Bradley Chubb – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins LB Bradley Chubb
(It seems like the general consensus is that you guys are excited to go out across the pond. Can you just talk about this trip on the journey for you guys?) – “Yeah, for sure man. It’s an opportunity to expand the game that I love, that I’ve been playing since I was 6 years old. Kids in Germany are going to have the same opportunity here in the near future, so it’s dope to be a part of that. Yes, it’s a hassle to travel over there and all that type of stuff, but hey, it’s an opportunity to, like I said, expand the game, put us on a global platform and just got to make the most of it.”
(You get a sack, CB Jalen Ramsey interception, LB Jaelan Phillips also a sack. All these things that are happening, your defensive unit finally feels together even though you’re still missing a couple pieces. What does that mean that the defense has been able to give the performance they did today?) – “It’s very encouraging. It’s very encouraging starting to get into our wind, starting to get into our flow, starting to understand what (Defensive Coordinator) Vic (Fangio) expects from us. He’s starting to see – putting us in the best position, seeing what we can and cannot do as players and as a team. I feel like that gel is starting to come together, and once we get all the pieces back that we need, the sky’s the limit for us. Injuries are going to happen, so you can’t really get caught up in this guy’s not here, this guy’s not here. It’s just everybody upholding the standard that we got, and we just got to keep it going.”
(It shows that the offense can make big plays, but the defense on its own – you guys are making these big plays. What does that continue to say that, hey, we’re out here, too?) – “Yeah, we here, too, and the offense knows that and we play together off that. Whenever they have a bad drive, we can’t go out there and do the same thing. It’s complementary football that’s been working for us these past couple weeks and unfortunately we dropped one last week, but we bounced back and did the exact thing we needed to do this week without all the distractions, without everything going on. It’s cool to see how we’re playing complementary football as a team, and that’s what we’re going to need when – like I said, we trying to get to where we want to go, that’s what we’re going to need. When we are down, they got to be up and vice versa. When we’re all on, it’s going to be beautiful.”
Jaylen Waddle – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle
(QB Tua Tagovailoa with that pass to you broke the franchise record and the person who held it before was Dan Marino. What does that say to you about Tua in general in being able to bring out these performances out, breaking records for the franchise?) – “He’s the guy, he’s the franchise quarterback who continues to make plays like that for our team, so he’s our guy.”
(You got the Chiefs in Germany, what’s the mindset turning to that this week?) – “You know, go out there, adjust the time change. It’s going to be a little different from our schedule. Just go out there and compete. You know, play our game, it’s going to be different. It’s just a different setting, really. It’s going to be four quarters of hard-nosed football. Great teams, great organizations. It’s going to be a good task.”
(You already packed up?) – “Sort of, kind of. I got a little bit more packing. You know, I’m trying to debate, do I want to bring this, that. Heard it’s cold out there.”
(How much daunting is this turn around? You got to get on a plane tomorrow and go to Germany.) – “Yeah, kind of like the last second. They kind of like dawned on me, you know. ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill0 was talking to me on the sideline saying we got a long trip tomorrow. I mean, we’ve got a long trip to go. So it’s something we’ve got to think about, but got to be thankful.”
Jaelan Phillips – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 29, 2023
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips
(You have a teammate in Tyreek Hill. 1,000 yards in eight games… You’re shaking your head already.) – “He’s just different, bro. He’s almost automatic. It’s like he’s a guy who’s going to go out there every single game and make plays and just to have something that’s reliable, it definitely gives us a lot of confidence knowing that even if we’re down, even if we’re struggling on defense, we have guys who can pick us up.”
(What was it like to watch your offense work, especially that third-and-1, took a little bit of, a little bit of stones to call?) – “I mean, that’s what they do. That’s what they do. So, I mean, it’s fun to see, you know, every week just to see what they have, see what plays they’re going to run, see the moments like that, you know, how Mike’s (McDaniel) going to react. It’s just, I love this team, man. I love watching them ball out.”
(What have you seen of Bradley these past few weeks?) – “Man, he’s just been stepping up. I mean, Bradley’s a guy, man. He comes in every single day. He works his ass off. Extremely talented, but humble as ever. You know, beginning of the season, he kind of felt like he was in a little bit of a dry rut. You know, he wasn’t getting a ton of plays, ton of sacks and things like that. But I mean, three games in a row with a sack. He’s really stepping up. And I’m just proud of him, man. I love seeing that.”
Tua Tagovailoa – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 29, 2023
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
Q. How are you excited about this bounce-back performance this week, preparing for Kansas City next week?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, we’re excited to come off with a win. It’s tough to sweep any team in your division. Again, a Bill Belichick-coached team to tough to beat anytime, anyplace, anywhere, so I’m proud of those guys. Right now we’re just going to enjoy this victory, and we’ll watch the film, learn from what we can get better at, and then we’ll focus on our next opponent.
