Cameron Wake – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Defensive End Cameron Wake (transcribed by Ted Leshinski and Savanna Bell-Stevens)
(It was mighty warm out there. It is South Florida.) – “Was it warm? It felt nice to me.” (laughter)
(Certainly when you consider how the defense really set the tone for this football game, can talk about the pressure you put on Titans QB Matt Cassel and how that was a factor in today’s win?) – “We had a laundry list of things that we wanted to accomplish coming into this game, and obviously, the first one was stopping the run. Anytime that you do a good job stopping the run, even in the third-and-longs, that’s going to help you get pass-rush opportunities. As a front, you’ve got to work first before you play, so we put in the work stopping the run and we get to go have some fun on third down and get after the quarterback.”
(That play where it was a fumble and S Reshad Jones picked it up and ran it in, from your vantage point did you realize it was a fumble right off the bat?) – “The thing is you’d rather have it in the end zone and let them them figure it out. And obviously Reshad – who’s a great player, a veteran, he knows the system – he picked it up and, like I said, he got it into the end zone and let them figure out all the paper work. Obviously, a smart move. Touchdown for us.”
(You guys have been playing better and better each week and you played a very good game today. The way this offense has been going and where you’re going next week, you guys may have to play better. Can you guys play better than you played today?) – “I think sky’s the limit. I guarantee you we have higher expectations on ourselves and amongst one another than anybody outside the locker room. We’ve been stepping up to the plate, week in and week out. It has always been a different challenge, whether it’s one week it’s a great running back, one week it’s a great quarterback, another week it’s good receivers. Whatever it may be, it’s the NFL. Week in and week out you’re going to have a challenge and you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to own and put the ball down and let’s play. That was our mentality coming into this game: no matter what happens, where ever the ball goes down, we’re going to put our chin straps on and go out there and get to work.”
(You had two turnovers, you had four sacks in the game, 10 points off turnovers. This one was clearly on the back of the defense. Do you just have to have the mentality going in and out every week that if we got to play this way, that’s the way we’ve got to play?) – “We started off way back in April that it’s really a whatever-it-takes mentality. And I just said it before, wherever the ball is put down on the field, we’re going to attack no matter what. No matter whatever the situation. No opportunities to cry about what’s going on. Offense, obviously, sometimes they’re going to have a day where they’re putting up points and helping us when we’re not having a great day. So, we work hand in hand. Whatever it takes for them to get the job done. Obviously, at the end of the game, they put drives together to put points on the board and secure the win for us. We work together. It’s not one side versus the other. It’s a full team, and the Miami Dolphins won today, and it was on the backs of everybody working really hard to get it done.”
(We saw a burst from DE Charles Harris today, the rookie. Can you talk about what you’ve seen in terms of his development?) – “That first one is always a great one. I know he’ll remember that the rest of his career. I really feel like that’s just the beginning. He has so many gifts, talents. He’s a hard worker. He’s obviously explosive. Physically, mentally, he has all the pieces. So just putting them together, him having a complete game, I’m glad he got that first one. I told him that’s one of many more, let’s keep it going, and I know that’s what he’s going to do.”
(What was your first sack?) – “Buffalo.”
(What do you remember about it?) – “Jason Taylor was on the other side, so they were paying a lot of attention to him. I had it pretty easy. I have to thank ‘J.T.’ for that one. It was a game … I had been inactive actually the first five games – some of you guys weren’t even here for that – and actually I think I had three sacks my first game.”
(What’s the mentality going into the game next week in Atlanta?) – “More of the same. More of the same, obviously. Again, another challenge. They have weapons. They have good players, not unlike this week. And as a defense you’ve got to go up there and whenever your number’s called, you’ve got to step up to the plate. I think the guys will take 18 hours to enjoy this and flip the page. You’ve got to move on the next one. It feels good to win, but it’s just like when you lose, you can’t dwell on it. You can’t pat yourself on the back too long. You’ve got to move on. So, we’ll enjoy tonight, but then tomorrow morning we’re on to the next one.”
