Arian Foster – October 12, 2016
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Running Back Arian Foster
(On how much he is able to do physically at this point) – “Right now, I have to wait. I haven’t practiced yet, so I have to wait. But I feel pretty good. I feel confident in it.”
(On what he has done so far) – “I’ve ran. I’ve sprinted. I feel pretty good.”
(On if he anticipates practicing today) – “Yes, I’m going to be at practice today.”
(On how he wants to see his body respond before deciding if he will play on Sunday) – “I want it to not hurt. That’s the goal.”
(On if it has been hurting) – “Obviously.”
(On how long it has been hurting) – “The last three weeks, three and a half weeks.”
(On if it wasn’t right late last week) – “It doesn’t hurt. It’s just not where it needs to be. There’s a certain amount of confidence you have to have in soft tissue injuries in order to explode like you want to explode.”
(On if the roster moves the team made sends a message to the rest of the team) – “It’s a business. You kind of forget that sometimes, but when you see guys get let go, you get reminded very fast that they have a certain standard that they want on their roster. If they feel you don’t meet that standard, they’ll go in another direction. You always have to keep that in mind if you’re in this league.”
(On if the roster moves were what he expected from Head Coach Adam Gase) – “I don’t get involved in transactions. That’s not my business. I’m just here to be a good teammate.”
(On if it is a warning sign that nobody is safe and if you don’t do your job that you’ll be looking for work) – “You should feel like that anyway in the NFL. I’ve always been of the mindset that upstairs, they’re looking for somebody to replace you every single day and it’s your job to have them not do that.”
(On if it has been a frustrating season for him so far) – “Yes. You want to be out there and help the team with as much offseason work I’ve put in to get back healthy from the injury I had, and a little thing pops up. But it’s part of the game. You can’t scream at the universe. It’s not the universe’s fault.”
(On if his groin and hamstring injuries are related) – “They’re cousins (laughter).”
(On if the injuries are first cousins) – “Distant.”
(On if the injuries were related) – “Yes. They’re cousins. Same bloodline.”
Ndamukong Suh – October 12, 2016
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(On yesterday’s offensive line roster moves) – “(I) don’t focus on it. I just focus on my small box and my two guys I got to beat.”
(On the run defense) – “We got to execute when it counts, and that’s obviously in the games. (We have to) understand what our tasks are and each and every guy has to get done in their job and tackle. That’s what it’s going to come down to.”
(On challenges to Steeler’s explosive offense present) – “Yes, they definitely have an explosive offense. (They have) great receivers, great running backs, obviously a great quarterback who has a strong arm that likes to push it down the field as well as a get lot of short passes in their passing game. We have a lot on our plate that we’re going to have to deal with, and I think first and foremost we understand we have to stop the run.”
(On how important is it is to wrap up QB Ben Roethlisberger) – “Yes, (Ben) Roethlisberger is a very slippery quarterback. People don’t necessarily see him as a very athletic guy, but he can move around in the pocket – (he is) obviously great at that – and get outside the pocket to hurt you. You got to continue to rally. No matter what, the play is never over. We just have to go out there and make sure we get him down on the field.”
(On he sees that as an opportunity to make plays if the Steelers push the ball down the field) – “I think when they do that, they choose to max protect and you have to continue to fight double teams, triple teams, whatever it may be. Obviously, they keep their tight ends in on certain situations – usually about two-man routes when they try to push it down the field. At the end of the day, you have to find a way to be slippery and get back there and cause havoc.”
(On RB Le’Veon Bell’s strengths) – “I haven’t seen a ton of film on him, but I played against him before. Obviously, (he is) a great running back. I’ve seen him at Michigan State in his early days. Obviously in the league he has run really well. He’s good out of the back field as well as a pass catcher. At the end of the day, he’s a weapon that we have to contain.”
(On facing a running back as patient as RB Le’Veon Bell and how difficult that is on the defensive line) – “If he’s patient that means he’s hopefully stuttering his feet and that gives us an opportunity to take a shot at him and get him down while he’s in the backfield. At the same time, we have to find ways to penetrate and don’t allow him to get started so he can be patient and follow behind his offensive linemen and things of that nature.”
(On the 1-4 record) – “There’s no explanation, honestly. We didn’t do what we needed to do to take care of business to have more wins than we have loses. At the point we’re at right now being 1 and 4, we have to find a way to figure out a way to win this game and then go from there.”