Q. You say it’s tough to beat, but you have never lost to them. It’s not tough for you to beat.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It’s tough. It’s tough. You know, if you look at a lot of the games, none of them were just runaway games. They were almost all to the end. To me, those are always tough games. You know if you turn the ball over the way I have, it makes it a tough game, and you keep those guys in that game and you can’t keep a team like that in a game like that. It’s tough, but we were able to overcome a lot of obstacles and challenges. Our defense, I think our defense did a tremendous job, as well, giving us many opportunities.
Q. We’ve talked a lot this season about the short motion that you, WR Tyreek Hill and all the other pass catchers, but today it seemed like it opened up WR Jaylen Waddle’s last touchdown. Was that something you saw on film that you could kind of bring back as a wrinkle to the offense?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: In a way, yes, but that was one of those plays where it was just a miscommunication from their defense and that was basically the premier look even if they did cover it with what we wanted for that play.
Q. They scored on fourth down to cut it to seven. Probably your best drive of the day might have been the last drive. Talk about the importance of what’s the mindset going out there, they got it to seven, we can’t do a three-and-out here. We’ve got only just put a drive together but soak up clock. Talk about that last drive.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it’s important for us offensively when it’s a one-score game to go out and basically not poop the bed, if you will. It’s to go out and execute at a high level. We want to always end the game with the ball if we can, but in that sort of scenario, we were looking for points, as well. Any which way we could do that, that’s what we were trying to do. We were able to do that.
Q. What do you think of the overall potential of this team having Jalen Ramsey back and pretty soon you will get some other guys back off IR?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I mean, it’s awesome to be able to have that guy out there. It was one of the coolest walk-outs I’ve seen from any Miami Dolphin player since I’ve been here when he just walked out through the smoke and did his deal and the crowd went wild. And then to top it off, he got an interception. He got a forced fumble. All of those things. The hype is real when it comes to someone like Jalen Ramsey. The defense rallies around each other. Those guys have been playing really well off each other. But having someone like him back in the lineup is definitely going to help those guys go.
Q. You’re one of the best in the league at bouncing back from a pick with a scoring drive following that —
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Did we score after I threw a pick? We did?
Q. Late in the first quarter..
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yes, we like those. No interceptions, but touchdowns, we like those.
Q. What happened on the pick?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it was not a good read. I think they did a really good job disguising what they ran. I think it was almost like a double hook, having No. 2 as the deep third player, and it was basically cover three if you look at it with where everyone was, and I basically threw it to the hook defender and you can’t do that. That’s what happened. But I’m proud of our guys for rallying back, and we continued to play. There were three quarters left to play, and we finished.
Q. Talk about that challenge to you today. They historically are — Belichick is very good at throwing those different looks and I’m sure you were ready for that coming in, but talk about that as a challenge, that they did it on the pick. Talk about just the different looks that you had to see, had to deal with. They were sending some blitzes, coming in on you quick.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, the challenge with the different looks is really they’re just presenting that for themselves. For us, we have rules, and if it’s one high, two high, sometimes we can work this side, sometimes we can work that side. If all is sort of — okay, I’m not too sure where to start, then you stick with your rules. All right, it’s probably going to look like this, probably going to look like this off of these looks, and then you work through your progression from there. I wouldn’t say it’s always a gotcha deal every time, but it is something that we have been practicing, as far as maybe this isn’t the look we’re going to get, let’s practice looks we’re probably not going to get and then we work from there.
Q. Were you using the tendencies that you’ve seen from J.C. Jackson from Week 1 when he was on the Chargers —
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Not necessarily. I think with how Coach Belichick plays his guys, it’s a little different because it’s not necessarily J.C. I’m looking at, it’s more so the guys on the top end with who has to cover someone like Tyreek. When Tyreek is pressed, I think everyone in here would probably agree it’s not a good idea to not have someone over the top of him. The way Coach Belichick played it, I think was to try to take that off of Tyreek, but with a lot of our back turned actions and it’s the quarter side to that side, it makes it tough for the safety because he also has a run fit responsibility, but he also has to help with that. Outside leverage with J.C., he’s inside leverage, and if you don’t get a hit on Tyreek, the timing of it makes it tough.
Q. There was a fourth down play where you took off up the middle of the field and got it. What was going through your mind as that play developed –
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, football is fun. I don’t really run. That’s why. So football is fun. So when I did run, it was fun.
Q. You’ve got a plane ride coming up tomorrow. What are your travel essentials that you want to bring with you so Germany?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I’m just trying to go to sleep on that flight. I’m just trying to find ways to go to sleep. I think they said it was a nine-hour flight, so trying to find any which way I can go to sleep, and as we get there, try to get adjusted.
Q. Have you ever been to Europe?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think London. We went to London. But outside of that, nope.
