Danny Amendola – September 26, 2018
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Wednesday, September 26, 2018
WR Danny Amendola
(What are your thoughts on going back to Gillette Stadium this Sunday?) – “I’m going to be on the other side of the field. That’s it.”
(Is it a little strange?) – “I’ve played there before so I’ve had a lot of experience playing there. I’m excited to get back up there.”
(In the last decade, only two AFC East teams have won there – the Bills – over the last 10 years, that’s it. What makes it, besides the talent on the team, so difficult for division teams to go up there and emerge victorious?) – “It’s all about football, really. Just good football players and they’re well-coached. They have good players and they fly around. It’s not going to be any different this weekend. We’ve got to do a lot of things well in order to win.”
(Have the coaches here been picking your brain?) – “They’re smart.”
(Is that a yes?) – “No, they’re smart. (laughter)”
(Do you think there’ll be any emotions seeing your brothers on the other side, guys you fought with for five years out there?) – “Emotions … I play with a lot of emotion every game. I have a lot of friends on every team, so this won’t be really much different. I’m familiar with a lot of people in the organization. I’m excited to get up there.”
(Are you surprised at the struggles the Patriots have had? 1-2, you don’t often see that from a New England team.) – “They have a bunch of good football players. It’s early in the season and everybody in the whole league is trying to figure some things out and trying to get moving, including us. We’re going to get up there, give it our best shot and look at the scoreboard after the game and hopefully we come out on top.”
(How tough is it for your offensive coaches to figure out who’s getting the ball?) – “Just the open guy. Ryan (Tannehill) does a good job of getting the ball to playmakers and we have some playmakers on this team. It’s really good to see. We’re all hungry. We all want to make plays to help this team win. That’s why we’re here.”
(Before the season, we asked you about national expectations for this team and you said, this team is just going to come out fighting. Have you guys done that the first three games?) – “Definitely. There’s a lot of room for improvement, too. We’ve noticed that on film. (We’re) studying ourselves and trying to get better here today, tomorrow and the rest of the week to play better next week. That’s our mind set.”
(What could a win do for you guys? Another win?) – “One game a week. That’s what we’re focused on. We want to win every one we play. This week is no different. It’s an away game. It’s a division game. It’s an important game. We’re all excited to get up there.”
(How would you describe the lessons that you learned about what it takes to win during your time in New England?) – “It takes a lot of preparation. It takes a lot of film study. It takes a lot of experience, knowing what to do, knowing what not to do, situational football. Some of the things I learned there I’ll carry with me forever. What I’ve learned most is how to prepare for a game, what goes into the weekly routine leading into a game and sticking with that mold. I’m just using my preparation skills against them now. (laughter)”
(Anything else besides that you learned and two rings that’s going to be dear to your heart a little bit from your time there?) – “Maybe I’ll look at all that stuff after I’m done playing, but right now it’s just all about preparation and getting ready for the game, getting ready for a good opponent, an opponent that plays really hard. They’re well coached. I’m just going to continue to prepare this week.”
(What was your relationship like with the fans up there, and what kind of welcome are you expecting?) – “Well, we’ll see. (laughter)”
(Did you talk to Rob this week?) – “Who’s that?”
(TE Rob Gronkowski is the question.) – “I haven’t talked to him this week, no.”
(What will it be like facing TE Rob Gronkowski? Obviously you won’t see him on the field, but you’ll see him before the game and all that. You were his teammate for so many years and now you’re going to try to beat him.) – “Oh yeah, for sure. He’s a great player. I’m not guarding him. It’s no news flash. We’ll see what happens.”
(Will you share an embrace with QB Tom Brady before the game?) – “Before or after. I mean, he’s got a lot of things to do to get ready for the game as well. Through the whole organization, they have a lot of great people there. I can’t sit down and talk to all of them, but I’m going to just focus on the game and whoever I get to hit or handshake, that’s fine with me.”
(Are you surprised at the Patriots’ start and their struggles so far?) – “I’m not really focused on that really, honestly. I’m just focused on this team and what I can do help this team win. I’ve watched all the film and seen all the plays, but … They’re a good football team. We’ve got to play good to beat them, that’s for sure.”
(If I had told you before the season started that if you win in New England, you’d be three games up on the Patriots four games into the season, you would have thought what?) – “It’s still early. It’s still early. We’re just trying to get a win this week, that’s it.”
(You mentioned you don’t have to go against TE Rob Gronkowski but there are some DBs on the other side that were there when you were there. Do you expect there to be some trash talk with you and the DBs?) – “Not really. It’s all about what happens from whistle to whistle and that’s what we focus on. I know that’s what they’re going to focus on. At the end of the day, at the end of the game, it’s all about who’s scoring the most points, who’s up and who’s winning. Everything else is just kind of noise really.”
(Are there things that you remember from practicing in your years there that you can take into your individual matchups?) – “Yeah, for sure. I’ve been against a lot of their DBs. (They have) a lot of good players, a lot of fast players, and they know my moves too. It’s going to be a tough task, for sure.”
(Were you okay with how your time in New England ended?) – “Of course. I don’t have any regrets in my career. I’m really happy to be here. I’m really happy to be with these guys, with this group, with these coaches, with my teammates and this organization. It’s a dream come true to me.”