Ryan Tannehill – October 12, 2016
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(On whether releasing players sends a message to the team) – “I think it sends a pretty clear message. Obviously, it’s a tough part of the business. (They are) guys that you spend a lot of time with – good people – but it sends a message to everyone on this team that, ‘You’ve got to get your job done, or we’re going to find somebody who can.’”
(On how he is health-wise) – “I’m fine.”
(On whether he was sore on Monday) – “I was sore, but I’m alright.”
(On whether Sunday’s game was one of the worst games he’s had as far as taking hits) – “I don’t know. I’ve had a few rough ones. Hopefully, we can get the ball out and not have as many hits.”
(On the difficulty of reading progressions without time to throw) – “It’s tough whenever you don’t have a chance to even really start your progression, or if you do, to get to (the) number two (progression). There’s no chance of that. It makes it tough. It makes it tough on everyone. The receivers have to be able to get open quickly. I think several of those were on third down situations, so it’s tough to get to the open guy if you don’t have time. Part of that is on me being able to move in the pocket and find an open guy.”
(On if he thinks the team should move the pocket more because it has been a strength of his in the past) – “We always have that available to us to be able to move it a little bit. (We) have a couple things in this week, so we’ll see what ends up coming up during the game.”
(On trying to escape the pocket when he doesn’t have time) – “You have to be able to move. Some of it is … You have to have time to move. If your eyes are downfield and you’re looking at one (and) you get hit from behind, it’s tough to move at that point. As a quarterback – as a guy who has the ability to move – I feel like I need to be able to escape the pocket some and get out of harm’s way.”
(On the team’s mood) – “It’s tough. Obviously, we’re nowhere near where we thought we were going to be. But the reality is that’s our reality. We only have one real option and that’s to keep working and find a way to win games.”
(On what his leadership role means now) – “Just keep pushing. Keep pushing guys around me to get better. Push each other in practice. Hold people accountable for how we’re walking though, how we’re practicing. Making sure the details are right, because the details have been what has hurt us during the games. (We) have to make sure everyone is on top of the game, whether they’re in the rep or behind watching. We have to be getting that mental rep. If there’s a mistake in practice, that we make the correction and everyone gets the correction. It’s not one person got corrected, and we get the same mistake by another person during the game. We have to be on the same page and clean of … If we make a correction, then everybody gets it.”
(On where he was when he learned about yesterday’s roster moves) – “I was here yesterday when I found out. I don’t remember exactly how I found out.”
(On if his baby boy helps when he has a bad day at work) – “He definitely helps. Everyone knows there have been some tough times here at work lately. It’s always nice to be able to go home – even if it is late – and get a smile before bed. It really caps off the day in a nice way.”
(On his son being too young to know the outcome of games) – “The nice thing is he doesn’t care. It’s like a better version of a dog. (laughter) Dogs don’t care what happened on your day. They’re happy to see you no matter what. A kid is the same thing, just even better.”
(On if he fired the family’s dog) – “They probably feel like they got fired a little. Not nearly as much attention as they used to (get), but we try.”
(On the explanation for the 1-4 start) – “We haven’t played well enough, especially on offense. The defense has played a few good games and really given us an opportunity. On offense, we haven’t done a good job of playing complementary football. When the defense gets a stop – a three-and-out – we have to be able to move the ball, keep them off the field and score points. That’s what it comes down to, is finding ways to score points.”
(On Pittsburgh’s offense and that 20-22 points won’t be enough to win) – “They’re one of the top caliber offenses in the league. They have the ability to score and score in bunches. So, as an offense, we have to be clean on what we’re doing, take care of the football, keep ourselves on the field, keep our defense off the field, and that’ll give us a good chance to win.”
(On the message from Head Coach Adam Gase to him since the last game) – “Stay the course. We’re trying to make some changes, make some corrections and keep doing everything I can to play the way I’m supposed to play and good things will happen.”
(On adjustments he has to make if he continues to remain under pressure) – “I have to find a way to get the ball out. Receivers have to be able to get open quickly. I have to see them get open quickly and use my feet, if necessary. Hopefully we don’t have that continued issue. It’s tough in any situation when you’re getting quick pressures. I think the offensive line is working hard to correct that and skill positions are working hard to be able to get open and get the ball out quickly.”
(On whether there are times on film where he sees that he can do something to prevent sacks) – “It definitely comes up. I don’t know a specific number, but it definitely comes up when there’s a movement you can make or maybe escaping the pocket – something like that. It’s not every time, but it does come up.”
