Matt Moore – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Quarterback Matt Moore (transcribed by Sara Perez)
(First of all, as close as you are to QB Ryan Tannehill – you hate to see any of your teammates go down, but somebody that you’re in a meeting room with every day and spend so much time with – how hard is it to see that happen to a guy like that?) – “My heart breaks. I know how much that guy puts his heart and soul into this and hard work. I just hope it’s nothing crazy. I wish him the best, but it’s hard to see. I just wish him the best, and hopefully it’s not terrible.”
(What was going through your mind as you were getting ready to warm up and go on the field for your first series? Weather had been miserable all day and was going to be that way throughout the rest of the game, and that’s what you were going to face) – “I was thinking, ‘I haven’t done this in a long time.’ The weather, obviously, was not great, but I just went in confident (and) wanting to move the ball. It was a close game at the time, and I wanted to finish strong and get the win. Execution and tempo and command and confidence – that’s what was going through my head.
(Can you take us through that last drive?) – “It’s funny, I only remember the passes. I know we were trying to run it there still, and we got a good call on the cross to Kenny (Stills). We caught them in man coverage, and Kenny did a nice job separating and hit that one. Later on, we had a heck of a call and caught them in a little crusher there and was able to throw it up to Kenny. Again, I didn’t see the finish, but (it was a) good catch and put us in the spot to win the game. Credit (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase, really putting us in good situations for the potential to have success.”
(Was any panic going through your mind when – I think it was RB Damien Williams running the ball – at the end and the clock was running down and you had to get a timeout?) – “It wasn’t a clean center-QB exchange. Then I got stepped on and then that whole thing goes on. Not the way you wanted that series to end. I knew we were at about 11 seconds, I think, when the ball was snapped. I know he was trying to go down. Thankfully he did, and we got the timeout. All eyes on the field goal then, and those guys executed, so it was good.”
(I saw you and QB Ryan Tannehill sharing an embrace in the locker room. Can you paraphrase…) – “I told him I loved him. I said, ‘This team – regardless of what your situation is – this team still needs you,’ and he agreed and said, ‘I’m there.’ He said, ‘Let’s go win one game at a time.’”
(Did QB Ryan Tannehill give you any indication either way?) – “No. I just knew he was shaken up. Again, I don’t know exactly what’s going on. Just looking at him, I knew he was upset, so I just tried to bring him up that why and still let him know that he’s a huge part of this team, and he will be moving forward.”
(Five years ago when you had the starting job – far different circumstances – the fact that if QB Ryan Tannehill is done for the year, at 8-5, real playoff chances, what is this opportunity like for you and this franchise?) – “It’s huge for both parties. It’s unbelievable. My focus right now is (to) get ready to go. If I have to go, then be ready to go, and that’s it. You talk about where we’re at as a team, you can’t ask for much more. The ball is in our court. We just have to execute and play one week at a time.”
(How much rust do you feel like you have to work off?) – “Time will tell. Time will tell, but I felt pretty good out there today. Obviously, the conditions weren’t great. I feel pretty good. Coach does a good job – (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and Bo (Hardegree), our quarterback coach – they put me through the runner during the week, every week. I feel good, but clearly, there will be some. I haven’t done it in a while, but I don’t know … I’m going in confident and feeling good.”
(You’ve been doing this long enough to be confident in yourself, obviously. Was there anything in that fourth quarter from the team, coaching staff that made you feel reinforced that, “Okay they believe in me. They believe we can do this?”) – “A bunch of guys said some nice things, but they would say that to anybody in that situation. I’ve been here a while and these guys know my position on this team and my role, and I don’t think there was any doubt or hesitation. I believe that. I’m comfortable in there, and I think those guys are comfortable with me in there.”