Tyreek Hill – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 29, 2023
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
Q. First of all what are your thoughts on what you saw from CB Jalen Ramsey today…?
TYREEK HILL: It’s crazy. Dude literally called his shot. He was like, look, I’m going to catch a pick in this game, and bro, he’s next level. I’m just so glad I’m not playing against the guy no more because the edge and just everything that he brings, man, the mentality is next level. You feel me? It’s dope to see him back doing it already, like forcing fumbles and just locking down the whole side. I like that. It’s dope to see it. For him to add that to his story, it’s even better. That makes it even better.
Q. That last scoring drive they had suddenly got it down to a one-score game. You guys seemed in control. What was the mindset? What was said in that huddle what you guys needed to do?
TYREEK HILL: Man, the mindset is always to keep the ball any way that we can. Tua does a great job of reminding us that. The mentality, man, it’s always about mentality. Like the ball is thrown your way, doesn’t matter if one guy is on you, two guys are on you, three guys are on you, make a play. If you’re not getting the ball, block for your teammate or do whatever you can so that way we put ourselves in position to get yards and move the ball forward. That was a really good last drive by us.
Q. You hit 1,000 yards, eight games, first player in the Super Bowl era to do that. You’re on pace for 2,000.
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, man, it feels great. God is great. I’ve been calling my shot since I came in the league. A lot of people doubted me saying I couldn’t do this and do that, but it’s all about believing in yourself. That’s the one thing my mom and dad always taught me. Here I am today. I’m very blessed, very thankful to be in this position and no greater day to do it. I have my kids here today, so no greater day to do it.
Q. Seems like you obviously make an impact catching the ball, but on WR Jaylen Waddle’s touchdown catch at the end, you kind of drew everyone to you. How gratifying is it to open stuff up for your teammates, too, and still be involved in that way?
TYREEK HILL: It feels great. It feels great to be a decoy. Obviously I was kind of mad that Jalen didn’t do the touchdown celebration that we had planned, but for him to get in the end zone and be a part of that, it goes to show that Coach Belichick, he has a lot of respect for you. If a coach has that much respect for me, man, I must be doing something right.
Q. Did Raheem Mostert settle that he’s a faster speed walker than you?
TYREEK HILL: It’s crazy, I’ve just got bad hips. That’s why I’m not a good speed walker. That’s why he won the race.
Q. Was it just cramps when you went down?
TYREEK HILL: No, it wasn’t no cramps.
Q. The celebration I’m talking about —
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re talking about. (laughter)
Q. Have you been to Germany before?
TYREEK HILL: I have never been to Germany. I’m looking forward to it. Obviously we’re playing against the Chiefs, so it’s going to be a fun game to see some old faces, and yeah, just get after it, talk trash to my old quarterback.
Q. Obviously it’s only been two years since you’ve been in Miami, but how would you compare these two years of your career, who you’ve been these two years of your career compared to the first few years of your career there in Kansas City?
TYREEK HILL: I just know a whole lot more now. Obviously when you come into the league you’re trying to find where you fit and understand how the game is played, but now I’ve been able to learn from other veterans in the past locker room that I was in and apply it here. I know a whole lot more now, whether it’s doing stuff off the field or just being in the locker room with the guys, trying to be a leader in that aspect. I am light years ahead of where I was back then, and you know what, everything happens for a reason, so here I am today.
Q. You and Tua weren’t able to hook up on that one series and that resulted in the interception, but you came right back and had the touchdown on the next series. Can you take us through the touchdown and also you went right to the bench after that. It looked like there was no celebration?
TYREEK HILL: You know what, our coach, he does a great job of setting plays up, so me and Tua had obviously talked about how their safeties play, and we run so many in cuts that the safeties try to drive our in cuts. It was just a situation where me and Tua just had a conversation about, hey, these guys are sitting, and once you do your play action fakes, the corner is even driving. Tua did a fantastic job of selling the fake, the corner and the safety bit up, and the rest was history, and the celebration, I’m just tired of these fines. The NFL, they fine me so much. They’ve been finding small ways to fine me. They even tried to fine me for my shirt today, and I’m like, what’s going on with that. I don’t want to be a part of no NFL fine list no more for the rest of the year. I’m sick of it.
Q. Can you talk about what this week is going to be like for you going up against the Chiefs — what kind of emotions do you think you’ll have, how you’re preparing your self for it?
TYREEK HILL: I’m ready, man. It’s just another game. I’m just excited to play against my old brothers. It’s just like if you’re in high school and you move to a different city, it’s still ball. At the end of the day, my job is to go out there and do what I’ve been doing all year, and that’s have fun, help lead this team, and create opportunities for whoever. I’m still going to be the same old Cheetah, baby.
Q. You went back to the Kansas City look Tyreek. What was the motivation behind that?
TYREEK HILL: I just had to let KC know, whenever they see me, it’s going to be problems, because old ‘Reek,’ yeah, he was hell, so I’m back. The Cheetah is back.
