Xavien Howard – August 21, 2016
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Sunday, August 21, 2016
Cornerback Xavien Howard
(On how it felt to put the pads on during pregame even though he didn’t play on Friday night) – “It’s just exciting to be back to football again.”
(On what he gained from being on the sideline on Friday night) – “A lot of mental reps, just seeing what the older guys were doing and learning from them.”
(On how excited he is to be cleared medically and back practicing) – “It’s exciting to be back with the guys and get back to it.”
(On how much he feels his injury has been a setback to him) – “I wouldn’t call it a setback. I’d just say it’s a learning process that I went through and I’m just learning from it.”
(On when he noticed that something was wrong) – “I think the next day after it. I got undercut and I felt it and I went to the training room and we did an MRI on it.”
(On how much he was able to keep up with the defense even though he wasn’t practicing) – “I stayed on the side with the coaches so everything they were doing, I was into it.”
(On where he is at physically) – “I feel like I got better. My leg is better and it’s going to improve when I go out there.”
(On how excited he will be to play in a game) – “I’m very excited to get into a game.”
(On what it was like to be dressed but not playing on Friday night in Dallas) – “I just couldn’t explain the feeling. It was my first NFL game (and I was) excited, cheering guys on.”
(On what he thought about AT&T Stadium) – “I played there before in college so I was used to it.”
(On what his expectations are for himself these next two weeks) – “Learn from the older guys (and) get on the field and contribute any possible way I can.”
(On if he expects to play Thursday night against Atlanta) – “No, sir.”
(On if he is going to sit out the rest of the preseason) – “No. I should play the fourth preseason game.”
(On if he is going to be ready for the regular season) – “Yes, sir. (I have) no doubt.”
(On the veterans looking forward to having him on the field) – “I’m going to contribute the best way I can.”
Mario Williams – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Defensive End Mario Williams (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
(On the loss) – You never want to come out here and lose in this fashion. It’s preseason. There are a lot of things we need to work on and these next two games for us are going to be preparing for Seattle.
(On the team’s cohesion) – I think we’re all good right now. There are little details that we need to iron out and we’ll be ready for the first game of the season.
Jarvis Landry, August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
(On Ryan Tannehill) – Ryan is a trooper out there. He’ll take hits and he’s still standing there throwing the ball. To have a quarterback like that means a lot for this team.
Kenny Stills – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Kenny Stills (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
(On the two “laser” throws from Tannehill) – The deep ball on the run was a great throw. The first touchdown was a great throw; the second one was a great throw. He was on the money, today. We’ve just got to continue to build on that and try to come out of these games with some wins.
(On Tannehill finding a rhythm with Kenny as the game progressed) – It’s the preseason. We’re all out there working, trying to get on the same page and clean up the little details. It wasn’t perfect but the series that we were in – I thought that we did alright, so we’ve just got to build on that next week.
(On if he knew how much he was going to play) – He just told us to go in expecting to play the whole game and they would take us out when they were ready.
Isaiah Pead – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Running Back Isaiah Pead (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
(On the game) – It went good. Bad things. Good things. This we can learn from. Of course you would like to end it with a victory but this is what times like this are for.
(On his performance) – I got a couple of lanes up front. The line did a good job, flowing with the defense, getting hats on hats. That leaves it up to me to pick a hole and hit it.
(This is the second week in a row he’s gotten some space in the open field. Is he getting more comfortable with the offense?) – Yeah, definitely. I’ve been here since springtime learning Coach Gates’ offense. It’s all about being patient and taking it one snap at a time and making reads. Not making cuts in your head. Take what you’ve got.
Adam Gase – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
(On not the kind of preseason game he wanted, what were the lessons learned)
“As far as execution, I felt we had to get our offense going. From defense we were trying to clean up a few things, and we pulled off that first group and got the second group in, and that kind of just carried on. As far as offense, those guys wanted to stay in and go through some of the kinks we were going through. I thought those were some positive steps on those guys understanding on where we were in the game, and that we needed improvement on it.”
(On issues with defense)
“We need to clean up some of our run game, and make sure we are on the same page and do our job right. It’s one of those experiences you have in preseason sometimes. In my experience this happens and I’ve been apart of it quite a few times. It seems that in preseason games, when things start poking their head, and we have to clean this up quick, because we have a season coming up. We have some things to clean up.”
(On QB Matt Moore)
“I saw him at halftime, it was a brief conversation. I haven’t had a chance to go back and talk to him.”
(On his thoughts on the hit made on Matt Moore)
“Sometimes it’s just football. It’s a split second decision the guy’s got to make. He was sliding, and it’s hard when you are knocked down in that position. I wish that guy was able to pull off, but that’s what happens. We do have rules to protect guys when they’re defenseless, but sometimes it’s a split second decision, where the guy makes his own decision.”
(On the group of offense that played in the second quarter and came back after the half)
“We were debating on whether or not we wanted to take those guys out, but I think they felt like that first serious didn’t go well as we planned. We ended up not scoring on that second drive. So, those guys wanted to make sure we finished this thing the right way. They wanted to be aggressive as far as trying to get down there and put some more points on the board.”
(On starting G, Laremy Tunsil and G Jermon Bushrod)
“Thinking about what we wanted to do from an evaluation process. We went through it last week and Billy (Turner) obviously played more than Dallas (Thomas) that last game. We’ve been mixing those lineups in practice and this was a good test to throw those two guys out there and measure everybody against each other. Next week we will go back after watching this film and re-evaluate and see where we’re at heading into the Atlanta game. Hopefully that evaluation will be a little cleaner for us.”
