Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(You all have done so much right and well defensively this year. What sort of gnaws at you as far as things that you wish you all, collectively, had done better as a group through 17 weeks?) – “Obviously the end game is wins. That’s the ultimate goal each week – to play complementary football and do our part of that and win as a team. So obviously when you fall short of that, that stings. Those are the things – that’s the big picture goal for us is to each week win, obviously. Then you move onto the next week and you try to improve on the things that you’re doing well. And on the things that you’re not doing well, you try to get corrected. That’s kind of the way we approach it.”
(There’s no question the run defense has been better this year than last year, and was very effective during the seven-game winning streak. But you did give up a lot of rushing yards obviously Sunday. A lot of that was because Tennessee was leading throughout. You gave up a lot in the Buffalo finale last year. Do you emerge thinking your run defense is good enough?) – “Well again, you don’t really look at things – at this time of year, our focus right now and it has been for the last six or seven hours this morning has been on the New England Patriots. We went through the Tennessee film on Monday and Sunday night. We looked at some things that we could do a little bit better or a little bit differently. We looked at some of the things that we were doing well. Tip your hat to them. They had a good scheme. They’re coached well. They played well. Again, our focus is on correcting the things that we can correct, move on and get ready for New England, who is another tough opponent. We know they’re going to run the ball and we’re excited for the challenge this week.”
(That run defense had been so good for so many consecutive weeks and then this is the first time in a long time where it looked the way it did. What were some of those factors that you identified when reviewing the game as to why it took that drop off?) – “Some of it could be a little bit scheme-related, where we’re trying to create negative plays. Some of it is them staying ahead of the chains and staying on track and not being able to really get them into situations where they need to throw the ball. Then some of it, like I said, is scheme issues. Then some of it is just fundamentals and techniques. Those are the things, like I said, that when you review the film, you try to correct all of those and then you get ready to play New England, who is a very good run offense. They can throw the ball. They do a lot of things. They’re very multiple. They’re very well-coached. They’ve got very good players. They’ve got a very good offensive line. Very similar to the team that we saw last week. Their receivers all block well. They all play hard. They’re a physical, tough team. They’re going to play for 60 minutes. Again, we have a big challenge in front of us this week. That’s kind of where our focus is.”
(In regards to that focus on the Patriots, you guys obviously had a chance to see QB Mac Jones in Week 1. Where have you kind of seen him grow in terms of where he was back in September to now in January?) – “I would say he has full control of the offense. He has the ability to check them in and out of plays. He makes quick decisions. He’s a quick processer. He’s very accurate with the football. He understands protections, so he knows where pressure is coming from. He knows where he needs to get the ball. He’s done a very nice job for them. Again, it will be a big challenge for us this week to try to keep him off-track. We’re looking forward to that.”
(I wanted to get your thoughts on DE Emmanuel Ogbah, the steps he took this year and the totality of what he brings with the pass rush and then when he doesn’t get there, his ability to bat the ball down at the line of scrimmage as well.) – “The first thought that comes to my mind when you talk about Ogbah is he’s a selfless player. He puts the team first. He’s a hard worker. He’s a tough guy. I’m obviously glad we have him. He competes. Like all of us, he’ll come in and put in a good day’s work, try to put his best foot forward and he’s been productive for us this year.”
(How instrumental has the play of your top two cornerbacks been in a lot of the things you tried to do the second half of the year, where we saw the drastic improvement in a lot of categories?) – “Again, we have good plays. And when they play well, it opens up the ability to do multiple things. Obviously those guys, not only in the pass game or coverage – you see them in the run game and they show up, you see them in zone coverage and they show up. It’s like all of our guys. We ask them to do the same thing from all the way back in August to tomorrow or today, which is to improve, get better each day, become the best version of yourself. Big picture, totality type things, that’s just not really where the mindset is. It’s the same mindset of getting better each day, trying to improve, be the best version of yourself and then collectively as a group, go out there and put a good product on the field on Sunday to win the game.”