(What’s something that Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke has been doing that’s paying dividends?) – “I think for the most part, knowing his personnel. He knows the guys. He knows the guys that he has and the skill set for each guy and being able to call plays and call the defenses that puts those certain guys in positions to make plays. Obviously, stellar play calling today. Obviously, the run was stopped, I’ll say, I think very definitively. And I think a lot goes to him in setting this up and putting us in position to make plays. Obviously, we’ve got different guys going in and out. If you look back and see, run stoppers in when they need to be, pass rushers in when they need to be. It all works together. It’s one cohesive unit. He’s kind of the brains of the operation for running the show, and I’m glad that he can put this one on his chart today, because this was a win that, again, for him most guys will probably not say his name but I think, to start off, everything that we did today started with him.”
(With this point, 2-2, finishing the first quarter of the season, how do you view that?) – “I’m not going to be satisfied with 2-2. I don’t think anybody else in the locker room would be. I feel like the games we lost, we let them slip through our fingers. We’ve could’ve done more. You never want to be, like I said earlier in the week, you never want to be looking back Week 13 saying, ‘Should’ve, should’ve. Wish I, wish I.’ But that’s in the past and all we can do is look forward and move on to the next one. We have done some good things, but we also have some things to work on. I think we have good building blocks in place to move forward. I think we’ve shown on all aspects of the game that we are capable. To me, when you have the capability and you don’t execute, that’s more frustrating than not even having the capability at all. We know that there are things that we can do. We’ve just got to fix up, change some pieces around, whatever it may be, to play a full, complete, solid game. And I think moving forward that’s going to be our goal.”
(You look at some of the players who are in their first year of the defense here like DE Will Hayes, DE Charles Harris, LB Lawrence Timmons, LB Rey Maualuga, CB Cordrea Tankersley, probably some more, some good players. Is there sort of a common thread among any of those guys?) – “Dogs. I think in order to play – and again, back to (Defensive Coordinator) coach (Matt) Burke – in order to play in this defense the way he has it set up, if you don’t have that anger and that aggression and that pride of self that, ‘I don’t care what’s going on. I’m going to get my job done,’ if that is stopping the run, if that’s getting to the quarterback, if that’s stopping such and such receiver, you have to have a sense of pride above all else, if that’s going take place, it’s going be accomplished, whatever it takes. And the guys that you just named – the guys that they brought in here – I feel like they all have that mentality. In the locker room, we call it, ‘You have to have that dog in you,’ and that’s that pitbull mentality that, ‘I’m going to die, or I’m going to get my job done.’ One or the other. It’s not, ‘Oh, well. Darn. You got me.’ You’re not making a play. If you if you look across the board and go back and watch some of this film, all of those guys were playing that way. That’s the only way we can be successful is everybody have that.”
(There’s been difference in mood between yourself and S Reshad Jones and DT Ndamukonmg Suh when they came in versus when Head Coach Adam Gase and QB Jay Cutler came in about how they felt about how the game went today. How do you as a leader and the locker room as a collective sort of come together so that it’s not offense versus defense, who’s getting the job done versus who’s not?) – “I think that the ultimate goal is to get a ‘W’, so I assure you 10 weeks from now, nobody will be talking about what happened in this game. It will be we won, and that’s it. There’s no style points. There’s nothing beyond getting the ‘W’. No matter how you get it, whatever has to happen, nobody will remember that Reshad scored a touchdown. It’ll just be the Dolphins won, such and such score to Tennessee, whatever it was. We scored points. We. Not offense, not defense – the Miami Dolphins. So moving forward, again, for us, it’s never going to be one versus the other. I think that sense is what carries that unity is, ‘It’s us together.’ We came at halftime, we’re winning the game, we looked each other in the eye (like), ‘We’re going to finish this game off.’ Again, we have things we have to work on as well. It’s not, ‘We’ve got it all figured out and offense doesn’t.’ It’s the Miami Dolphins have things to work on, ways that we can get better, ways that we can make the game not as intense, maybe win by three scores and that’s on defense, offense, and special teams. Moving forward, we got those things we got to work on. Again I think we’ll enjoy this one tonight and then we’ll move on to those things tomorrow.”