(What would you say is unique? What do you appreciate and what do you like about this particular organization – your organization now – along with Head Coach Adam Gase?) – “I like the way we respond to the early part of the season. I like the way we’ve prepared in the early part of the season. I like the attitude that Coach Gase brings to the facility every day and into the game, offensively, on Sunday. That keeps me going every day. I just really like the attitude that everybody in the building brings.”
(On the coaching staff being detail-oriented) – “Yes. A bunch of football minds in the same room trying to win games. There’s a lot of details that go into that. Every single thing is professional football. Every single split, every single depth on every route, every throw, is calculated to the best minds we have. A lot of experience goes into those decisions and a lot of film study. It’s our job, as players, to buy into that. I’ve bought in.”
Adam Gase – September 26, 2018 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with New England Media
(I wanted to ask you about WR Danny Amendola. What’s it been like working with Danny this offseason and this season for the first time?) – “It’s been good. He picked up our offense quickly. It’s not too far off from what he’s used to. (It’s) a lot of the same things that he’s verbiage-wise probably heard before, or concepts that aren’t far apart from what he’s used to. He’s done a great job as far as rolling right in and fitting into that wide receiver room. The guys love having him here with his experience and being in as many big games as he’s been in and winning as much as he’s had. I think he’s been a positive influence for our guys.”
(Have you seen WR Danny Amendola and RB Brandon Bolden take on leadership roles?) – “Yes. I think they do it in different ways but I think both of those guys have a great sense of pride on their side of the ball. Danny, just seeing him every day in meetings and doing things the way that he does it and the intensity that he brings and everything he does has been great for our guys to witness. It just makes me feel a little bit like when we got Wes (Welker) in Denver, where our younger guys realize ‘Wow, this guy really goes all out every rep in practice.’ Danny is the same way. I think those young guys feed off of that and see him work and that’s really rubbed off on our guys. Brandon, he’s a true pro. He does everything right from meetings to on the field, games. It just seems like he’s been great for us.”
(It’s obviously still September but you guys are 3-0 and the Patriots are 1-2. Is this the biggest early-season game you remember in some time because if you win, you go up three games with a game to go in Miami.) – “I think it’s a little early for us to even worry about anything like that. We’re getting ready for a tough opponent at a place that we haven’t really won in a long time against a Hall of Fame quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach. We know that and understand that we have to play extremely well and we have to prepare the right way and do the right things on Sunday. Really, that’s all our focus is on right now. We’re not worried about anything besides that.”
(It is a challenge at all preparing for the Patriots right now because they have some different moving pieces? WR Josh Gordon is on their roster but he hasn’t played a game yet for the Patriots. Do you have to kind of try to envision how they might use certain players?) – “It’s a challenge, period, just dealing with anything that (Offensive Coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) has his hands on because he’s going to be multiple. You’re not going to have a great feel until … Once the game starts, you might have a little bit of an idea but he’s always going to have that next step ready to go. Usually that’s a step ahead. He’ll show you something before you really adjust to what the issues are. It’s hard to prepare. Our guys just have to do the best job they can to put themselves in position to understand concepts and schemes and possibly what we could see; but at the same time, be ready to adjust on game day.”
(Have you ever gone up against WR Josh Gordon before, one of your teams?) – “I’m trying to think. I don’t think so.”
(Is it hard to envision what WR Josh Gordon could bring to the table? Did you have to go back and look at old film on him?) – “No. The good thing is our offensive coordinator (Dowell Loggains) coached him in Cleveland. I forget what year it was but he’s always talked positive about him and talked about what kind of player he was and how much … I think he was actually there the season where he was really ripping it up pretty good. We know if he’s active, we have an idea of what his skillset is.”
(Your Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke, he grew up locally in the area. It’s the second year for him. What have you seen out of him developmentally and that first year, probably for anybody getting elevated to that job for the first time, there’s going to be some growing pains along the way.) – “Yes, I think it starts with you start to realize – and I’m just going off of my experience as well – you start to realize that your time management has to change a little bit. You have to do a good job of managing your staff and making sure that everybody is on the same page all of the time. You’re trying not to go be at the point where you’re micromanaging everything. Then just getting that game-day feel of it can get frustrating because you’re hoping for perfection all of the time. It just becomes a realization that it’s just battling to get your guys better and working to play as good of a game as you possibly can without one of those games slipping away on something you’ve covered a million times. It’s a challenge when you take that next step. There’s a lot of things that creep up that you never really thought of were part of the job.”
(What do you think about the job that Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke has been doing?) – “He’s done good. Between the time that we get to spend together on a weekly basis and the conversations we have are great. I really enjoy being able to pick his brain a little bit and figure out what he’s thinking sometimes.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke is obviously devoted to his job, but the world travel part?) – “Yes, I stay away from that. I just always tell him to come back in one piece. It makes me a little nervous when he’s like living with gorillas or chasing cheetahs or whatever he’s doing out there. (laughter) I think the bungee jumping kind of freaks me out a little bit. He’s come back in one piece every year, so that’s a positive.”