(I know your focus is entirely on New England, but I figured I’d give it one last try on one thing in particular. In terms of keeping in perspective what happened to your defensive group Sunday, giving up 198 rushing yards, it followed seven really good games. Do you look at that game – if you’re willing to engage in this – do you look at that game and say our defensive front is not physical enough against power teams? Or do you look at that game and say we shouldn’t form that conclusion because we put good things on tape for seven weeks?) – “That’s a good question. I would say it goes back to there’s a process. You look at what you’ve done and how you’re doing it, and against multiple different things and multiple different teams, and you kind of make an assessment of, ‘Ok, we’re doing this well. Let’s build off of this. This we’re not doing well. Let’s kind of shy away from this. Where can we put guys in better spots on this?’ One thing, our guys play hard. They’ll fight to the end. They’re always going to play competitive. At the end of the day, we’re human too. So when you lose, it’s dejecting. You put a lot into it. You put a lot of effort, work, energy, time and when those things don’t go your way, obviously you don’t enjoy it. But again, like we’ve talked many times, the reason I love football so much is because it really kind of relates or correlates to life. Sometimes you get knocked down and all of us have experienced loss or tragedy, and sometimes you have to push forward and put your foot in front of the other for others. That’s why I like football because when you sign up for that, you’re a part of something that’s greater than yourself. We’ve got a lot of good guys, a lot of mentally and physically tough guys in our locker room. We’re excited about the challenge this week, for sure.”
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I know you have high standards. You’ve been a good special teams coach in the league for a long time. Has your unit’s overall play this year met your standards?) – “Obviously not. To be quite honest, we’ve never met my standards. But obviously this year even a little bit more so of not being where we need to be.”
(Can you explain? I’m not asking you to throw any player under the bus obviously, but can you explain specifically where you need to be better? What tops your list?) – “Well, the list is long as it always is. We need to be better in everything. I need to coach better. We need to execute it better. When we have opportunities, we need to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. A lot to work on.”
(I was surprised when I saw that the Dolphins are last in the NFL in field goal percentage. Obviously, K Jason Sanders has shown that he can be much, much better than that. Where do you stand in terms of how his season has gone and whether or not he can get this straightened out and be the long-term solution?) – “No. 1 obviously, there is not a doubt in my mind that Jason is going to be fine. We expect him to be fine and productive and have a good game this week which is the only thing we are really worried about. And then on top of that, we expect him to get back to where he’s shown and what he’s shown he’s capable of doing.”
(How much of this has been a product of new rule changes and not having a return specialist in terms of what’s gone on with the return game this season?) – “I think it’s a little bit of everything. Any time that you have flux and you don’t have the guy that you know is going to be out there every single week and how that role falls, there’s always going to be some ups and downs. Again, I put that right in that category of we’ve got a lot to work on. Once we get through this, we expect to go play well on Sunday against a very good team and then get right to work on getting us back. And you guys said it, my expectations and where I believe we need to be – get back there to where are productive in every single phase and then I can complain about when we’re productive that I want to be even more productive.”
(Since we won’t have another chance to talk to you until maybe August 7th, I do want to ask you a long-term question on WR Jaylen Waddle and S Jevon Holland, two established talents and very good college returners. Would your hope be that when these decisions are made during the summer, that these guys will get another opportunity next year to show that they can be good NFL returners, not merely good college returners?) – “Again, that’s way down the line and you guys have been great all year – the National Football League, roster management, game day management, roles on game day, is a giant puzzle. How that puzzle fits, we’ll have a long time to figure that out. To answer your question, I don’t have one right now. I know that we are going to have somebody back there that we are going to feel very comfortable with being back there, being the guy.”
(I didn’t notice if anybody in the National Football League had a punt return for a touchdown this week but I thought it was bizarre that entering last week there had only been two punt returns for touchdowns in the entire season for all teams. First of all, why do you think that is? Why is the punt return touchdown not happening anymore?) – “To me, there’s a litany of reasons. No. 1, there are some very good returners in the National Football League and then you compound that with there is very good awareness of understanding who and what those guys are and what they can do. There’s a lot of things that people are trying to keep the ball away from some of those guys. You see penalties have nullified some things. There’s not a real great answer for you but I think like anything you see, that will be something that comes in waves and one year, it’ll be a little bit less then the next year there will be much more than the norm. It’s always going to seem to balance out.”
(Do you feel like in general, teams are putting an emphasis on just a guy who can catch the ball, in general across the league? Speaking of a league-trend here. Are teams focusing more on just catch the ball as opposed to maybe focusing on there is a huge difference between a guy who returns it seven yards per return versus 12? On the surface, seven to 12 doesn’t seem like that much.) – “I think it varies. Believe me, I think if you have and are fine and are able to have a dynamic guy back there, you want to have that guy. Again, maybe that’s me, but I think around the league if you would ask most coaches, they would love to have and be able to have a guy down there that you feel is a threat every time he steps on the field.”
