Kiko Alonso – October 26, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 26, 2017
Postgame – Baltimore Ravens
Dolphins LB Kiko Alonso (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on his version of the hit on QB Joe Flacco) “It was a bang-bang play.”
(on if he will be suspended for the hit) “That’s out of my hands. Like I said, it was a bang-bang play, and I hope he’s alright.”
(on what he said to the referees and the Baltimore Ravens players after the play) “I said it was bang-bang. I thought if maybe he slid a second sooner, I was anticipating him sliding and not hit him. But I think it was like a second late – that’s why I hit him.”
(on not being able to hit him) “I mean no way. That’s the target. When a guy slides, and his target is very small, I just think it’s like a second late, which is why I hit him, to be honest with you. At first I was anticipating him – I thought he was going to slide. And then, I had to hit him, because he slid too late. It was bang-bang. I don’t know what else I could have done.”
(on feeling like there was nothing else he could have done but hit Flacco) “No, I really think if he would have slid a second sooner I would have pulled off. But it was so close, that I had to hit him.”
(on feeling bad after the hit) “I definitely hope he is alright. You hate to see that happen to people. I truly hope that he is OK.”
Matt Moore – October 26, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 26, 2017
Postgame – Baltimore Ravens
Dolphins QB Matt Moore (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on what happened during the game) “This is tough. We never expected the game to turn out like this. This one really stings. We have to figure some stuff out, and I have to figure out some stuff.”
(on his two interceptions) “On the first one, [C.J. Mosley] made a heck of a play. He just jumped up there and caught it. It was a great play. On the second one, [Jimmy Smith] sat back a little bit and waited for me to throw, and he got me good.”
(on Baltimore doing anything defensively that was surprising) “Early in the game, they broke some of their tendencies. Their pressure came from different spots, but they just beat us. They made it very hard for us to do anything on offense. It was very tough.”
(on the Dolphins having 10 days off before their next game) “We have to learn from this. First, we’ll take the weekend to heal from this, and we’ll look at film. This one stings. We just need to get better.”
Jay Ajayi – October 26, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 26, 2017
Postgame – Baltimore Ravens
Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on the difficulties in the running game) “We weren’t able to run the ball tonight. We had a good run early and then weren’t able to run the ball. They did some different things here and there. At the end of the day, we still have to block up the scheme and execute; and we didn’t do it.”
(on the loss) “On all sides of the ball, we didn’t execute; so we lost. It showed on the scoreboard.”
(on playing on Thursday night) “Everyone has to do it. They had to do it, and they came out and played. We should have come out and played, and we didn’t. Now we reset, recharge, come back next week and try to go 1-0.”
Reshad Jones – October 26, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 26, 2017
Postgame – Baltimore Ravens
Dolphins S Reshad Jones (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on the Dolphins’ defensive performance) “They made more plays than we did. They ran the ball. They passed the ball. They just made more plays than we did.”
(on having extra days of rest before next game) “Just rest and take care of your body. We don’t have a bye week. This is the time to take care of your body and get your body well. Regroup and get ready to play more football.”
(on bouncing back from a big loss) “The guys in this room are resilient. We’ve got one of the best staffs in the league, so we’ll be able to bounce back and be ready for the rest of the season.”
(on the Kiko Alonso hit on Joe Flacco) “I actually didn’t see it. I was running from the other side of the field. ‘Kik’ [Kiko Alonso] said, ‘the guy slid late, and he was just trying to make a sound play.’ He’s not a dirty player, so I know he wasn’t trying to harm the guy.”
Kenny Stills – October 26, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 26, 2017
Postgame – Baltimore Ravens
Dolphins WR Kenny Stills (transcribed by the Baltimore Ravens)
(on the offense) “We didn’t score any points today, so it just wasn’t good enough. We didn’t execute. We didn’t convert on third downs. We had turnovers. You just can’t win games when you don’t execute.”
(on QB Matt Moore’s play) “It’s a team sport. Matt did his job the best that he could.”
