Head Coach Brian Flores
Q: (Opening statement)
BRIAN FLORES: First I wanted to pay homage to Carl Madsen. He is a replay official — was the replay official on the staff. He passed away last month. I think there’s a lot of people in this league who help us play the game that we love. He was part of that, so I just wanted to send my condolences to his family because, obviously, the official is a part of the NFL family. Just wanted to start off with that.
Q. When you have a defense that’s playing as stingy – I don’t know if that’s the right word – in terms of limiting opponents when scoring touchdowns, how much does it ease the load that the rest of the team has?
BRIAN FLORES: I think it’s always — you always want to play a complementary game and play well in all phases: Offensively, defensively, and the kicking game. You know, when you can obviously keep the score down, it gives you more opportunities to stay in the game, keep a lead. I thought the Giants had a very good game plan. I thought they moved it on us. They played a tough, physical game. We knew it was going to be 60 minutes. I know they were down a bunch of guys, but they are well-coached, and I thought Joe (Judge) did a great job getting his team ready. I thought Pat (Graham) does what he does. He kept the score down and made it hard for us. So credit to them. Our guys played hard, and they just made a few more plays than they made offensively, defensively, and in the kicking game.
Q. It seems like regardless of – especially during the winning streak, regardless of how the offense might play for the first 50 or so minutes, it seems like a late win when you need to make a stop or when you need to stay on the field, Tua is able to kind of generate some completions or you get a big play. What do you attribute to that? It seems like the past couple of weeks you’ve always seen late game execution really thrive.
BRIAN FLORES: I think it’s obviously led by Tua, and making throws, making catches, doing a good job of protection, taking care of the football. We talk a lot about those late game situations, how important they are and finishing the game off the right way offensively, defensively, and the kicking game. I thought we did that really across the board. We moved it offensively. We stopped them, and we moved it offensively. We kicked and missed a field goal, and then turned around and kicked another one. That was great by Jason (Sanders) to turn right around and make it for us, put us up two scores. And then go out there defensively to finish the game there. It was a good team effort, complementary, and we get to take a little break right now which is good. Guys are obviously banged up obviously after 13 games. Take a little break, and we’ll obviously self-scout and reassess and try to take a little break. I think we need that.
Q. To add off that, while the late game execution has been good, Tua seemed like he had a measured tone saying the offense left plays out there. Is that a similar feeling you got where you are happy you won the game, but you just need a little more from the offense? Do you feel that?
BRIAN FLORES: I think that’s going be to the case every week. There are always plays that you wish you had back, throws, catches, protections, calls. That’s really across the board: Offensively, defensively, and the kicking game. I thought they made some plays. I thought Golladay made some catches, Engram made some catches, Cooper made some catches against tight coverage. Glennon made some tight-window throws. I think Joe had them ready. We just made a few more plays than they did.
Q. You spoke a little bit Monday about this being the time of year for rookies where the season is longer than they’re used to. What kind of response did you see from Jaylen, Jaelan, and Jevon, in particular, and Liam this week as they hit that and try to punch through that wall?
BRIAN FLORES: I don’t really talk about it too much. We need those guys to play for us and play well, so I think thankfully they get this week to rest up, heal up. I think all four of those guys — really five of those guys, including Hunter and Trill as well. These guys work hard. It’s important to them. They are all sponges. We’ve said this really the entire year. It’s a long season. It’s hard to gauge that and to know how their bodies are feeling, but it looks like they got energy, they got juice. They got the right approach, which leads me to believe that they’re ready to go, and we’re going to need them to be ready to go.
Q. To follow up on that with Jaelan Phillips in particular, does he seem to be getting kind of that peak or hitting that stride at the right time, or what have you seen from him that’s led to this uptick in production over the past six weeks?
BRIAN FLORES: I’m seeing the same things that we saw earlier in the year. I continue to say this. There’s a process there, and then I think a lot of people look at the production and think that that’s the kind of final analysis of a player, but I think he’s — I haven’t watched the film, but I know there are some other games that based on some things that I saw already that he did better in some instances in some other games. We had some production today. We need that. He is doing a good job. He is doing a very good job. We have a lot of guys that are doing a good job that aren’t getting the stats, the flash stats, but I think we got a lot of guys playing well, and he is certainly one of them.