(I think if we just looked at tackles for coverage, it would probably be lazy to conclude who is your best guy just based on tackles. I wanted to ask you, first couple of names that come to mind when I ask you who have been your best coverage guys on punt and kickoff returns?) – “Again, you look at the normal core guys – Mack Hollins, Clayton Fejedelem, Duke Riley. That crew. Cethan Carter. And then we’ve had some guys be in and out and had some flux. We feel like it’s a solid group and we need to be good this week because we’re facing a verry good returner here to finish off the season. It’s been a good group to work with.”
(How would you assess P Michael Palardy’s play as we enter Week 18?) – “Again, I think it’s been we’ve talked about it, we’ve got to be better in everything. We’ve got to be more consistent. But again, you can take that from top to bottom on this season. We need to be better in really everything we do.”
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville
(As you look back at this year, it had been about 3.4 yards per carry for most of the season. I wonder if you think you could be a successful NFL offense if you produce yards per carry at that clip under 3.5?) – “At that rate – what is that magic number? I don’t know what that magic number is. We’ve got to run the ball better. We’re working at it, we’ve talked about it – running the ball better. I think we’ve had some games recently where we have run it better. That’s a continued emphasis. I don’t want to limit what that number is to say that’s a good number. We’ve got to run it better and that starts with the whole group. The offensive line, that starts with the backs making good decisions with the ball, tight ends, wide receivers blocking for us. We’re all involved in that. To have a consistent run game helps with so many other things. We’ve got to be better at that and I don’t know if there is a set number that says you’ve arrived.”
(I know you’ve mentioned this – you did today and you have consistently – that everyone bears responsibility with a low rushing average – the backs, the offensive line and I know you’ve taken responsibility as well. But if you had to overall evaluate for me please how the offensive line has done as a run blocking group, could you please do that?) – “Again, I don’t necessarily think it’s one unit that’s responsible for it. There are different runs. There are runs hit in different places. There are different schemes. So if we’re running a toss play outside, that might be a different emphasis on who is the point of attack blocking than if you’re running a dive play inside. To put the responsibility on five guys and say they are the only ones that affect what happens in the run game, that’s not what we do. That’s not the beauty of this game. The beauty of this game is that it take 11 people to be coordinated to have success on one play at a time. That’s why you play this game. That’s why you get involved in it. It’s because it’s the team concept that’s important to you. It’s all of us that are involved in that, coaches from the diagram and creation of the plays and the teaching of what we’re doing all the way down to the players and the execution. It doesn’t rely strictly on one person for the execution, the success or the production. It’s a group effort.”
(I know you don’t coach the tight ends, but I wasn’t able to get this into George Godsey. I noticed a wrinkle in the Titans game where instead of having a running back next to QB Tua Tagovailoa in some of the shotgun formations, you had TE Durham Smythe either chip or release. I was curious as to what went into that instead of a more traditional back next to him? Was it maybe just not feeling comfortable with protection there or was it?) – “No. As a matter of fact, those groupings are interchangeable for us. There were times where Duke (Johnson) was back there in the exact same protections and the exact same calls. It just gives us the flexibility to use a different person. What does that change in personnel do to the defense, the fact that there is not a running back on the field? Does that change their calls, their coverages, what they have to do based on that? We’re trying to make them think and do things too. We’re not just lining up in traditional stagnant groups where they can say, ‘ok, this is what our check is.’ Maybe it’s two tight ends in there, and it starts in an empty formation and shifts back to the backfield or it stays in empty. We’re trying to make the defense work a little bit mentally too with their gymnastics and what they have to do. But scheme-wise. we have the potential to get to very similar concepts with a back in there or a tight end.”
(Coming off the game in Tennessee, was there any regret in not utilizing the run game more given the conditions and everything else? I know game situations and playing from behind also have something to do with it.) – “As a running backs coach, I always want to run the ball. I’m all for more runs. But at the end of the day, in our group, and I think in every group on this offense, we’re going to try to contribute every way we can to give us the best chance to win. Whatever play is called, that’s what we’ve got to execute. If we execute each play at a high level – it’s the execution of it. It’s doing it better, it’s doing it exactly right on every play that gives us the best chance, whether that’s run, pass, play-action, drop-back. We can do any of those things if we execute them well.”
(With RB Duke Johnson, was there anything that surprised you in the weeks since he came up from the practice squad to the roster? Or was this what you’ve been seeing from him since he joined the team in October?) – “Since Duke has been here, he’s done everything that I and we have asked of him, which is come in, learn the system, get prepared to contribute in games, which he’s done. He’s gone in, I think he’s played well, he’s made some runs. He had some really good runs the other day in Tennessee. He’s done some good things in protection. He’s been effective in protection. He was the other day in Tennessee again. He had a big block on the long pass to Jaylen (Waddle) down the field that gives that ball a chance to get off. I’m very happy with what he’s contributed and what he’s brought to the room – his energy, his positivity, his work effort, everything that we’re looking for. I think he’s done everything we’ve asked.”