Adam Gase – October 10, 2016
Download PDF version
Monday, October 10, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On what happened with G/T Laremy Tunsil yesterday) – “From what I gathered, he slipped in the shower and when he fell, he jacked his ankle up. I don’t know how it actually happened. I know sometimes when something like that happens, you really don’t know exactly how you did it because you just know you’re in pain. And then I’m driving to the game – and I’m actually with our o-line coach (Chris Foerster) – he gets a phone call and I hear him talking on the phone and I’m kind of going, ‘Who is he talking to?’ And then I just (hear) ‘Alright, ‘L.T.’ (Laremy Tunsil), I’ll see you at the stadium.’ And I’m kind of like, ‘What just happened?’ Then I get a little bit of the details of what happened and then now it goes into, ‘What’s the next step?’ Once we found that out, everything kind of went in motion. Then it was more about how hurt is he? Because we didn’t know; he’s at the hotel. So we had to get him over there, x-ray him, all those type of things. I had to move on it quick as far as, ‘Okay, what’s our plan now?’ And make some adjustments and trying to reconfigure what we needed to do in the game.”
(On how hurt is G/T Laremy Tunsil) – “So we’re still kind of going through, as far as how long … or is it day-to-day? Week-to-week? Every day can be different, because once again, everybody heals differently. We’re just going to have to see. We’re going to see how he feels tomorrow. He feels a little bit better today. How’s he going to be tomorrow? How is he going to be Wednesday? Obviously the sooner that he gets back, the better for us.”
(On if G/T Laremy Tunsil was sober) – “He’s at the team hotel. It’s 8:30 in the morning or whatever. We got mandatory breakfast and then the guys drive to the game. I mean the guy was taking a shower and slipped. It’s not the first time I’ve seen something weird happen pregame. In 2009, I saw a guy slip in Cincinnati because they were putting sunblock on him and he had cleats on. (He) separates his shoulder and we already had the inactives in. It’s like one of those one-in-a-thousand, one-in-a-million type deals. When it happens, it’s a bad deal because when you talk about unexpected, that’s an unexpected thing that happened.”
(On if G/T Laremy Tunsil is on crutches) – “No. He’s walking.”
(On taking a shower four or five hours before a game and if that is fairly [normal]) – “He woke up. I took a shower before I came to the game. I jumped in the shower and got ready for the game and was heading over to the stadium.”
(On G/T Laremy Tunsil and if he was disheartened or frustrated) – “I’m sure it’s a cross between embarrassment and, ‘Really, I’m missing a game because of this?’ He knows him being out there makes us better. He’s a competitor and he knows we count on him being healthy and being a part of our offense.”
(On how much G/T Laremy Tunsil’s absence hurt) – “Any time you lose a starter, it doesn’t help you, and especially the way that we had practiced all week and kind of what we had going and planning and what we planned on doing during the game. All of a sudden two guys get thrown out of position that they weren’t expecting to play at.”
(On how far ahead of time did he know that T Branden Albert would not be able to go?) – “We pretty much made that decision … I think me and him starting texting, I want to say maybe Thursday, that he was kind of like, ‘Something’s not right. Something’s not right.’ Then as more texts came to me, then we realized there was no chance for us to get him out there. We couldn’t do that to him. I mean he lost 12 pounds. He looked – even Sunday – he still looked like he was drained. He couldn’t eat. So we just got to figure out and make sure that we get his strength back and get his weight back up.”
(On mono was ruled out for T Branden Albert) – “They did. They know what it was. They went through all those tests. I think there’s some kind of legal precedence that I can’t talk about it or something. We’ll go with that one.”
(On if other players came down with it) – “No. It’s nothing contagious.”
(On why G Billy Turner went to left tackle and not G/T Jermon Bushrod) – “The one thing about doing that is you don’t know unless you’ve actually had to do this, but (Bushrod’s) played right guard since he got here. And to throw him out at left tackle with no reps … it’s just something that, since we’ve been so deep as far as who would play left tackle. We felt like that gave us our best chance.”