Q. A lot was made when you guys didn’t have the post-London bye. Now is this… You played the last seven weeks in a row, and now you guys are rested for this final stretch run.
BRIAN FLORES: A lot was made of that and, I think maybe opinions are different now. I don’t know. But like I said then, this is the schedule we have, and we’re just going to play it out and it’s good to have some time right now for us to reassess, re-evaluate and for the players to get some rest.
Q. Obviously a seven-game losing streak is tough to handle mentally, but now a five-game winning streak, how much does that build on the things that you guys are coaching and reinforcing in terms of the message?
BRIAN FLORES: I think we’re just kind of focused on today. Today is a game against a good opponent. A tough victory in a 60-minute ball game, and we just try to take it one day at a time and not think about what’s happened in the past or talk about the future too much. We’re just trying to get better every day.
Q. What is your schedule for this week? Do the guys have to be in at all?
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah, they’ll be in tomorrow.
Q. Is there like an unwritten rule, written rule on bye weeks, sticking around, leaving town, coming to the facility?
BRIAN FLORES: Our guys got to be smart. They’ll have some time off, but my big message to them is be safe, spend some time with your family, go, enjoy yourself, relax, but be safe. That’s the big thing. Enjoy yourselves. They’ve earned it, but be safe. Hopefully you guys write about that and they read about that because that’s really the message I want them to hear. We’ll come in and do a little work this week. It’s been 13 games, so I don’t see us getting out there and putting pads on and banging on each other, but we’ll meet, try to make some corrections, try to look through some things that we can do better, but they’ll certainly have some time off to relax, get off their feet, and enjoy themselves a little, but be safe, please. Thank you.
QB Tua Tagovailoa
Q. Tua, it seems like lately you guys have been able to really milk the clock when it matters most. We saw that in the Baltimore game. We saw that in the Jets game. We saw that today. What’s been the key, maybe the offense wasn’t so good early in the game, but when it matters most, you guys are able to make the plays come.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We emphasize a lot of our situational deals throughout practice. Whether it’s four-minute, two-minute situations, but there’s a lot of situations that go on in the game having to do with trying to manage the clock whether it’s an end of game or end of half situation.
Q. How do you feel about the way this team is now positioned in the big picture? You got the bye coming up, and you’re one game away from .500. How do you feel about where this team is positioned?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I’m glad we won, but I think there’s a lot of things that we left out there on the field. A lot of plays that we wish we could have back, but then again, it falls down to the execution of us. It starts with me in the center, and then it being communicated out there. I think we did a pretty good job protecting the ball today though.
Q. Considering the injuries you’ve had this year, how much are you looking forward to getting a week off?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I think it’s going to be really good. I think it’s going to be good for a lot of the guys in there. I mean, it’s been, what, 13 games, 14 games with contact nonstop, a lot of preparation, so being able to get this little bye for our guys I think it’s going to be really helpful for us in the back end of the season.
Q. Jaylen Waddle had nine catches for 90 yards. What are your thoughts on how Jaylen is playing right now?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I think Jaylen Waddle is doing good. I think just for all of us we just got to continue to keep working.
Q. How do you feel like you played today?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I don’t think of myself; I just think of the overall offense. I think we can get better, continue to get better, find ways to get better, and that’s what this bye gives us. A chance to self-scout, look at the things that we can clean up, work on, and then implement it when we play the Jets.
Q. What’s it like to have DeVante Parker back? You were able to throw some balls up to him and he made some nice catches on the side.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It was really good to have DeVante back. DeVante adds another vertical stretch for us offensively, and he makes tough catches when you need him to, so really glad to have him back.
Q. We heard Jerome Baker say part of him almost wants to keep playing to keep the win streak going. You don’t want that lull. Is there any bit of that? Do you feel any bit of that, or do you really need this week to, kind of like you said, self-scout and take a breather after a long season?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I understand what ‘Bake’ is saying. I think it goes both ways. You take some time off, but then you’re also not really taking time off. It’s more so mental preparation, whereas it’s physical.
Q. What’s it like as a leader on this offense knowing your defense isn’t even giving up — barely giving up double digit points during this winning streak? What’s that like?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It feels good. They keep the pressure off of us, if you will, offensively, but we want to go down and punch the ball in to the end zone, and we got to find better ways to do that. Can’t go three-and-outs to start the second half.
