Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(It was announced this morning that LB Jerome Baker will be the Dolphins’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. I wanted to get your take on not the football player, but just Jerome the person and why he’s deserving of that honor. Just tell us about him a little bit as a man.) – “The thing that sticks out about ‘Bake’ to me is that he’s a very even-keeled guy. I think he has a good perspective that you need balance in life. Our sole focus when we’re in the building is about getting better, executing better, coaching better and becoming better football players. I think that oftentimes what gets lost in that is the balance of being a good human being and being kind, being considerate, being able to be compassionate by listening. I think ‘Bake’ embodies all of those things. I think he’s got a good balance of football – he knows when to put in the time solely for football – and he also has that once he leaves the building there are a lot of things that he embodies that I think he shows while he’s in the building and when he’s out. I think he does a good job of having that balance in life that all of us, regardless of profession, are searching for.”
(A lot is made in this league about having an identity. Earlier in the season, this team felt like it lacked an identity. We went in thinking it would be the defense, but there were some struggles then. Now on this winning streak, do you feel this defense has established an identity and what do you think that is?) – “I was kind of asked this question a year ago and I’m probably going to say the same thing. You can call it whatever you want to call it, I think things are always changing, they always evolve. I think you deal with the things that are in front of you. I think you work on the things you feel like you’re not doing well. I think you try to build off the things you are doing well. At the end of the day, it comes down to you’re just trying to win and you try to play good complementary football in all three phases. Obviously defensively, we’re a third of that. Whatever it is – it may be different from one week from the next. I do appreciate the work our players put in. I think that’s a credit to them week in and week out. They have all been diligent workers and I believe when you see them play on Sundays, they play with great effort and great intensity. Those are things you can ask for. What people want to call it, they can call it.”
(Last time I was talking to Linebackers Coach Robbie Leonard, he was talking about batted passes. He was explaining how it can be virtually identical in impact to a sack. A batted pass first-and-10 becomes second-and-10 and I’m sure it’s something you guys talk to the players about. A sack might be second-and-12, they are similar in impact even though one is considered a splash play and the other one is kind of overlooked. I’m wondering if there are any technicalities you could break down for me relative to increasing the odds of a batted pass. Obviously you have a lot of guys who have done that well this year.) – “It’s no different than tackling. We have specific drills that we use that have specific coaching points, just like we do with tackling, just like we do with interceptions, just like we do with defeating blocks. It’s something I would say as a defense we highlight. And really we started that a year ago with the batted balls. We kind of explained the impact that they have on the game and our players have bought into one the impact they have on the game, but two the drills we ask them to do. Then obviously we’re seeing some success or some carry-over from the drills we do in practice to when they do them in group periods versus whether it be our offense or a show team, to game situations. I think we all see that carry-over. There are definitely things we do to try to increase the odds on that and when you can do it, because there are certain situations when you would not want to be in that position. We try to tie all of those things in together, just the situational awareness and knowing and understanding. Obviously our players know and understand the impact of a batted ball and how big it is to us as a defense, to keep offenses off track.”
(On LB Jaelan Phillips, the one thing I’ve noticed is his ability to cover a large amount of ground late in the development of a play. I don’t mean off the snap he runs around a guy. I mean like the play is developing, the play is developing, wow how did he cover that much ground? What have you noticed about that?) – “I think first, it starts with he plays with great effort. He plays with great effort. He’s blessed that he has a good amount of explosion to him. He has a good first step. I think the thing with Jaelan is he’s always playing with effort, and a lot of our guys do. You’ll see Adam Butler, you’ll see Christian Wilkins, you’ll see Jaelan Phillips, you’ll see these guys 20 yards downfield on a pass play. I think when they play with that effort and that intensity, not only does it seem like they are all over the field, they literally are.”
