Byron Maxwell – October 16, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 16, 2016
Postgame – vs. Pittsburgh
Miami Dolphins Cornerback Byron Maxwell (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(How much did this team need this win and how does it feel to get it?) – “It felt great to get this win. We needed it, boost the morale of the team but it feels good though.”
(How were you able as a team take care of Antonio Brown?) – “It was just team ball. We disguised and just played ball hard and we just ran to the ball. It was just a team effort.”
(How did it feel different as a defense? What clicked so well today that hasn’t in recent weeks?) – “Just the practice, the work we put in during the week. I think made a difference on how we practiced and how we went about things getting ready for this game.”
Reshad Jones – October 16, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 16, 2016
Postgame – vs. Pittsburgh
Miami Dolphins S Reshad Jones (transcribed by Frank Brill)
(Is this a springboard victory to take you guys to better things this season or is this just another NFL game?) – “It’s just another NFL week but it’s a big win, a huge win. I think overall it was a total team effort; they’re a good football team and a quality win.
(How big of a difference does it make when the defense is not out there for all of those amount of plays that you guys have been out there for previously, does that help?) – “Most definitely, when you give a defense time you can make adjustments and different things like that on the sidelines so it does help.”
(You were kind of questionable going into this game, what were you able to do to get yourself ready to play?) – “I’ve got to give credit to our training staff. We’ve got one of the best training staff’s I think in the NFL. They did everything throughout the week. I prepared mentally, I got mental reps on the field and I went out and played and helped this team win a football game.”
(Can you talk a little bit about the tackle that you missed that went for the touchdown and then making up for that with the interception?) – “It’s just part of the game. I’m not going to make every tackle, I try to. I pride myself on tackling but I went with my shoulder and missed it. You have to put that behind you. As a DB there’s going to be some good plays and some bad plays, I had to put that play behind me and just keep fighting, go out and play my technique and made a great play.”
(I know you’re looking at every game one game at a time, but when you beat a team like Pittsburgh who’s been to the playoffs and who’s probably going to the playoffs, do you figure to yourself we can redeem this season, we’re not done yet?) – “Oh yes, most definitely. I think we just played how we’re capable of playing. Like I said it was a total team effort. Special teams, offense and defense, we just put it together today in all three phases of the game and we found a way to win this football game.”
(Can it be carried on to the point where the season is not lost?) – “We just want to take one game at a time. We’ve got a division opponent coming in and we want to just worry about that game and just continue to take one game at a time and build from that.”
Jay Ajayi – October 16, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 16, 2016
Postgame – vs. Pittsburgh
Miami Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi (transcribed by David Norwood II)
(Obviously this beats the alternative, coming off with a big win, especially against a team that a lot of people picked you guys to lose and you guys came out with the big win.) – “Yeah, I mean, we knew we wouldn’t be favored coming into this match up. We didn’t really think about that too much. It was another week for us and we prepared just like that. We had a great week of preparation especially emphasizing in our run game, just finishing runs, blocking down the field. Receivers, o-line did a great job today and it was just about making the plays that were called. Great opportunity and I was glad I was able to take it today.”
(It got to feel good to finally get the run game going against this team.) – “Yes, it’s definitely something we pride ourselves on. Our running back room are wanting to be the best group out there. I think you see it. A lot of us are out there making plays and we just want to showcase all of our abilities. I think we were able to do that today and able to get a milestone on the ground today was huge.”
(Did you see what the final stat line was?) – “I know I touched over two hundred but I don’t know what the final stats were.”
Mike Pouncey – October 14, 2016
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Friday, October 14, 2016
Center Mike Pouncey
(On playing against his brother, Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey) – “I’m looking forward to it. This is going to be a special moment for both of us. The last time we went up to play the Steelers, he was out with an ACL injury. We have a lot of family coming down. It’s going to be a special weekend for our family. They finally get to get together and see us both on the field at the same time in the NFL, so we’re looking forward to it.”
(On if they have ever played against each other) – “No. This will be the first time we ever played against where both of us have been on the field at the same time.”
(On if he ever played against his brother even in Pop Warner) – “No. We were always on the same team except in the NFL.”