Q. What do you think of going to Germany instead of going to Arrowhead?
TYREEK HILL: I was kind of pissed about it, man, because obviously I’ve got so many friends, I’ve got family there. One of my sons is there. Just the energy, man, feeling that energy in Arrowhead would have been next level, but obviously I understand that the NFL, they want to be more global and they want to send two of the best offenses over there, two MVP quarterbacks, dynamic offenses, and it’s going to be a good game. It’s really good promotion for them. But going back to Arrowhead, it would have been sensational.
Mike McDaniel – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 29, 2023
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. This week is the same exact score as last week. What was different that you all did for this week to prepare for this victory today?
MIKE McDANIEL: We changed it up from last week and it appears we scored more points than the opponent, so that was good. Overall, I couldn’t — this is a really, really cool win just for the team. It’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve been able to beat a division opponent twice. You get a great litmus test of where you’re at as a football team when you have a division game, and then on top of that, you’re going overseas the next week, and on top of that you have Hard Knocks the week after. That is leading the league in potential distractions. I knew we were going to find out a lot about our team today, and I could care less about what their record is. That is a tough team to go against. They made their plays. They made it very difficult. But 100 percent our guys weren’t looking at anything but today, which is why we were able to be victorious because if we would have been half-hearted in anything we did, we would have lost that game for sure. So I’m very proud, and the reason why the scores were different was because we diligently went back to work, didn’t waste any time talking about all sorts of things like why we lost or try to point fingers, call out a ref or something. None of that was occurring in our building. We went to work and worried about the details and fundamentals of our individual jobs, and collectively were satisfied – were less satisfied with the outcome, so very happy.
Q. How did Jalen Ramsey do?
MIKE McDANIEL: Well, he totally disappointed me. He called that he was going to come back and have a pick six, not a pick field goal. (laughter) He did phenomenal. You want to talk about something that goes above and beyond, like you can’t manufacture what he brought to our team in any other way. His play, but the commitment it took to play in that game, everybody witnessed firsthand. You want to talk about not wanting to let someone down as a teammate, that was a special thing to be a part of, to watch his journey, unwavering conviction from I think it was July 27 or 28, the moment he got hurt with that mindset, telling his teammates, ‘hey, just hold it down, I’m going to come back, and I’m going to beat whatever timetable by a month.’ That’s immediately what his mindset was. We never gave him a timetable, and then he ended up telling me last time we played the Patriots, during the game, on the field, that he was coming back for this game. I shared that with the team this last week. It was awesome to be a part of, and I think it speaks to the locker room. You don’t do all that if you’re not yearning to play with these people that you just started to become a teammate with. Big part of the reason why we won is that collective nature that he epitomized.
Q. That last scoring drive they cut it to one score. You have a couple big third downs, I think the pass to Tyreek at the 50-yard line was a 3rd down and then obviously the touchdown wide open. Not just for this game, but how big is that as far as a growth thing?
MIKE McDANIEL: You want to talk – between Tua and Tyreek, that third down in particular was unbelievable. We were hot. His timing of that route, he sped it up. He went faster than you should because they ran zero, and for them to make that play, those are what big-time players do in big-time games. This was big for us, a home game against a division opponent, and it’s awesome to be a part of. Both those guys wanted to win the game. If there was any sort of timeout, I think in the second half, a stoppage of play I should say, Tyreek was looking at me trying to get eye contact, which I know exactly what that means. Tua was locked in, didn’t have ebbs and flows, up and down. He was able to make plays after being frustrated, which has been one of the reasons he has had success or that much more success this season, is he’s learned in such a short period of time how to be critical of yourself but not handcuff yourself, as well, because if you’re self-lashing for a series or a quarter, you’re not going to like the results of your play. I’m very, very proud of where he’s at. He was laser focused. The last touchdown drive was phenomenal. The last touchdown – Tyreek was in jet motion and they tried to go in and out on the fly. Long story short, it was zero, and Tua hung on to the ball longer than he usually does because he saw it all. You have to be of clear mind in those points of the game to make those type of plays, and it was one of the better defensive game plans that I’ve really ever gone against. The Patriots had an unbelievable plan to really kind of try to bottle us in and guys were able to make plays in key situations, which was always fun to be around.
Q. You mentioned that jet motion on the touchdown. It seems like this season we’ve talked about the short motion, but it seems like you may have brought back that jet motion —
MIKE McDANIEL: It wasn’t getting enough headlines, so we had to run it more to get headlines. (laughter) No, I think that there’s reasons for everything. Specifically we knew in the game we were going to have a couple more of those for this game. We typically have them every week, but it’s part of our DNA. We pre-snap motion to gain advantages for ourselves, but you have to be super detailed to be able to do that at a high rate, with snap counts, motion landmarks, and it takes 100 percent commitment from all those guys to be able to get that done, and it can be more difficult for the defense to stop if you’re executing and taking advantage of things like that and you have players that can do stuff like that.