(Every training camp, this is probably the case with every team, you see something that excites you. One thing we saw being out there every day in July and August was RB Salvon Ahmed out of the backfield catching passes. Is that something that you and George Godsey have tried to use more in games he’s been active and been on the field and it just hasn’t materialized? Is that at all a regret of this year, that that couldn’t be exploited during games as it was in early August practices and preseason?) – “I think when we’re evaluating the talent on the team, we’re trying to find roles for everybody. The reality is there are only so many spots and only so many plays and things that we can do. We have some real playmakers on this team, so sometimes that ball gets spread around to other places. Salvon has done a great job. He’s got tremendous work ethic, he’s really smart, he’s passionate about this, he’s committed to this. Did it go exactly how he wanted it, how he wanted it? You never know how that is. We have to play it out and you have to take it how it comes. He’s a young professional and he’s doing everything he can do to get himself ready every week. And he’s ready to go every week and has been in the times we’ve asked him to go up and play.”
(Your assessment of RB Gerrid Doaks after being around him for a year. What kept him from being elevated this year at all? What’s the skill he has to develop to be an NFL running back?) – “We’ll look at all of those things. Gerrid has come in and he’s worked hard and he’s learned the system. It’s an adjustment coming to the NFL and I think he’s made that adjustment. We all determine our different roles as to what we’re doing and he’ll continue to get develop and he’ll get better going forward. It’s just that he’s got to keep working like all of us do and keep working to get better, and he will.”
Co-Offensive Coordinator/TEs George Godsey
(I wanted to ask with obviously the game didn’t go the way you wanted on offense, especially in the elements – a lot of mishandling of the ball. I was curious how much of the gameplan going into the game was dependent on and had taken the weather into a factor? As the rain progressed in that game, how much did the gameplan actually change?) – “The weather is always going to be a factor. We know it down here. We didn’t execute. Probably could have called some calls that put our guys in a better position too. I think a lot of those we’d like to have to have back the way that we executed or called the game.”
(I know you have another game left that’s your focus but we’re probably not going to be able to talk to you again until July, so I was going to ask you if you’d be kind enough to take a minute to explain in your mind what you regret this season? What you wish you would have done more of, collectively as a group. What you personally wish you would have done differently as a play caller if you’re willing to placate us and share some of those thoughts.) – “It’s really hard right now just because of how the life of a football coach or the team is. We kind of take it day by day. Really on normal downs with New England, they’re a good team. Really not ready for that. But obviously every game we’d like to perform enough to win. There’s some games that we would liked to have perform better. We’ve got another opportunity, which New England is a good team, so we’d like to finish on a good note.”
(In the second half, the fact that RB Duke Johnson didn’t have a carry, was that a function of the score of the game feeling like you needed to be pass-heavy trailing by double figures?) – “Yeah, I mean that’s how the game ends up playing. We’re pretty balanced. We’d like to take out the third downs, the two minutes and really look at normal downs as far as a balance standpoint goes. Then we got the ball and really had five minutes of time of possession backed up to start and we were able to move the ball with a couple of those actions. We left it in that mode and kind of sputtered out right there around field goal range. At the point where in the fourth quarter we’re down multiple scores, there’s really only one way to get back quickly. I don’t think it was a factor of not wanting to give him the ball, that’s for sure. It really was just how the game ended up playing out.”
(Just wanted to ask you about something QB Tua Tagovailoa was talking about after the game. He said that it was your intention to push the ball downfield. Was that more just the gameplan heading into it or was that something you tried to stick with even as weather conditions worsened?) – “I don’t know exactly what that meant. Was it every play? First play of the game we were able to get a good chunk. That was kind of our game plan going in. We ran the ball quite a bit against New Orleans and it worked out in the start. Then we kind of go from there play by play. I think we needed to do more than just hand the ball off like we showed against New Orleans. I think that’s kind of really where we were getting at with that.”
(The decisions to use QB Jacoby Brissett in short-yardage situations, was there ever a thought – if the plan was to throw the ball downfield, was there ever a thought to use QB Tua Tagovailoa in that situation instead of Jacoby? What was the process behind using Jacoby instead?) – “There’s a lot that goes into that process, whether it’s quarterback sneak or a fumble snap on a previous play that we had in the short yardage. We have plays for Tua and plays for Jacoby. I’ll kind of leave it at that.”
