Safeties Coach Steve Gregory
(So we saw, I think seven snaps last Sunday of the three-safety look. What’s the advantage of that? And I know obviously being shorthanded at corner might incline you guys – you, Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison, Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer – to do that more? What’s the positives of that? Is there any negative with that pairing?) – “Yeah, I think it’s just obviously a different type of player. Safety is a little bit more in tune to fitting the run, playing closer towards the box, different things like that. Obviously a safety as opposed to a corner, coverage skills playing like man coverage on a receiver might be a little bit different. But for us, it’s really just whatever our game plan is. Like we might have some packages that involve three safeties. We might have some packages that don’t. So however we see the game plan going based on what the opponent is showing us, we’ll gear some of those packages each week to help benefit us and try to execute what we think can give them issues and help us win a football game.”
(How much of an adjustment has it been for your safeties unit with the injuries there have been at the cornerback position?) – “Yeah, I think part of it is not necessarily an adjustment; like we pride ourselves as a secondary of just believing in the next man up mentality. Our guys prepare and get themselves ready to play games like they’re starters, regardless of if you’re a practice squad guy or a backup or a fifth corner, or whatever you want to call it. Those guys are always ready to go in the game. I think there is an awareness level of knowing that when a guy comes in the game and he’s a young guy that hasn’t played a lot or a guy that hasn’t had a lot of snaps, as a safety, of just understanding what the matchup is or what the situation is, as far as communication and helping those guys and helping them understand what we’re doing and calming them down and making them feel comfortable and play at a high level. So we just got to work together, communicate together and help each other out as best we can.”
(Seems like a big part in the secondary is hiding the coverage pre-snap and post-snap. Obviously S Jevon Holland spends a lot of time in like a deep safety role and somebody like S Brandon Jones. What’s the key with him making it to maybe disguise the look that he’s showing pre and post-snap and are there like tells that you have worked with him?) – “Yeah, I think any situation of a good defense is always self-scouting yourself and making sure that there’s not too many tips and tendencies to what you’re doing and becoming a defense that they can really identify and pick things out that would allow them to have an advantage. We try to move those guys around a lot. We try to work on disguise, work on different things, different looks, different things schematically that’ll allow us to kind of help one call maybe look like another call and things like that. But I think that’s just defense in general, I think as you look across the league, not just in particular with us; teams want to disguise. They don’t obviously want to tell the offense exactly what you’re doing because if you are, those guys are too good, the quarterbacks are too good. It just makes their job easier.”
(I was looking at your opponent’s passing charts and not a lot of balls downfield so far against you guys this year. What would you attribute to that? Like why are you guys are doing a good job of holding the deep ball?) – “I think it’s just the players going out executing and playing at a high level and understanding that if you give up big plays over the top of your defense a lot, you’re going to not do well. You’re going to lose. So we talk about it each week of trying to find ways to eliminate big plays, keep things in front of us, limit the explosives, make an offense earn it in certain situations and also blending that with being aggressive and taking chances and different things in the right moments. So it’s just a combination of blending the defense together and understanding in key moments and key situations and offensive formations and different things that they’re doing of when those things might come and when you can prevent them from happening.”
(The expectations were big for S Jevon Holland coming into the season. We know he had the interception. How has he done as far as play and meeting those expectations?) – “He’s been great. The biggest thing with him is any time you’re given expectations from the outside looking in of you need to be a certain type of player or you need to be a playmaker on every play, you really got to try to ignore that and just play fundamentally sound and within the scheme of the defense and keep everything in place so that when the plays come, when your moment is called, when your opportunity shows up, you’re in the right position to go make a play. You don’t stress anything, don’t push for anything. Just communicate the defense, work with the guys around you, do your job within the scheme, and his abilities and his intellectual abilities as a player will allow him to make a lot of plays on Sundays.