(on the large point spread and loss) “A loss is a loss. I’m never happy when we lose. As I said, we didn’t execute as an offense. We’ve got to do better.”
(on not scoring points in the first half) “We’ve just got to do our job. We’ve got good players and a great coaching staff. We’ve just got to get out there and execute and find a way to get first downs. [We have to] find ways to get into the end zone and score points.
(on today’s problems) “We weren’t converting on third down. We had two pick-6s. When you can’t convert on third down, and you can’t get first downs … We’ve got to figure out a way to get first downs and stay on the field and score points.”
Matt Moore – October 24, 2017
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Tuesday, October 24, 2017
QB Matt Moore
(I’m sure you’re used to the description of yourself as a gunslinger. How do you take that and do you like that?) – “It’s not a bad term. Guys describe guys in different ways and that seems to be the thing (for me) and I’m fine with that.”
(What does that mean to you?) – “I’d like to think of it as someone that just likes to go out and compete and throws the ball around. That’s what it means to me.”
(Somebody who likes to take risks or no?) – “Somebody that competes and likes to throw the ball around. (laughter)”
(Did you get a chance to take any practice throws before you went into the game or was it just immediate?) – “I threw eight or nine balls just to warm the arm up.”
(I didn’t know if you had time.) – “There was not a lot of time, no. Not a lot of time.”
(What routes do you feel like you like the most?) – “I don’t know. I think my focus is to execute what’s called. I think most guys like to shoot it down the field; but I think whatever’s called is what I’m trying to execute. Everybody has favorites, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter.”
(Is that a question you can’t answer because you don’t want the other guys to know?) – “No. I answered it the way I thought I should answer it. (laughter)”
(How much more challenging is preparing for your first start because you’re playing on a Thursday as opposed to a Sunday?) – “I don’t know. Last year I had a kid the week of my first start and it was on a Saturday, so it was a similar situation; but I mean it’s tough. Time to prepare is everything. I think in this league, sometimes there’s not enough hours in the day, but you’ve got to make the time to prepare. The short week is definitely tough, but we’re getting it in and guys are working and studying. It’s challenging for (the Ravens) too. They’re coming off a Sunday game and have to play Thursday. You’ve just got to be on top of your stuff, get as ready as you can and go execute.”
(What have you seen from the Ravens defense on tape?) – “A lot of those guys have been in that system for a long time. Obviously their front is pretty powerful. (They’ve got) experienced guys in the back end. They have the ability to do a lot of things, so like I said, the studying and preparation is going to be big. At the end of the day, it comes down to execution.”
(Just watching you over the years, you’re a guy who I’ve always thought has fun playing the game. You bounce around out there on the practice field and everything like that. Is that accurate and how does that serve you when you’re playing?) – “I don’t know. It’s an emotional game and I’m an emotional player, I think. It’s always better when you’re having fun. Obviously when you’re out there kicking the dirt, that’s not a way to do your job, so I try to have a good time. Obviously, when things are going well, it’s a lot of fun. You try to keep your spirits as high as you can and go out and have fun with your guys.”
(It doesn’t seem that much rattles you.) – “Well, I think as a quarterback, you’re out there, you’re in command of the offense, you can’t … You get rattled; but I just think you’ve got to keep a positive stance and a positive attitude and keep the guys going. That’s what I try to do.”
(You spend so much time next to Head Coach Adam Gase during games, it’s almost like you’re an assistant coach. You’re right there. How much does that help you when you go in there to do it physically?) – “Yes, it’s good because I get to hear what he’s thinking and just hear him calling the plays. I get it in my ear, but also just to be next to him and listen to him (is helpful). There’s a comfort level there just listening to him, knowing how he is on the sidelines, so when you’re out there, it’s not second nature, but it’s pretty close. That experience comes from just being by him in games and knowing where his head’s at and maybe expecting what’s coming, so it helps that way.”
(Are you going to be able to watch the Dodgers game tonight?) – “(laughter) Probably not. I’ll be rooting for them though. I’m fired up for them.”
