DT Zach Sieler and DT Raekwon Davis
Zach Sieler:
(We got a chance to talk to Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark and I asked him a little bit about you and DT Christian Wilkins getting extra work in. He talked about you guys kind of recognizing when something doesn’t go right in practice and you come over off to the side afterwards and work on it. Just wanted to get your perspective on kind of that mindset – you and Christian working after practice.) – “Yeah, I think being with (Austin) Clark and just the d-line in general for so many – two or three years now – it’s one of those things that as soon as it happens, you kind of know, ‘oh shoot, my hand wasn’t right in that play or I had a bad step.’ So we kind of both will sit there and he’ll run off and I’ll tell him something and I’ll run off and tell him, ‘hey man, you messed that up.’ And we’ll make sure we focus on that after to really try and hone-in on that.”
(How long do you feel like it took you to get to that place where you could recognize it that quickly and apply it later?) – “I think we’re still getting there. We’re still improving, but just the Austin (Clark) and the Pete Jenkins stuff has really been integral in our progress, I think, in teaching us kind of what we’re looking for.”
(They don’t the put the contact lenses on the really, really fast guys like you?) – “No. Yeah, apparently we don’t need to see like the receivers. (laughter)”
(When the fans were out here on Saturday it was crazy and you sent the two rookies out here to practice the pump-up. You guys are having fun, aren’t you?) – “Yeah, I think it’s a mentality that Coach McDaniel is installing where it’s we’re here to work and get better every play, but we’re having fun when we do it. And making sure we improve and learn every time, but you’re not just here just grinding and upset. So just trying to make the atmosphere a good work environment and everyone wants to get better.”
(Would you say it’s beneficial the way you guys do shorter reps but more efficient reps? Do you sense at the end of the day it’s different or…) – “I think it’s definitely – my legs sense it. (laughter) The quick turnaround, I think it’s really good for us, especially down here getting the conditioning in and getting the extra reps in quicker really helps us with our wind.”
(What do you think about getting pads on next practice?) – “Oh, we’re excited. It’ll be nice to get out here and really kind of start going and see what everyone’s made of.”
(Do you like that, I assume, as defensive linemen and the physical…?) – “Oh yeah, we’re in the trenches every day. It’s why you play football.”
(Has DT Raekwon Davis gone back out to the gator farm yet since his last appearance out there?) – “I don’t think so. I think he’s still trying to stay away from that.”
(There he is.)
Raekwon Davis: “Hey, buddy.”
Sieler: “Hey, bud.”
(How is he progressing here in Year 3?) – “He’s doing great. He’s seeing blocks. He’s seeing his reads. He’s looking slim, feeling good, yeah. I think it’s been going really well.”
(Do you want to go back out to the farm and get some more gator action? Some hog hunting maybe?)
Davis: “Yeah, if he invites me. I’ve never been. (laughter) I’ve never been yet.”
(What was the episode of Fish Out of Water this summer?) – Davis: “That was like the Everglades.”
(Did you see it, Zach?) – Sieler: “Oh yeah, I did. Oh yeah. He was driving the boat.”
(Was he a pretty good gladesman?) – Sieler: “Oh yeah, it looked like it. (laughter)”
Davis: “That was my first time driving an airboat. You know how to drive one of those?”
Sieler: “Oh yeah.”
Davis: “It’s crazy.”
Davis: “Go ahead. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Sieler: “No, you’re good, bro. They probably want to talk to you anyways.”
Davis: “No, they want to talk to you. (laughter) Superstar right here, baby.”
Raekwon Davis:
(We talked to Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark today. He said this is the best shape the best shape you’ve been in. He said you lost significant body fat and weight. Are you able to share with us, is it 10 pounds you lost, 3 percent body fat, what range?) – “I’ll start off by saying I started like, a meal prep. I got my diet better first. I started with that. I started more cardio. Even after practice, I do my cardio, stay on top of my shape. Because I’m a big guy so it’s so easy for me to like, consume weight, to put on that weight, so I just try to do my best to maintain it throughout the camp and try to have it right there to have it at for the season.”