(On what his teams were like growing up with him and his brother together) – “When we were on the same team? (We won) three state high school championships (at Lakeland High School), one national championship (at Florida), so you tell me. Pretty good, huh?”
(On something he’s always been better at than his brother) – “Better looking (laughter). No, I always say my brother is a better football player. He’ll probably say that I’m a better football player, but we push each other to be the best that we can be each and every day in the offseason. During the season, we watch each other’s film, tell each other what we’re doing bad throughout each game and stuff. He’s been a real help for my career the way it’s gone. I’m sure he’d say the same for me.”
(On if he or his brother got into football first) – “I think we both started at the same time. We started when we were six years old. Our parents put us into it. We learned to love the game by starting out as such young kids playing it. It’s really, really paid off for everybody in our family.”
(On looking a lot alike his brother and how their personalities differed growing up) – “Leaving out of the hospital, we kept our wristbands on for the first few weeks because our mom couldn’t tell us apart. We looked so much alike and my brother had gotten sick so he had to go back into the hospital for a week and that’s kind of how they figured out, ‘Okay, this is Mike and that’s Maurkice.’ Who knows if I was the one that was sick and went into the hospital and he was the one that stayed at home. I don’t remember, but my brother is my best friend. I love him to death. I hope he plays really good but I hope their team doesn’t.”
(On if both of them played guard and center at Florida) – “Yes. Well when he was at Florida, he played guard his freshman year and I played d-tackle. In our sophomore years, he played center, I played right guard for the next two years and then once he left (Florida), I moved over to center. Then he got drafted to the NFL.”
(On if they are identical or fraternal twins) – “Identical. Yes.”
(On if there were some pranks they played growing up) – “We were good kids. I mean other than acting like I was Maurkice or he going to one of my classes, I go into his. But for the most part, we didn’t do too much tricking people.”
(On if they were able to fool their parents) – “Our parents? No. Our parents are really, really strict on us. So we didn’t play with them like that.”
(On how would he describe practice his freshman year at Florida when he was a defensive lineman going against his brother) – “I was killing him. I knew all of the calls. They would call out, it would be a slip block, I knew that the center was going to try and reach me so I would just blow him back. It was cheating. I knew all of the offensive calls when I was playing defensive tackle.”
(On if there is a part of him that wishes he was playing on the defensive side this week) – “(Laughter) Just a little bit, but I hope he goes out there and I hope he plays really well. Obviously, I hope their team doesn’t play well but I hope he does play good and injury-free, obviously.”
(On if there is any chance he’ll line up for a play at defensive line this week) – “Unless we get up by a lot, but I doubt it. (Laughter)”
(On if his brother has ever shown up to the Dolphins facility as a prank) – “In the offseason, he comes in. Our team welcomes him in. We know that we have no chance of signing him, but he comes in the offseason, spends time here and all of the guys get him confused when he comes in and they think he’s me whenever we’re not around. It’s the same when I go up there. Their team is very welcoming to me coming into their facilities, working out and stuff up there. They’ve been great. Just to have a brother in the NFL and be able to experience this together, it’s been awesome.”
(On if they ever lifted weights for one another) – “No. Heck, no. We do it all together. We’re both going out there to accomplish the same thing and that’s to be the best players we can be. We can’t miss the workouts. So we do them together.”
(On if they’ve tried fooling the team) – “No, there isn’t no fooling the team. I wouldn’t want to go out there and then try and learn their plays.”
(On who got the first tattoo?) – “We went at the same time. We were 13 years old. We both got one tattoo on our arm. The rest is history.”
(On how his parents liked the first tattoo) – “They didn’t like that too much.”
(On rumor having it that his brother had some reps at left tackle in practice) – “Oh (goodness). He’s been telling me about that and I hope he doesn’t have to take any in the game. But if he does, we’re going to line ‘Cam’ (Cameron) Wake over him (laughter).