Ndamukong Suh – October 24, 2017
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Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(You guys are at this place with a new quarterback once again. It’s your third starting quarterback in whatever it’s been since QB Ryan Tannehill went out. Does that affect you guys on the defensive side of the ball at all?) – “No, I don’t believe so. I think we’ve seen all these quarterbacks in camp and understand what they can do; but really, at the end of the day, we can’t really focus on what’s really going on that side, really because it doesn’t concern us.”
(The run defense, you guys allowed 92 yards last week but 40 yards on two runs. How do you feel that you guys did last week and overall do you come into games and say yes the run defense is rock solid, we can count on it, it’s going to be there?) – “I think we’ve had really, in this season overall, struggled with having some pop plays in the run defense. At the end of the day, as long as we eliminate those, we’ll continue to be successful in my opinion. What we’ve been doing is really just executing. As long as we stay on that path and allow ourselves not to get lax or have a mistake happen, and continue to gang tackle, we’ll be fine.”
(How much of a physical challenge do you find this being in this quick turnaround?) – “I think it is part of the game, part of the business. We understand that. At the end of the day, as professionals, you find yourself in situations where you’ve got to be prepared and prepare for short weeks, long weeks, as we have some of those coming up. It’s just really about the mental grind and obviously taking care of your body at the same time.”
(How do you feel physically right now?) – “Physically? I’m good. It’s football. Really, honestly, I personally don’t pay attention to it. I do what I need to do to make sure I’m there to play and I think it’s served me well in my career.”
(So can you play the same number of snaps four days after a game as you do seven days after a game?) – “I think so. I plan to, if I need to. At the end of the day, we’re very fortunate in our group that we’re all interchangeable. We can line up in all different positions and so a lot of times, I don’t really have to; but I’m wired to play that way.”
(You guys are on a three-game winning streak. Does it feel as though, ‘okay this thing is rolling now, we’re going in the right direction?’ Put it that way.) – “I’d say no for the simple fact that we need to focus in on what the task in front of us is, and we continue to preach each and every week that our focus is to worry about the game that’s of that week, and really go from there. When you start to look at things and see what you’ve done in the past and look ahead and do all of these different things, that’s when you lose track. I don’t say that just because that’s what the head coach says and things of that nature, I say that because I truly believe it; although the head coach says it for a reason, because it’s true. You don’t want to get distracted. You want to understand what you have in that particular week to take care of and go from there.”
(Having said that, you guys have won 12 in a row in terms of one-score games. Obviously you’ve come back from two touchdown-plus over the past couple of weeks. Have you noticed a change in maybe the confidence level or the belief level over the span that you’ve been here in terms of being able to both come back and pull out close games?) – “I’d say under the new regime of (Head Coach Adam) Gase and understanding what we have, we’ve always had a mindset that we’re capable of doing whatever we want to, and then at the same time, we understand the positions that we put ourselves in. So being 28-14 down going late into the third quarter, we understood what we need to get done. Going into half, we knew what we needed to get done, being down, I think, 21-14. Having been in all of those situations the previous season, especially with being a young team – myself being eight years, understanding I’ve been in multitudes of situations – it’s not hard to get out of it. It’s just about going through the process to get yourself out of it and doing it before the time ends.”
(How do you get off to faster starts?) – “That’s the magical question, I guess. In my personal opinion, on the defensive side of the ball, which is really all I can speak to, it’s not allowing people to score. We’ve not been the best in red zone defense. Last week, starting out the way we did, wasn’t the best. We’ve done some good things in previous weeks, so we probably need to go back and look at some of those pieces; but at the end of the day, each and every team is different. This is a copycat league. I’m sure Baltimore has looked at the film and seen what happened last week. We need to figure out how they are going to attack us and then two, to combat that and get off the field, if we end up starting first.”