(Where are you now?) – “I’m a great weight. How about that? (laughter) I’m at a great weight. I’m at a real, real great weight, you know. I ain’t going to say, but…”
(Lightest since – without giving a number which is fine, of course – lightest you’ve been since when?) – “I’d say, like, my sophomore year at Alabama. Yeah, sophomore year. I’m going towards that, to that weight. I’m not going to say I’m fully there, but I’m close to being that weight.”
(What difference do you feel on the field playing at this new weight?) – “Man, I ain’t going to lie to y’all. It feels like having – you ever have like, a weight vest? Like running with a weight vest on? It feels like that – like you just took that weight vest off. I feel loose. I feel like I can really move now.”
(Did you cut anything out of your diet that you miss?) – “I never ate bad. I was just like a big snacker. I just like to snack because my kids like to – I see my kids eating snacks and I feel like, ‘gimme some!’ (laughter) Like I want some of that, too, you know what I’m saying? But yeah, I just had to relax on that.”
(Do you feel faster because this offense…?) – “Yeah, so when I came in OTAs, you know how he just put the new zone, like the real quick zone in. I got in there and I was like, ‘wow, I’ve got to really come back to camp prepared. Be quicker, because them guys are quick.’ Connor’s quick. Connor Williams is quick. He’s a fast guy, strong guy. He’s quick.”
(Are you looking forward to seeing how quick they really are when you put pads on tomorrow?) – “Yeah, I mean, yeah. You put your hands on them and that’s a different story. (laughter)”
(Is that – the first day of pads – you guys on the line, do you look forward to it more than anybody else?) – “Just looking forward to both sides of the ball just making plays. Just making big plays. I know they’re going to get a couple good plays. I know I’m going to get a couple good plays. Just making each other better. Just getting better.”
(Do you feel that buildup leading to the first day of pads? Is that something you guys are itching to kind of start having more contact?) – “Yeah, we’ve been in the locker room, we’ve been talking about it. We’re itching for it. Tomorrow’s that day. It’s here.”
(You talked about the weight difference in terms of speed. How is it affecting you in terms of power?) – “Nothing at all. I’m just a naturally strong guy. That’s just me. That’s just like my second nature. I’m always strong.”
(Him, too.) – “Yeah, powerful guy. Just God gave me that tool.”
(You want to arm wrestle.) – “You might beat me though. You might beat me, so I don’t want to arm wrestle. You look kind of big. (laughter)”
(You mentioned OL Connor Williams with the speed at center. Does he look to you yet like an NFL center even though he hasn’t done it a ton in his life?) – “Bro, listen. When Connor first got here – because I felt like zone, quick zoning was something I really struggled with – and when Connor got here, he really made me better as a player, quick zoning, the type of blocks they do. I’ve been so much better ever since he’s been here. But yeah, he’s a great center. He’s great, bro. He’s very good. He’s been good ever since he’s been here.”
(You mentioned weight at the top. Does training camp, sweating out here, do you ever change your meal plan or how you manage your weight at all given how much you guys are losing weight-wise, probably?) – “I’m still doing my meal preps. I still do my meal preps when I’m in camp. I still do them. I eat a little bit like, here, but I’m still on my meal prep.”
RB Myles Gaskin
(On the difference in speed on offense this year) – “Yes, you said it, man. Just everything is moving fast. A faster pace. Guys are coming together, obviously. It was a big offseason for us as the Dolphins. I think it’s finally coming together. Obviously we were just all excited to get back in here for camp and everything. Being here has just been a lot of fun, learning this playbook, getting out here and running these plays, seeing these new guys, getting to see ‘Cheetah’ (Tyreek Hill) out here. Man, it’s a lot of fun and a lot of excitement for us.”
(What is the speed like? You see it firsthand. We only see it from far away?) – “What’s the speed like? I’ve never been in an offense that moves like this. The o-linemen are going. We’re racing every day. Everybody wants to be the fastest guy out there, every single day. It’s a competition. I mean, that’s what you want in the league. Compete every single day with your teammates and it’s going to translate to Sunday.”
(Almost every offense you’ve kind of been in, you’ve been the fastest guy, right? What’s that kind of like to have other guys like this here?) – “That’s the competition part of it. Bringing in the guys that we brought in, just real fast guys and guys that have been in this system before. It’s just excited being able to learn from these guys. It’s exciting. I can’t elaborate that enough, but it’s been fun. It’s fun.”