(The red zone efficiency, obviously that’s an area where you guys did quite well in last year, and now you’re getting back to it – I believe 50 percent is your percentage in red zone execution. What helped you guys tighten that coverage in the money area?) – “I think anytime you see improvement obviously, first I’d credit the players. They work at it. Obviously we’re probably coaching it better. They’re probably playing it better. I think we all know and understand how valuable points are in this league. Any time you get in the red zone, if you can only give up three points, if you can take the ball away, if you can turn them over on downs, that eliminates seven points. I think we all understand the importance and that down there, we really need our best execution, our best calls and it just depends week to week. A lot of times offenses are widely different on what they try to do and their philosophy down there. We’ve talked about this many times, we’re just trying to put players in the best position to succeed. It comes down to we need our best calls and our best execution in that part of the field because points are at a premium and we all know how close the games so many games in this league are. If you can make three points not seven, that’s a four-point play for us defensively. If they get down there and we get a turnover or a turnover on downs, that could potentially be a 7- to 14-point swing depending on what happens in the game. I think all of our guys are well aware of what’s at stake when we get down there. I think it comes down to execution and having guys in the right spots in those situations.”
(With S Eric Rowe, I was stunned to realize that he is like two tackles off from leading the team in tackles considering his role has evolved this season and there are young players taking snaps and opportunities from him. How different are you using Eric and how much has he helped the young players grow?) – “I think Eric, whether it’s run or pass, I think he’s got a better understanding of his fits in the run game from just two years ago when he just moved to the position. I would say one, Eric has always been a good tackler. He’s always done well with that. He’s doing a real good job in the pass game of seeing where the ball is going, breaking and getting to the football. That’s one thing we ask our guys to play with a relentless pursuit and we’re getting that from a lot of guys and Eric is a big part of that. He is a solid tackler when he is in position, whether it’s in line at the line of scrimmage, or he’s in space, or he’s in coverage, whether he’s in zone coverage or man coverage, Eric has been a solid tackler for us.”
Co-Offensive Coordinator/TEs George Godsey
(I wanted to start off asking about WR DeVante Parker. What does his re-insertion in this lineup do for this offense?) – “It creates a lot of defensive issues outside. He does a good job blocking in the run game. He’s got a lot of experience to help out the guys in the meeting room. He hasn’t necessarily been there every day because of his treatment and making sure he’s trying to get back in the lineup. But just having his experience and his productivity out there is definitely a helpful thing for our whole unit.”
(My question was in that same frame but I was curious about the back-shoulder ball that you guys hit to WR DeVante Parker on Sunday. I was just curious about how that process plays out. Is that pre-snap he knows he’s going back shoulder? Is it an adjustment post-snap? How does that work out for QB Tua Tagovailoa and Parker?) – “In my opinion, I think you just throw it to the guy and let him catch it because he’s done that and he’s proven that in his career. There’s a lot of evidence on tape of guys that have his ability that just get up there and catch the ball whether it’s behind them, in front of them or a jump ball. As many times as we can get the ball in his vicinity, we like it. As for dropping back, as you’re deciphering what’s going on defensively before you’re getting ready to throw that ball over to that player, it’s all about where the defender is and how I want to place that ball really on every route. A lot of times on in-cuts, you see them thrown low and that’s really to save the guy of a headache of a guy coming there to knock him out. It’s the same thing on the sideline. A guy that is playing the ball deep, then you want to throw the ball where it’s in a position for just our guy to get it. A lot of that plays into Tua seeing the defense post-snap.”
(In what areas do you feel like the offensive line group is going in the right direction over the last three or so games?) – “I’ve kind of mentioned this throughout the year is we’ve had some moving parts there and putting back Michael Deiter in there at center, so there’s trying to get him back going again and getting the communication inside out. That’s where it starts. It starts with the center identifying the defensive front, the structure and who they’re going to, and then making sure that group play with as much consistency as possible. Michael will be a big part of that, getting the combination blocks and in the protection making sure that we are connected there with all the games that we will see on third down. The tighter that that group can continue to work, the better off we’ll be. I know that we’ve had a couple sacks in the previous games but they are keeping the quarterback a little bit – the ball is coming out but also keeping him upright which is a big part of the passing game.”
(Unrelated, there was an NFL team that won a game last night with only three passing attempts. I was wondering if you’d ever been a part of anything like that where you went into a game knowing that you were pretty much not going to throw at all?) – “No, it just seemed like it was a different game looking at it. Thank God we weren’t feeling it.”