(For the people who haven’t seen you in five years, can you tell them what your style is as quarterback?) – “That’s an interesting question. I’m obviously not shy. I’m not one to not throw it down the field. This will be the first time … Well, today really was the first time playing under Coach (Head Coach Adam) Gase. The preseason is what it is, but (this was) a real game, the style … My whole thing is to execute this offense. What is my style? I’m a pocket passer who likes to throw it down the field. That’s how I would put it, but that doesn’t matter. I think if you’re in there, you have to execute the plays called. At the end of the day, the ultimate deal is to get the win, so whatever style that is, that’s what I’ll be.”
(You were on the injury report this week with a shoulder. Was that something that happened during practice? How did that happen, and how long have you been dealing with it?) – “Shoulder – there’s always soreness. But something little happened this week at practice, and (I) just kind of worked through it and didn’t have any issues today.”
(Do you feel 100 percent? Football 100 percent?) – “Yes.”
(Does your practice week change from the standpoint of getting in an hour earlier or staying an hour later?) – “Probably not. Ryan (Tannehill) and I are there, and we’re doing our thing. I don’t think my schedule will change. Depending on what the deal is … Naturally, you say as a backup you’re ready to go, and you’re focused, but I would assume if he can’t go that the focus will be turned up a little more. It changes naturally for all the reasons you would think it would change, but as far as time goes, that won’t change at all.”
Andre Branch – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Defensive End Andre Branch (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(Talk about the win. First of all, how important was that last stop for the defense on their final offensive drive?) – “It was major. We knew we had to go out there, and make a stop, and give our offense a chance, and that’s we did. We came up with the plays, and resulted in a win.”
(I know the loss of [Ryan] Tannehill really kind of dominated the talk of the locker room today, how are you feeling about the situation?) –“It’s tough, very, very tough. He’s the leader of our team but we’ve been preaching this for the entire season. It’s the next man up mentality. Ryan assured us that he’ll definitely be in this still be leading us, just not on the field. So for us we got to pick it up on defense more, and whatever we got to do to win the next game is what we got to do.”
(For you specifically, you were all over the field today, getting to the quarterback, getting to the running back, what did you see out there personally?) –“We watched film. We knew what we had to do, and we knew it would be a big game for the defense if we did our job. And if we do our job then the plays come. ‘VJ’ (defensive coordinator Vance Joseph) has a good game plan, and we just stuck to that, and the plays were there.”
Jarvis Landry – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(I know it’s a blend of emotions going through your head right now after QB Ryan Tannehill got hurt.) – “It’s always a troubling thing when you see somebody go down and they don’t get back up. For us, we have no details with his condition or what’s going on; but we’re going to handle things as if he’s our starting quarterback.”
(We saw you had a moment with him on the bench. What did you tell QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “I just told him that we’re going to get this win for him, no matter what. I don’t care if we have to play eight quarters, nine quarters, we’re going to get this one for him and I promised him that and we made it happen.”
(What was it like when he came back out to the sideline?) – “He was still involved in the game, which I give him a lot of credit. I don’t know what he’s going through, but for him to come out and still be involved in the game, helping guys out, telling guys what he sees, in (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase’s ear, as well. It says a lot about Ryan Tannehill.”
Mike Hull – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Linebacker Mike Hull (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(Talk about your play in today’s win.) – “I knew it was getting better, getting the first interception of the game, the first series. (I’m) just glad we were able to hold on to get the win.”
(You said all week you were prepared to step in and that you wouldn’t be nervous.) – “Yes, I don’t think I was nervous at all. Obviously, there were some things with communication that needed to be cleaned up, especially down the stretch; but we’ll get that cleaned up and just very fortunate that we were able to pull out the game with the win.”
Adam Gase – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by Michelle Stone)
(Any word on QB Ryan Tannehill, the status of his injury?) – “We don’t have [word] officially yet, but it doesn’t look good. We’ll get it confirmed tomorrow.”