(You’re not going to go along with Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke, are you?) – “There’s no chance. (laughter)”
Akeem Spence – September 24, 2018
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Monday, September 24, 2018
DT Akeem Spence
(What happened on the play you were ejected?) – “If you go back and watch that play, Cam (Wake) got a sack on that play. Everybody who knows me, I’m always trying to be the first one to go celebrate with his teammate. The guard … We know Oakland’s o-line. We know what they do, we know how they play. They’re extra after the whistle. Me, I’m trying to go celebrate with a teammate; but the guy put hands on me. I’m simply trying to protect myself and keep him up off of me. It turned into a little scrum, some of my teammates came over to help me and the rest is pretty much history. You all saw the helmet in my hand; but me being the person I am, I’d never hit anybody with a helmet. I never want to put anybody’s career in jeopardy or nothing like that. It’s really unfortunate because I thought I was still in the game. I went to actually go back out on defense the possession after that, but they told me I was ejected.”
(So you were surprised you were ejected?) – “Yes, because I didn’t know they were handing out ejections for ripping guys’ helmets off.”
(Have you seen the video?) – “Yes, I’ve seen the video.”
(When you watch the video, is there anything where you feel like ‘I should’ve done this differently’ or ‘I should’ve had some restraint?’) – “Playing the play, I see Cam (Wake) get the sack. I’m trying to go celebrate but the guy has his hands on me pushing me, pushing me, pushing me. At some point, as a man, I have to protect myself and get his hands off of me and do what I have to do. It just went beyond football at that point, which it shouldn’t have. I feel really bad about it because I thought I almost took Cam’s sack away. Then, the defensive guys lost a d-tackle. They lost Will (Hayes) and then you put your defense in a bad position. Now, they’re out there with three d-tackles, three ends and are trying to play a rotation that they never played, so I felt really bad for that. Putting guys in an awkward position on defense, it sucks; but the guys pushed through and found a way to win. We just get ready for next week and that’s pretty much it. It just shows how resilient this team is and the guys we have in there, especially up front and on defense. That’s pretty much it.”
(When you say it shouldn’t have happened, you mean what part of it? You said it went beyond football and that shouldn’t have happened. That’s on his part or your part or the ref?) – “It just shouldn’t have gotten to that point. Me, I’m never going to put my hands on anybody. I just play football. After the play is done, that’s it. Go back to the huddle and just play football, the next play and just keep playing. There shouldn’t be all of the extra pushing guys over a pile, punching guys in the helmet and stuff. It never should come to that. It’s just playing ball, honestly.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase told us today that DE William Hayes got hurt because he was trying not to put his body weight on Raiders QB Derek Carr. Did you hear that?) – “Yes, I heard about that. Let’s keep it honest, that rule is a tough rule to gauge. Will is going to make a play, trying to sack the quarterback and then roll off at the end, not trying to put all of his weight and get a sack taken away. He ended up being hurt, and it sucks, because he’s trying to protect the quarterback while still trying to make a play. It’s a double-edged sword. What do you want players to do? We know the rule, but we don’t know the ins and outs of it. I saw (Packers LB) Clay Matthews, I think he had another one yesterday. It’s like, ‘what do you want the guy to do?’ He has to put the guy down. ‘How much is too much late? What technique do you use? How do you go about it?’ I’d say we’re still asking questions just like you all are asking questions.”
(How do you get over the loss of DE William Hayes, both on the field and in the locker room?) – “It’s going to take time because Will is a good dude, a good locker room guy, a great teammate and definitely a guy you want to be out there with on Sundays. Guys have to continue to step up – me, some of the d-tackles, the ends – we have to do it by committee. We just have to keep going and keep finding a way, just like the guys did yesterday when me and when Will went out. The guys found a way to stay out there and get it done, grind through it. Jordan (Phillips), ‘V.T.’ (Vincent Taylor), (Davon) Godchaux – those guys, they played great. They sucked it up. I think those guys had 47, 50-plus snaps. For d-tackles, that’s a lot, especially in this Florida heat. We just have to keep finding ways to win and we did that. Our defense gave our offense a chance until they got it going and they caught fire. The rest is history.”
Adam Gase – September 24, 2018
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Monday, September 24, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Can you us anything about the guys that got hurt yesterday? Is any of it serious?) – “Yes. I’ll start with Chase (Allen), (Andre) Branch and A.J. (Derby). We’re still evaluating. We’re trying to figure out the amount of time that could possibly be missed with those injuries. William Hayes will be out for the season. He tore his ACL on that sack. He was trying to not put body weight on the quarterback, so his foot got caught in the ground.”
(So do you think the rule affected how…) – “I’m just telling you what happened.”
(Are you saying that DE William Hayes tried not to put body weight on the quarterback and that caused the injury?) – “I’m just telling you what he did.”
(How does the loss of DE William Hayes impact the team?) – “I mean, it hurts. He’s one of our leaders. (He’s) probably one of the best guys in the locker room. He’s the best run defender. That’s going to be a tough one for us to swallow.”
(Are you concerned that any of the other injuries might be season-ending?) – “No.”
(After Week 1 you lose G Josh Sitton. Before the season you lose TE MarQueis Gray. Now you lose DE William Hayes. To be 3-0 despite all of these bad injuries, is there something good you can take out of that?) – “Yes. I think there were a lot of good things that came out of yesterday. I thought guys fought. They fought until the end (and) never gave up. We lose (Akeem) Spence on an ejection. We have multiple injuries. The d-line was low on numbers. It was not a cool, breezy day. Guys did a good job of just trying to rotate in there and fight and hold everything down. We found a couple of ways to get some explosive plays to where we could get the lead and get the win.”