(On G Dallas Thomas playing left guard and not C/G Anthony Steen) – “Well, Anthony (Steen) was up just in case. I mean originally when we heard this, I was going, alright, so (Anthony) Steen, I wasn’t even sure was going to be able to go on Sunday and I started making contingency plans in my brain of, alright, so if Dion (Sims) has to play tackle … That’s what I started thinking of because I thought we were going to have six linemen up. Then I went to the trainers and they were like, ‘If something really happened to where he had to go in the game, he can play it’s just he doesn’t have full strength.’ He hadn’t really leaned on guys to test it out to that extreme.”
(On how C Mike Pouncey did) – “Really well. Really well. It was like he was never gone.”
(On saying QB Ryan Tannehill is his quarterback for the rest of year and if quarterback is a different position for him) – “Well, I know when we have 18 drop-back passes and he’s hit or sacked on nine of them, and then the completions we do have, he’s got guys in his face. So I’m supposed to blame him for that? I get a look at the whole picture. I’m calling the plays. I know what it’s supposed to look like and it’s not looking like that right now as far as what’s going on around him. When we start cleaning some things up and we give him a chance to perform at the level that I think he’s going to perform … if he doesn’t do it, that’s one thing. But I need to see to where we get a chance in protection. We’re right on a lot of the other things that we’re supposed to be doing. Everybody is (saying), ‘Is he going to have mistakes?’ Yes, that last interception. I told him before he went out there, I was like, ‘When I call this play, you’re going to have to fit it in.’ He tries to fit it in and he gets jacked to the point where I thought he was going to get his rotator cuff blown out and his knee blown out. And then everybody gets pissed at him. Everybody wants to blame that position. It’s the easy one to do because you can see completion, incompletion, interception. When you hit your back foot and you get sacked, there’s not much you can do about it.”
(On if he feels he can make a decision on QB Ryan Tannehill after 16 games if protection stays like it is) – “I mean that’s so far away right now. I know everybody wants to rush to judgement. I mean we’re five games in. I know this. We’re going to go back to work on Wednesday and then we’re going to figure out a way to get better.”
(On how much protection can get cleaned up this week if you’re getting two guys on the left side back) – “That always helps. The closer we can get to that starting line, the better. Just keep tinkering. My biggest thing for me as a play caller is I have to find what do we do well and then try to emphasize that. There are times we’re doing certain things where I feel like that’s who we are starting to become, and then something will fall off and we have some kind of issue, whether it be protection or somebody running the wrong route or we make a wrong read. The biggest thing for us is we need to kind of separate ourselves as what type of team are we, as far as offensively. It’s been a little bit of a struggle for us. One, we just haven’t had enough plays to really kind emphasize anything.”
(On T Ja’Wuan James not playing good this year) – “To say he’s not good, I think that’s a little extreme. I would say this, if there’s … I don’t want to say 75 because we’re averaging like what 50 (plays per game)? But if there’s 50 plays in a game, he’s having 45 really good plays to where he’s doing things right and then we’re having five rough plays, or five bad plays. It’s just something (that) when you’re at tackle, those five bad plays really stick out. That’s the thing. I know we’ve changed some technique things that we were trying to do with the tackles and some guys, it takes to quicker than others. Some of the things that we’re trying to do with him are different than what he’s done in the past. It’s about sometimes trusting your coaching, trusting the scheme that we’re trying to do and selling out and being all in. Sometimes what happens is when you’re in the middle of the game and bullets are flying, you’re trying to just figure out a way to get the guy blocked. And then you go away from a certain technique, and it’s a group working together, that can put you in a bad spot. That’s what’s happening a couple of times. I know he’s trying to do it right. It’s just we need him to kind of pick up the pace of doing it right all the time.”
(On Titans OLB Derrick Morgan’s sack yesterday) – “He wasn’t the only one messed up on that. Everybody was. I mean, we’re running a slip screen and we’re totally wrong upfront. Everybody. Everybody’s wrong. That was just a full … that was a full bust by everybody.”
(On which units are making progress) – “The one thing I know I was encouraged about was the way that Jay (Ajayi) ran. Even when we had a couple miscues upfront where we had a free runner, he found a way to either make that guy miss or get us to the line of scrimmage. There were a couple times where he got 9 yards on nothing and he made it happen. The fact that I saw a guy that was not allowing somebody else’s mistake become his mistake, he was trying to make something happen. That was big for me. I told him today, I was like, ‘What you did yesterday was outstanding,’ as far as the way his ball security (was) in traffic, the way that he found a way to try to keep us ahead of the sticks. That was very encouraging for me. We did have (Mike) Pouncey being back. We had no issues upfront as far as communication with the Mike (linebacker) points. He played really well. But getting him back, we need to get a little bit of that chemistry going back. At some point, we’d like to get our starting five in there.”
