Cameron Wake – December 31, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Postgame – Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (transcribed by Michelle Stone)
(6-and-10, certainly not what you guys expected coming into this season. How do you feel?) – “I guess it’s a little perplexing. I know you look at the guys in the locker room, the talent that we have, and I feel like we’ve shown flashes of really good football at times. I think it’s kind of been the same old thing, whether it’s a situation like today where we didn’t start fast. The defense came out a little slow, offense same way, and then we kind of tuned it on. We still had an opportunity, but it’s kind of like a little too late. Too little, too late. We needed a play on defense, whether (it is) a turnover or whatnot to kind of get things going, (and) we didn’t make the play. So, it’s just a little disappointing.”
(You’re always focused on the next game, the next play. There is no next game and no next play, so when you evaluate this season in its entirety, is there anything you can put your finger on as to the inconsistencies that this team went through all year?) – “I assure you I’m going to take a long look and try to figure out – as well as some of other guys in the room. Obviously, the guys upstairs, – coaches and management – as well. Because again, like I said, we have the pieces. We’ve shown we can. You go look at certain games that we’ve played and certain teams that we beat that were supposed to be really good teams and they look at situations where (there were) teams that we should’ve beat and we didn’t. It was the last three teams in the Super Bowl, we beat those teams but then we lose to teams who obviously I feel like we should’ve been the guys with the upper hand. I don’t have the answer today, but I’m definitely going to spend a significant part of my off season trying to figure it out.”
(What about you personally looking forward? I know people are saying, “Is he going to play? Is he not going to play?” Going forward, has that even entered your mind at all?) – “No. I hadn’t thought about it. Again, as you know, I’m a next play, next down, next game mentality. As I stand here before you, I still feel good. I still feel like I can help the team win. As long as I’m enjoying playing the game and being a contributing factor, I think I’ll continue if they’ll have me, obviously.”
(So at this point you’d prefer to come back and give it another run?) – “Sure.”
(Any positives you can take away from this season?) – “I think the fight. Obviously, even in a game like today where you go down to the last two drives, guys are out there giving everything they’ve got to go out there and win the game. So, it’s not for a lack of effort. I think that’s obviously a key factor that you’re going to need to be successful, to just work on the details, work on the consistency. I think that the complementary football that I spoke about in weeks in the past, that will be the difference. And if we can get that down with the effort that we got and the mentality and the fight that we have and we’ve shown that we have, I think we should be alright.”
(A number of games this season has featured altercations like what happened at the end of this game where WR Jarvis Landry and RB Kenyan Drake got kicked out. Do you feel like this team is mature enough or possibly lacks composure?) – “I don’t think so. It’s an emotional game. It’s hard for people who aren’t on the field to understand. At the end of the day, I trust the guys we have in our locker room. I think, for the most part, we’ve been on the right side of (where) that emotional, that line is. But then again, you’ve got to be careful to not to hurt your team (from an) overall standpoint. You don’t want penalties or get yourself ejected. Today, I guess a couple of guys crossed that line, but I think for the most part, I trust in the guys and the way they go about their business.”
T.J. McDonald – December 31, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Postgame – Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins S T.J. McDonald (transcribed by Jason D. Silver)
(You only got to play half the season but what’s the most frustrating thing you’ll take from this season?) – “It’s hard not to … it’s hard that we couldn’t really put four quarters together. We couldn’t play consistent. Offense played good one day. We didn’t play … we didn’t match it on defense. Visa versa. So that was tough. You always want to win the game. Especially the close ones. We just, for one reason or another we just couldn’t pull those out.”
(I know looking at this game, discipline might have played a part. You guys kind of lost a little bit of discipline out there. What’s going through players’ minds when those things happen? Especially for you – seeing the offense out there and getting into those scuffles?) – “It’s tough. This is an emotional game. I don’t know if you all understand that. Sometimes emotions get the best of you. Good thing for us is we got to keep our poise in those situations. You have to ride the highs and the lows. You have to keep your poise. That’s not us. That’s not the image that we want to portray as players. Guys that are out here living the dream. So we just have to keep our poise and do better next time.”