(What do you think of G/T Jesse Davis’ future as a defensive tackle?) – “(Laughter) Jesse’s good. I think he’ll be fine, especially if he’s playing next to me – a pat on my back. (laughter) We talk for sure, and give him a little crap. We’ve actually got a little funny thing going on, which is harder to play – o-line or d-line? He’s getting a taste of that right now. (Laughter)”
(What about LB Rey Maualuga’s future as a fullback or blocking back?) – “He’s a strong downhill guy, so he’ll serve pretty well on that side of the ball as well as being on our side of the ball. We’ve got some blitzes for him that I’m sure you guys have seen in the past where he’s coming downhill. He’s got some stuff in practice that he’s done, which I wouldn’t want to be a center. (Laughter)”
(Will we see you on offense at any point?) – “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase about that. I’m more than happy to go on the offensive side of the ball and have some fun, obviously in, situations; but the one thing I definitely want to do is get back on special teams and kick a field goal or an extra point. (laughter) I’ve got to make up for that past Jets game, however many years that was ago.”
(When was the last time you played offense?) – “The last time I played offense … It’s been some time. I can’t even think back to it.”
(High school?) – “No, it’s been in the pros. I know I had some stuff in Detroit. I don’t think we ever ran it; but we had some plays for sure. It was actually the ‘Husker package.’ If I’m ever needed and my number is called, I’ll be ready to go.”
(Do you think it’s harder to play defensive line than offensive line?) – “I’ll let you guys ponder that. We’ve got a running piece of what all goes into that. Do me a favor, ask Julius Thomas about what he thinks. (laughter)”
Matt Burke – October 24, 2017
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Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(How tough a decision was the CB Byron Maxwell decision for you?) – “It’s always tough anytime you’re making a move like that. Obviously, the team had a need at another position. That was just kind of the spot we had to get to. It’s always tough. You make relationships with guys and you’ve been around guys for a long time, so anytime you make moves like that it’s hard.”
(Was the second touchdown – the second thrown touchdown by the Jets – on CB Cordrea Tankersley or was there supposed to be safety help?) – “Both. It was a miscommunication to be honest with you. We should’ve had better pre-snap communication, which would’ve provided better help for him. He didn’t do it. He was expecting help and didn’t really get it; but that’s partly on his fault that wasn’t communicated before the snap. You can kind of paint that both ways if you want.”
(What is it about that deep out and that post combination that makes it difficult on the cornerback, for CB Cordrea Tankersley?) – “Again, schematically stuff, in that play he’s outside leverage. Now the post route is running away from him. Again, that’s why if we see splits or tendencies or stuff when we get in that area of the field, those guys need to communicate that if that’s a possibility, we can either pass that off or draw some extra help somewhere. If you’re playing outside leverage and you’re by yourself and that guy is running an inside route, it’s hard to close on that. We still put those guys in those spots. He has the athletic ability to do it. I felt like he slowed down a little bit, to be honest with you, because he was expecting the help. Where if he just accelerated through, he still has a chance to go make the play. To me, it was probably more of a communication error than anything.”
(So could CB Cordrea Tankerlsey have treated it as though he does not have help?) – “Absolutely. Again, he didn’t – technique-wise – he didn’t play it … He was playing it like he had help, but he never talked about it beforehand so no one else knew he was expecting help, essentially.”
(What’s your concern level on defending the screen?) – “What’s my concern level?”
(Yeah, it seems like it’s had some success.) – “To be honest with you, the first play of the game, we were lined up wrong. And it was a very similar play, too. I don’t know if you guys remember, later in the game where Lawrence (Timmons) made that tackle and they got kind of backed up on a very similar play. If we’re lined up right, it should look exactly like that. Defending screens, to me, it’s about getting bodies to the ball. Teams are going to do it to us because of the style we play, because of out front. To me, it’s about recognition and keeping leverage and getting hats to the ball with the d-line turning and running or again our back end guys being in leverage and sending it back to whoever they’re supposed to send it back to. Two of the plays – two of the screens we gave up – we were lined up wrong, which I’m obviously not very happy about. One was a tough call – the one they through to the tight end. I pressured a little bit when I shouldn’t have there. Reshad (Jones) was the only guy out there. If he doesn’t make the play, there’s nobody there to help. It’s something we work on every week, because we do see it a lot, obviously. We just had a couple mental errors. On the third-and-long one, we missed seven tackles on one play. It was third-and-19. We preach trying to get turnovers and all that, but the first guy in has to get the tackle secured and then the next guy are trying to punch the ball out. We had about three or four guys that were just going for strips and not securing tackles. We should never give up a third-and-19 conversion. Between the missed tackles … There were a couple that we weren’t lined up right. There were a couple, that one in particular, we obviously missed a lot of tackles on, and there was one I put them in a bad spot. Those things happen. We’ve addressed them, obviously, and we’ll continue to get better.”