(Through 16 games, the team is 29th in yards per play. I wanted to ask you about that statistic, it’s obviously been discussed throughout the entire season. Is it actually not as relevant? Are there other statistics that are far more relevant or do you think that for an offense to score more points, the yards per play would need to increase?) – “I think that there’s probably some teams that have a good yards per play number and maybe in the red area do not. I would have to dive into that a little bit deeper. I know the one score – we want to be ahead at the end of the game and we’ve done that half the time and we haven’t the other half. There’s a lot that we can improve on, I think, as a unit and we’ll look at those here after this next game.”
(The other thing that I wanted to ask you about over the 16 games was you are 13th in the NFL in third-down efficiency. Now obviously Sunday was not a very good game in general, but over the course of the season, do you sense reason for optimism relative to what you are seeing from QB Tua Tagovailoa on third down?) – “Well, you know last game, it was pretty noticeable that you pointed that out because we had been good on third down. Our yards to attain the first down has been a lot lower than it was on Sunday. We had quite a bit of third-and-eight-plusses and we weren’t able to convert those. Thus, we weren’t able to stay on the field and we weren’t able to run it more. A lot of these questions that are asked revolve around staying on the field and staying on track getting first downs. When you’re third-and-long, it’s hard and we showed that on Sunday. The more manageable we can get, the more we can attain those and hang onto the ball and really turn those drives into points.”
(Now getting about a full year to evaluate TE Hunter Long as a rookie, how do you think he fared? What are the strengths you see in his game and where do you think he can still improve?) – “Like any rookie, there’s a lot to learn. From personnel to technique to our design of our plays and how we want to get open in the passing game and block. I think tight end is really a unique position because of all the different responsibilities. We’ve got a good group in that room and a lot of those guys have played and those guys have played each game. That room has been relatively healthy too. I think Hunter has learned this year from those guys. We expect him to continue to improve.”
(I also wanted to ask about TE Durham Smythe. He’s getting more involved in the passing game this year. How did you see that growth come about?) – “Durham is reliable and we’ve seen that in practice so it doesn’t really surprise us. We try to be a little more balanced in that room with Mike (Gesicki) obviously carrying a big load. He’s performed pretty steady the whole season.”
(To that point about your tight end usage, you wound up with more 12-personnel or you have more 12-personnel than anyone else in the league by quite a long shot. I was curious if that was one of those things coming into the year that was the plan or if that’s one of those situations where that kind of is how the gameplan offensively develops as the year goes along?) – “It’s starting the season and how we finish, there’s probably a lot of variables that come up whether it’s injuries, especially at the receiver position in and out of the lineup. Obviously, we’ve had some injuries there too that people have played. Those guys, like I said, have been a healthy group for the most part and are able to do multiple things. They are able to block, they are able to block in-line, they are able to detach if we need to and it’s a pretty reliable group from an assignment standpoint. As much as we can use those guys, we’d like to.”
(There have been eight games this season where you guys have produced less than 300 yards of offense. Obviously, the hope is that would be a little bit higher in terms of the production level. What do you feel has been the issue that has hindered the offense from a yardage and scoring standpoint this year?) – “I think it’s maintaining the ball, time of possession. Look at those games where we were under 30 minutes, it’s usually probably going to equate to that amount of yardage. We didn’t really perform well in the two-minute scenarios either. We had three of them on Sunday and we didn’t get any production out of it. There’s a few of those situations – third down, two-minute – where we just didn’t perform up to our standard. Holding on to the ball will help us get more yards, get us into the scoring range, get more points and get us into the red area where we’ve actually been above average. That’s kind of the goal as far as moving the ball.”
(I was curious as you look back at the year, how much does having a young offensive line that struggled early in the season affect your play calling? Might you have been able to be more aggressive downfield if the line had been older and more experienced?) – “That’s where most of the passing game starts is protection. Whether it’s a matchup that we can do better on or it’s executing our job as a protector – whether it’s a back, lineman or tight end – that group has got to give the quarterback enough time for the receivers to get open too. If we’re having to get the ball out of our hands because we’re getting pressure, then we can’t get the ball downfield. A lot of that plays into how the game is being played and how the matchups end up being. We had some guys in there moving around a little bit, Liam (Eichenberg) is learning and improving each game. Austin (Jackson) is going inside. We’ve had some rotation going on at center. The right side has seemed to be pretty consistent as far as health-wise. All those variables take place when calling a play. We want to make sure we give our guys the best opportunity to execute that play. Protection, depth of route, pattern, options for the quarterback and all of that goes into any play call or play design.”