Q. The back-to-back injuries you had with OL Rob Hunt and T Kendall Lamm, didn’t go to OL Connor Williams, were you concerned at that point that – you were down four linemen on the season. Why didn’t Connor see the field?
MIKE McDANIEL: It was a protective measure. He was able to play. We were worried about the ramifications if he did play over the course of a four-quarter game. We had him there in case a catastrophe happened and we were close to that, or if we had to shuffle. There was a couple variables where we might have to shuffle Liam out of the center position if certain people got hurt, so we had a plan of that. Hat goes off to Butch Barry and Frank Smith and the whole group because nobody panicked. We were prepared for the moment. That’s what I’ve been saying from preseason on is we were very fortunate to have really good players and some depth at the position. I have a lot of faith in those guys. They’ll only get better with more reps. It’s very hard to come into a game in the National Football League off the bench, particularly it’s like a quarterback where you go 0 to 60, but we have the right people to do it, and I’ll look forward to seeing whatever offensive linemen we have this next week and coming up with a game plan and watching them execute it.
Q. You guys are obviously traveling to Germany tomorrow. What was the thought process behind getting there early versus practicing at home and getting there later in the week?
MIKE McDANIEL: There’s so many people that haven’t been to Germany and I kind of wanted to get settled and have a post-Tuesday – so Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – that was more routine as well as I didn’t want people – you have a player day off, why don’t you use that to see the sights as opposed to getting there late. I was kind of nervous about people trying to cram in sightseeing. I think it provides an opportunity to go as a team, spend time together, spend the player day off together, and further cement some memories for us to hold on to as we progress on this journey with this team. That was kind of my thought process behind it. There’s some science stuff that I won’t bore you. Don’t call me on that because I can’t – it was like back from May or April when we made this decision, so I can’t really remember the science.
Q. I wanted to ask you about T Terron Armstead. I know he’s eligible to come back this week. You always had a high opinion of him and trust in his body of where he is. Is he going to be practicing to play or practicing to get back into football shape?
MIKE McDANIEL: Well, I know he’s going to be practicing talking my ear off because I can already feel it looming, but that’s a decision that with the information that Kyle (Johnston) and his staff provide, Chris (Grier) and I will make a decision on. It involves other players on the roster. But I will tell you this: Just turn a camera on me. He’ll be right here being like, really selling that – that’s a cool thing about the locker room we have. Guys want to play with each other and for each other. We’ll be handling that as an organization next week. Today we got a huge important division win, so we’ll ride that out until sunset today and worry about Germany tomorrow.
Jalen Ramsey – October 29, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 29, 2023
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
Q. How do you feel? First game with the Dolphins success?
JALEN RAMSEY: It felt good. Don’t get it twisted, I’m happy I had an interception, but I definitely don’t want that to be the storyline. I just want to talk about how we got a good hard-fought division win. My success, it comes from the preparation that I put in and the team around me. It’s not just me. I work really hard during the week to prepare myself to feel like Jalen Ramsey and it’s just a product of it. But it was a great, hard-fought win for the team, so that was dope.
Q. What were some of the emotions that were flowing through your body or your mind as your knee was returning? Was it ultimately always your goal to return for this game or what was the timetable for you?
JALEN RAMSEY: Emotions, a lot of them. But mainly just extremely thankful, extremely grateful. God has blessed me. He continues to blessed me and he continues to show me so much grace and mercy, even when I don’t deserve it. I’m just super thankful that I have praying friends and family around me, and God just puts me in situations to be able to show who I am and thrive and worship him out there on the field. I just felt all of those emotions running. The timeline changed so many different times, honestly, but it got to a certain point where I kind of circled this game. When I put my mind to certain things, I just go for it all out, and I feel like your mind is so powerful that you can kind of will the rest of your body to heal quicker or get back strong enough or whatever you’ve got to do. So yeah, I circled this game a little while ago, and then the whole staff, coaches, trainers, weight room staff, everybody, we kind of locked in on a specific plan to meet that goal. But yeah, they first told me I would be back like December, late December, and I really wanted to beat that timeline, at least by a month. I don’t know, it’s something about the month of October. Like it’s a special month to me. My mom, dad, a lot of my people, my shorty, everybody’s birthday is in October. October is just a turnt month for the Ramseys. It was kind of special for me to make it this game and stick to that plan.
Q. I know you circled this game in particular; would you say —
JALEN RAMSEY: I circled a couple, but this one was the soonest.
Q. Would you say playing in the throwbacks had a little something to do with that, too?
JALEN RAMSEY: No, I didn’t even know. I don’t care if we were wearing a white tee, I’m going to go out there and do what I do. It’s swaggy, though, so it’s a plus.
Q. From the point when you went down in practice and being told December or even not knowing if you could come back before that point until now, but how do you feel emotionally now that you’ve kind of overcome all this?