(The impact per snap for DE William Hayes seems extraordinarily high. With that being said, if you don’t have DE Andre Branch this week, how do you determine what is the realistic snap count for him where he wouldn’t lose effectiveness?) – “We roll those guys through a little bit. Obviously, it’s hard for us. If you’re putting Will in the game, a lot of times you’re taking Cam (Wake) out. That’s a tough tradeoff for both of them. We feel both those guys are more effective when they’re not playing 70 snaps and we’re able to roll groups. Whoever is up this week, we’ll kind of take the same approach. We don’t have pitch counts on any guys. We just have ideas in situations of when we want to use all those types of guys, whether it’s Will or Cam or Charles (Harris) or ‘Dre (Andre Branch). Even (Terrence) Fede went in when ‘Branchy’ (Andre Branch) wasn’t feeling great at the end of the game. Fede gave us some good snaps. We try to utilize those guys. That’s part of the point of us keeping a bunch of d-lineman active on game day, that we’re going to keep them fresh and get them going. Will’s play time is going to be dictated by what we’re seeing and what the situations are.”
(With DE Charles Harris against the run, has he shown enough in terms of setting the edge that you can trust him in base a lot, not just occasionally, but a lot if you need him there?) – “Sure. Yes, absolutely.”
(As far as DE Cameron Wake being 35, has that played any into his … You said you don’t have a pitch count …) – “You’re always … Any of our veteran guys, we’re always proactive with worrying about wear and tear and again, especially the circumstances of our season in terms of playing a bunch of games back to back. We’re aware of it. We’re trying to give him some time off during practices and moving guys in and out. We have an awareness of it. You get into a game, there’s not like ‘once Cam gets to 40 snaps, we can’t play him anymore.’ It’s more like that. We’re aware of all our veteran guys – Will (Hayes), (Ndamukong) Suh, all those guys that we try to be proactive in terms of taking care of them during the week and as you go through the season.”
(What did DE Cameron Wake show you at the end of the game against the Jets?) – “What did he show me? A couple sacks and caused holding. (laughter) He showed me some good plays. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has talked about it. He’s amazing to be around. It’s crazy to watch him work day in and day out, and again, continue to be effective. I keep sounding like a broken record here. It’s a testament to how he prepares and who he is as a person and the work he puts in, not just during the week, during the offseason. Nonstop. He’s a special person.”
(What’s an anecdote? Everybody keeps saying it is crazy to see DE Cameron Wake day in and day out. What illustrates that?) – “When we first got here last year – (when) we first got hired – and he’s coming off the Achilles (injury) a year before, I didn’t know Cam before I got here. I remember ‘V.J.’ (Vance Joseph) and I were like … It was one of our first … We had just gotten hired. It was early January, mid-January, and we’re walking through the building and this guy – I don’t know when he hurt it, four months, three months off Achilles surgery – and he looks like he still looks right now and he’s doing box jumps in the weight room. To watch him rehab and put all the work in to prepare to come back and then being around the offseason when he’s still coming in and getting his own work in and doing those things. We have to proactively say, ‘We’re going to try to sit you down a couple of these periods,’ and he never wants to come out of that stuff. He always wants to go out there and get his work in. When he’s doing his drills and his work, it’s always 100 miles an hour. He never slows himself down. It’s just impressive to watch.”