(Sloppy game out there with the weather and all things. Seven turnovers I believe was the total at the end of the football game. Are you happy with the way your team bounced back after a very difficult week last week?) – “We found a way to win against a tough team. There was nothing pretty about that. We knew it coming into it. We talked about it last night. It was going to be about who could hold onto the ball and who could handle the fact that it was going to be off and on rain. Our guys did everything they possibly could to try to do that. We had a couple plays where it was competitive, and we let the ball slip out a couple times on offense. Our defense did a great job. They just kept fighting and finding ways to get us the ball back.”
(Can you talk a little bit about QB Matt Moore? It seemed like the first couple [of plays] you were kind of conservative handing the ball off and then when you needed to move the ball down, he came up with a couple of big throws. Certainly, the big throw to WR Kenny Stills when he had a lot of pressure on him and Kenny made a great adjustment on that play. Can you talk about that a little bit?) – “My thought process initially was to try to get him comfortable with me calling … I haven’t called a play for him since (preseason Week 2 at) Dallas. So, it has been a minute. I just wanted him to be able to hear me call the plays. It’s one thing to do it in practice; it’s another thing to do it in this situation. I was trying to get him into the flow of the game that way. I was a little conservative early, but when we needed it, we knew exactly what we wanted to go to. We were talking about that quite a bit with the quarterback group. He executed exactly what we had talked about a couple of days ago. The guys did a great job. Everyone stepped up and did their part.”
(Is the concern that QB Ryan Tannehill has an ACL?) – “Yes.”
(The resilience that your team showed once again, what can you say about it? Where does that come from?) – “I think we’ve just got a bunch of fighters. Guys were … When we started this thing off, we said a lot of the right things, and it was more about going out and doing them. I think once we got out of training camp, and we started off the way we started off, I think there started to be less talk, more action. Guys really took it upon themselves to find ways to get better, find ways to execute more consistently. That’s why we’ve had the results we’ve had in some of these tight games where they lean back on their preparation, they’re executing correctly – and at the end of the day – guys are making plays.”
(It’s one thing to lose whatever player – X, Y, or Z – it’s another to lose your starting quarterback, potentially. What do you tell the team in terms of moving forward?) – “You’ve got to go next man up just like every other position. That’s why we signed Matt (Moore) back this offseason. It was one of those things where he looking, we were kind of looking, and at the end of the day – when we had our meeting – we felt like it was the right fit for both of us. I just know that I’m glad he’s here.”
(Can you tell us anything about QB Ryan Tannehill’s demeanor? I saw reports that it appeared he had tears in his eyes on the sideline.) – “I couldn’t tell you, because I had a couple other things I was trying to deal with at the time and waiting for them to tell me what was going on and no one would really come talk to me at that point, so I figured it wasn’t good. Eventually, I just grabbed one of the guys and asked him how everything was going, and they were like, ‘We just have to get the final results the next day.’”
(Knowing how tough QB Ryan Tannehill is – he has been so durable over the years – as a coach but also someone close to him, do you feel for him not being able to go at the end of this one?) – “For a guy that has done what he has done here, the shots he has taken all season … He throws a good ball. It was a good play. We felt like we were finding ways to move the ball against a good team. For him to to not really see it coming and couldn’t really defend himself, it’s just a rough way to get knocked out of a game. He’s tough. Whatever it is, he’ll bounce back. He’ll find a way to be out there, whenever that time table is.”
(Have you seen the hit?) – “It’s football. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s what this game. It’s sometimes … Things happen.”
(Could you touch on your defense a little bit? LB Mike Hull coming in to fill in for LB Kiko Alonso comes up with the interception early. It seemed like he played pretty well.) – “I thought that our entire defense did a great job. We had more than just Kiko out. Guys stepped up again and found a way to do the job they needed to do today to get us a chance at the end. We talk about it all the time. All of these games, especially this part of the season, it’s going to come down to … Whoever has the ball last, usually that’s what it’s going to come down to. Our defense did a great job of getting the ball back, and then the offense did a great job as far as finding a way to get us close. Special teams, that last one, it looked like they came around the edge pretty quick, so I’m just glad it went through.”