Roll Tide. Roll Tide.
LB Jerome Baker
Q: Five in a row. Feel pretty good?
JEROME BAKER: Yeah, five in a row going into the bye week.
Q: To keep a team out of the end zone – you guys have only given up four touchdowns in this five-week winning streak – how have you been able to buckle down and set the record like that?
JEROME BAKER: It’s a credit to the coaches. They put us in position to excel so credit to them. We just go out there and execute and get it done. We have the mentality now that don’t let anybody score and we believe that and it’s showing.
Q. You look forward to a week off. This is kind of a weird thing. Do you guys prefer to keep going here and winning or is a week off welcome here?
JEROME BAKER: It’s a love and hate. We’re winning, but we definitely need that week off, yeah. Me personally, I would rather just keep going because we’re hot right now, so at the end of the day we’re professionals, so you have to take the week off and come back and get ready to work.
Q. How do you keep building on this, Jerome?
JEROME BAKER: This isn’t individual We come in and go to work. We come in every week, and we sit down and go over things and our coach has a great game plan, and we go out there and execute. We just got to continue that. It’s been working for us, and we try to keep it going.
Q. One thing that Jaelan has something like seven sacks since week nine. What have you seen playing alongside him for the past month or so?
JEROME BAKER: I’ve seen it since he walked in the door. He is hungry, and he goes hard every play. Even going all the way back to just the OTAs and all that stuff, he didn’t run with the D-line. He didn’t run with outside linebackers. He run with us. And he really took that to heart. Just to see a young guy do that, it meant a lot. It’s just paying off for him now, and we’re all happy for him.
Q. This was always a situation where you knew that the explosion was coming? That production.
JEROME BAKER: We definitely knew that. Just the work he put in every week. Even if he was banged up, he was still trying to get better, helping us get better. Just a credit to him, just getting it done.
Q. What’s the evolution of this defense from September to now? What are you guys doing differently?
JEROME BAKER: We’re just executing better. It’s not like we’re calling different plays that we never ran before. We’re doing the same thing. We’re just executing a little better. If it’s knowing your leverage, knowing your leverage. If it’s playing with your hands, it’s playing with your hands. We’re just finally believing and executing. Just a credit to our coaches and our players just getting it done.
Q. Jerome, it seems like it was another season almost where you guys were 1-7, and it seemed so long ago. Can you reflect on how far this team has come in this winning streak and how you’re positioned once you get past the bye?
JEROME BAKER: I think the one thing that just ‘Flo’ always echoes is just take it one day at a time and get better every day. We really took that approach, and just to see this team finally turn things around, we just have to keep that going. It’s been working for us, and we just have to continue that.
DE Adam Butler
Q. Can you walk us through that, correct me if I’m wrong, but that Kamehameha after the sack?
ADAM BUTLER: Yeah, that’s right.
Q. Looked like you had a lot of energy built up into that. How did it feel to let it go?
ADAM BUTLER: I like anime. Come on, I’m a big anime fan.
Q. How does it feel to turn in yet another, defensively as a unit, turn in yet another dominant effort over the past month?
ADAM BUTLER: It feels good. It feels very good to be a part of this group. We’ve done a lot of good things and I think we got a lot of good things ahead of us. We just have to keep working and I’m going to keep doing my part to help us along.
Q. What do you feel like the defense has discovered in the last four or five games?
ADAM BUTLER: That we can play just as good as anybody if we prepare right and if we work hard enough.
Q. Are you looking forward to the bye week?
ADAM BUTLER: Yeah, it’s a long-needed rest. It’s good to regenerate the body and just give it rest. You know sometimes people have nicks and bruises and stuff that they just need a few days to get over so it will be good for us.
LB Jaelan Phillips
Q. Take me through the decision to somersault.
JAELAN PHILLIPS: All my celebrations are random. I can’t tell you. There’s no thought that goes into it. It’s just spur of the moment. Whatever feels good, I just do it. Christian keeps making fun of me. He says they all suck. (laughter) He said during the bye week, we were going to work on them, so it’s all good.
Q. What do you attribute your increase in production over the course of the last five, six weeks?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: I think it’s us as a defensive line and defense in general just playing together. They always say sacks come in bunches, and the last five, six weeks or so I just think we’ve been executing really well. Been working really well together and just been getting after it. That’s all you can do.