(On whether he has thought about evaluating players from other teams) – “We do that … Every Monday, we come in and we end up having a meeting at night saying, ‘Is there anybody out there? Do we need to make any changes?’ We’re constantly having those discussions. I know (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and his guys in personnel, they’re always looking at other teams’ practice squads. When something comes up, it’s brought up in a discussion and we make the best decisions for us at the time. Every week changes. Every game is another evaluation stage for us (to) figure out where we’re at. Sometimes, injuries come us where guys go up and down on IR (Injured Reserve), PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) – things like that. Eventually, we’re going to have to make some changes, because we’re going to have these guys coming off of PUP.”
(On whether there was a mismatch between WR Jarvis Landry and a linebacker in the first series and what happened there) – “In that formation sometimes when you pressure, you end up getting receivers matched up on linebackers or safeties and things like that. For him, he wasn’t the primary on that one. His progression – if we would’ve been right on a progression – got off of what he wanted to do originally. The way they pressured us, we got some pressure in his face to where he had to get his eyes off it. (We) probably would’ve had a chance if we dump it down to Dion (Sims). Even though it’s under the sticks, we had a chance to run for it. That’s why it takes everybody. It’s not just one guy back there. (If) you lose vision on something – you don’t see what’s going on – all of a sudden you don’t convert.”
(On missed tackles and containing the edge) – “It was probably the worst we’ve had as far as missed tackles. I would think … The thing – for these guys – that ends up happening on defense is when you have missed tackles and then guys start trying to help themselves instead of staying with their assignment and cleaning those types of things up, now all of a sudden you got another guy out of his gap and then it creates another hole. When you got two guys like they have (DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry), who have the ability to see a lot and they can make adjustments and a guy doesn’t fit right, they’re going to find where you screwed up and they’re going to expose you. That’s why you see an 8-, 15-yard run ripped off. That’s usually what happens. It’s hard to block everybody up perfect and find that hole and have an explosive play. A lot of times what happens is when you have explosive runs, it is because somebody misfit the run. We had way too much of that going on yesterday to where one guy is trying to do somebody else’s job to compensate for what happened earlier in the game. Like I said yesterday, it’s one guy putting a finger on the dam to stop the leak and then here comes another one and another one. You can’t do that and then be successful versus the run game, and that was the story of our game yesterday.”
(On how frustrating it is to not fit the runs with eight in the box) – “It’s frustrating for everybody, because you’re trying to take away what everybody knew what they were going to do. But it comes down to doing your assignment right, making sure that you’re fitting it correctly. As a coach, when you’re working on it as much as you do during the week, you want to make sure when you hit the game, you have to do it right. Right now, we’re at that stage where things are being fitted right in practice, and we have to transfer it to the game. It’s about performing under pressure. When the lights come on, we have to make sure that we’re translating practice to the game.”
(On who stood out on defense) – “We have some good, some bad, so it’s hard for me to say one guy who stood out, because we took our turns all over the place. I know Reshad (Jones) always seems to be a guy making a lot of plays, but he has his mistakes, too. But a lot of times his mistakes come from … When you’re at that position, you can gamble. When you’re a player of his caliber, you make that gamble and usually make the play. The problem is when he does miss, it’s usually … It could be really bad, but good thing for him he’s such a great player that he ends up making those plays.”
(On wanting to turn the pass rush loose) – “When you look at the situation that we’ve been in all these games is, the defense has so many plays. It’s one thing to stop the run, but it’s one thing to stop the run for 60 plays or 50 plays. It’s because they’re on the field as much as they are, because we’re not doing what we need to do on offense and we’re behind, so the other team is running the ball and our guys are getting pounded on, and it wears on those guys. Over time, it’s really going to affect us, because we built this thing to where, if we can stop the run early and we get ahead of them, all of a sudden you let those guys do what they do best, which I’d obviously love to see Cam (Wake) pass rush more. I’d love to see Mario (Williams) and (Ndamukong) Suh and ‘J.J.’ (Jason Jones) be able to rush the passer as much as possible. But when you’re down by 10 or 14 or seven (points) for most of the game, now that team is able to stay balanced. It doesn’t put us at our strength.”