(Did you get any more clarity on the DT Akeem Spence situation?) – “No. Not yet.”
(Especially if TE A.J. Derby has an injury for a period of time, what’s your belief about TE Mike Gesicki and how much he has come along?) – “I think he grew a lot this game. I saw some good things. I saw some things aggression-wise that we’ve been waiting for. We’ll keep building off of that. I think Durham (Smythe) has done a good job when he’s been in there. We’ve done some things with him in our two tight end packages. We’ll kind of see what goes on the next couple of days of what direction we’ll go and how we want to handle this.”
(Have you seen enough out of TE Nick O’Leary that you’re interested in giving him a shot?) – “We’re not that far yet. Right now, today, we’re trying to make sure that we know who got hurt and the extent of time. We’ll get to that step. It’ll probably be tomorrow. Then we can start game-planning off of that. But right now, I’m not ready to say that. I know this: he’s done a good job since he’s been here. He’s a quick learner, so we’ll kind of see how it plays out.”
(How would you evaluate how S Minkah Fitzpatrick did as a safety yesterday?) – “He was good. We had a couple of things that happened in front of him that … It seems like the safety gets blamed for things that aren’t his fault, but he did fine.”
(On the big play to Raiders WR Jordy Nelson, was that LB Jerome Baker that didn’t have the right depth?) – “You’re talking about which one?”
(I guess the first big play Raiders WR Jordy Nelson had.) – “No. I’m not going to go through it but it was nobody that you guys think that it was.”
(On the pass from WR Albert Wilson, is that the type of thing where at the spur of the moment you say to yourself this is the time? Or is it something that a series before you said ‘let’s think about this?’) – “No. I think I started saying I was going to call it in that series. I think I started on the other side of the 50 and it might have gotten backed up to the minus-30 before we called it. Then we had the play before to where I think we were around the 40ish. Then (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) was egging me on.”
(I think WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson had incredible efficiency. They were only on the field for 10 or so snaps. How does that balance work? When they have production like that, do you think to get them more?) – “Yes. We tried to … We got them in there earlier. I think we had a couple of chances for some plays that we liked and they didn’t work out the right way. You’re trying to 1) stay on the field and make sure that we get a first down and get things going. It seems like when we get that first first down, we usually have a good drive. When we have the three-and-outs … We only had 45 plays in the game. That makes it tough to really start rotating everybody in there. We had a good plan going into it of how we wanted to do it. We just didn’t have a ton of plays.”
(What are your thoughts about the 44 plays? Is that a bad number for you?) – “It was surprising but the penalties just … We had two OPI (offensive pass interference) calls that crushed us, especially at the start of the second half, and then at the end of the half in the first half. That hurt us bad. We can’t have plays where we’re losing yardage and its first-and-20 or second-and-20 because it is going to be hard to convert. We have to get a first down. We have to get a third-down conversion to where we can keep guys on the field. But at the same time, we were getting some big chunk plays to where we had short drives. I think we had four scoring drives and we were averaging three plays a drive on them.”
(A couple of those offensive pass interference calls were on rub plays. Is that something that…) – “They weren’t. They were just running their routes.”
(This is a weird question for you, but did you have fun yesterday? When you’re watching two of your guys running down the field and high-fiving each other, did you get any joy out of it?) – “Yes. When you win, it’s fun. I enjoy it.”
(I thought the 75-yard pass in the opener may have been the best pass QB Ryan Tannehill ever threw. Then I saw the pass to WR Kenny Stills in the corner of the end zone. Amazing touch on that ball. How would you…) – “I thought it was a really good pass and I thought it was a really good catch, because the way those two guys hooked up on that route, there was a lot of trust there. They both did exactly what we have been talking about all this year as far as how the defender plays. They’ve got to trust what we’re telling them and then trust each other. I thought it was a great job. I thought the line did a great job of holding up on the protection and then Ryan (Tannehill) did a great job of standing in there because he still took a pretty good hit.”
(That window was small.) – “Yes. It was a great throw.”
(When you look at developing an identity for this team, how close are you to doing that through three games, do you think?) – “I think we have a good idea what kind of team we have as far as the character and the effort and just the want-to to be there for each other. The accountability for each other is awesome to see. That locker room is tight and those guys want to win for each other and they want to make sure that they do whatever they have to do to get ready for that game and then play four quarters, no matter what the score is, and just keep battling.”
(We notice some of your confidence. Do you see some of the confidence that you have in the guys in your locker room?) – “I think we had confident guys to begin with. I think it’s been fun to watch those guys grow together. We’ve got a lot of new guys. The new guys we brought in that jumped right in, believed in what we were saying and really taken it to what we’re trying to do in all three phases. They’ve been great additions. I think the guys that have already been here, they’ve accepted those guys in and it’s helped us. It’s helped us all.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill said yesterday when a trick play comes into the huddle, everybody in the huddle gets excited, even the offensive lineman. Is that dynamic important to have that kind of energy and enthusiasm?) – “I’m all for it. Any time everybody gets excited about a play call, I’m for it. The worst is when the quarterback goes in and says it to where he doesn’t believe it’s going to work. (laughter) That’s when you get a little nervous. Those guys, I know when they like a play, because they’ll start saying stuff when we’re doing it in walkthrough or in practice or when we watch film together where somebody will chirp out and wonder if I’m really going to call it. I just keep my ears open. If I feel like guys really like something, we’ll get to it.”