(Now that the season is done … you have the will to win. You guys have the talent, but you just weren’t able to put it together. Is there an explanation to that or are you just as perplexed as the rest of us?) – “I think that, like I said, it’s just consistency. We have to put a full game together on all three phases of the game: offense, defense, special teams. All have to match each other’s intensity. I think that the story for us was when you saw us start fast we always play well. When we didn’t start fast it was hard for us to catch up. Play catch up sometimes, a lot of times. We came back early in the season we were able to come back from large deficits and that’s not very common in this league that you can do that. So when we start fast we play well. That’s got to be the emphasis for us coming in next year is to start fast throughout the jumps.”
Kenny Stills – December 31, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Postgame – Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Kenny Stills (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(Inaudible) – “Offense isn’t putting points on the board and we can’t win games that way. So, it’s frustrating not to live up to your potential, but that’s why it’s just potential.”
(What do you think went right this year for this team?) – “I mean I think we figured…we found ways to fight through the adversity that we went through. You know there’s so many things that went down you couldn’t even count them on one hand you know all the things that we’ve been through as a team. And so we found a way to fight through that stuff. We found the guys…you know we had guys step up, and make plays in situations where you know we might’ve not known if this player could do it. There’s always positives you could take from it, but at the end of the day we didn’t win enough games. We didn’t make the playoffs and so the season’s over.”
(A lot of people say that, especially the way this game ended, that this team lacks composure. Your response to that is what?) – “I mean a lot of the time you see what happens on the field, so I mean I think that speaks for itself.”
David Fales – December 31, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Postgame – Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins QB David Fales (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(Talk about your performance. How do you feel you did overall today?) – “I thought I started a little slow in the beginning with the protection and getting the guys to the line and communication, but I think we got going towards the end a little bit.”
(Did you have any idea how long you were going to play in this game?) – “No, they just said be ready. I kind of treat it the same way I do every week and prepare to play. That’s all they said, ‘Just be prepared to play.’”
(Did you have something on your mind? Did you anticipate what you thought you might…?) – “No, he didn’t say anything so I was just ready to go whenever you’re given the nod.”
(What were your emotions when you got the call and got out there? Were you pretty jacked up or…?) – “Prior to that, I really wasn’t too nervous but as soon as you’re about to run out on the field it gets going a little bit. So you got to get your nerves down a little bit and slow it down and see everything, but it wasn’t too bad prior to that.”
(When was the last time you played that many snaps in a game?) – “In a real game or a preseason game?”
(Regular game.) – “It was Week 17 last year. Never really, actually. I played in the fourth quarter last year.”
(As you played along, the more you played, did you feel better about your pace and the way you took care of things?) – “Yes, I started to get in a little flow, a little rhythm. It slowed down definitely in the beginning and sometimes you get caught up trying to do too much. We just need to do a better job in the beginning communicating and getting the guys up to the line a little bit faster, but it definitely slowed down towards the end.
(Talk a little bit about the interception. Take us through the interception at the end.) – “Again, miscommunication. We were just on a different page. I was letting it rip on a different route and he heard something else so just miscommunication.”
(A lot of different faces on the o-line, a lot of new faces for you, but a lot of different faces in their offensive line wise changes there. Anything that affected you?) – “No, the guys I was playing with they’ve been playing with all year, and they’re really smart and a lot of that so they helped me out a lot. Everyone out there helped me out a lot.”
(From your point of view, what did you see during the fight or whatever it is that you want to call it at the end there?) – “I really didn’t see who started it or who was thrown out there. I don’t know. I just saw a lot of bodies, tried to stay out of it.”