JALEN RAMSEY: Kind of like I told him, just extremely grateful, thankful. Like the stories will probably be like ‘Jalen Ramsey came back’ and ‘Jalen Ramsey beat these timelines’ and did all of that, but honestly, none of this would have been possible without Dr. Uribe fixing my knee. They might have to do a case study on whatever he did to help it heal so quickly. The training staff, they did an amazing job. I had good days. I had bad days and everything in between. And the training staff, they never babied me. They pushed me. They were super smart with me, even when I didn’t want to be smart. Weight room staff, everybody, they really built in my mind like a perfect plan, and we just stuck to it. I just had to listen to them. That’s it.
Q. From the point of the surgery to today, at what point did you start to feel like, hey, this might be moving along faster than I thought it might be? When did you start thinking, I might be back before December? Was there a point after the surgery?
JALEN RAMSEY: Before the surgery I said I was going to be back before December. That was never – December was never going to happen. That wasn’t even in nobody’s mind around me. We don’t work like that. We beat anything that people say. December was never in – that was just not going to happen. We just wasn’t going to make that happen. But November, that was realistic. November was super, super realistic. That was the plan for a while. Like I just told him, I did have a couple different dates circled, but as I started to feel good – I was begging them – usually you don’t get MRIs every month. I was begging them to get an MRI every month just because I felt so great. I just really felt like they were doing a good job, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, we got MRIs every month and we saw how it was healing, and we just kind of started progressing from there and accelerated a little bit. I don’t know exactly when I circled this game, but whenever it was, we got to it after that.
Q. Did you keep the ball?
JALEN RAMSEY: I should have. It was a good play, but in order for it to be a great play, in order for me to help the team out a little bit more, I should have scored. I’ve got to find a way to do that.
Q. There was a lot of conflicting reporting on what exactly happened to your knee. Can you tell us from the source himself what happened?
JALEN RAMSEY: Yeah. I was locking up Tyreek one day in practice, and I made a break, and I don’t know, my knee just popped or something, gave out. I don’t know. It probably already was a little funky up in there anyway. Then I don’t know, like I did get it repaired. People think, ‘oh, he came back early because he got a trim.’ No, I had a full repair. But just the way my body reacted to the surgery and everything and the way the blood flowed and everything that I did, I don’t know, and everybody that helped me — like I said, they might do a case study. I really can’t tell you. I’m not a scientist. I’m not no doctor. I can’t tell you how it healed so quickly or what happened, but I’m just glad it did.
Q. Can you break down that interception and was that a goal of yours to come out of this with a pick?
JALEN RAMSEY: I told the whole team I was going to get a pick today. Told the whole team that. I’ve been telling the whole team for a couple weeks that I was going to get a pick my first game.
Q. Was there in-game conversation about your snap count or how long you would play today?
JALEN RAMSEY: Yeah, yeah, I was definitely not supposed to play that long today. But it’s okay. You know, I just felt like how the flow of the game was going, I needed to stay in there and try to finish it off for my teammates. You know, I’ve got to get better, got to play a little bit better in the second half, correct a couple little things, and get my endurance and my strength a little bit better so I can feel really good in that second half, as well, kind of like my normal self. But yeah, it wasn’t the plan to play that long. It was just kind of the flow of the game, and I felt good. I never really felt like we had crazy long drives where I needed to come out and get a breather, so they was trying to sub me in and out, but I kept telling them no.
Q. Seeing the video that you posted on social media the other day, how much of a motivating factor was it hearing people skeptical about the level of play you would have when you returned?
JALEN RAMSEY: That was just like my – I got like a media team. They just put the video – did you like the video? You saw it. Did you like it?
Q. Physically like it? Yeah.
JALEN RAMSEY: I appreciate you. My media team put that together. They thought it was dope, I thought it was dope, so I just posted it. To be honest with you, I really don’t care about what a lot of other people say. I’ve got a core group of family, friends, and then my teammates, coaches and everybody who I do care what they’re going to think about me and how I handle my business and how I go about my days, game days, whatever it may be. So it was more so about proving them right today. Like before the game I was just telling everybody, ‘yo, I’m going to be as advertised today, to y’all.’ Like Mike, I’m going to prove you right; like Chris, I’m going to prove you right today. Today is going to be one of those days for me where – that’s really what it was about. It wasn’t about proving somebody wrong, but I did that, too, huh.
Mike McDaniel – October 27, 2023
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Monday, October 23, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Let’s start with three quarters of your starting secondary. Is S Jevon Holland out of protocol?) – “No, he’s not But still working through it.”