(With these trick plays, obviously there’s fun element; but also it takes a lot of work. The timing on these things…) – “I think when guys take it serious and they understand what we’re trying to accomplish, they make it work. I think when they’re not sure and there’s any kind of gray, that’s when you run into trouble. You don’t always hit them. There’s been plenty of times we’ve called them to where it hasn’t worked. But when they do work, it can be big plays in the game.”
(You draw them up and you think on paper it’s going to work. How good does it have to look in practice before you feel like, ‘Okay, I can pull the trigger on that in a game?’) – “You want it to look right. You want it to look good. The second one that Albert (Wilson) scored on in the 4-minute drive, that looked terrible all week, but it felt right.”
(How could you call it?) – “Sometimes you just go with your gut, man. It was the right time. You just knew that Albert (Wilson) would make the right decision and he knew what he was going to do.”
(You knew it? You completely knew it? You knew even as bad as this looked all week, it’s going to work or you were a little bit nervous?) – “No. I felt good about it. It looked good in walkthrough. How about that? (laughter)”
(On the jet sweep – maybe this is a dumb question – but why does Ryan toss the ball rather than hand it? Just trying to pad his stats?) – “You have to ask them. I’ve seen it done both where they’ve done it that way and I’ve seen them hand it off before. We had a Wednesday practice and they handed it off, because it was raining. It was raining all practice and he handed it off. I’m like, ‘Are we tossing this or are we handing it off?’ And he was like, ‘It’s raining. I’m going to hand it off.’ I’m good with either way as long as he doesn’t drop it.”
(Run or pass plays?) – “It’s a pass play. (laughter)”
(There was a good amount of talk this summer about changing the culture here and overcoming adversity. After three games, where would you say this team is?) – “I think we’re running into our fair share of adversity in certain moments, but I don’t think it’s really … Some of the things we went through last year were a little different. We’re talking about game adversity this year compared to last year where it was organization-wide where we’re picking up, we’re moving, we’re going all over the world it seemed like. This year, it’s more of us handling injuries, us being able to handle little odd situations in a game or ups and downs of a game. I think the guys have done a good job of handling anything that’s just been outside the box. Really, that’s a testament to those guys of staying focused on what we’re asking them to do.”
(What’s the significance of going to New England with a two game lead in the division?) – “Nothing. Zero. Don’t look at records right now. It’s too early. Nobody cares. At the end of the day, nobody will give a (expletive) unless you win the last one. You’ve got to focus on one week. That’s what we need to do. When we get to that – when we get to Wednesday – we’ll worry about them. Right now, our guys are going to get things corrected from this game and then we’ll move on to New England when it’s time to move on.”
(When you looked at WR DeVante Parker’s snaps, what did he do good and not good?) – “I thought he made a really big play on … Seeing him and Ryan (Tannehill) hook up on that takeoff, I thought it was a great catch. His hands were late as far as getting up to where the DB couldn’t get his up. I thought it was a great job and a good hook up considering they haven’t really hit that route since probably training camp. That was good to see. I think that he did a lot of little things right that nobody really notices. I thought his run blocking was good. I thought a lot of his routes looked really good, it’s just ball didn’t go there.”
(You mentioned winning is fun when you were asked about wins. Is there something more to it with this team now?) – “I enjoy watching these guys play together. Just the fight for each other. I love it when I see the defensive guys, they come by me and if we’re struggling and they have … A lot of those guys will be like, ‘We got you. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it back.’ I see a lot more interaction between the offense and defense throughout a game which is cool to see.”
(With the Patriots having a rough start, how difficult is it to convince your team that these are still the same Patriots?) – “I mean we’ve played three games. They’re always going to do the same things they always do. They get better every week. They have a really good coaching staff and they have a Hall of Fame quarterback. The records are irrelevant right now. It doesn’t mean anything.”
(Is there a different vibe in Patriots week that you notice, whether intentional or not?) – “I don’t know. I think our guys are so focused on making sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. Getting ready for this opponent is going to be hard because they’re going to do a lot of things that are going to be tough for us. Going up there, it’s a great environment to play in. It’s rowdy. It’s loud. They’ll be ready to go so we have to make sure we’re on our A-game.”
(When you look at your start, you guys have gotten the outcome that you wanted each of the first three games. Do you look at it like everything is firing exactly how we want?) – “Not even close.”
(Do you see there’s a lot to fix?) – “Yes, there’s a lot to fix. That’s how it is in the NFL. You just need to try to get better every week. You just try to avoid peaks and valleys to where one week you’re really good and the next week you’re really poor. We need to trend upward. We have to find a way to get better this week in practice and for this game. It might not result … The result may not be exactly what you want all of the time but as long as you’re getting better every week, that gives you a chance at the end of the season. That’s what we need to strive for.”
(How well do you think you guys have played if you focus on what’s actually transpired and not the outcomes that have obviously been in your favor?) – “I think we still have a ways to go. I think we have a lot of things to fix and I think our players know that. I think the effort, energy and intensity have been there. I think we need to clean a lot of things up to where we start executing at a higher level more often, which I think there are a lot of teams in the NFL saying that right now.”