Adam Gase – December 31, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 31, 2017
Postgame – Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by Michelle Stone)
(I guess after this game you take a look back at this season in its entirety and begin to look forward. Where do you start this process?) – “We’ve still got to get through tomorrow. We’ll have our meetings with the players. I don’t want to get too far ahead. We’re all going to have to take some time, decompress, kind of come back, review the season, really start there. It’s hard to say here’s exactly what we’re going to do, because when you’re in the middle of the season – towards the end of the season – you’re just focused on that.”
(The consistency of the penalties that killed you all year long, I would assume that’s got to be a pretty big focus for you going into next year. How do you resolve that?) – “It’s something that we’re going to have to figure out. It’s strange because that’s not an issue we had in training camp. It wasn’t something that we saw happening a lot to where we could start working on it. It was something that kind of came up during the season. It’s hard to get some of the calls – whether it’s an offensive holding, defensive holding – a lot of times you don’t see those at practice. In a real game, it happens. We have to do a better job of eliminating those penalties. Our technique is really where it’s going to come down to and discipline of just staying focused on what they’re doing.”
(I know you’ll watch tapes tomorrow, but early thoughts on QB David Fales?) – “I thought he did good. I’m sure early we kind of didn’t really didn’t tell him when he was going in, kind of made it sound like it might’ve been a little bit in the second quarter. I talked to Jay (Cutler) about it. We were going to go a drive, but then when we went three-and-out I was going to leave him in. Jay, he was great as far as saying, ‘Just let him go. Let him play a full game.’”
(How do you – I know it’s before – but how do you evaluate the way this season has gone in a snapshot right now?) – “It’s hard for me to really think about the whole season right now. Once again, just have to go back, look at it. We’re going to have to start somewhere. Really, it’s going to start with watching the tape, watching the whole season.”
(Looking in, is everything up for grabs – personnel, staff? All those things going to be evaluated to a hard degree?) – “You do that every year, whether you make the playoffs or whether you go 6-10. We have to just take a look at everything we’re doing: how we’re coaching it, how we’re executing it, how we’re practicing it. We need to do a lot of things better.”
(This has really been a bizarre year from the beginning, from the hurricane to all of the things that went on through. Do you take any of that into account for production or lack thereof?) – “I think I was looking at a lot of the things that did happen this season as a positive, thinking adversity strikes and there’s ways to overcome it, and when you do, those are your building blocks. Really, that’s what gave me so much excitement here at the end of the season, especially going into the last Buffalo game thinking (about) all the things that we’ve been through and we’re right there in the mix, and we got a chance to really right the ship, and we just couldn’t get it done.”
(What was your understanding of what happened, the episode there at the end of the game when WR Jarvis Landry was ejected and RB Kenyan Drake was ejected?) – “They got ejected.”
(For WR Jarvis Landry, they said [it was] for disrespecting an official. Did he touch the official or say something to the official?) – “I know what he did, but it’s not something that I want to say right now.”
Mike Pouncey – December 29, 2017
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Friday, December 29, 2017
C Mike Pouncey
(What did the Ed Block Courage Award mean to you because of what you had to overcome to get it?) – “It’s a great honor to get recognized for it, but 16 has been the only thing that has been on my mind, to be honest with you. I just want to get through Sunday, have my best game of the year and go from there.”
(What will Sunday mean for you?) – “It means everything. All the hard work, it’ll prove that it paid off. All the doubters, the people that doubted me, it’ll be a big middle finger to them.”
(How many doubters do you think there were?) – “(Points) One, two, three four, five, six, seven. (laughter) I like (you). (You) always believed in me. (laughter) But a lot.”
(So, it’s safe to say getting through an entire season was a big goal for you?) – “Yes, it was one of my top goals. It means a lot to me to be able to go out there and play in this game. I want to have my best game of the year.”
(How did you play this year?) – “I already answered that question. You know. Ask the coaches.”
(You seem to have a chip on your shoulder.) – “I’m going to have one for the rest of my career.”
(Because?) – “I just want to prove all you wrong. It’s that simple.”
(Do you still have the Dodge Neon?) – “Yes, I do.”