(How much of the sloppiness of this game was the weather conditions?) – “All of it. It’s tough to do anything. You saw … We go under center and fumble the ball; they do the same thing. It was not easy by any means.”
(What did you see of the extra point that DT Jordan Philips blocked and S Walt Aikens returned?) – “I just saw Walt running with the ball and hoping that he scored. It’s always a nice surprise when you get a free two points.”
(Have you had a chance to talk to QB Ryan Tannehill? Did you say anything to him?) – “Not yet.”
Kenny Stills – December 11, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Postgame – Arizona
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Wide Receiver Kenny Stills (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(This game today, you guys extended your home win streak to five games, made a lot of plays once again. What do you think this win says about this team that you guys were able to win today?) – “I don’t know what it says, but I know that we take each week one week at a time, and we know what we’re capable of when we’re on top of our game. We came out with the victory, and that’s what we’re looking to do each week.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill’s injury – did you see anything on that play? Have you had a chance to talk to Ryan?) – “I didn’t see what happened on the play, but I’ve had a chance to talk to him and tell him that everything is going to be alright and that we’re praying for him.”
Adam Gase – December 9, 2016
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Friday, December 9, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(How would you describe the relationship between T Branden Albert and G/T Laremy Tunsil?) – “Very close. ‘B.A.,’ (Branden Albert) he didn’t have to really take him under his wing like he has – everything from daily operation of how to be a pro. ‘B.A.’ is a great role model for really a lot of our younger players. He’s been through a lot. (He’s) fought through a lot of adversity through his career, has had ups and downs, been on good teams, been on teams that haven’t had great seasons, and just for him to be able to constantly communicate with him. If he does something that ‘B.A.’ doesn’t like, being able to approach him and be straight with him, that’s always helpful for a young player because sometimes you don’t know and ‘B.A.’ is one of those guys that he’ll let you know the right and the wrong things to do.”
(Is that something you encouraged T Branden Albert to do from Day 1 or did he kind of take that upon himself?) – “He kind of took that upon himself. We were hoping that that relationship would be good. But I don’t know if any of us really anticipated it being what it is.”
(It appeared LB Kiko Alonso wasn’t practicing again today. With the hamstring, could he play on Sunday without practicing all week?) – “He could. This is going to be a game-time decision for us. That’s one of those one’s you have to be very careful for of what happens in that game, because I don’t know if Kiko knows anything but full speed. He’s going to give everything he has. His body’s telling him right now that’s it’s not where it needs to be.”
(These decisions in December, you’re in the playoff chase. Do you have to take more of the decision making because the player probably thinks I’ve got to go. Do you?) – “That’s where we’ve really encouraged our guys to have to be brutally honest with us, and sometimes you have to set your pride aside and know what’s the best thing for our team. Having a guy come up and be active and all of a sudden go out 10 plays later, you’re hurting us more than you’re helping us. A lot of us have been through some situations where a guy says he can go and then all of a sudden you start that first quarter and then they pull themselves out of the game. You really put us in a bad spot because with the limited amount of guys you have, it trickles throughout the team, not only on one side of the ball but special teams. That’s where really you get hurt. ‘Rizz’ (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi) needs every body possible, and if we lose a guy because of just thinking … not thinking with their head of saying, ‘Hey, I’m not ready to go.’ That’s where you can get in trouble there.”
(How would you characterize what you are getting right now this week from T Branden Albert and G/T Laremy Tunsil as they’re still not 100 percent?) – “They’re acting like they’re 100 percent. I know they’re not. I know they’re not, but they’re going about their business like they’re good. I know last week, it was not easy for them to fight through during the week. They were ready to go for the game. They did everything they possible could to protect Ryan (Tannehill) and help with the run game. They were just limited on some of the movement. For ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert) and (Laremy) Tunsil, it’s just more of strength. I think getting through that game and then getting through this week, as far as the way we did things, they seem to be better than what they were a week ago.”