Q. What’s it like to have all that hard work starting to show up?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It’s incredible. It’s like you said. It’s all the hard work we’ve been putting in since camp. Since minicamp, really. So just to see all this kind of pay off, obviously, we’re not satisfied, so we just got to keep going, keep building.
Q. What’s it mean for you to know that no Dolphin rookie has ever had as many sacks as you have in?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: Honestly, I didn’t know that until like right now. They just told me right now. It’s incredible. It’s a surreal feeling, but honestly it’s bigger than me. I’m just blessed to be a vessel, to be able to go out there and do what I love and put on for you guys and for the fans and for my teammates, so we’re just going to keep doing it.
Q. Jaelan, I think Jerome Baker was saying earlier that at training camp you weren’t working out with the d-ends or the outside linebackers. You were with the inside linebackers. He said it impacted you in some way. I was curious if you remember your mindset during that time or what that meant to you during training camp?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: I don’t even know what he was talking about, to be honest. Yeah, training camp was a blur. It was a rough time for me. I had to go through it, and you never really get the fruits of your labor until you go through those hard times, so everything that we’ve gone through as a team has led to these moments right here. Like I said, we’re just going to keep going.
Q. Why was it so tough?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It was a learning curve and I got hurt at the very beginning, and I was frustrated with myself because I felt like I wasn’t performing the way I needed to for my teammates, but ultimately, like I said, had to go through those rough times to be out the other side, so it was a blessing in disguise.
Q. You have seven sacks in five games, I believe it is. A light bulb go on then, or is it just opportunity presents itself?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: Like he said, sacks come in bunches, so I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Last week I talked about it a lot. All the sacks I had last week literally came from my teammates. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them. Same thing today. We’re resilient, and we’re always going to keep rushing the passer and giving it our all. When it pays off, it’s great.
Q. What do you remember the sacks, the plays, back-to-back plays, but what do you remember each of them?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: Say that again.
Q. Take us through the sacks, the moves you made, or what happened.
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It’s just effort. It’s just effort. I think on the first one it was some kind of play action and just ran (Mike) Glennon down, and then the next one it was just he was sitting in the pocket. We got great coverage on the back end, and I was just able to get an effort rush there and get an effort sack.
Q. What was it like today with the guy that you rushed the passer with last year on the other side?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It was awesome, man. I love Quincy (Roche) to death. He is one of my true best friends. Just being able to see him out there doing his thing, you know — I’m not going to congratulate him on the sack because it was against us, but, yeah, saw him after the game. I have a couple of guys on that team. Daray Holmes. Kadarius Toney I trained with so it was definitely cool to see a bunch of those guys.
Q. Sacks aren’t always the lone indicator of success with the pass rush, but is it nice to get that validation? Is it nice to get the little reward at the end regardless of how well you have been doing your job?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It’s always nice to get the reward, but ultimately, the biggest reward is winning the game, and so we’re just happy with how we’ve been playing and we’re just going to keep executing, doing our thing.
Q. You’re a University of Miami grad. So how does it feel to continue to have success here in Miami and what does that mean to your fans that have watched you come up through college?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: It’s crazy. Every time I look in the stands I see people throwing up Us. It’s amazing. I definitely feel like it’s kind of like a home team thing. There’s really no feeling like going out there and feeling the support from your fans, and so I was just – I never thought I would end up in Miami in my life. I’m a SoCal boy, born and raised. These last two, three years of my life have been a whirlwind, but I couldn’t be more blessed and thankful.
Q. Do you any thoughts on the UM coaching search? There are rumors about Mario Cristobal.
JAELAN PHILLIPS: I just heard right now that Cristobal got hired. Is that true?
Q. There’s some reports. (laughter)
JAELAN PHILLIPS: I don’t know anything. I just play football. I don’t know. I mean, look, Manny Diaz, I am forever indebted to him for taking me in. I was 215 pounds when I got to Miami. He had a lot of faith in me, and that whole coaching staff – I’m really grateful for them, so I know they’re going to be successful in whatever they do, and if somebody comes in new, I just hope that Miami can get the best leaders possible because ultimately, we have a great history at the University of Miami, and we want to see those wins come.