(On if he’s the biggest trash talker in his family) – “Oh, yeah; heck, yeah. There’s going to be a lot of trash talking out there on Sunday too. I’m friends with a lot of guys on that football team. I had the luxury of spending seven years with those guys and I know a lot of them – coaches, players – and I can’t wait to get out there. There’s going to be a lot of trash talking but it’s going to be a very exciting, physical football game.”
(On what the hardest thing he and his brother have went through together) – “I think the hardest thing we went through together was probably him leaving as a junior and me staying my senior year. It was the first time we were ever separated. I kind of took it a lot tougher than he did because he was the one … he was making money. I was still in college. That was the toughest transition was being apart from each other.”
(On if he was freshman roommates with Maurkice) – “We were freshman roommates. We were sophomore roommates, junior roommates and he left me hanging my senior year.”
(On the last play of the game against the Steelers in 2013) – “I was like, ‘Please, somebody tackle him.’ Once Antonio (Brown) got the ball in his hands, it was like a punt return. (It was a) good thing it snowed a lot that day because he would have never stepped out of bounds if it didn’t. We won that game. That was a great game. My brother was hurt that year but we’re looking forward to being on the field this week.”
(On if he was freaking out during the final play of the 2013 game in Pittsburgh) – “I was just like once they said no touchdown, let’s just get in the locker room and get back to Miami as fast as we can – other than it being cold as hell.”
(On how much of his family will be there on Sunday) – “We bought 79 tickets so we’ll have a lot of family and friends at the game. It’ll be very exciting for everybody.”
(On who paid for the 79 tickets) – “Me, of course. It’s a home game so … When we went up there, (Maurkice) paid for all of the tickets and he brought our whole offensive line up that year because he wasn’t playing. He had us over for dinner and we had a really good time.”
(On if he is going to have his brother over on Saturday night) – “(Heck) no. He’s playing in the game. None of them (are coming) to my house.”
Mario Williams – October 14, 2016
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Friday, October 14, 2016
Defensive End Mario Williams
(On Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph saying that he would like to see him play better) – “First and foremost, the coaches … we’re an open book here. We’ve talked and things like that. The biggest thing is (for) myself, I want to be more free to do different things and cut it loose a little bit. That’s just my personal … I’ve been in a situation where the scheme and stuff like that and thinking too much. I’ve got to play faster and play harder and it definitely starts with me. I came here to be a piece of the puzzle to help the defense. Obviously up front, we’ve got great players, I can say, in my room. I don’t want to speak about anybody else, that’s why I say that. At the end of the day, me being a veteran and everything, I’ve got to have more of an impact and create more chaos out there at practice and in the games.”
(On why this year hasn’t gone like he expected it would) – “I think as a whole, we’ve all got to get better. We all have to really focus on the details a lot more. There have been things that I can’t really explain how, on average, as far as the passing game and stuff like that with how fast the ball’s coming out and looking throughout the league (at) how fast the ball’s coming out when you look at the sacks, which is what us as defensive linemen, it’s what we get praised and ridiculed about. We’ve got to find a way to get more pressure, faster, more efficiently, whether if it’s different coverages or different disguises or whatever in the backend to get to the quarterback. That’s something that all of us, we’ve had a really hard time doing at this point. We all recognize it and something’s got to change. Doing more (and) focusing on those little details I was talking about will help benefit us as a whole. I think that’s the biggest thing, with Game 6 now, we’re nowhere near where we should be with the level of players that we have on this team.”
(On if it angers him when a coach says he needs to play harder publically) – “No, it motivates me. Like I said, all of this stuff is being translated in the meeting rooms, on the field, things like that. The way I take it is, I just need to be me; be loose. Don’t be up tight; don’t over-analyze every little thing because that only slows me down. That’s been (the same) situation in my past and I’ve been the first in the meetings to speak up about it or say it. ‘I see this or what if that,’ and then I get into a slump. The coaching that they’re giving me is pretty much allowing me to get back to loosening up and just go, and don’t think about things so much.”
(On if he agrees with Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph saying that in order to rush the passer, you have to stop the run) – “You know the biggest thing is, stopping the run is actually tackling. We’ve had guys there, in position to make plays – and myself or anybody who is out there on the field – we have to make sure we make that tackle. The first hit needs to make the tackle. It needs to go backwards not forward. The games where we bled in those situations, it was not breaking down our feet, missing, falling off of it, letting the guy go forward. That’s something that we definitely can’t have. We’ve got to be going the opposite way, run and pass.”