T Terron Armstead
(I’m sure that toe has been frustrating. Do you feel like you’re ready to come back and play on Sunday?) – “Just working, just working. Still dealing with it for sure. Was able to go out there day. It was just great being out there with the team, get some practice in and get some work in. I’m still taking a day at a time.”
(What is it, exactly? Is it turf toe?) – “I’ll let Mike (McDaniel) speak on it, if he would like to. Unique situation for sure. But yeah, I’ll let Mike talk about it if he would like to.”
(And what you took away from the specialist visits, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you met with one in New York? Did you emerge from that visit thinking that this is something that’s going to heal soon or that you might be dealing with it all year?) – “We got a lot of information. We tried to take some steps to move forward. It’s getting better. It’s getting better and improving. Just go out, play football and you deal with it. It’s been a challenge and frustrating like you said.”
(What does it feel like? What is it that you experienced?) – “So it’s painful, for sure. It kind of started being a little bit more than that, though. Like a little lack of function made it hard to do my job. I couldn’t use it at a point so it just wasn’t smart to try to keep going. Give it some time and we’re still working.”
(Do you think it’s something that will linger all season?) – “I hope not. I hope not. But we’re doing everything. We’re checking all boxes just getting to as optimal as possible to be able to play week to week.”
(In that regard, did it help taking a week off instead of continuing to kind of play through it?) – “It’s getting better. It’s getting better.”
(And being able to be a practice today, how big was that for you? And how fun was that to be back on the field with the guys?) – “It was great. It was great being back out there. This is what I do for a living. So running around with the guys, get some reps in, fine-tuning some stuff, techniques. I haven’t practiced in a month. I haven’t practiced since the Patriots game, which is crazy. So man, in-season I’m playing games, but I’m still knocking rust off, getting technique right, fine-tuning. So I need to practice as much as possible.”
(You said you’re excited about being out there with your teammates. What about the aspect of QB Tua Tagovailoa coming back this weekend?) – “Yeah, yeah. Having our leader back, captain back, his energy, his influence is only positive when you get your starting QB back.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel is big on having players practice to end up playing, but he had a lot of confidence in you to go in play in spite of it. What does that mean to you?) – “I appreciated the trust, confidence. Unfortunately, I got experience doing so. Probably not this long of a stretch, like not stepping on the field in 30 days or whatever. But I take pride in my preparation, mentally taking care of everything I need to do, knowing the gameplan inside and out to be able to go and execute.”
(Is it clear to you how the injury happened?) – “Yeah, yeah.”
(During a practice, game?) – “The first game.”
(And you had a toe issue before, in the past?) – “No. First time. Brand new.”
(What is it like when you’re watching some of your teammates have difficult moments? There are good moments, but some tough times.) – “It’s good and bad in every game, with every player. What we’re taking from good moments and bad moments is really all that matters. So if I see a guy, especially in my position or my position group, have a negative play, what are we learning from that? So we try to minimize and not let that happen again. The good plays, how did you create that good play so we can repeat those things. So it gets challenging as a competitor. You want to get out there and you want to play and perform. But there are good and bad plays for every player in the league.”
(Has QB Tua Tagovailoa sort of said, ‘Pretty please, Terron?’) – “(laughter) That’s my guy. That’s my guy. That’s little bro. Look, man, I’m excited to see him. He was excited for me to be back out there today too. But we all want to be out there and get this thing going and win a big game Sunday.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that it was the team’s decision to hold you out last week just to try to give it more time to heal. Was that tough for you where you pushed to play? Or did you ultimately agree and say this is probably a wise thing to give another week to heal?) – “If I can play, I’m playing. That is never a question. If I can go out and do my job, I’m going.”
TE Mike Gesicki
(If you see Brian Flores on Sunday, will you try to make a point to say hi on the field?) – “Yeah, if I see him, I’ll say what’s up. I don’t know if we’ll cross paths, but I’ve got no ill will or anything towards ‘Coach Flo.’”
(What was something he taught you in his three years here?) – “He was just super disciplined. That was something that he kind of got across to the team.”