(For you personally, how does this system fit your skillset compared to last year’s system?) – “I think it fits my skillset. I think – it is what it is. At the end of the day, you get a playbook, you learn how to run how they want you to run, but at the same time, you continue to be yourself. All of us are here for a reason. So you take the coaching points and then try to translate them to your game and how you can excel like that. Every system is always a little bit different. Coaches want a little bit something (different) from others, but at the end of the day, it’s football. I think this one, a lot of outside zone and that type of stuff, it’s been good for me.”
(RB Chase Edmonds about transitioning from inside to outside and some of the thought process and some of the difficulties there. I’m curious with your experience how you’ve kind of evolved switching to the outside zone scheme?) – “Every year I’ve been in the league, I’ve had a different ‘OC’ (offensive coordinator), a different system. So I guess it’s just the new one this year. I know I do like this one the most. Just getting guys out there running, we have athletic guys up front, and that’s what we want to do. Everybody on the team has bought into that as an offense. Once everybody is kind of pointing and facing the same direction, that’s what you want. It’s going to make it easier for everybody.”
(You mentioned the fun you’re having. It was kind of a fun moment before practice where you had guys coming over and pumping the non-existent crowd. Moments like that, is it as fun as it seems from the outside? Does it feel like that?) – “(laughter) The rookies. Definitely, definitely. I think being an older guy now, you get to see the rookies come in. You see how they’re a little bit nervous the first day and they loosen up and then you get to see their personality. Coach (McDaniel) definitely brings a type of vibe. The whole coaching staff brings a different type of vibe than honestly I’m used to in kind of all the years I’ve played football, but it’s exciting. It’s exciting. He’s a young dude, and he kind of speaks our language. It’s exciting – he relates. He relates to us. I think when you have that, guys just want to play for him. Guys want to make plays for themselves, obviously, and for this team, but also for the coach.”
(WR Jaylen Waddle talked of tinted contact lenses. Are you wearing those?) – “Yes, that’s why my eyes are red. I don’t know if y’all can see it. It’s just my eyes have just gotten a little bit sensitive to light, moving from Seattle. It was always grey all the time, and then I got out here and the last couple years and I’ve been sensitive to light. It’s been helping for me.”
(How does it help?) – “It just kind of dims it down. It just kind of dims how bright it is down, just kind of like having a tinted visor but just contacts.”
(How did the rookies do in the fake pump-up?) – “We’ve got some work to do. They’ve got some work to do. (laughter) Good thing we didn’t have anybody out there today. So that was the practice for practice tomorrow, you know?”
(How does it feel knowing that this offseason, they added RB Raheem Mostert, RB Sony Michel, RB Chase Edmonds? How does that feel? How does that impact you?) – “I’m always excited about competition, and I’m always excited about learning from other guys. I think me and Chase (Edmonds) are kind of built the same. Smaller guys, run the ball kind of similar, so I like kind of watching him play and see how he plays. When we talk and when we come outside, how he talks to me and how I’m talking to him. Raheem (Mostert), he’s been in the system before, and he’s excelled before. Sony (Michel) has won Super Bowls. So I think that we brought in good guys that I can learn from and everybody can learn from in the room. I think those guys learn from each other and that’s what you want. You want a room that everybody wants to get better, everybody wants to compete but is not selfish. That’s football.”
OL Connor Williams
(Through five practice and all of OTAs, how would you assess where you stand in the move to center? Are you pleased with what you put on tape? Are you pleased with how it’s going?) – “It’s training camp. It’s one day at a time. It’s a day at a time getting better, working on your craft, fine-tuning your craft. We’re in day five and we’re grinding right now. It’s all about the grind.”
(What did you do between minicamp and training camp to kind of acclimate to playing center?) – “Really, just stayed in the building, worked with the strength staff, worked with the people in the building to get close to everybody and just get used to this heat. That’s probably the biggest transition. Just getting comfortable with the spot, with the snaps and everything, and getting snaps in with Tua (Tagovailoa). Just getting comfortable with it.”