(On RB Isaiah Pead)
“Every time he gets in a game, he seems to pop them. I’ve been very impressed with him. He’s tried to do every little thing right. He’s one of those guys, who’s always at the right place at the right time, whether it be on the field or off the field for us, and when he gets in the game, I’m thinking call plays for him and try to give him a chance to show his skill set. I try to get him in there with the ones a little bit, and he had another explosive play today. It just seems like when he gets in there, whether a run game or pass game he just seems to make it happen.”
(On picking up the tempo of the offense after two touchdown drives)
“I wasn’t really looking for that. I do like picking up the tempo sometimes. Their calling up plays and their calling them up quick and those guys were starting to line up and it was good for us and our guys to see how tired a defense might get, and the drive goes on and you take advantage of it. Our guys won’t understand what this offense can do if a defense as far as far as a fatigue factor, until they really get into a game and play a full first half and have another 30 minutes left.”
(On this loss being a good learning opportunity)
“Absolutely! Anytime we are in the preseason, the whole thing is a learning experience. Whether you are a coach or a player or front office personnel. For me I learn 25 new things, whether it be about a quarterback or a receiver, or a line, what’s good to call, what’s not, situation with the guys up in the box. Our players are in the same category. I bet you they learned tons tonight. What can we do, and what can’t we do. Players kind of learn about, who are we playing with and where they kind of fit in with that group. How do they play off each other. It’s a good learning experience. It’s tough when you get drummed like this, but sometimes in the NFL this happens and it’s how your respond. The good thing for us is we get to play next week.”
Ndamukong Suh – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
On team tackling and how the team plans to improve:
“Just practice. Understanding, cover our feet. Focus on the things that are technical to get the ball carrier on the ground. … Really that is what preseason is for. We hope we don’t have to do it as much or have as much inconsistency. We are in that situation, so we just have to take care of it.”
On how it felt working with this defense:
“Pretty good. I think I played halfway decent out there. At the en0d of the day we will have to go and watch the film. I am sure there are corrections of my own to take care of. And go from there.”
On stopping the run, and challenges today:
“The main thing is tackling, and coming down and making plays. People shooting their gap and kind of go from there. I feel like today, we just couldn’t get the ball carrier on the ground, and that allowed them to go further and extend the play.”
On playing with Mario Williams tonight:
Yes, it is always nice to get out there with your teammates and be able to be out there with a guy I am probably going to be playing a lot next to. It is a good opportunity for us to get a good feel for each other.
Ryan Tannehill – August 19, 2016
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Friday, August 19, 2016
Postgame – at Dallas
Miami Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Tannehill (transcribed by the Dallas Cowboys)
On returning to the field in the second quarter with 4:00 to go:
“We just wanted to go out and keep playing. We asked as soon as we came off the field from the drive before. You want one more? Yeah, we want one more. I just feel like, after last week, just having two short drives, we really needed to get another series in. It was good for us, offensively, to have those reps and have another successful drive.”
On Kenny Stills (WR, #10):
“He does a lot of good things. I feel like our receivers have different strengths. You have Jarvis [Landry] good in the slot, can play outside as well, strong hands, good at creating tight catches and catching tight balls. Kenny [Stills] has the speed, you saw it on the long one, just to separate, get by guys down the field. He’s just growing. He’s growing as a complete receiver, able to run every route that we have. DeVante [Parker] is a physical talent, can run, he’s strong and physical at the top of the route. I feel like those guys all compliment each other in a way that we can play to their strengths.”
“I think Kenny has been one of the hardest workers this off season. It started back in March. He came to me and was willing to do anything that I asked him to do. That’s just been consistent since that time. He’s been steady working since March. Working on his hands. Working on catching the ball away from his body. Route running. Being crisp at the top of routes. It’s just carried over. He has consistently gotten better this whole off season. He is continuing to make those strides. I’m excited about the season he is going to have.”
“Kenny has always been a worker. That’s one of the things I like about him. Since he came in, he’s been a worker and willing to jump on board with anything. Just his aggressiveness and how direct he was with wanting to be better, watching tape, spending time with me, spending time with film together. It’s just important to him. You could tell early on in March that he really wanted to make big strides this year, and I think it is paying off for him.”
On the protection from the offensive line:
“Other than the one time I got hit, we had great protection all night. I was able to go through my reads, get to number three in check downs. That makes all the difference in the world, when you can get through your reads and when they do play good coverage down the field to be able to move around a little bit, get outside the pocket, get to your backs late, it really opens things up for us. And we got some big plays from it. I was really happy with those guys and how they performed tonight.”
On having additional weapons in the offense:
“It huge. We are going to target Jarvis a lot and we are going to target Kenny a lot and we are going to target DeVante. When you have three really explosive talented playmakers, it makes it tough for them to take away one guy. There were some reps today when they were trying to double Jarvis and create some one-on-one matchups in other places. When you have three really good receivers plus talented tight ends it makes it tough for them to take away one guy and handicap you. So, a lot of space and matchups we like.”
On the hit sustained by Matt Moore, and whether it was “dirty”:
“I wouldn’t call it dirty. Obviously it was illegal. He’s clearly going down and the guy led with his helmet. I am not going to call it dirty, but definitely illegal. And you hate to see that happen at any point, especially in a preseason game. I am glad he is going to be alright, but I hated to see that.
On Arian Foster:
“It’s nice. I think he wanted to get out there and just kind of into the flow of things, get some reps. It was good to have him out there. I think having him on the field is good for us. Just having that veteran presence out there. And it is good for the zone read game. It is going to be good for us to have him out there this year.”