(When you look at WR Danny Amendola and RB Brandon Bolden, and I know Amendola has been here a little longer; but what traits, if any, do you think they have in common?) – “They love football. They love practicing. They bring great energy on game day. Whatever they have, they give it. Those two are as professional as I’ve ever seen on NFL football players. Every day I see them, I’m glad they’re here. I probably tell them that. Those guys have been nothing but positive on our other guys. Those guys see those guys work. If you talk about guys that are all in on their profession and their craft, those guys are all in.”
(Can you talk about playing G/T Jesse Davis on the defensive line?) – “We ran out of options. I was kind of hoping we would put somebody in that wasn’t starting on our offensive line, but he’s done it before. (laughter) We were trying to make sure they stayed out of the end zone. It didn’t work out but he’s done that before. It was the only option we had.”
(Could you say that QB Ryan Tannehill has been everything you’ve asked in his first three games?) – “I think he’s done a good job. I think there’s room for improvement, like always. I felt like he was very confident yesterday. It was good to see him do some of the things that he did early. We weren’t sure how many drives we’d have opportunities for. I know during the game, you’re trying to figure out what’s going on with our run game. We weren’t really running the ball as we were accustomed to to where we were getting good chunk plays or where we’re pumping out at least a couple of them here and there. They did a good job against the run game. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) said it best. He said ‘He’s hot right now. Don’t worry about it. Just start slinging it.’ You don’t have to tell me twice. (laughter)”
(What was it that you think impacted QB Ryan Tannehill’s confidence?) – “I don’t know. He had a good week of practice. He was good all week. He was ready to go. I think for whatever reason, he felt good about what we were doing or their scheme versus what we had up. I’m not sure. He just had a good week of practice and he was ready to go.”
(How do you know the confidence?) – “You feel it during the week. Some of the balls that … A quarterback sometimes you can tell when they’re feeling good about what you’ve got in because they’re not hesitating. They’re just letting it rip and they’re completing a ton of passes in practice.”
(On thing about LB Kiko Alonso really quick: Is he making more tackles at or near the line of scrimmage this year? Is he using his sideline to sideline speed better?) – “Yes. He’s moving well right now. He’s reacting to what he’s seeing and he’s not hesitating. I think it’s nice for him to have those other guys that he’s been rolling with out there that he doesn’t really have to tell them much, because those guys are sharp and work at what they’re doing. I think he’s just able to go out there and play and react to the game.”
Albert Wilson – September 24, 2018
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Monday, September 24, 2018
WR Albert Wilson
(Adam Gase said the jet sweep on which you scored against the Raiders on was a little shaky in practice during the week?) – “Yes. We didn’t quite get the exact look that was coming; but all week I was trying to stretch it to the sideline. It was kind of looking different. I just followed Frank (Gore) in the game and he made a great block and it opened up wide, and that’s all she wrote.”
(How did you go into a game confident in that play when it hasn’t looked the way it needed to during the week?) – “Just execute. It’s all about one-on-one battles out there. You have confidence in your guys doing their job and it seems to work out that way.”
(With all of the plays that you guys were doing up to that point, with WR Jakeem Grant scoring a couple of touchdowns; was everybody like, ‘okay, we’re going to score on this play?’ Did it seem like that through the blocking and everything?) – “We were in the 4-minute offense. We didn’t need to score. We were just trying to run the clock out, just staying in bounds. It just kind of happened that everybody pretty much won on their assignment and then when you get 11 guys on the same side of the ball winning, it turns out to be a big play.”
(What about on the pass that you threw; did that one look good during the week?) – “Yeah, pretty much. It looked good all week. It kind of looked exactly how it came out in the game.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said you were pretty accurate throwing your passes all week in practices. Was that something you were trying to work on in practice, being as accurate as possible?) – “No, not really. Just trying to get him the ball, just knowing the quicker I get him the ball, the (higher the chance) it was going to be a good play.”
(You don’t need to work on it, man. You already had it.) – “Yeah, pretty much. (laughter)”
(How many passes a week do you throw?) – “A week? Two. I’m not a quarterback. (laughter)”
(Just to stay sharp?) – “(laughter) I’m not a quarterback.”
(The high-five has been getting a lot of play. People love it and the fun side of this team. What does that show about this team and the locker room?) – “We’re just having fun. That’s all we’re worried about right now is just pretty much doing our assignments and having fun doing it.”
(Is that unique? Is that different to have this kind of vibe? I know you’ve been in locker rooms before and a lot of guys don’t like to compare, but the group that you have.) – “It’s great. We all buy in to the same exact goal. We’re just trying to get better each week. We’re trying to push each other to do things we haven’t done before. A bunch of guys that are not the top guys in the league, we go out there with each other and just try to play the best football we can.”
(Does that kind of create a chip on your guys’ shoulders saying, “Not the top guys in the league?’) – “No, not really. We’re just having fun. We go out there with no pressure, just executing the plays that we’re given and just having fun.”
(I was asking Head Coach Adam Gase about why QB Ryan Tannehill tosses it rather than handing it off?) – “That’s just to get those passing yards. (laughter) High quarterback rating, extra passing yards.”