(You and your teammates say there are things you guys defensively need to work on. What are those things?) – “I feel like, for us, the most important thing moving forward is knowing how teams are going to play against us. And at some point, as I’ve told some of the other guys, yes, we’re good at certain things and teams are going to try to scheme you to limit your skill set, to limit your advantage, then that’s smart. They’re not idiots. What are you going to say, ‘If they’re throwing the ball quick or what.’ You can’t do anything about that. What are we going to do to change that? If they’re going to double team (Ndamukong) Suh, what are you going to do to change that? You can’t cry about it. You have to figure it out. And if they’re going to run certain plays or do certain things to try to take away that advantage that you do have as a defense, we have to adjust it as well. I think moving forward that’s something that … again, I think Coach Burke did a great job of today. I think we’ll continue to do that, and I think once we fix some of those pieces, again, sky’s the limit for this defense and this team.”
Reshad Jones – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Safety Reshad Jones (transcribed by Ryan Murphy)
(Talk about the play where it seemed like nobody in the building knew it was a fumble except you.) – “I just kept playing. I saw the ball on the ground. The guys up front did a great job of getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and I just kept playing and it ended up being a touchdown.”
([Was it] just an instinct that you ran because you never know?) – “Yes, pretty much. The coaches are always preaching that when the ball hits the ground, pick it up, you never know. I just kept playing through the play.”
(Can you just talk about last week in London, if this offense can’t get going and you’ve got to get the job done? Ten points off turnovers today, arguably it was a defensive win this game. Is that something you guys felt, going into the game, you may have to do?) – “I think that’s what good teams do. When the offense is not playing well, (the) defense has to pick up their slack. When (the) defense is not playing well, (the) offense has got to pick up our slack, so I think we just complement each other. We did a great job of complementing them today.”
(What about those guys up front, those linebackers, you’ve got the big crew in their now. [LB Rey] Maualuga comes in and plays well for you, [LB Lawrence] Timmons is back there for his second game and [LB] Kiko [Alonso], that’s kind of the group that you want in there. How much did they help you out today?) – “I think we’ve got one of the best front sevens in football. We’ve got DT Ndamukong Suh stopping the run. He’s a beast up front, so to have a guy like that in front of those guys, it makes it easy.”
(You’re not saying that because [DT Ndamukong Suh] is standing right there?) – “No, no, no. For real. That’s for real.”
(You’re one of the leaders on this team. Sometimes this can happen where you’ve got one side carrying the other, defense or offense. Do you have to guard against that right now with the defense kind of carrying the offense right now?) – “Whatever it takes to win football games. Whatever it takes to win football games. We win and lose together, so like I said, if the offense is not playing well I think we have to step our play up a notch. Hopefully the offense will do the same thing for us. There’ll be a time, probably, where we don’t play to our standards and hopefully the offense will be able to back us.”
(When you took that touchdown in, did you think it was a touchdown?) – “Yes, of course. That’s why I ran it. Like I said, I just did a great job of finishing the play.”
(It seemed like from the very beginning the goal was to not let the Titans have even the slightest hope that they could get going. Was that the mentality going into today? Don’t let the backup quarterback feel like he has a chance.) – “Yes, pretty much. We wanted to make the team one dimensional. When you make a team one dimensional, I think it’s a lot easier on us as a defense. (Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke) said he wanted to stop the run and I think that’s what we did today.”
(Did you think you had a safety on that sack? It was really close.) – “Yes, it was close. It was close.”
Jay Cutler – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Quarterback Jay Cutler (transcribed by Bruno Zayas)
(What did you think about the offensive performance today?) – “It was poor.”
(What was the main problem?) – “I don’t know. We’ve got to look at the film. I think there were a lot of problems though.”
(Were there similar things going on today that you’ve seen over the last couple of weeks?) – “Yes. Nothing different from the last couple of weeks when you put up 6 and 0 (points), then whatever we put up today. You’re going to have the same issues. (There are) a lot of things for us to clean up.”