(Then your starting corners, with CB Xavien Howard and CB Jalen Ramsey, if they go through practice today well, there are no health issues, things go well, they look good to you, do you expect both of them to play Sunday?) – “Everything is case by case. With those two individuals, I have a very good working relationship with them, and we communicate very well. So they both know what they mean to the team, and what their desire to play, if they put themselves in harm’s way, what it can do to the team. Much like Terron Armstead, and that’s an earned right because they’re not just telling me, they’ve shown me they know how to prepare. I think literally nothing to do with any competitive advantages, or any like – I really have to go through practice and listen to them. I’m already going to know I’m going to like the way they look, those two in particular. But it’s about them understanding, which we’ve worked to this point to be in a working relationship like this where they know the implications, they know what it’s like to feel right, and they know that we have guys that we’ve really depended on all year, fortunately, that are able to make plays and orchestrate the defense if they’re unable to. Obviously, we’d love to have them both. I’m prepared for either scenario for both players and I really don’t have a clue if they’re going to play or not. Which is fun, right?”
(And if they do not play, how comfortable are you with the contingency plan?) – “That’s a good question with the information that we have to work with, so I appreciate that. I’m very comfortable. I was very happy with the performance that the secondary had last week. You learn a lot about people when you’re on national television and your matchups are as difficult as they can get. You talk about the receivers that Philadelphia had, and they didn’t blink and gave us a chance to win that football game. That’s the comfort level. That’s the good thing. I find comfort in the fact that both ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and (Jalen) Ramsey know how capable the players are that they play with, so they won’t make an irresponsible decision. Because just kind of like Terron (Armstead), I’m going to look at it and I’m going to be like, yeah, that’s awesome. I want that guy to play. But I’m not inside their mind. So I’m comfortable with all the scenarios and will be excited regardless at Hard Rock (Stadium).”
(Outlook on OL Connor Williams?) – “Yeah, we’re going to go through practice. He’s in the same category. My gut tells me he’ll be active. I’m not sure yet if he’s going to start, just because today’s like – when you get in these situations where you have up to the day decisions, each practice is monumentally important, especially because it’s the most important practice of our lives, the most important day of our lives, today. We’ll see how that goes. There’s a litany of questions that I truly, with the support of the training staff and the rest of the coaches and stuff, I’m still figuring out. YOLO.” (laughter)
(WR Tyreek Hill told us he’s playing tomorrow. Can you confirm that? Sunday, I’m sorry I’m jumping ahead.) – “There’s no trick or treating for his kids, right? (laughter) Yeah, I would expect him to play, for sure. He’s done well. We’re very proactive with our – it’d be like, would you run on ‘E’ if you had a Ferrari? You’d probably make sure it had gas. You take care of it on the front end. An emissions check would be something you’d get done early. Our proactive work proved very well served yesterday as he had a phenomenal practice, and I expect him to be full Tyreek (Hill) energy today.”
(Going back that you’re not in the player’s mind, but CB Jalen Ramsey posted on social saying that he has to go and feel great in order to play, and he has to go through a whole process. What ends up being the process that you guys have to see in order to get back?) – “OK, so literally what he’s talking about with this whole process is playing football snaps. When he’s talking about his process, he has to go through, ‘Alright, so I get warmed up. I feel a certain way, I go through my reps, and it doesn’t mean that every play I executed perfectly. It’s more am I feeling 100 percent convicted in what I know I need to do.’ And then after practice, going through the normal process and then communicating with the trainers as he’s literally done every day for the last however many months. It’s really just going through the movements, fundamentals, technique, drills and seeing how confident you can be doing all the things that you have to do at that position. You have to turn every single way. You have to stop passes and runs and all sorts of stuff. He knows – he’s only interested in one version of Jalen Ramsey, and that’s Jalen Ramsey and we know him to be that, because he’s not going to shortchange the team and go play a game where he knew going into it that, ‘Oh man, I might have to come out in the second quarter, or that I’m just going to be a non-convicted version of myself.’ Well that takes away what he does for his teammates when he’s going. When he’s going, everybody can feel – by how he plays – residual energy, so he’s not going to settle. He’s not a settler.”
(So all in or nothing basically?) – “Yeah. When you’re talking at that position and game day actives, you kind of have to be, because the trickle down is so real when you have a guy come out.”
(Is CB Cam Smith IR on the table? Or not considered at this time?) – “We’re not totally thinking that. I wouldn’t say it’s off the table. We’re trying to work through it and see how he responds. We don’t want it to linger throughout the season and make him worse while we’re trying to make him better. I have to tip my hat to him. You can see that he is made of the right stuff, that he has what you’re looking for in a talented player which is determination and resiliency, and I’m confident that anything we do with him, that he’ll find a way to get better from it. He’s in a good spot and learning from some unbelievable teachers and coaches within his position room.”