(On how the defense can rush the passer more often) – “You keep moving pieces around. You keep trying to figure out a way or a different type of personnel grouping that we want to throw out there. We did it yesterday. We played some different fronts and defenses and had some different guys in there and played some different fronts, trying to find ways to slow down the run. We didn’t do a good job of fitting it up and making plays when we had chances to make plays. (When) we have a free runner through the hole, the defense is designed that way, we have to make the tackle. It really comes down to guys selling out and going fast through there and finishing the play.”
Cameron Wake – October 9, 2016 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Postgame – vs. Tennessee
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (transcribed by Ted Leshinski)
(Cam, the 200-and-something yards rushing that you guys allowed, do you have any idea why that was? Poor tackling or misfits?) – “In order to have that kind of production for them – or lack of production on defense – it was a little bit of everything. It has to be poor tackling. It has to be misfits. It has to be miscommunication. It has to be a lot that goes on to have that kind of day. I’d have to watch the tape, but there’s no way that can happen unless there’s a lot going on.”
(Cam, what is the mindset of this team right now (with) having a team like that come in that you felt like was a good opportunity and come up in the short end? Where are you right now, and how do you guys get out of this rut that you’re in?) – “I felt like it was a great opportunity. Coming into the game, you felt like things were lined up for a great day. One of our main goals on defense was to win first downs. And I’m pretty sure – again, I don’t have the stats or film – but I’m pretty sure they won that battle. When you got a team that’s in front of the sticks going second-and-short, third-and-1, that changes a lot of things that you have as far as the way the team is set up. We on defense, we have to do better from the very beginning. Third downs have been something that we do well, but you got to get to that point first. If we can’t even get to third down situations, then that’s going to be hard on our side of the ball. It takes a lot of different things that obviously need to be fixed in order to get that changed, but it was disappointing to say the least.”
(How about this team as a whole – offensively, defensively, special teams – how do you guys get all on the same page? You still have a long way to go, and if you keep playing this way, it’s going to be a long, hard road for you.) – “Even the first quarter of the season has been tough. I feel like we haven’t played a full complementary football game, yet. There have been spurts where offense has been doing great and there’s been spurts defense, but we have to play with each other. And it can’t be just one quarter. It has to be the entire game. We have to go down there and stop the team and give the ball to the offensive, (so) they can go down and score and then we do it again. That hasn’t happened. So, just getting on the same page, I feel like it … I can assure you, guys are frustrated. Guys are disappointed. Frankly, I hope that everybody is pissed off and uncomfortable with this feeling, because with the kind of guys and kind of team we have, this should not be happening. So doing whatever we can to get it fixed is our number one priority.”
(It seems like you guys – both side of the ball – are still playing hard. Is that what you see from where you stand?) – “I don’t really see effort or guys that are giving up. They stay there and they fight, but it’s not the only part of the game. You’ve got to go in there and you’ve got to be fined turned. You have to have the details correct. You’re straining hard as you can, 100 percent in the wrong gap. That’s not going to help us. Each man has to be on top of his job. Whatever it is – offense, defense, special teams, all of the above – to make sure that you’re doing your job every play all the time or else, as you see in this league obviously, it only takes one guy. It only takes on guy to miss a block on offense, one guy to miss a block on special teams, one guy to not to be in his gap on defense. That play can be detrimental to your team. I feel like, again, the frustrating thing is showing that you can do it. Obviously, we’ve done each thing as a whole, as a team, but doing it together and doing it for 60 minutes has been the trouble.”
(Cam, how do you keep this team mentally focused – pushing, driven – and believing in each other?) – “I haven’t sensed that that has been an issue. Guys have been out there. Guys have been fighting to the last snap (with) effort and (they) want to. I don’t see that as an issue. Now, again, some of the details, obviously, have not been up to the standard that we probably want. Again, 10 guys doing (work) as has hard as they can … Even the eleventh guy, if he’s going at it as hard as he can, but (is) in the wrong direction, offsides –there are a lot of things, obviously – (but) that one thing, one person can ruin the entire play. I don’t think guys are out of it in that sense. It’s the consistency in the details that probably need more attention.”