(How much of this do you put on your shoulders?) – “A lot. I’ll take a lot of it. As a quarterback, whenever you win, you get a lot of praise; whenever you lose, rightfully so, you’re going to get a lot of blame. It’s the nature of the position.”
(Was there anything at all, any one thing that you felt like was improvement? Or a correction from last week.) – “Improvement? I mean we battled back. We had that drive and got a touchdown when we needed it. That’s a positive; but I think everything leading up to that point was probably pretty bad.”
(What was the difference on that drive? Why were you able to move the ball? I think you had four first downs…) – “We had some play-action going. We protected, we made some plays on the outside, had a few good runs. (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) had a nice call down there on the goal line and gave Jarvis (Landry) a shot. We were just in rhythm. When we get a couple first downs, we protect up front and I get the ball out, good things are going to happen. When we do the opposite of that, bad things are going to happen. That’s what we did for 90 percent of the drives today.”
(So you scaled back the offense a little bit each of the last couple of weeks. Do you still have enough in there to where you are confident that you can move the ball?) – “We’ve got more than enough.”
(Did you hear the “We want Moore” chants and what did you think of them?) – “Honestly, I heard them but I didn’t know what they were saying. I don’t think anyone was going to tell me what they were saying at that point, so I just kept going about my business.”
(Surely there’s frustration with the offense but if you look at what the defense did today, a pretty stout job by those guys. They went above and beyond the call?) – “Absolutely. If we show up on offense, you’re looking at a really good team there. If we keep playing the way we are offensively, and sooner or later we are going to run into a team that scores a few points and we are going to lose ball games like we did in London. That was a great performance by (the defense) in London, as well. We haven’t helped them out in three weeks.”
(How far do you feel off from your own personal standard that you set for how acceptable quarterback play?) – “I mean there’s a lot of things that happen in a game. I’ll go back and look at the tape. Any time offensively we perform like that, I’m going to expect more of myself and I’m going to expect more of the guys in the huddle.”
(How did losing WR DeVante Parker affect the game plan?) – “When you lose a guy like that, it’s always going to hurt. When you lose anybody – any of the starters – it’s tough, but that’s the NFL. It happens week in and week out. Guys have to step in and guys have to make plays.”
(There haven’t been a lot of big plays out of this offense. How do you get that going? Do you feel like this is a team that if you can get a couple of big plays going, that will open things up for you?) – “Yes. We have to get some first downs. We have to get some drives going. We have to loosen up some defenses and wear down the defensive line a little bit. When we’re going three-and-out, three-and-out, it’s tough for (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) to call some play-action or toss one deep because he doesn’t want to be second-and-10, he doesn’t want to be third-and-10.”
(I think you just you just crossed the two-month mark with this team. Is some of the offensive struggles we see part of a natural learning curve?) – “I don’t think so. I’m comfortable with this offense. I’m comfortable around the guys. We just have to clean up a lot of things that every good offense does. You don’t turn the ball over, you don’t have second-and-longs, you don’t have third-and-longs. You continue drives. You line up, you’ve got to get in and out of the huddle and convert the ball whenever we have a chance to make plays.”
Ndamukong Suh – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh (transcribed by Lexie Balboni and Savanna Bell-Stevens)
(It seems you guys put a lot of pressure on QB Matt Cassel today. I think you were like 11, 12 hurries and a few sacks. Talk about the mental pressure.) – “We obviously wanted to shut down the run, and I think we did a pretty good job of it for the most part. Still a little too many yards, but we put them in a situation where they had to pass the ball to move the ball. We knew when we made them one-dimensional that we had the opportunity to hit the quarterback, and he wasn’t going to be able to get the ball because our secondary is going to do what they do and obviously make him hold the ball, and we had the opportunity to hit them.”
(We asked S Reshad Jones about the play where it was a fumble and nobody seemed to know. But from your vantage point, how did that play out? ) – “We’ve talked about it all week and many weeks before – even in camp – that obviously (if) the ball (is) on the ground, first guy who is there, pick it up. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m looking right at Reshad, and I saw him pick it up, so I turned to him and was getting ready to go to block, but he was already in the end zone by then.”