(Still running?) – “I’m going to fix it up and give it to one of my family members.”
(How’s it run?) – “It runs pretty good. It only tops out at about 55 miles per hour; but other than that … The interior needs to be fixed a little bit. (The) suspension is a little messed up on it and it has zero oil in the tank.”
(Did you get an estimate on how much it’s going to cost?) – “It’s a lot; but I’m doing it just because … I want to do it because Ted (Larsen) gave me the gift and I want to make sure that it’s done the right way.”
(Most important question, how’s the sound system?) – “It doesn’t have one. No AC, no nothing. Nothing. Only thing it does is go in drive and park. (laughter) I don’t think it even has a reverse on there.”
Adam Gase – December 29, 2017
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Friday, December 29, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(It didn’t look like T Laremy Tunsil was doing much today. Do you not expect him to play?) – “We’ll just wait to see. Not practicing all week, that’s probably not a great sign.”
(Would G/T Zach Sterup be the next guy up?) – “I think that’s the only guy we’ve got left.”
(I know G/T Zach Sterup has gotten some time when you’ve used an extra offensive lineman. What, if anything, has impressed you?) – “I think his length. I don’t think I’ve been around a guy that tall and long. Just talking to some of the defensive linemen, especially when we first got him, I remember William Hayes coming up to me and telling me, ‘He’s got a really good punch. He’s hard to get around.’ We felt good, especially early, and he has kept learning about everything that’s going on. When he has been up, we’ve had those bigger packages to try to get him involved slowly. He has just been working, taking quite a few reps in practice.”
(RB Damien Williams, do you think there’s a chance he plays?) – “He has been out there practicing. We’ll kind of see. We’ll let this thing keep going. We’ll talk inactives today and tomorrow, so I’ll have a better idea.”
(The last two weeks, you guys talked about slowing down star players with Bills RB LeSean McCoy and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, but it hasn’t quite happened. Besides them being very good players, how would you..?) – “I think we’re trying to do what everybody else does, too. That’s why they’re good. It’s one of those things you’d love for them to walk out of a game and say, ‘We held them to 20 yards rushing and 20 receiving yards and he wasn’t effective;’ but the guy has been really good for a long time. You can put as many guys on him as you want and he’ll make a group of guys miss in a phone booth.”
(Philosophically as the head coach, are you are you the type that would like to take away a team’s best player and let another team beat you left handed or do you believe in…?) – “Yes. We try to. It’s just not as easy as you think. I think we’ve done it a few times on offense. We made sure Von Miller didn’t wreck the game against us. We had a lot of things to deal with him. Defensively, we tried to do the same thing. The hardest thing on that side of the ball is they move around. They’ll be in different spots. You have to be careful of not calling the wrong thing at the wrong time. It’s first and second down and you’re trying to take a guy away and all of a sudden you remove two guys from the box and they start running the ball and now you’ve got a problem.”
(You guys are last in rushing attempts, fifth in passing attempts. Where do you want to be? Is there a good balance, I guess?) – “I’m for whatever helps us win. We’ve been behind. Obviously, I don’t want to throw the ball that much. The rushing attempts, I feel like (Kenyan) Drake’s done a good job, especially the last few weeks, of maximizing whatever he has had. We’ve kind of put ourselves in a multiple touchdown hole where it becomes a throw fest. We try to sneak a run in here and there it just seems like when we do, it hasn’t been very successful for us late in the game where you’re hoping you pop a 10-yard gain. It has been the opposite way for us to where something bad happens to where we have a negative play.”
(Has that stressed the offensive line and the pass protection?) – “I haven’t seen it. They’ve done a good job of keeping them away from Jay (Cutler), and he has gotten the ball out and guys are getting open quick, or trying to get open quick. There’s a sense of urgency there. They understand when we get in that situation, the other team knows you’re throwing it and everybody has got to be on the mark and we’ve got to be on time as far as throwing the ball.”