(What’s the bye week like for you as coaches? Do you get a little bit of time off or are you still as busy as normal?) – “I think every club is different, I’m sure, but there’s obviously a lot of things that we need to work on and get better so that’s kind of what we’re focusing on right now. Guys are coming in tomorrow so we’ll inform them on some of the things that we’ve looked at and we try to do that every week. But when the normal schedule of inserting a gameplan, getting that together is not really at the forefront, it’s more of self-inspecting calls, situations, how we’re doing on techniques, tendencies that we have created. That type of stuff, you can dive in a little bit more and at this point in the year, there are a lot of teams that do have tendencies and those teams are the ones that are doing their tendencies well. There’s a lot of that that plays into the game. You’re not going to all of a sudden stop throwing to a guy because you’ve used him. Certainly defenses are going to get ready for him but usually that player is able to perform at a level to either get open or run the ball or block. A lot of that is digesting a lot of information and trying to put it at a focal point for the players so that they can look at their one or two things during the off week that they can get better at.”
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I wanted to ask you about K Jason Sanders and where you feel he stand. Relative to the kicks that have occurred, they have been various ranges. I think two in the 30s, two in the 40s and two in the 50s. I’m wondering if there’s something that you’ve noticed that has been a common denominator? Something that is just common in all those kicks?) – “There’s not and as odd as this is going to sound, I wish there was because then it would be an easier fix. Some have been mid, they’ve been long, they’ve been short, they’ve been left, they’ve been right. I go back to – and you guys aren’t at practice every day but you guys were at training camp – Jason has been the same guy he’s been all year. That missed opportunity, that ball that creeps in there is just creeping in at the wrong time. He still strikes a lot of really good balls and we still have great confidence in him. Again, I’ve said it a million times, that play is designed to score points and we’ve got to get those points.”
(I’m assuming that physically, K Jason Sanders is fine. Tell me your thoughts on missed kicks relative to the percentage of time that it’s actually not physical but more getting the proper and correct mindset and mental approach?) – “Again, I think at this level, I think that being in the proper headspace and having that innate confidence, that’s a big part of it. Everybody in this league, regardless of position, is talented. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. Again, we’re just going to keep working and like I said, we feel very good about Jason. We see every kick he makes and every kick he hits during the week so we are very confident in him.”
(It feels like P Michael Palardy has really been better in the punting game in recent weeks. What’s been the key for him?) – “I think he’s been a little bit more consistent. I think we’ve had some different balls and some different opportunities. We’ve had some weeks, and it’s a good thing, where we’ve been a lot more around the 50-yard line and those are going to present and have us do some different things. I think you’ve seen over the last couple weeks we’ve been backed up a little bit more and had to try and flip the field a little bit. I think like anything, it’s consistency. That’s still a work in progress. We’re trending in the right direction but like always, we always want to be better.”
(I noticed late in the game against the Giants when WR Jaylen Waddle was dealing with his cramping issues that WR Albert Wilson was back there on one of the kickoff returns. Might we see him getting some opportunities down the stretch especially as Jaylen’s importance to the offense gets more significant every week?) – “Again, that’ll be a really play-to-play, game-to-game situation based on a lot of factors. Last week as we saw, Jaylen was cramping and was not available at that time. That’s why you have to have a lot of guys ready to go and anybody that we put out there, we feel confidant in their ability to get something done.”
(What about the blocking for the return game? Where would you assess that is? I think we had always taken for granted how good the special teams unit had been for a while and now there doesn’t seem to be as much of a return game.) – “I think it’s a combination of things. I think there’s been some plays where we’ve had some very good blocking and we’ve missed some opportunities with the ball in our hands. I thought we’ve had some opportunities where we haven’t had great blocking. I think those two things go together. When you don’t have a lot of opportunities, when you do get them, you have to find a way to get something out of them. I think we’re averaging about one kickoff return a game so it’s hard to find that rhythm. I think it’s a two-phase, two-fold deal whether it’s the blocking, whether it’s returning it. We had one situation last week where they had a good call, they had a little changeup that presented a player that we couldn’t get to. It all goes together but we’ve got to be better across the board.”
(I wanted to ask you about a coaching point. A few weeks ago, you guys had that punt blocked and it seems to me like it hasn’t even come close to happening again. I was curious what was your message to the guys was and how they responded to that message?) – “Well obviously I think they’ve responded well. Again, that’s a technique and effort play. It always has been, it always will be. With the proper technique, with a lot of the new rules, there’s only so many things you can really do as a block unit. If you’re doing the right things physically, playing the right techniques and you’re giving good effort, we feel good about where we should be with that play.”