(Is there a layer of his familiarity with certain personnel on offense for the Dolphins possibly factoring in?) – “I have no idea.”
(As a guy who likes to celebrate a touchdown or a big first down, are you relishing the bright lights of Sunday Night Football?) – “I think everybody in here is a competitor. Everybody wants to play in prime time and play with everybody watching them. So, obviously a good opportunity, but ultimately any opportunity for us to get out there. So everybody’s excited to be out there on Sunday.”
(What’s it been like having QB Tua Tagovailoa back this week?) – “It’s been good. Obviously, he’s excited. We’re excited to have him back. He’s confident. His arm is as well-rested as it’s going to be, so he’s ready to get out there and do what he does.”
(Do you get a sense, seeing him out there, that he’s been chomping at the bit to get back?) – “Yes, absolutely. He’s prepared. He’s been taking a ton of mental reps, so this way when he got back out there – obviously he has all the physical tools – he didn’t really skip a beat or anything like that. Happy to have him back and excited to have him back out there on Sunday.”
LB Jerome Baker
(Just from an overall perspective, having QB Tua Tagovailoa back, what does that mean to the team?) – “I mean, the guy’s a leader on our team. He’s a captain. He’s also our starting quarterback. We believe in him 100 percent. We’re excited for our offense to get back to what we’ve been doing. I’m sure he’s healthy and ready to go, and it’s going to be a good one.”
(Are you excited to face your former head coach, Brian Flores, as well?) – “Yeah, I mean of course. That’s always going to be a good one. It’s definitely fun. It’s a Sunday night game. I love games like that – prime time games. It’s going to be a good one on Sunday.”
(I know guys are kind of different. S Brandon Jones said it will be good to see him. And DT Christian Wilkins said he’s just worried about the game. Will you share some words with him pregame or anything like that?) – “Yeah. I mean, I’m definitely going to say what’s up to him. Minus all the coaching and all that, he was just a great guy, a great person to me and a great person to my family. I’m definitely excited to see him and see how he’s doing and see how the family is doing. But at the end of the day, it is a business. We’re going to get on that field and compete against each other. But it’s all love.”
(As it relates to Brian Flores, what is something that you are appreciative of, respectful of, as far as some way he helped you?) – “One thing I’ll say about ‘Coach Flo’ was he always honest. That was the one thing that never changed. He didn’t care if he hurt your feelings. He didn’t care if it got under your skin a little bit. You knew the guy just wanted to be honest and he was going to tell you the truth and he wanted the best out of you. I always respect that just as a man. He never lied. He never spared my feelings. He was honest and he just proved to me and showed me that he really cared and wanted the best for me. I always respected that.”
(These prime time games, is it tough to wait all day to get going?) – “I’m sure for other people it is. For me, it’s not at all. I get to sleep in a little late. I love that. You get to eat a few meals before the game. I love that. You get to take a nap. I love that. Like, for me, it’s just the best. (laughter) And then that excitement of you’re pretty much the only game on. Everybody’s going to be watching you. That’s when you really got to show out. So for me, I love night games, I love prime time games and Sunday’s will be a fun one.”
(Is it exciting that QB Tua Tagovailoa is back and you’re trying to break a losing streak and you guys are trying to get back on track?) – “Yeah, of course it’ll be exciting. It’s kind of like the perfect story – playing our former coach, Tua is coming back, coming off a three-game losing streak, it’s a prime time game. This is what football is. This is where you really see who really cares about football and it’s time for the Dolphins to bounce back and get a win under our belt.”
(If it’s QB Kenny Pickett, as a rookie quarterback, do you sort of relish the mind games of maybe going against someone a little less experienced?) – “Do I relish it? I mean, rookies are rookies. It is what it is. They are kind of learning as they go. At the end of the game, hopefully he took a lot of lessons from us and hopefully a loss from us. But at the end of the day, he’s a great quarterback. He’s going to be good in this league. Hopefully he just doesn’t get a win this Sunday.”
Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker
(One surprise this year, and I know obviously, this is a big product of having WR Tyreek Hill on the team, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. signed 11 days before WR Tyreek Hill was acquired. I guess just lack of touches for WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. and the fact that WR Trent Sherfield played a ton more snaps and WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. last Sunday, what has accounted for WR Trent Sherfield seemingly, at least last week, surpassing WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. on the depth chart?) – “Well, I think each and every week, our room, the wide receiver room, is highly competitive. I think we have a lot of really good players in that room. It’s like I tell the guys every week of whoever’s doing the best in practice on the assignments, on top of everything, that’s who we’re going to play at the time. I think ‘Ced’ (Cedrick Wilson Jr.) has made a lot of strides in the past weeks, and I see him getting a lot more playing time and getting some touches going forward. But it’s always a process, especially anybody new coming into the system and learning the system and all those different things. We kind of take it week by week, and I think all the guys in my room understand the way I kind (and) the way our coaching staff kind of operates. Whoever gives us the best chance to win, that’s who’s going to be out there on the field. That could be ‘Ced’ going forward, it could be Trent (Sherfield), it could be River (Cracraft), it could be anybody. It’s just a matter of how it goes through the week and what gives us the best chance to win the game.”
(Did you talk to WR Jaylen Waddle after his game last week? Or do you kind of back off and worry that there might be too many voices in his ear? How do you handle that?) – “I think anytime for young players, there’s – your whole life, you pretty much have all these awesome, awesome games. It’s no different than anybody – you’re going to have a bad day at the office. It wasn’t his best day and he understands that. The way we kind of talked about it was what can we learn from it? How can we get better from it? What can we do preparation-wise, or practice-wise, or whatever it is, to correct those things and make sure we don’t have that feeling again? Jaylen (Waddle) is a tough kid and battles, playing hurt, playing all those different things. So there’s a lot that a lot of these young guys kind of deal with, and over time, you have success, and you have failures and everything else – it’s all about how you bounce back from them. I see Jaylen is a tough-minded dude who’s going to bounce back from it. He’s going to be a big part of our offense going forward and a big reason why we’re going to be able to have success this season.”
(WR Tyreek Hill is on a record pace early. How much more impressive is it because he’s had to do it with different quarterbacks throwing to him?) – “I think the way we coach our quarterbacks and the timing and all those different things, I don’t think it really changes too much for us. Tyreek (Hill) does a great job just being a pro coming in week-in week-out and bringing that energy and doing what you need to do to prepare for the week. I think we’re seeing that preparation and everything that he’s doing through the week come into fruition on Sunday. So he’s done a hell of a job with all that. We put a lot on his plate and try to get him the ball as much as possible. He’s exceeded our expectations and what he brings to our team, the energy and the playmaking ability and all those different things – I mean, I can’t say enough good things.
(On that fourth-down conversion, it looked like he beat a bracket to move the chains for you guys. Just how valuable is that as an offense to have a guy that can be double coverage and make a big catch like that?) – “It’s huge. Especially in the second half, you could just kind of see Tyreek (Hill) wanting to take the game over. It wasn’t even really about plays at that point, it was more about how do we get Tyreek the ball. When he’s in one of those zones like that, we just got to continue to feed him in and let him do his thing.”
(Going off of both questions about WR Tyreek Hill, what kind of player is he off the field? Is he somebody who likes to be challenged? Is he somebody who you can kind of like point in the right direction and let him go? What is it like coaching WR Tyreek Hill?) – “It’s fun. I think at first, we were both kind of feeling each other out with all that stuff. I think as kind of time went on, I realized like how competitive he is. He loves everything being a competition, and he has fun with that. Whether we’re in the meeting room making up games about football and ‘Alright, what’s this coverage,’ point systems – he loves all that stuff. He loves talking trash. I think all of us (are) in there just talking trash. If somebody gets locked up in one-on-ones, he starts playing the song, ‘Got locked up, they won’t let me out.’ (laughter) So anyways, we have some fun with some of that stuff, but just ultra, ultracompetitive. He loves making anything a competition.”
