or he’s not rushing very good.
Has S Reshad Jones ever voiced an issue with his role or the scheme or anything that would indicate what happened in the second half?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: No. We were doing some different stuff this game, obviously. I don’t know. I’ll find out more tomorrow.
What were you doing overall in the secondary? It just seemed like there were so many different guys moving in and out.
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, we moved some guys in and out. We’re trying to keep guys fresh and they played 80-plus plays today. So they had to play a lot of guys. We had a couple of guys get pulled out and then go back in or stay out. That’s what we had to do to win the game.
Did you think that would help after how the last couple weeks went, just to get some change in there?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, I think any time that we can either … When things don’t go right and you try to shuffle some guys around and get some guys in maybe some different spots; I know any time Bobby (McCain) is inside, I’m a big fan of that. He does a great job. If he’s playing true zone and they throw any kind of underneath routes, he’s going to make the play. He’s going to make the tackle. He’s going to be in the right spot. He’s always going to be in the right leverage. There’s a lot of comfort there, especially for me when he’s playing nickel. We had to make, with ‘Tank’ (Cordrea Tankersley) going down, we had to make some adjustment and that got Minkah (Fitzpatrick) pushed outside a little bit. We just knew we had to make some adjustments and we didn’t think they were that big of a deal. We want to play some guys in some different spots.
There was a point where on your offensive line you had T Zach Sterup, C/G Ted Larsen, C Travis Swanson – the right side was normal at least – but do you feel like that group is surviving right now?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I think that we’ve had some good days and we’ve had some rough ones. When we play a d-line like this, it’s tough. Those are some good players and their scheme is tough. We try to go big and they go big and it’s a disadvantage for us. When we tried to stay smaller, to see if we give ourselves an advantage, we just didn’t quite get it done as well as we needed to.
What did you think about your defense on the Jets drive late in the third quarter. It ended with a missed field goal and you guys had a couple of bad face mask penalties, but DE Cameron Wake came through with a sack and ultimately they’re kicking from 50 yards.
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, if we can eliminate some of those type of penalties, that’s what we have been talking about – the pre-snap and post-snap type penalties – and you can probably throw that in there as far as the face mask. We just have to be good with our hands and understand when we’re reaching back end and up getting somebody’s helmet, that’s really going to hurt us in the end.
It could have been a place where the game slipped away though because giving up 30 yards in this game is a lot and you forced them to kick from so far.
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, it was a good job. They found a way to get a negative play and knock them out of … really make it tougher. So that’s what you do. That’s why you keep fighting. You never know what’s going to happen. We witnessed it in the Chicago game where guys fought down to the 1-yard line and got a turnover.
What was the big difference? What were you able to accomplish in those 10 days that made the defense play the way they did this afternoon?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I think the guys just did a good job of, really, it’s like complementary football. All three levels, they played together. They did a good job of, for the most part, really stopping the run and trying to make it as one-dimensional as they can. I thought they did a pretty good job of keeping the guy in the pocket and then forcing them to kind of make some throws under duress. Guys did a good job of finishing the play.
Offensively, the struggles you had, what did you see there?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: We just didn’t have a very good day up front. We had a couple opportunities on plays that possibly were touchdowns or explosive plays that we didn’t hook up on. (It was) just one of those games where we didn’t get … Just not a lot right for us.
I’m sure this question has been asked, I wasn’t here. S Reshad Jones, him not playing late in the first half and the whole second half?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Yeah, I mean, I haven’t really gotten with those guys yet. So I mean, I’m going to find out more of that either tonight or tomorrow.
Adam Gase – November 2, 2018
Download PDF version
Friday, November 2, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(CB Cordrea Tankersley missed practice today; is there an update on his condition?) – “Yeah, he’s going to be out for the year. He tore his ACL yesterday.”
(What do you now to compensate for CB Cordrea Tankersley’s loss?) – “We’ll have a plan. We talked through a lot of different scenarios last night. We’ll have a plan going into Sunday.”
(Do you feel like you need a veteran cornerback?) – “We’ll get through this game with the guys we have and then we’ll talk about what we need to do next.”
(Do you think WR Kenny Stills will be able to go from what you see today?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out. I’ve got to see how he feels tomorrow. It’s the second day that you always kind of wait and see.”
(I guess it was a good sign that WR Kenny Stills was able to practice today?) – “It was good to see him practice. (You guys) kind of got me with the, ‘Does he need to practice and still play on Sunday?’ I really wanted to see him practice just so I could see him run and see how he feels the next day. I do not want to take a chance of he’s active, he plays, something happens, we have a huge setback. I just needed him to just shoot me straight and we’ll go from there.”
(Was it contact with CB Cordrea Tankersley?) – “Just running with a guy and then just kind of took a weird step. It was weird because it wasn’t like … It didn’t look like what it normally has when you see that happen. So you weren’t sure if it was just like he just sprained something. It just looked different than what I’d seen before.”
(You talked before the trade deadline with us that you can’t afford any more of these season-ending things and here’s another one.) – “Can’t afford any more. You know what, it’s a shame because he was pushing to come along and we felt like we had him in a good spot and he was competing. He was practicing better. It’s just young player gets hurt, it’s tough for them to handle it. He’ll be back at some point. The way that those ACLs seem to be, guys come back from those. It’ll be good to get him back when we can.”
(I don’t know if we asked you, but we asked Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke: What is the possibility or the likelihood that S Minkah Fitzpatrick could play on the boundary? I know it’s something he hasn’t really done a regular basis.) – “He can do it. He can do all those positions. I mean, he’s done it all. When we evaluated him, we evaluated all the positions he played. It was pretty incredible to see how much he did over his career. He gives us a nice security blanket, to say, if you have injuries you can always move him around. It’s unfortunate for him to where he never can just get comfortable at one spot, which I don’t think he really cares about because I think that he enjoys that part of the game of constantly mentally being challenged.”
(Does it bother you at all that S Minkah Fitzpatrick is not on the field more at this point, or are you okay with what you’re doing with him?) – “The last two games we got caught in some personnel groupings where he wasn’t on the field, but for the most part before that, the first six games, he was on the field quite a bit.”
(How do you think coming back from injury has affected CB Bobby McCain recently?) – “I would say he’s done predominantly most of his stuff, he’s looked normal. It’s probably more just dealing with practice more than anything. Like, he’ll never say anything. He’ll never say he’s hurt or sore or anything like that. He’ll fight through it. To me, I don’t see a difference in him. Any place we put him, he’ll figure out a way to do a good job.”