(When people think about playing center, obviously your mind goes to getting used to snapping the ball. But what else goes into that people may not think about?) – “I’d say it’s a completely different game. You’re having to help both sides of the line. You’re not just stuck on (one) side anymore. It’s a more full game, but at the same time, you have to conceptualize the defense and everything to be able to make the right calls. Just playing that new head game and everything. Then like you said with the snaps, once you get the snaps down, it’s just a second-hand motion.”
(With snapping, are you happy with how you’ve done? Are you where you want to be with the placement of the snaps?) – “It’s definitely progressed. It becomes second-hand where you’re not thinking about it and you’re throwing it back there and it hits the money.”
(How many snaps are you doing per day out of shotgun?) – “I don’t count them but a good handful. And then definitely some after practice, so just getting that repetition down.”
(The first time the Dolphins told you that they wanted to give you a good look at center was when?) – “They signed me and I was happy to be here, and they said we picked you to play o-line so I came here. Then they called me a couple of weeks later and said ‘we think we’re going to give you a good tryout at center.’ Wherever they need me, I’ve always said from day one that I’d go. I’m happy with where I’m at now.”
(On the snaps that haven’t been exactly where you want them, have they been more too high or too low?) – “It’s just in the heat of the moment having to adjust to the defensive calls and everything and they just get off a little bit. Just having to readjust it. Just fine-tuning.”
(The last couple of practices we finally got some one-on-one pass rush o-line drills. How much do you guys love getting after it in those drills?) – “That fine-tunes the craft. Definitely an environment like that where it’s just completely one-on-one and no sideboards or anything. It comes down to technique. That’s where you become a technician with the person you’re going against and it’s good looks for both sides.”
(Has anybody stood out on defense in those drills?) – “You know, Raekwon (Davis) is pretty big so he’s a good hand to handle. He’s done a great job and we’ve been battling it out.”
(This really starts tomorrow right? You guys put the pads on.) – “The d-line can grab and hold on the jerseys, but once the pads come on, it’s a different game. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
(Obviously fine-tuning the snap and then center is also different with pads on, right?) – “It’s a little bit different, but at the same time, it’s the same game. It’s the same sport.”
(As a youngster or in high school, have you played center?) – “I’ve been in QC since I’ve gotten into the league just as backup and whatnot in case of an emergency. So just doing that. But at the end of the day, snapping is not too bad. It’s second-hand nature once you get used to it.”
(Can you talk about what is going to be new to you now is making the calls when you walk up. That is a new responsibility that you’ve inherited by playing center. Can you talk about the responsibility of that now? Now you’re in charge of making the calls.) – “That’s definitely been a transition and I’ve enjoyed it. Playing four years in the league and seeing all of these different defenses, you kind of accumulate the knowledge of it. That’s probably the big thing about it, but I’ve really enjoyed that process of seeing the defense and seeing the plays come together.”
(Do you feel like that will help you transition to making the calls yourself?) – “Most definitely.”
(Has there ever been a day going back to May, June or the first five days of camp where you walked off the field and said ‘I wish I was at left guard?’ Or has that never happened? Has it been fun and enjoyable every day?) – “You come out here and you give it your best every day, no matter where you are. We’re all competitors and we’re all athletes. Whatever our craft is we’re working on, that’s the goal. There is no time to sit there and look back or look at other spots or whatnot. It’s about being present in the moment.”
(This has still been fun for you, this adjustment?) – “Most definitely. I love it.”
(We were talking to DT Raekwon Davis about weight. I’m curious how you’ve gone about that process? We know you lose a lot of weight out here. How do you get to your ideal weight?) – “I’ve stayed about the same weight. It’s mostly about rehydrating, about getting those waters in afterwards, maybe an IV or whatnot. But you have to keep the hydration up and keep the salt in so when you come out here, you (may) lose eight pounds. Just keeping it up.”
(Some guys said they come in heavier or lighter knowing they have to get to a certain weight. Do you have any strategy coming in like you know you’ll lose a certain amount of weight?) – “The salt helps you retain a lot of water. You’ll be up three or four pounds in the morning just from retaining all of that water that you lose by the end of the day.”
(What do you think they saw in you to move you to center? What in your skillset said he’s a center?) – “I think inside it’s more about being able to help both sides. Mobility, flexibility, being able to get to the blocks, and at the same time, get to the second levels and be able to move quickly on the second level. I think it’s been a good transition.”