Q. Are you looking forward to the bye week? You think your body is ready for a week off?
JAELAN PHILLIPS: I’m ready to play the next game right now. Let’s go. (laughter) But the bye week is good. You sit back and re-evaluate the season and do a lot of self-scout, so we’re definitely going to be prepared coming out of the bye.
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
Q: Five straight wins. This obviously has to be a different feeling that seven straight losses. What’s the mood of the locker room? What’s the mood of the team right now?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: Whenever you can get a win and come to that locker room, it’s a lot better feeling than when you come in obviously after a loss. I think you can just see it in everybody’s faces. All the excitement, the energy, and it’s just everybody playing for each other and doing our best to get the win.
Q. What’s it like for this defense where you guys haven’t allowed many touchdowns during this five-game winning streak?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: I think it’s just everybody buying in and once again, everybody is just doing their job. The trust on this defense and the trust for the person beside you is phenomenal right now and the communication. Everybody is on the same page. We know what we want to get done, and the coaches are putting us in a position to succeed and be able to make plays, and you just see a lot of guys putting in that extra time to take advantage of that. It’s always fun when you get a win.
Q. Jaelan Phillips was just asked about the bye, and he said he is ready to play another game right now. How do you feel about the bye coming now? Are you ready for another game?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: Oh, yeah, for sure. (laughter) Obviously, it’s always fun when you come in and you see everybody’s faces and get to see everybody, but I won’t mind a little time to myself, time with my son and my wife, so yeah.
Q. How important is the mental break?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: I think it’s big. I think it’s a good chance for everybody to just relax, get away from football and just enjoy life and just spend time with your family and spend time with your friends and just completely get away. I think everybody needs that. No matter what job or occupation you have, just a little vacation or a little time off here and there is always a good thing.
Q. What did you think of Jaelan Phillips’ performance today?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: He just keeps doing it, man. Just being in the right spot at the right time and doing exactly what he is supposed to do and putting himself in position to make plays, and you see his motor and how he is always around the ball, and the effort he gives is phenomenal, so just got to keep it going.
WR Jaylen Waddle
Q. You gave us a scare. How are you?
JAYLEN WADDLE: I’m all good. I’m all good. Definitely.
Q. What was it like to hear the crowd chant for you like that as you were walking off the field to go to get checked out?
JAYLEN WADDLE: It means a lot. Just it being a home game and just everybody coming out just cheering, it means a lot.
Q. How important is it for you to now own the Dolphins rookie record for receptions?
JAYLEN WADDLE: It’s big. I really didn’t even know until they put it on the screen. Everybody was cheering. I was, like, that’s pretty cool. I think it’s just great, great to have. I wouldn’t be able to have the record without quarterback, o-line and coaches just trusting me, believing in me to put me in position to get the ball, so all credit to them.
Q. What do you think of how QB Tua Tagovailoa played today?
JAYLEN WADDLE: He played like himself. He played great, accurate. He was pretty mad at me. I dropped the ball, so he was upset. You know, it comes with it.
Q. What does an upset QB Tua Tagovailoa look like?
JAYLEN WADDLE: You know when someone is mad, but they don’t want to show they’re mad, but they’re really upset. It’s like that. (Laughter).
Q. On the play where you almost got hurt, did you think the play was over because you weren’t down by contact? Is that something that you had to get used to with the rule being different in college?
JAYLEN WADDLE: Normally I would be pretty good on that because I had a play similar to that earlier in the year and I got up and — that’s when I’m pretty sure we’re going to emphasize on that a little more, but definitely.
Q. You played 13 games, generally what a college football season is. Do you feel your body has hit some sort of a wall that you would need to get through for the final four games?
JAYLEN WADDLE: Not necessarily. Lucky for me in college we didn’t play games, but we practiced for the bowl games. I ended up playing until January in college, so hopefully that can help me.
Q. Is that a subtle flex on how many games you played at Alabama?
JAYLEN WADDLE: You seen the game last night. We don’t have to talk about that (Laughter). We don’t have to talk about that. Y’all seen the game last night.
Q. Have you heard the “Waddle With It” rap song that’s come out?
JAYLEN WADDLE: My mom sent it to me. She enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too. It’s pretty cool. Roll Tide.