(Do you guys feel like a 2-2 team? Do you feel a little better? A little worse?) – “I think we’re a 2-2 team because that’s what we are. Nothing really more to say in that regard. But at the end of the day, we did what we’re supposed to do which is protect our home, and we’re getting ready to go to Atlanta.”
(It seems like when Head Coach Adam Gase, QB Jay Cutler come in there’s a sense of we have a long way to go. And the defensive point of view, this is as well as you guys can play. Do you feel that sense of that half of the locker room is pure joy at the moment, and the other half feels like not that they lossed the game, but they turned in a third string performance where they don’t look like themselves?) – “I wouldn’t say there is pure joy by any means. We’re not playing a perfect game. I think we’re playing well in some particular areas, especially in the run. Obviously, there are things we can always do better. They understand what they have on their particular side of the ball, and I wouldn’t say they are disappointed from the standpoint of they can’t do it. They’re disappointed because they know what they have and they can be very successful. Even though we are happy that we won, and we’re going to continue to strive to win, we obviously want to play at a very high level. That’s what excellent players as Jay Cutler is and a winning coach like Adam Gase is.”
(You’re getting guys coming back now. LB Lawrence Timmons comes back, LB Rey Maualuga come back, and you’re playing better. Does it have something to do with those guys and is it a matter of a lot of new faces in there, getting used to [each other], getting better as you go, is that part of getting to know the guys that you’re playing with in that room?) – “I think it’s a combination of everything. Obviously, there are a lot of new faces on this defense as well as some old faces, me being one of them. We understand what we have. We understand that we got to go out there and execute. (Defensive Coordinator Marr) Burke is going to put us in great positions as he is a very, very smart guy – obviously Ivy League guy – understands the game. I’ve been around him for a long time, and he’s going to put us in great places. As we are placed in those places go out there and execute and things are going to happen the way they are.”
(As far as the frustration level on the sideline today, we saw you go through it, we saw WR Jarvis Landry go through it. Does this win help take care of some of that situation?) – “Frustration in what regard?”
(You guys yelling, getting upset on the sideline.) – “I’m not much of a yeller so I’m not sure what you saw in that particular standpoint. But in regards to probably yes not playing at the best of our football, we’re always going to have conversations. We’re always going to push for us to be at the best of our best. We’re never going to always obviously get there but we want to strive for that. We’re going to push each other and be hard on each other until we get there.”
(I think the question was asked before: when one side of the ball is maybe playing better than the other that locker rooms tend to pull apart. What’s your sense as to where the Dolphins are?) – “I think we are a very strong team, and we understand that we’ve unfortunately been through this a little bit. We’re going to see some great things from the offense, we’re going to see some bad things from the defense and vice versa. It’s the ultimate team game. I think special teams did a great job, especially our punter. Our punter did a great job switching the fields and putting us in good situation. From the defensive perspective, we understand as a defense we’re going to get the ball and have an opportunity to give it back to our quarterback and our offense to go and make plays.”
(Do you have a formal event to go to after this?) – “No, I don’t. (laugher) I missed that earlier this week, but I like to dress up every now and then.”
Charles Harris – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins DE Charles Harris (transcribed by Jason D. Silver)
(What do you feel like right now that you need most improvement on overall?) – “Just continue to learn the game. Continue to watch film. Continue to really learn. Learn from DE Cam (Wake), learn from (Andre) Branch, learn from William (Hayes) and all of them guys. They kept telling me to keep my head up and that’s what I did throughout the game. Of course it’s being patient. Being patient on the field, outside of the field, at practice and things like that. Just working on my craft and learning how to be a pro.”
(What’s it like to have your first sack come at a critical point in a clutch part of the game) – “Like I just said it’s natural. Been training all through training camp all through practice, things like that. When you make it a habit on a daily basis it just happens. I just thank the lord. I don’t care if it would have came the last play of the game. It came when it came. It came at a big time. I just thank God that I was able to keep my head in the game the entire time. He is teaching me patience. Teaching me patience, and keep continuing to work hard. Continue to work hard throughout the week. Continue to work on my craft.”