(Where are you with the left guard replacement? I know you’ve got OL Lester Cotton in the mix, you have OL Robert Jones in the mix and then OL Liam Eichenberg – if OL Connor Williams does return to center – obviously could return to the position that he once played. How have they all looked this week in trying to replace OL Isaiah Wynn?) – “I think one of the best parts of practice this week is the way the guys have gone after executing the specifics of that position. I’m feeling very confident in the way we finished the game. I loved Lester Cotton’s reps. It’s hard to keep Rob (Jones) off the field. He’s an ascending player. We might try to find a way get him on the field at some point. Like I’ve been telling you guys, Liam has been playing – I just love how he evolves every game and gets better at certain things. So, with his commitment to the center position this week, the one thing we’ve had to make sure of is alright, we’re going to commit him to working with Connor and see how that plays out. He has the ability to play guard, but I’m very confident in Lester and Rob and just what they’ve put on tape this week.”
(At running back, how is RB Raheem Mostert’s ankle? Do you think we might see carries for RB Jeff Wilson Jr. Sunday?) – “Raheem Mostert, getting himself ready for Sunday, he’s very good at that. I was very happy with the way he looked yesterday. Today is a new day, so we’ll see how that plays out. We were planning on getting Jeff some touches last week and we always get frustrated when the game doesn’t go a certain direction that we were unable to do that. So, I have a heightened desire to get him some touches this week, but we’ll let the game play out and the players on the field decide how many touches those are by their performance.”
(With S Brandon Jones, he’s pretty much been a strong safety in the box guy. I know you guys don’t necessarily have positions at the safety spot, but are you comfortable with him filling in for S Jevon Holland, especially all the communication that goes with it?) – “That’s what he’s been working at because it was challenging. He had such a physical mountain to climb, and he did so in such a diligent, great way. Then, just like you’re really hitting the nail on the head, it’s a system change for him. That position is all about how convicted you can play, because you have a lot of space and you have to stop the run from deep and you have to be able to protect a lot of space. That’s a process. He continues to get more comfortable. He’s getting better at – he cares so much and wants everything so bad that he’s like a lot of people that are inherently driven, you make yourself vulnerable to snowballing plays. If you don’t like something, it can become two plays because you’re so mad at yourself. It’s been cool to watch him through the process because you’re always going to be – in practice this week, every safety has their own alignment, technique, assignment, issues. What I’ve seen growth in him is stopping the lingering. He’s going to continue, and all that does is give people confidence. So his teammates I know are all in his corner. It’s not something easy that he’s gone through, and the journey isn’t over. What he wants to do is feel 100 percent comfortable executing our defense at a high level, and he’s in the midst of that journey and it’s an ongoing one. It’s hard to be really, really good in systems if your system’s really good. There are things that you have to – what do I mean by that? There’s high level nuances and details to a good system that make it more challenging. If you have loose rules or non-detailed responsibilities, it’s an easier system, but in terms of like, ‘Hey it’s somebody’s job to make a play,’ when you have a system where you identify who has the difficult down, who has help, and how do you play together and have a ton of different position specific details with that, it’s a process. But that’s why we don’t overreact. I’m happy with where he’s at and I just want to see him continue to get better at executing the stuff that is so important to him.”
(At this hour, S Jevon Holland is not ruled out yet? I just want to clarify that.) – “That’s right.”
(Inaudible question) – “No, I really enjoy quality football. You know how hard it is, the NFL season for players, to just execute. You want to talk about what’s harder is getting better while doing it. I just really have high regard for teams that finish the season better then when they started. I see on tape a team that’s better than when they started, so I know what type of work goes into that. I think from a defensive standpoint, what’s very unique about this unit is they have concrete fundamentals and principles that every player on the defense shares. So you can see consistencies in how they defeat blocks, from corner to safety to edge player to 4-technique. It’s based on fundamentals and technique to me. They’re a very good tackling defense. Offensively, I’m seeing a team that is really evolving and finding more of who they are and finding abilities to make plays in all sorts of ways with guys that I’m very familiar with contributing at a high level. Not just Mike Gesicki, but I coached Kendrick Bourne in San Franscisco. Those guys’ uptick in involvement, their backs are playing real well and I think Mac (Jones) is seeing the field. I think they are a team that I know that our team isn’t taking lightly and a team that will take advantage of those who do take them lightly.”
(FB Alec Ingold has been battling I think a foot injury. I’m wondering how he’s been progressing. It seems like his snaps from special teams and scrimmage have been reduced recently. Is that accurate and how is he doing?) – “Typically he’s on the field a ton and he’s still been on the field a lot, but we decelerated that simply because of how important he is to our team and making sure that we don’t run him into the ground so to speak. We have a lot of good football players and we’ve been able to spread around assignments and responsibilities, whether that be in 3-wides or 2-tight end personnels and do some things that he would do. Because of that, we have a chance to have him continue to be a featured player for us here moving forward. It was something that we were trying to get in front of because we know how much he means to the team and didn’t want him – you kind of have to protect him from himself by the way he plays football. He is that physical component that you want to have on your team, not go against. We’ve been trying to be cognizant of that.”