(Did CB Xavien Howard indicate whether he thinks he can go Sunday?) – “We’re still looking … We have to talk about it. That’s always a good discussion for us on Saturday night. We have an idea – as far as some of us – what we think. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be on him.”
(You guys are 5-1 at home. This franchise hasn’t won six home games since 2002 when they were 7-1 at home. Do you feel dominant at home? Are you aware? Were you aware that you are 5-1 at home?) – “I guess our guys are pretty locked into worrying about just this game. Everybody wants to get caught up with the past and when the last time you did anything. Our guys, I’m sure they don’t really care about 2002, because it was a long time ago. I think our guys are focused on the fact that being home, it’s an advantage for us. It helps us on defense. Offense, it makes things a little bit easier as far as what you’re doing cadence-wise and being able to change things up and being able to communicate. With our crowd, if we give them something to get going early, that works to our benefit.”
(Two-part question on LB Mike Hull: One, Will he call defensive calls and signals if he’s a starter? And two, how has he responded in practice getting first-team reps?) – “He did everything last week, and we feel comfortable. He has been doing it since the spring – for the most part – when he goes in there. I think our whole group feels really good when he’s in there. He does a good job. He does everything we ask him to do. He gives max effort.”
(You’ve always been a problem solver. In terms of offensive difficulties in the first quarter – without giving away anything competitive advantage-wise – anything you’ve thought of doing differently in terms of how many plays you script? Have you mulled any changes the last couple weeks?) – “I feel like we’ve had some good drives. We haven’t always finished our drives. A lot of times we’ve put the defense out there first. We’ve had games where we’ve had three or four plays, and then we get the ball. We’ve had games where there have been extended drives and the other teams either put points on the board, or it’s occupied some time. I never really get too caught up with that, because it is a four-quarter game. That’s great if you can come out the first three series and score, but that’s not really realistic in this league.”
(The going 1-0 each week thing – one game at a time – this team has really, really bought in, more than a lot of teams I can remember being around in any sport. Has any other team bought in more that you’ve been around – Chicago, Denver, college level – anywhere you think?) – “A lot of it has come from being around Coach (John) Fox. He always would talk about focusing on what we’re doing right now. When I was with Coach (Nick) Saban as well, that was such a big mantra of ours, that you can’t look … He would always say, ‘Be where your feet are. Don’t try to go past that.’ Our guys have done a good job. It’s easier for players to not have to focus on anything except what you’re doing at the moment. I think our guys like the fact that we don’t talk past this game. We know what we have ahead of us. We know that this is going to be a very tough team to play. Whether we were at home or away, this is a good football team, and they have a lot of weapons. Both sides of the ball, they can hurt you. We have to be on it.”
(In the game a month ago, we saw WR Jakeem Grant being in motion obviously helped a lot in the RB Damien Williams touchdown run. Last week, not as successful with the WR Jarvis Landry run. How has the package with Jakeem done overall? Has it reached your expectations? Do you still want to get more out of it?) – “When we get him in there, we’re trying to really, with the injury situation that we’ve had, we have tried to put Leonte Carroo and Jakeem in there more, and we feel more comfortable because those guys have been taking so many more reps than they had earlier in the season. When you get these young guys reps, that makes everything kind of move a little smoother and you have a lot more faith as far as they know what to do. That’s why we just keep trying to find ways to get all those guys that are active playing on offense and special teams. The same thing with the defense – they’re trying to do the same thing. They’re trying to use as many guys as you can, especially when you get this late in the season, you need all hands on deck. You really don’t want guys standing on the sideline not contributing at all. We’re always trying to get as many guys in there to play as possible. We know anytime we put him in there, it’s a good thing for us because one: it helps maybe take a little bit off of Jarvis as far as what he has to do, and we can move some bodies around with DeVante (Parker) still struggling with an injury. Kenny (Stills) was banged up there for a while. It’s good that we have two young receivers that can come in there and execute.”