(It’s more risky that way, isn’t it?) – “No, you’re a receiver. He’s passing you the ball. It’s really not as hard … it barely touches his hand and he just pretty much just keeps it in the path. He does a great job of timing it up. It works out pretty good. For a receiver, you get receiving yards and for a quarterback, you get passing yards. So it’s pretty cool. (laughter)”
(You threw the ball with a glove on, right?) – “Yeah, yeah.”
(Have you done a lot of that? Is that difficult?) – “No, not really. You get more grip on the ball, really. I play with my gloves on, so if I took them off, I’d probably give them a key or whatnot; but that’s the way I practice it.”
(That’s why I was wondering if it was more difficult.) – “Right. Yes, that’s the way I practice.”
(Quarterbacks don’t usually do that.) – “You’ve got a couple of guys that throw with gloves. They do it, so why not?”
(I forget who you guys play this week; but WR Danny Amendola, do you think he’s going to be a little cranked up?) – “He’s always cranked up. He’s a great energy for the team. No matter who we’re playing, what the games mean, preseason, practice, he’s always fired up. We get behind him and make sure he’s going and we just keep pushing.”
(WR Danny Amendola going back to New England …) – “It’s another game. They just scheduled us Week 4 with them. If it was Week 1, he’d be the same. If it was Week 12 or whatever it is, or whoever the opponent is, it really doesn’t matter. We’re just going to go out there, play Miami Dolphins football and do our best.”
(What about your offense collectively? You guys have done well so far; are you excited to see how that stacks up against the team that’s been the gold standard in the division?) – “We’re pretty much just worried about Miami football. Like this offense, we have so many key pieces that can get going each and every week. If we get whoever is hot going, we’re going to be pretty successful.”
Davon Godchaux -September 23, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Postgame – Oakland Raiders
Miami Dolphins DT Davon Godchaux (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(On making plays in critical situation.) – “It’s all about getting penetration, it’s a group effort, all the D-tackles. We all got penetration. At the end of the day, we were tired as (expletive). Three d-tackle, I was tired. ‘VT’ (Vincent Taylor) was tired, Jordan (Phillips) was tired. We were all tired but at the end of the day we have to find a way to push through it.”
(When DE William Hayes went down, how much of a challenge was it for the unit to overcome?) – “It was big because Hayes is my guy. I kind of wanted to shed a tear on that, no lie; but at the end of the day we had to get up and keep fighting. I got nicked up on my ankle, Branch got nicked up, but we had to keep fighting through. There was no way I was coming out of the game with two minutes left and leaving two d-tackles. There was no way. I couldn’t look myself in the eye the next day. There was no way I was coming out. ”
(How much more strain did that put on you guys not having that rotation?) – “Like I said, there was a lot of strain. Oakland was trying to run the ball. They had some success but it was a lot of strain. They have a great offensive line. It was a lot of strain. It was one o’clock in Miami, it was hot. It’s no secret, but we found a way to push through. At the end of the day, we got a W and we’re moving onto New England.”
Cameron Wake – September 23, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Postgame – Oakland Raiders
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
(It was nice to see the young guys get their turn and do things like CB Xavien Howard did today. What did you say to him in the locker room?) – “We have a thing. The left side corner’s best friend is a pass rusher. A pass rusher’s best friend is a corner. So I think that he understands that. He made good plays today. Some of the guys up front are doing their best to try to get pressure on the quarterback to maybe throw an errant pass and he picked it off. He did his job and vice versa. The quarterback tried to make that read, he doesn’t have time, we get a sack. So playing hand in hand, I mean, obviously, nothing to take away from him; but I think working together creates plays for everybody all over the field.
(What kind of challenge was it out there today with rotations just down to three ends and three defensive tackles and it’s hot?) – “Well, welcome to South Florida. That’s part of the business. In this game that we love, injuries are a big part of it. It’s not if it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s going to happen. I think you’ve got to take your hat off to the guys, the way we train out there in the heat day-in and day-out, when it’s not so much fun; but those are the times that it pays off. I think, we all spoke about it, if we hadn’t gone through some of the things we went through over the course of camp, OTAs, those long days, hot, struggling through it, maybe we wouldn’t have had the tolerance to fight through a game like today. So again, my hat goes off to those guys who are out there literally getting down deep in your soul and going to a dark place and pulling out whatever you could to make sure you finish this game. And those guys did so, me included. So I think it’s a tribute to the coaching staff and the way we practice and the way we play and it paid off today.”
(After you got your sack and DT Akeem Spence was ejected, how important was it for you guys to hold them to a field goal on that drive?) – “We do our best not to clock watch or scoreboard watch, but you’ve got to stay in the game moment to moment. Every play, you’ve got to go out there and do your best to keep points off the board. That’s our job. Like you said, we shot ourselves in the foot and made some mistakes we made as far as extending drives. We just had to go out there and say, listen, we’ve got to put an end to this. Whatever it takes. Like I said earlier, it doesn’t matter how many guys we got, it doesn’t matter if you’re tired or hurt, nobody cares. Go out there and get your job done and we did today.