(On how he would describe his single greatest motivation right now today) – “My teammates, definitely. Just going out there and us talking about the things that have occurred so far this season and the situations we’re presented with as a football team. We have to do something to change because it hasn’t (gone) the way we expected it at all. I think everybody in here can say that. I’m pretty sure that nobody is satisfied with anything that has happened to this point. The motivation is to go out and prove to them what I can do and the motivation for them is to prove to me what they can do. That’s something that we are really harping on because this is past the fifth game of the season and it’s either put up or shut up.”
Adam Gase – October 14, 2016
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Friday, October 14, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On S Reshad Jones’ chance to play Sunday) – “I think it stays (a) game-time decision. We’ll see how he felt today afterwards, and then tomorrow the same thing. Just because he was out there and moving around a little bit, we need to go through our steps and make sure we’re right.”
(On if RB Arian Foster is in a similar position as S Reshad Jones in terms of playing Sunday) – “I think so. I think it’s the same thing. I’m going to keep talking to him and see where he’s at. We’re going to wait until Sunday to make any of those decisions.”
(On how rare it is for brothers C Mike Pouncey and C Maurkice Poncey to both be top centers in the NFL) – “That’s a tough one to answer. And not only that, but they’re the best there is in the game – both of them. It’s arguably, ‘Who is it? Who is the best guy?’ Those two guys, they’re special. Obviously, it’s not (just) as players; it’s as leaders and the way they go about their daily business, and the way that they battle back through adversity. It’s not like they’ve had easy runs through all this. When you play those interior positions, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. They’ve had ups and downs, and usually it has been because of something happened to where they’re going full speed and (it is) just a mishap where you get rolled up on or something freakish happens. But both those guys, they’re resilient and as tough as they come. Obviously, both those guys love football a lot.”
(On what is a suitable amount of time for pass protection in this offense) – “I think it’s really what part of the game you’re talking about, what’s our concept – everything is different. When you have play-action, you’re trying to hold on to the ball a little longer. Hopefully, you can stymie the rush a little bit by thinking run-pass in those situations, formations and things like that. But every play is different. There are certain plays where you want to get the ball out quick. A lot of times you can tell by the routes – how deep they are and how fast guys are coming out of them. Sometimes you can tell by the quarterback – the way he sets up, the way he’s looking at things, the way he starts moving his body as far as if he gets off the first progression and then the second progression. It varies from every play. Obviously, the longer that you can hold onto it, the better.”
(On whether the two-point conversion is more difficult to defend than any other goal-line play) – “I think it’s a mindset for the most part. There are certain teams that have a great mindset to where they feel confident with the plays they have, but also the execution. You can have the best play drawn up versus the best coverage that you want it for, but if you don’t execute it, it won’t matter. The crew they have and the scheme they have and the ability to have the confidence they have to go and do it when they want to do it, that’s an important thing to have. Not everybody has that type of confidence are a willing to sacrifice the points.”
(On how valuable it is to have a player that can break down the defense on third down with his legs if necessary and whether it is something he has talked to QB Ryan Tannehill about exercising on occasion) – “It just depends who you have. I’ve been in offenses before where I haven’t had a quarterback that’s mobile. I’ve had a couple guys that, that was one of their strengths. I know there have been times where Ryan has wanted to escape the pocket, but sometimes there’s nowhere to go. You can get bottled up in there and guys are pushing the pocket and you got guys up the field. There has to be a lane. There has to be the ability to do that first before you can try to escape. Any time that you get a lane, it’s the down-and-distance, the situation of the game. You’re calling plays usually to try and complete a pass. If things break down, you want to be able to move and find a way to get the first down.”
Adam Gase – October 13, 2016
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Thursday, October 13, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On if S Reshad Jones is doing any better) – “Yes. I mean we’re still going through his rehab process and trying to strengthen the whole groin thing. You do as much as you can, just to try to make it feel better. We’ll see what ends up happening.”