(It looked like RB Damien Williams might have tweaked something during the early part of practice. Was he fine? Did he continue on? – “Yes. He was good.”
(What’s your criteria or your philosophy on this decision you have to make with DE Dion Jordan?) – “We haven’t really had too much discussion. We were just kind of waiting to see how he felt and that’s one of those things where, on a day like today or tomorrow, where I sit down with (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier), and we kind of evaluate everything and see where we’re at and make a decision off that. But it’s tough to just have these long meetings and discuss every little thing during the week. You kind of have to wait until you get that free time on Friday afternoon or Saturday.”
(Do you know if it would have to be that DE Dion Jordan could help you next week or could you look a couple weeks down the road as a possibility?) – “We had some things that we kind of were looking for before he came off of … before he could start practicing. We’ll go back and evaluate all of that information. We have a lot of moving pieces with sports science, strength and conditioning, trainers. So we have to get all of the information together and sit down and make a decision.”
(Have you been pleased with DE Dion Jordan’s approach to it?) – “He’s worked … He’s done everything he’s been asked to do. He’s been fighting to try to figure out a way to contribute. I know it hasn’t been easy for him because it’s been one of those things where we start going, set back, start going, set back. I know that can’t be easy when you’re fighting through that. We’ve seen that quite a bit with some of our guys that have been active, where they feel like ‘I’m back,’ and then something else happens. So it’s not an easy thing mentally for … especially a young guy. You just want to play. You want to contribute and things don’t always go the way you want.”
(How has WR DeVante Parker looked to you throughout the week and do you anticipate him…?) – “He’s done good. Just the fact that he battled through that last week. If you would’ve seen him walking on Monday last week, you would’ve been like, ‘There’s no way he’s playing.’ The fight he showed as far as ‘I’m going to play.’ He kept saying that. ‘I’m going to play. I’m playing.’ We didn’t really game plan for him to play and we had to scramble a little bit there a couple of hours before the game. It was very impressive to see him not want to leave his guys out there. I know there was a lot of pride there as far as making sure Kenny (Stills) and Jarvis (Landry) weren’t out there without him.”
Adam Gase – December 8, 2016
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Thursday, December 8, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(RB Jay Ajayi is 92 yards from a 1,000-yard season. Based on the summer and everything, could you have foreseen this kind of season from him?) – “I think we had a good feeling that our total yardage with our running back group was going to be probably where it is. I don’t know if we could have predicted that we were going to have one guy that was going to be able to statistically get up there, 1,000 (yards) or over. And that was just because when we were going into the season, we felt like we were going to use multiple guys. We did feel like we were going to get all four of those guys involved in what we were doing. So we didn’t know if we’d really have enough touches to say a guy was going to have a 1,000-yard season.”
(Do you think that that 1,000 yard barometer is still a valuable barometer in the NFL?) – “I think so. It’s not an easy accomplishment. I know I’ve been on a couple of teams that we had those types of backs, and sometimes the numbers don’t show that. To do that, you have to be available a lot of the times. It’s about kind of that durability factor, and we’ve all seen how the league’s gone as far as trends with the running backs, and it seems like it’s coming back a little bit, where you’re seeing teams like Dallas and obviously we’re feeling pretty good about what we’ve got going on. There are other teams that are leaning on the running back a little more now.”