(What does CB Cordrea Tankersley do best right now and what will be some continued points of emphasis in his training?) – “It’s funny, I told ‘Tank’ when he first got here … He can run. He’s a fast kid. He can run. And I said, ‘You always have that in your back pocket.’ He’s a bigger kid, so he’s a physical player at the line of scrimmage. Just like any young corners, I think his growth has got to come from route recognition, pattern recognition, formation tips. He has been pretty good with that stuff, but that’s to me where his development has got to come along. (As for) physical tools, I think he has got a lot to work with, obviously, with size and speed. He’s a tough kid and he’s confident, as we’ve talked about before. I think his development is just going to come from some of the stuff that we’re doing and seeing the route combinations and understanding how teams are trying to attack him better.”
(What’s your evaluation of LB Rey Maualuga, especially considering where he started from this season, coming out of retirement or whatever you want to call it?) – “Retirement. Forced retirement. (laughter)”
(Inactivity. It wasn’t a normal offseason.) – “He has been good. I know everyone was impatient. We tried to have sort of a long-term plan for him – a long-term picture – in terms of making sure he was healthy and in shape, especially obviously down here (as) we’ve talked about with the heat. So, we kind of had that plan. I remember when he tweaked his hamstring a little bit in training camp, whenever it was, and I said, ‘Look dude, if you can get back for the Titans game…’ He is a great, great person. I know you guys have talked a lot about him. He’s one of those guys that hates being away from his teammates and hates not being out there to help to contribute and be that guy. So, he puts himself in bad spots, because he always wants to get back soon. He wants to do everything. He wants to take 50 reps out there. Again, he’s another guy, I was like, ‘Look, if you get healthy and get right and get in shape, then I’ll take the seatbelt off and you can do whatever you want.’ He kind of stuck to that plan. He did a lot of good work with (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Dave Puloka in the training room and the weight room guys to get to where he’s able to do what he’s doing right now. He has been great. He really has been. Obviously, (he has) a physical presence in there. He has played well since he has been in. He has had (three) good games or something, whatever he has played.”
(Why does G/T Jesse Davis qualify to play on the goal-line defense?) – “He’s a big dude. He’s physical. Again, it’s a testament to (Head Coach) Adam (Gase). Everybody is all hands on deck. When we went into the game with only three tackles active – defensive tackles active … We’d actually done it two weeks ago – I guess that was the Titans game – and he went out there for the snap and they jumped offsides, so he didn’t get an official snap of it. It was literally sort of like, I went to Adam, I was like, ‘Who’s going to be active? What are we kind of looking at, the picture of this here?’ He seemed like the best fit. He played d-tackle, I think, way back in his day at some point. So, there was kind of that element. It just felt like, ‘I’m going to stick you in this A gap. Can you go just get off and try to knock somebody around?’ He was good.”
(G/T Jesse Davis just plays the big unit, right? When you don’t have cornerbacks?) – “Just in goal line, he has been, yes. I figured if (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) was going to steal Rey (Maualuga), then I get one of his too. (laughter)”
(Most of the time towards the end of the game, most defenses are geared to stop offenses from going to the sideline. With the play call that you guys made on the CB Bobby McCain interception, were you surprised when the ball went out to the outside that way, especially considering that the quarterback is a 15-year veteran?) – “Honestly, not to give too many secrets away, we play that coverage a lot. It’s on tape. We set it up from a different look than we had before in the past. I don’t know if that was part of it. You can see on tape – I know Josh (McCown) talked about it – we dropped Reshad (Jones) in on the front side, so I think he’s looking to the front side first. When he sees Reshad rotate, obviously he doesn’t want to throw over there. Reshad is kind of sitting in the window, so I think when he comes back, I don’t think he has time to really look. We’ve been getting some pretty good pressure, especially in the fourth quarter. Again, you’d have to talk to him; but I don’t think he saw Bobby. They had somebody in the flat also. I don’t know if he thought Bobby was going to get sucked up on the flat route a little bit and he kind of short-armed it a touch and went to Bobby. Bobby did a good job kind of getting where he had to get to, to that spot. It was a great play by Bobby. Obviously, we were pretty happy it happened that way.”