(Cam, I know injuries are part of the game – I know you don’t want to use them as an excuse – but seven inactive players today were all projected starters. Two linebackers, two offensive lineman. How much of an affect did that have on the game?) – “Football is a violent sport. I, obviously, have recently gone through such things. It’s an unfortunate part of this game. It’s the most violent game I know of. You’re going to have those things happen. But I feel like it’s not like we’re not the only ones playing. They’re out there playing as well, and I’m sure they have injuries that maybe could help them. To me, at the end of the day, it all ends up evening back out. Your second guy up maybe has to play against their second guy up, and you have to win that battle. There are no chumps. There are no bums that put on jerseys on Sunday, whether you’re first, second or third team. It doesn’t matter. You’re the best at what you do on the planet. You got to go in and you got to achieve and step up to the same level as the guy you replaced. That to me is nowhere near an excuse. When your number is called, you got to go in and get your job done.”
(Cam, how does losing affect you now maybe in comparison to very early in your career?) – “I hate it as much as my first high school game, the first time I lost. (It is) the same pain, the same disgust, same fury. It boils inside of you. It doesn’t get any easier. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced it too many times. I still don’t like it. Poop still tastes the same, I’m sure, no matter if it’s the first time you’ve had it or the fifth time or seventh.”n?
DeVante Parker – October 9, 2016 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Postgame – vs. Tennessee
Miami Dolphins WR DeVante Parker (transcribed by Jason D. Silver)
(What happened on the interception?) “Which interception?”
(The one that was behind you?) – “Just behind a little bit, kind of bobbled it. Said I didn’t catch it but, I caught an interception.”
(Are frustrated right now about how this offense has been?) – “I’m just, I don’t know what I’m frustrated about. I’m just frustrated that we need a win. That’s it, just get the Ws.”
(How do you feel like you are playing right now?) – “I think I’m playing pretty good. When they call the ball for me I just got to make the plays, but as a whole we just got to pull out the W.
(You think maybe if they went to you more this offense might be better?) – “I’m not sure. I just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens.”
Jakeem Grant – October 9, 2016 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Postgame – vs. Tennessee
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Jakeem Grant (transcribed by Renzo Sheppard)
(Obviously, the moment that you’ve been waiting for, for a while?) – “Yes, it’s definitely a moment I’ve been waiting for. But like I said, the return would feel much better if we came out with the W.”
(Can you describe the feeling of crossing the end zone with the touchdown for you?) – “It felt great. It felt really good. But like I said previously, it would’ve felt a lot better if we got the W.”
(You got a little dinged up in the first half.) – “(I) just got rolled up on my ankle. I came back in, because I felt like if I would’ve stayed out, I would’ve been letting my team down. That’s just how I am. I’m going to push through anything I can to help the team out.”
Ndamukong Suh – October 9, 2016 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Postgame – vs. Tennessee
Miami Dolphins Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh (transcribed by Renzo Sheppard)
(The run defense allowed 235 yards, what happened out there?) – “It comes down to tackling and execution. I think it’s as simple as that. We didn’t accomplish those two things. They have two great running backs and we didn’t shut them down.”
(What do you think of this season right now, 1-4 with a lot of football to play. What do you think of this team right now, overall big picture?) – “We’re in a tough situation, like you said, 1-4. But there’s a lot of football left. We’ve got two more home games before our bye. We need to finish out strong and get prepared for the Steelers.”
(It seemed like last week you were getting outside run support and today they were able to get outside and attack the corner on the defense, why were they able to do that? – “I’m honestly not particularly sure, because the most of the time I’m dealing with double teams working in the middle where my space is. Obviously I understand when the ball is getting to our edge, I’ve got to rally and get over there to help get the running back down. But I’d have to go back and look at the film to give you a better answer.”
(What do you guys have to do overall as a defense? Do individual guys need to look in the mirror and say you need to do a better job or is it as a unit that you guys need to tighten up) – “I think as a unit, we just have to focus on the task that we have at hand. (We) understand that stopping the run is going to be very, very important, no matter who the game is (against), whether it’s two good running backs that we just played against or an average running back. We’ve got to stop the run and make each and every team we play against a one-dimensional team so we can rush the passer and put them in tough situations, put them in long-yard situations and go from there.”
(You had no sacks and almost no pressure on (Marcus) Mariota, was it because they were running the ball so successfully?) – “Yes, no question. I mean they ran the ball very well and if I were them, I wouldn’t stop doing that. You can run the clock out and also put up points.”
(As a defense or as a team, do you see progress being made or do you see you guys being stuck in the mud right now?) – “I think we’ve just got to execute and focus on the things we’ve got to get done. We’re going into the Steelers week and we’ve got to focus on the task that we have here and get prepared.”