(From a defensive player’s perspective from the gadget plays that went for touchdowns, how did that look from your point of view?) – “Well, we have seen then already. (laughter) So it was a surprise to you guys but we have but we have been seeing them all week. But it’s another one of those things where it’s a little bit leery as far as what’s going to happen, especially having seen them already. I don’t know if they worked perfectly but they worked and it’s definitely a lot of fun watching guys run down the sideline untouched, high-fiving and going in the end zone and scoring. That was a treat for sure.”
(Do you wish they would stay on the field longer, so you could have got some rest?) – “(laughter) No, no, we like getting points on the board. So we’ll take our chances when we go out there.”
(There’s been some unsportsmanlike penalties by some members of the defense the last couple games. What is it that you kind of say to your teammates so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot?) – “Well, I mean, I don’t even know what happened. I would love to go back and see the video; but regardless of what it is, you’ve got to do your best to kind of stay focused and look at the big picture. You may lose the battle, win the war. That sometimes may be the case. Again, I didn’t see the play. I have no clue what happened. It sounds like it could have been called either way, I don’t know. I’m sure you guys will go over the film, but things are as they are. You’ve got to be mindful of that.”
(How did G/T Jesse Davis do on the defensive line today?) – “I’ve got to watch that film too, but it was a bit of a surprise coming in seeing him in. (laughter) I thought something was mixed up. ‘What are you? Okay. Let’s get down in a four point and do exactly what you don’t like us doing when we’re going against you.’ He did a good job.”
(In all seriousness. Did you recognize G/T Jesse Davis right away?) – “Well, I knew the situation. I think … We didn’t have enough guys, so again, whatever it takes and sometimes it takes an o-lineman to go in there and be a defender. I’m sure he had fun with that as well.”
(When are we going to see you on the offensive line?) – “I’m going to have to go talk to ‘Coach Wash’ (Offensive Line Coach Jeremiah Washburn) and see if we can get some plays called. That would be interesting, I’m sure. (laughter)”
(3-0, what does that mean for this football team right now and what is your mindset as you move forward?) – “I hope it’s something that builds confidence in the guys. If you look at our team the way it’s built and games like the first home game, the longest game in history, and games like the past game where it could have gone either way and we had to fight and scratch and claw and do whatever it took to get that W. I hope … I mean it builds character, regardless of what else goes on. It wasn’t pretty but whatever it took to win, guys did it. And 3-0 feels good. It definitely feels good, but at the same time, you’ve got to wipe the slate clean. Enjoy it for the next 24 hours or so, pat yourself on the back and get in there tomorrow and fix the things that we didn’t do so well and erase the board and let’s move on. We’ve got to be 1-0 after next week.”
(After the 24 hours, you look up to New England. That’s a team that you guys need to try to unseat and that’s what you guys want to do, that’s what you have an opportunity to do, go up there and try to beat a good football team in their backyard. They’ve had a lot of success when you guys go up there. How much will you think about that and how much will you try to just get everyone on the same page and get that job done?) – “Well I think that, like you said, for the next few hours we’ll enjoy this one; but quickly we’ll be moving on. I don’t think the narrative is going to change. You’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to do whatever, especially on defense. Read your keys, play what’s shown, be where you’re supposed to be for the entire game. It can’t be ‘Alright, four or five plays I missed out,’ because good teams will capitalize on that. It’s no different than any other week. You’ve got to go in there and we’ve got to wipe the slate clean, 0-0 and be 1-0 when the week’s over with.”
(When the team was practicing way back in the day, the wildcat. LB Joey Porter I remember said ‘Really, this is what it has come to?’ When you see the trick plays that you’ve been practicing in front of you for the last two weeks, you thought what?) – “I hope it works. (laughter) I mean, trick play … I mean, it’s offense. They motion, they’ve got different sets, it’s part of the game. And as a defender, whatever your keys are, you read your keys and you have to do your best to make the play. And whether it’s a reverse, throw back, whatever it is. I’m sure they have keys that they’re supposed to read and I guess somebody dropped the ball. Again, as I spoke earlier, one play can either make you or break you. You can’t have – on defense – you can’t have one mistake, two mistakes. That’s two touchdowns and you lose the game. Offense, they can have a couple series and not work out so well and go on and hit a 70-yard touchdown and they’re back in business. So as it stands for us on defense, it’s every play, 60 minutes, no matter what.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick – September 23, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Postgame – Oakland Raiders
Miami Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(The speed that WR Kenny Stills and WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson have, as a defensive guy, how difficult is it to defend the speed?) – “It’s tough when you have one guy that’s fast, but when you have three, four, five guys that are fast like that, it’s really tough to defend because you get mismatches in the back end. You might have a linebacker on one of those guys one play or a safety on one of those guys the next play, so it’s just mismatches all over the field. When you have guys like that, that move, it really helps our offense.”
(It seems every three seconds another guy was going out with an injury. Even G/T Jesse Davis was on the defensive line. The challenge of doing what you guys did with seemingly half the defense injured.) – “It’s football. That happens. No matter who you ask, there’s always going to be somebody that says we had a game where half our team was missing. It’s next man up and you got to do what you got to do.”
(You’re used to big situations having played at Alabama and all that, but how would you describe the feeling of making your first NFL start?) – “It was awesome. It was a whole lot of fun. We could have played better on the first couple of series, but we went out there, we finished. Like I said, it was a lot of fun. It was a blessing, for real. I’m just excited for next week.”