(On RB Arian Foster) – “He’s been doing well. We’re just kind of going through this week and making sure when he feels good enough to go, then that will be when we get him back up. We just have to get through the week and see how it finishes up.”
(On S Reshad Jones down and S Michael Thomas or S Walt Aikens potentially replacing him, how do you decide between experience versus a younger player) – “It’s tough because you’re trying to rep all those guys and you’re trying to come up with a lot of scenarios of if this happens and this guy has to go in this spot, obviously we need some guys to step up if it goes down that way on Sunday. So I know they’re all getting ready. We’re just trying to make sure if (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) decides to go with certain packages with certain guys in there, we try to make sure that we keep all those guys involved. Obviously Walt’s got a huge role in special teams as well. When somebody goes down, it affects a lot of different positions, including special teams and kind of the number count there.”
(On where S Walt Aikens’ development has been this year) – “Well I think he’s made … I mean for as good of a special teams players as he was, I think he’s really, really made some strides there. It seems like he had some nagging injuries early in training camp and early in the season, and now I feel like he looks as close to 100 percent as possible. I think back in the backend, he really has a better feel for what we’re doing – his role, his assignments, other people’s assignments. So when you kind of understand the entire defense, it makes your job a little bit easier because you understand where everybody’s supposed to be.”
(On if he anticipates having his original starting five offensive line) – “I’m not going to talk about it. You guys jinxed me last week. (laughter)”
(On if, in theory, he will go with the five starters at offensive line on the depth chart on Sunday if they are available) – “I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see on Sunday.”
(On if it’s true he’s going to make the players shower on Saturdays) – “I don’t know if we’re going to let them shower this week. (laughter)”
(On if it’s a little bit funny now) – “That’s a bad phone call to get. Just trust me. It’s awful.”
(On when RB Arian Foster gets back if he envisions him trying to get carries with RB Jay Ajayi and if it is challenging to work RB Kenyan Drake in) – “Yes we’re just going to … I don’t want to make too many plans and get too far ahead myself. I want to get through the week. We’ll have a plan as far as how we want to do the reps and how many plays we get. If we get more plays in the game, that helps us get more guys in there. We’ll see how it shakes out at the end of the week. I just don’t … I don’t want to plan on one thing and then something pops up on Friday or Saturday. You really have to use the entire week to evaluate.”
(On how RB Arian Foster looks) – “He looks good to me but I’m a couple of credits short of my M.D. (laughter) He looks as good as he possibly can in practice.”
(On if RB Arian Foster looks as good as he did in Week 1) – “He looks normal to me. It’s just sometimes … The way he runs, it’s such a smooth stride, it’s almost … you can’t tell is he full speed? Is he not? He’s so good at what he does as far as that outside-zone scheme that he just makes everything look slow and then he hits it and then blows by everybody. He’s got a real patient running style.”
(On what WR Kenny Stills can do better) – “Well, the last game, that wasn’t really on him. I had him in there quite a bit and we really – let me think, what did we throw the ball, 18 times or something like that? And he didn’t really get a chance to have many targets. We had a certain way we wanted to play that game. Obviously it had to change as kind of things unfolded leading up to the game. He was supposed to be more involved but a lot of the things that he does is more down the field. We weren’t able to do that and it kind of takes away his strength.”
(On if he can plan for or develop QB Ryan Tannehill’s ability to step up in the pocket and buy time) – “It can be developed, definitely. I went through a little bit of that last year where we were kind of doing some things where Jay (Cutler) would be stuck in the back of the pocket a little bit. We just kept working on some drills to where you work on getting a feel of where some bodies can be. You try to do some of those drills where it’s just chaotic, to where you have to start moving around. I think so far (the pocket) hasn’t been as firm as we would like it to be. Obviously, we’d like to get a little bit better in that area. It’s always a point of emphasis. You want to make sure that you can set the apex of the pocket and let those guys run around and step up. You’ve got to be able to step up. Sometimes it might not be directly right in front of you. You might have to slide and find those lanes between the guards and tackles. It’s one of those things, you’re always trying to work on and when you go back and watch some of the film, there might be a couple of times where maybe he could’ve stepped up. But we’re constantly looking at that reel of sacks or pressures or hits to say what could we have done differently? It’s been a little bit on everybody. That’s where when we start cleaning some things up and when teams blitz us, we can actually take advantage of it and beat it. That’s going to start making things a little bit easier, because now when you get some four-man rushes, it creates a little bit of different passing lanes.”