(You got around that tackle awfully awfully quick. Was it just you beat him of the snap?) – “Well the whole game he was chipping me. All game they kept on setting different formations trying to confuse me. But like I said listen to coach T, listen to the game plan. He told me to get outside, just get off the ball…that’s the reason why they brought me here, to get off the ball and get sacks so that’s what I did. Stuck to the fundamentals and I did a good job.”
Kiko Alonso – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins LB Kiko Alonso (transcribed by Savanna Bell-Stevens & Armando Gonzalez)
(Was this your finest performance as a Dolphin, do you think?) – “I don’t know.”
(What do you think of the defensive performance as a whole?) – “I think that it was good. Obviously, it was good to score, it was our first score. I thought it was good.”
(Take us through that play when [S Reshad] Jones scored. I know you had a part in that play.) – “They didn’t block me, so I just tried to make a play and luckily it was a fumble, and Reshad finished it off.
(Did you know I was a live ball the whole time or were you not sure?) – “No I didn’t know. I just tried to hit as hard as I could.”
(Given how the offense was having to fight for every first down and every point, how good does it feel for the defense to come through the way it did today?) – “It just feels good to get the W. It’s hard to win and it feels good to come out with a W.”
(Cuál es la sensación después de ganar un juego importante en casa?) – “Es difícil ganar en esta liga y cuando ganes es emocionado todo.”
(Cuentanos un poquito de esa jugada espectacular en que [S Reshad Jones anotó] un touchdown.) – “No me bloquearon. Asi lo dicen? (Risa) No me bloquearon entonces quería darle duro.”
(Le diste duro.) – “Ya tu sabe. [risa]”
(Como se siente una victoria así que han peleado casi todo el partido para conseguir la victoria? Como se siente ganar un partido tan fuerte?) – “Se siente muy bien cuando ganas en esta liga, porque es muy difícil. Vamos a disfrutar esta victoria, pero tenemos que seguir trabajando para Atlanta.”
Rey Maualuga – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Linebacker Rey Maualuga (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(How pleased are you with how things went for you today?) – “I feel good. I feel good. I’m still trying to adjust to this heat. I don’t think it’s going to be overnight, and I’ve only been here for a month. I felt good to finally get out there and play. January 2nd was my last game that I played in. But it felt great. Obviously, it felt great to have the ‘W’ and just going to continue to work on my craft and hopefully get better and try to continue to help this team, make some plays and win some games.”
(As a unit is there a conscious decision that the defense has to create opportunities when the offense is struggling to put points on the board?) – “Obviously, we can’t control what they do, so I think our mindset – with (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Matt) Burke and his philosophy is just control what we can control and be the best group that we can be and eventually, hopefully all we need is a field goal or we just need some points on that board. If we don’t let the other team score, then we win. It’s not like we’re taking the pressure off the offense or anything. We’re just going to continue to try and expand and see how good of a unit we can be. I think every week – with a good week of practice and all these older folks on this defense – I think we can lead by example and hopefully be the best unit in the league. I don’t know. We’re just taking it one game at a time and trying to see where we go.”
Lawrence Timmons – October 8, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 8, 2017
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Linebacker Lawrence Timmons (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(What is the key to forcing so many turnovers in general?) – “Like I said we have to play together and we have to depend on each other, everyone on one accord and listen to the coaches and gradually get better that’s all.
(What additions did Rey Maualuga make to that linebacker unit?) – “He gives us attitude, he’s a physical player. You can tell with our defense we want to be physical and detailed with our assignments. We just want to be aggressive out there and depend on each other.
(When defensive coordinator [Matt] Burke blitz you, or LB Kiko [Alonso] or S Reshad [Jones] it seems like that could be pretty affective. How do you feel about the skill set relative to blitz from you guys?) – “I feel like the sky is the limit for us. We’re still trying to get to know each other and it’s early in the season. We see where we are going, we’re building. We’re trying to gradually build up right now. It’s a long season we have plenty of room to grow.”