(How was it coaching QB Jay Cutler this year?) – “It was good. It was fun. It was fun to be back around him. There was a lot of good things. Just two years being apart, it’s interesting to watch a guy change a little bit. His knowledge of the game … It’s unbelievable how NFL players, the knowledge they gain over a short period of time, what they see and how their thought process will change over time. You can see … Some of the conversations we had this year, I could see the experience of just even from the year we were together, the next year and then coming into this year, just the difference.”
(Was there any kind of a different feel to practice today this being the last practice of the season?) – “I thought there was good energy today. Guys were, I think enjoying … The good thing is we’ve got good weather, you’re outside and you’re on grass. We’re not out there forever, so I think guys maximize the amount of time they’re out there. It seemed like they were enjoying practicing today.”
(How hard or easy is it to quantify the value of a guy whose biggest contribution is on special teams such as S Michael Thomas?) – “We value those roles. I think you guys can tell by who we have active and how much offense or defense they play compared to special teams. One of the main goals we’ve had since we started this two years ago was to make sure that we were one of the top teams in the league in special teams. This year, we’ve had some ups and downs. A few injuries kind of threw things off track a little bit, because when we get somebody hurt on defense and you get replaced by one of our core special teams guys, it can hurt us. We do value those positions. Financially, that’s a whole different animal you’re trying to tackle there. We’re always going to make sure that we have enough good players on special teams.”
Kenyan Drake – December 28, 2017
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Thursday, December 28, 2017
RB Kenyan Drake
(How important is it to win the final game and finish the season on a high note?) – “It’s very important. We want to finish the season on a high note by beating a division rival. That’s just what we want to do.”
(Does it add a little extra mojo having just lost to this team two weeks ago?) – “No. We just want to win the next game.”
(Is there part of you that just wants to kind of spoil their party? I mean obviously they have a chance to make the playoffs.) – “No. We just want to win the next game. We want to be 1-0 at the end of the week.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase was saying today he still favors a two-back system. What are the pros and cons of a two-back system? He was saying that he wants to have a running back for 16 games as opposed to 13 and so he thinks two backs would help that but in your mind, the pros and cons of two backs?) – “I was in a two-back system at Alabama and a two-back system in high school. I feel like that’s how the game is progressing just because at the end of the day you need multiple backs to go in that can, I guess, contrast off each other and play off each other and help a team win.”
(Do you think it needs to be a change of style like a power back and a speed back or just two backs and you make it work?) – “Just whatever gets the job done.”
(Last game against Buffalo, I believe you had 78 yards rushing and I think 50 or 53 in the first quarter. What happened after that? I know part of it was you guys had to pass but what happened rushing-wise after that?) – “Yes, we just got behind. When you’re behind, you can’t really just run the ball. That’s not really stretching the field out. You have to stay balanced, set the run up with play action, or set the pass up with the play action I mean, and just things like that. Once we get ahead of the sticks and get ahead in the game, you can run the ball to set up a play action and create a balanced offense.”
(It’s now been month and you’ve been playing almost every down on offense. How’s the body feeling?) – “I feel great. It’s only been a month and I’ve been playing all year but not at running back. I love this game so my body is always going to feel good just because it’s football and who wouldn’t want to be out there playing football?”
(Right now are you comfortable where you are at in this point in your career and to be a featured back? Is this what you envisioned for yourself?) – “I envisioned going to the playoffs. That’s my most important thing. So I mean personal accolades, it is what it is. I’m upset that we’re not playing this game to be going to the playoff next week so that’s … It is what it is.”
(I know you’re not pleased about the 6-9 record. Are you pleased with how you’ve done in these seven weeks? I mean you’ve obviously put good stuff on tape.) – “Clearly it hasn’t been enough if we’re still 6-9. I wish I’d help this team win more games, but at the end of the day the past is the past. We’re focused on the Bills right now.”
(Will there be a time where you can kind of evaluate how your year is after the season?) – “I mean yes, when the season is over with; but right now that’s … I’m not focused on it.”