(On how good QB Ben Roethlisberger is at extending plays) – “He’s probably one of the better ones in the league. I think a little bit of it has to do with his size as well. He shakes off, I mean there will be free runners and guys will just fall off of him. He’s a tough guy to bring down; he always has been. Obviously the longer he’s playing, he’s not going to try to move as much because you’re going to get hit a lot and it kind of gets old to you, especially when you start to get years in the league. He still has that ability. He’s a hard guy to bring down.”
(On if the Steelers defense has changed now that Dick LeBeau isn’t there) – “It’ll look similar at times, but there are some things that they are doing different. It’s just like anything else in this league, everybody evolves. Coach LeBeau last week, that looks different than what I saw in 2011 and 2012. That looked different. Sometimes you have to look at the personal you have and you make some adjustments with your scheme. You’re not going to just run the same thing to run the same thing. When you’re together for 12 years with the same group of guys, that system is going to look the same year in and year out. Then all of a sudden Troy (Polamalu) retires and you get a whole bunch of guys moving in and out, that defense has to look different.”
(On how the process works for a veteran player playing in a different position such as DE Cameron Wake playing Sam linebacker last week) – “I think sometimes it depends on who it is. Some guys are not comfortable with doing something that is a little out of their norm. Obviously with his background, he has a lot of flexibility. We were looking to figure out a way to maybe throw something in there that could help us stop the run. He has that flexibility as a guy that can play the position we needed him to play the last couple of weeks. He’s the kind of guy that wants to do whatever he can do to help us win. That’s what he wants to do. That’s why he’s one of the leaders of the team.”
(On if having a safety as one of the league leaders in tackles speaks well of the defense) – “It’s something you’d rather not have. It would be different if it were tackles for loses and things like that; but you’d rather your linebackers being the guys that are leading your team up there in the league. The one good thing is, you know if something does break through, he’s going to figure out a way to get him down. If we improve on our run defense and start fitting things up better and making sure that we’re consistently sound in what we’re trying to do with our defensive scheme, then hopefully those numbers go down.”
(On what he has found to be a good way to motivate a guy to give max effort the majority of the time) – “I think a lot of times, it’s just in you. If you’re a guy that’s not a max-effort guy, it’s tough to bring it out. That’s why you try to draft guys, you try to sign guys that if you have experience with them, you’ve seen them do it in the past, you just try to get that consistency. Sometimes it’s inconsistent. If you can get it to where play-in and play-out and you say ‘Hey, maybe we have to cut the snaps down to where you’re full go all the time,’ then that’s what you do. You try to figure out a way to make it work. You sometimes know when a guy has it in him. You’ve just got to make sure you’re constantly staying on him to give that full effort.”
(On what he has done to address setting the edge and whether he has considered moving DT Ndamukong Suh to the other side of the defensive line) – “I think you have to be careful of taking one of the best players at his position and then trying to put him in a different position or out of position. Now you’re really hurting two spots. Doing something like that, that’s probably a little extreme. You really need guys to do what they’re coached to do (and) execute the scheme. Like I keep saying, until we execute our scheme fully and do it right consistently, it’s hard to evaluate the scheme to say, ‘Is this good or bad?’ Right now, we’re kind of at that crossroad where we’re doing it right enough to where we see a lot of positive, but then we’re doing it wrong too many times to where we have things that happen like last week. The week before in Cincinnati, we were feeling good. And then last week, obviously, we didn’t do it good enough.”