(Arizona’s got some eye-popping stats all across the board. Have you figured out why they’re under .500?) – “It’s hard for us to look at records and rankings sometimes. You turn on the tape and you go off of that. When you’re on one side of the ball, you really focus on that side and you really lose track of the overall record because you’re trying to figure out a way to win that week on your side of the ball. With me, I kind of pay attention to all three phases. You can see sometimes what happens is you have some untimely turnovers that may cost you a game here or there. Some things that are unexpected happen, whether it be in special teams. That’s why this league is what it is. That’s why it’s so competitive. It’s so unpredictable, and you may have the right squad out there and sometimes the game doesn’t turn out the way you want it to.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill had obviously been playing so well and the first pick last Sunday hadn’t been his fault. How do you think he played last Sunday overall?) – “I don’t think we really had anybody that was really where we wanted them to be. I know he wanted a better performance out of himself. We just have to get to a point where, when things are not going as planned, we have to find a way to make plays. I always look at myself first with how do we get our playmakers the ball? I didn’t really do that with the play calling. I probably forced the ball on a couple of things with some of our play calls and put our o-line in a bad position. I need to really stick with Jay (Ajayi), because he’s kind of the guy that can open a lot more things up. It was just we all took our turns last week. It was all of us having a bad game at the same time.”
(Did you do any studying on Cardinals RB David Johnson when he was coming into the draft?) – “We did, because we were in the running back market. We evaluated … If you had a pulse, we evaluated you in Chicago. He was impressive. One thing I do remember, I just remember so many explosive plays. It was almost like we were trying to figure out how big he was before we saw him, because on tape it almost looked like he was a grown man playing against smaller players, but he was going against Iowa and some of those other schools, where he was playing at a different speed than everybody else.”
(When it comes to Cardinals RB David Johnson, he was a guy in high school that played a lot wide receiver. They didn’t know if he was even going to play the running back position. Now you guys have a guy like RB Kenyan Drake, who plays some receiver. Do you feel like he has a similar skill set and can do some of those types of same things?) – “He can, but I do think that they’re different – different styles of players. What we do with Drake, we are trying to expand what he does for us as much as possible, but at the same time him being a young player, we have to understand that the more we put on his plate, that’s more for him to really have to process. The thing with him is we want him to be able to play fast, because that’s what gives him a little bit of an advantage over some of the defenders in this league, especially linebackers when he gets on those guys. His speed is really a problem for a lot of those guys. We try to be smart with what we do with him. We don’t try to overload him. We try to make sure that he knows exactly all of the adjustments he has to make and that he can play fast. We don’t want him to think and we want him to react.”
(Any feel yet as to whether this will be the week for CB Xavien Howard?) – “I don’t know right now. We just keep putting his name next to somebody else and we just keep waiting until Saturday and figure out what we want to do that night.”
(I know you have always had the next-man-up mentality, but what has it been like as a defense to play without your entire starting linebacking unit? I mean you’ve lost LB [Koa Misi] early. LB Jelani Jenkins is off and on and now you might have to play without LB Kiko Alonso. What is that challenge like? Does it force you to switch how you’ve got to play?) – “I think it says a lot for what (Linebackers Coach) Matt Burke’s doing in getting his guys ready. I think it says a lot for ‘V.J.,’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) trying to put our guys in the right position. This league, that’s what it is. We’re not the only team with injuries, especially multiple injuries to one position. It is about getting guys prepared, and that’s why you go through the spring. That’s why you go through training camp. You try to get these guys as prepared as possible so when something like this happens, to where all of a sudden we’re so banged up to where we have a completely crew in there and we have to switch personnel around just to function to where we can get the right guys in there, that’s what this league is. It’s who can adjust and then who can make it work at the end of the day.”
