Zach Sieler – July 28, 2023
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Friday, July 28, 2023
DT Zach Sieler
(You’ve obviously surpassed everybody’s expectations and become a really good player. You’re playing on an undervalued contract as you know. Are you at peace with doing that this season? Have the Dolphins indicated to you or Drew whether they intend to give you an offer long-term that is more reflective of your value?) – “That’s really between my agent and the Dolphins. We’re working together to kind of see what we can do, but really my main focus is just playing there, playing as well as I can each year.”
(Is this a place you want to be long-term?) – “I love Miami. I love it down here.”
(How is Miami compared to Pickney, Michigan?) – “Big difference. A lot faster, it’s a lot faster. I love my home, I love it down here, it’s just different. We love getting out and getting away every once in a while, but we do love it down here.”
(Was staying out of stuff in the spring, just mostly watching, was that contract related or injury related?) – “That’s kind of between us and the Dolphins again – my agent and what we’re doing there.”
(So do you have an injury now or have you been dealing with any injury?) – “I feel great. I’m out there playing great, playing my best.”
(When you have a defense dominated day like today, I think our count is at 12 sacks. I’m sure you guys have a different would-be sack ratio. What kind of statement does that make for you guys?) – “I think we’re just trying to learn Coach’s new system. Meshing as a defense is just part of the learning process. We make adjustments, offense makes adjustments, and that’s how camp goes. As you do that, both sides get better and better each day.”
(It seems like blitz packages showed up today. You talked about learning Vic Fangio’s defense. For a defensive lineman, how would you say the scheme benefits you guys?) – “I think coach does a really good job of tailoring his defense to the players that we have here. I think everything that we’ve put in so far has been awesome. It’s a learning process and kind of learning how to play with the guys next to us and learning how he’s going to call it when he’s going call different plays and meshing together.”
(LB Bradley Chubb had mentioned that he kind of feels like a coach on the field as he’s been in this Vic Fangio scheme and he’s helping you guys learn it. What has it been like learning from him and what makes him stand out as a player? We saw him in the orange jersey and he was getting into the backfield a lot today.) – “He’s a great asset to have. He’s done a great job. It’s nice to have a guy that’s been in it, ask him, ‘Hey.’ Coach will teach us one thing and it’ll be exactly how it should be, but it’s, ‘Hey, how are you running this? What are you doing differently? What have you done having run this before in a game, what should we do and what should we look for?’”
(When a player like CB Jalen Ramsey gets injured, how does that collectively impact, from your perspective, sort of the mood of the group? How, as a football player, knowing that injuries happen all the time, how do you and the group work through that?) – “It’s really sad. I’m praying for Jalen, hope the best for him. Hopefully he can get through it quickly, but I think Coach McDaniel had a good point where it’s take this as a motivational piece and work for that. Hopefully, when he gets back, we’re in a good position.”
(When you guys aren’t wearing pads, you’re a front seven guy, how much value do you put in your performances as a unit whether it’s good or bad?) – “Just as much. We’re not letting off. We’re not doing – yeah, some things will be a little different. You’ll be able to see kind of like he was saying where it’s, ‘OK, yeah. Is it there? But how would that…’ You see that stuff on tape how that would have been different with pads on, but we just as quick, all the steps, all the hands, we’re still working every day.”
(I know you and DE Christian Wilkins are pretty close off the field. It seems like a lot of your guys’ production comes from running games together. How does that relationship off the field translate to on-field production?) – “Man, it’s been huge. It’s been a blessing to be with (Defensive Line Coach Austin) Clark, Raekwon (Davis), Christian, Emmanuel (Ogbah), just meshing. It’s on and off the field, like you said. It’s kind of like learning each other as a person, as a player, how to play next to him. Hey, what’s Christian like? What’s Raekwon like? That’s something that’s been really nice with a guy like (Bradley) Chubb, learning how he plays and how to adapt to that, (Jaelan) Phillips, all those guys. So it’s been good. It’s been an amazing year to learn each other’s habits and how to play best off of each other.”
(Every time I talk to Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark, he talks about how much he loves coaching you guys. I want to hear your perspective about how much fun you guys have playing for him.) – “He’s crazy. (laughter) No, we love him. He does an amazing job of pushing us and still respecting us as players. He’s done amazing. He really hones in on the very technical things to help make sure we stay on top of our game and get better and improve every day.”