(On whether defending the run is more mental or physical) – “Sometimes it can be mental sometimes, because when you play a team that’s shifting, they start going unbalanced, and they have all kinds of things where they’re trying to figure out ways to get you a little bit out of position. That’s where you can have some of the mental issues occur. A lot of times, it is … For us, it’s being sound with what you do (and) sticking with what you’re being told. The hard part about defense is at the end of the day, it’s about making plays. So, sometimes guys feel like, ‘If I can make this play,’ and when you’re wrong, it really is a problem for a whole bunch of different guys. The really great players, when they decide to make a play, they make the play. Right now, sometimes we’re shooting our gun, and we’re missing. You can’t do that, because now you leave three or four other guys hanging out to dry.”
Cameron Wake – October 13, 2016
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Thursday, October 13, 2016
Defensive End Cameron Wake
(On what makes Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger so good and if it is because he is big and hard to bring down) – “I don’t know if I’d go all the way there, but he’s a good football player. It’s always the goal as a defensive player, a defensive end, to get after the quarterback, make him uncomfortable and hit him. I’m sure no quarterback enjoys that, so any time you have a good football player, that’s what you have to do.”
(On why Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is so difficult to bring down) – “Again, I don’t know if I’ve personally experienced that. I’m a big guy, too. I do my best.”
(On Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger having him beat by a few pounds) – “I don’t know if quarterbacks are built the same way defensive ends are built. I’ve had quarterbacks that are hard to get. Once you get in the backfield, the job is to get the quarterback on the ground, whether they’re big and strong or they’re small and they run fast or if they spin and throw the ball before you get there. There are a lot of issues once you … The first job is beating the tackle – or whoever the protection is – and getting back there. That’s the hardest part to me. Usually, the second part is a little easier.”
(On what is the issue with edge setting and what the team needs to do to get better against the run) – “I don’t think it’s any one particular thing, I think it’s just consistency. I feel like we’ve had spurts, where we show … whether setting the edge, clogging the middle, playing pass; whatever the situation is, we’ve done that. Now doing it for 80 plays versus 73, that’s the issue. Those other seven plays that you don’t do it are the plays where you get big plays. You get explosive plays, you get long passes or long runs and that obviously screws everything up. Even – not to go back to old stuff – (but) in the past, one play here or one person here not being in their gap and not being where they are supposed to be kind of ruins the rest of the plays you did well and the rest of the guys who are doing it well.”
(On Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Le’Veon Bell and WR Antonio Brown and if this team is capable of as many explosive plays as any team in the league) – “Have you been around the last 5 weeks? (Laughter) We’ve played some teams that have some explosive players and news flash, we’re going to play some more coming up in the next few weeks. It’s not anything new to me. It’s life in the NFL as a player. You’re going to have the best players in the world doing what they do. You – whether it’s running back one week or a quarterback the next week or a receiver the next week – have to do whatever you can to contain those guys. Also another news flash, we have some pretty good players here on our defense that are tasked with that and I think it will be a good game.”
(On if it is tougher to tackle a big guy like Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger or an elusive guy like Seahawks QB Russell Wilson) – “The hardest thing is beating a big, fat, ugly o-lineman that is trying to keep you from getting to the Ben or the Russell. That’s the hard part. Once you get back there, they’re defenseless, so you’ve just got to do whatever you can to get the ball on the ground.”
(On not being on a winning team since he joined the organization in 2009 and how much of a toll it takes on him) – “It’s frustrating; but the great thing about football is that you have to have a short memory. You can’t think about even the last play, let alone five years ago. When I get on the field, I don’t think about that. I don’t think about the last play. I think about the situation right now, whoever’s in front of me, whatever my job is and getting that done. The reality is, to be a good pass rusher and to be a good football player, if you’re concerned about how great you did last week, last play, two years ago or how terrible you did, in that same time frame, it’s going to affect your output coming up. I kind of erase my memory, go forward and kick butt.”
(On if it is more important for him to spend his entire career in Miami or being with a winner) – “It’s not which one is more important. I just want to win. Obviously, I’m here in Miami and I’ll be here as long as they’ll have me. I’m doing everything I can to make sure Miami’s a winner. I’m not concerned with going anywhere else or doing anything else. Like I said, as long as they’ll have me, I’ll be here, and as long as I’m able, I’ll do whatever I can to make this a winning team.”