(Through 12 games, wins and losses, good times, bad times, you seem to be pretty even. How do you manage that and have you ever lost your [cool] with this team?) – “That’s a good question. Every day is a different day. I think our coaching staff and the players have done a good job with staying with what we’ve talked about one week at a time. When we were in the situation where we were in training camp, where we lost a couple guys here and there, and you’re trying to put everything together, and you’re really starting over, if you look too far ahead, it can either frustrate you or really take you off the course that you want to be on, which is focusing on getting better for that day. I think our guys do like the fact that we stay in the moment. We’re not trying to get ahead of ourselves. We don’t look back at all. We try to improve on what we did, and move on and get better off of that. Really, that’s been our main focus and our guys embracing that helps me as well, because it doesn’t allow me to do that. And if I did that, they’d call me out really fast. Our guys are not shy about letting me know if I say something and then go back on what I said. So for me, it’s been a great thing for me, as a coach, to be held accountable by our players of, ‘We’re talking about this game. We’re not worried about last game.’ So that’s really been helpful for me.”
(Another big picture question for you, when you became head coach, what did you learn about yourself to be in that top position?) – “I think the first thing that I learned was you can’t do everything on your own. You have to use the resources you have and being involved with (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike Tannenbaum and (General Manager) Chris Grier, they do such a good job of one: handling so much of the personnel stuff to where my focus is coaching the team. But also, Mike’s been around a long time, and he’s dealt with a whole bunch of different head coaches. Just those little suggestions here and there to help me free up time to be able to help the offense more or to get with the defense to give my two cents or special teams, that has probably been the biggest thing of just allowing myself time to listen. That’s where Mike’s really come in to help me, more than anything, with those little tiny suggestions, that don’t seem like a big deal at the time, but we end up doing something like that and it opens up a lot of things for myself and the coaching staff.
(How cognizant have you been along the way of the fact that the eyes are on you? Like you’re talking about here where players are hearing your message, you’re setting the message, you’re setting the tone and the importance of being aware that because of how it affects the performance.) – “That’s the hardest thing for me is to make sure what I say is I’m following that same message. Sometimes when you’re in coaching, you get kind of in that bunker mentality and your mind can kind of go all over the place. You have to do a good job of staying in the moment, focusing on what we’re doing at that moment, instead of worrying about all of the other things that possibly could be going on. That’s where your coaching staff gets involved, your personnel, your front office – all of those guys are there to make sure all of us stay on track, don’t go outside of that box and really focus on the moment.”
(You’ve said that you kind of feel this, I don’t know a week or two stretch – or even the final four games – you’re going to learn about your team. What elements do you expect to come to the surface over the next week or so?) – “This week, I want to see how we rebound from really all of us not doing our jobs well enough. I’ve loved the way our guys came in on Monday, they found a way to learn from that tape and it’s not easy to watch. When you put something, ‘I don’t like that,’ and you’ve done a good job of getting better week in and week out the previous six weeks, that’s a tough pill to swallow – that we went in there, we played cautious, and they took advantage of us and they poured it on us. And there was nothing we could do. We just were not good enough. To go in there and watch that, and then have to learn from that and correct it, get that day off on Tuesday, and then come back Wednesday and go to work, I thought guys did a great job of moving past that last one, learning from it, and then now pushing forward to the next one. When we show up on Sunday, we know what we’re going to get from that team. We know we’re going to get their ‘A’ game. We know we’re going to get their best performance, and we have to meet that challenge and we have to make sure that whatever we have, we have to give it.”
(Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen said something today – you know how Clyde is (laughter) – where your five-star players need to be playing like five-star players. Do you feel like you’re getting that from everybody in the high-ranked district area of the team?) – “I think a high percentage of the time, yes. I think we’ve all had our moments where we could look back after a game, where we’re like – we need that player or coach, as far as play-callers go – we need to do better. But a high percentage of the time, I think we have. I think our big-time players have played big time a lot of the times. Has there been a couple of games where I’m sure some guys would rather have back or a couple plays back to get them over that hump of really impacting the game? I’m sure. You want as many as you can. It might not be 16-for-16. But if we’re getting 13 or 14 like that, that’s a big step for us.”
(Is there anything significant to report with any of the guys coming off injury?) – “Not that I can think of.”
(And why yellow [no-contact practice] jerseys now?) – “I don’t know. Why not?” (laughter)