(So like everything is a game? Not a game, but like everything can be turned into a competition? Who sits down first? Who recognizes the coverage?) – “It’s all one big game. It is. (laughter) You’re not wrong with that, but it’s competition, and he loves it. I’m all about it.”
(I noticed that you get active and after it in practice, running sprints sometimes. Where does that motivation come from? What do you think that does for your unit?) – “No, that’s just for me. (laughter) I’m trying to not get too old, trying to stretch out, move around a little bit. So if anything, that’s more for myself and just trying to get my energy going and try not to look like a guy, ‘Oh, he used to play.’ Not ‘Oh, he used to play?’” (laughter)
(We’ve seen over the past couple of weeks some teams play way more zone coverage against you guys, and obviously that’s probably limited the over-the-top plays. What your point of emphasis for the wide receivers as they’re seeing more zone coverages?) – “Whenever we come into zone coverages and stuff, it’s more about understanding coverages, understanding the holes and then understanding how important getting our depths are and the timing with the quarterback with all those plays. I think that’s a big part of what we do as far as against those zones and different things like that. And being able to run the football, making sure we’re on our blocks, on our responsibilities as far as that goes. Then from there, trying to get those guys to creep up and hopefully be able to take a shot, whether it’s intermediate or down the field.”
(As a receiver did you prefer – I mean, it seemed like – I watched you and it seemed like you always found the soft spots. Do you prefer playing zone as opposed to?) – “Absolutely. I didn’t have to work as hard. (laughter) When they’re playing man, defenses have changed. There used to be a guy in front of your face all the time; now, it’s just soft zones and stuff. Shoot, I loved zones.”
(WR Tyreek Hill was explaining yesterday that you’ve helped him with his hand placement and that you’ve helped him maximize yards after catch. Can you explain the coaching point and how hand placement can relate to yards after catch?) – “It’s not so much just the hand placement or anything, it’s more about –it was something that (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) had emphasized for a long time and I was kind of like, ‘What?’ And then you start to watch the tape and all those different things. But whenever you’re catching the ball, a lot of receivers want to jump to catch it, and really, a lot of times, that’s when their drops happen. So the guys that have aggressive hands, aggressive feet and running through the ball without having to jump, not only are you not slowing down so the defender can catch up to you, but now you’re able to run through the ball seamlessly without breaking stride and now you just run away from defenders as opposed to jumping and letting them catch up once you get that separation. Catching the ball and drop-stepping in zones, so having your feet ready in those situations to be able to get up the field against zone coverage, you see so many guys sit there square to the ball and then try to run the hoop around the zoning defender. And they’re just too fast, they’re too well-coached to where if you have your feet ready and aggressive hands, aggressive feet, ready to drop step and get up the field.”
(You gave a very thoughtful answer last month about WR Erik Ezukanma. Obviously, coaches and players needing to trust him know where he’ll be, and the same could be said for any rookie receiver. Where is he in that process? Has he earned the trust but it’s just the case that you have reliable veterans ahead of him? Or is he still early in that process?) – “I think I’d be OK with Erik (Ezukanma) being out there if he had to play one position right now. I think we could definitely have him ready for that. But where we’re at right now with the depth and the guys that we have in the room, the opportunity just hadn’t presented itself for Erik. So for him, it’s continuing to learn that system and being on top of all the assignments and still trying to learn every single position. When that opportunity does come, he’ll be ready for it.”
Cornerbacks/Pass Game Specialist Sam Madison
(So you all began the week, incredibly, with just three fully healthy corners in CB Xavien Howard, CB Noah Igbinoghene and CB Justin Bethel. So did you walk into Head Coach Mike’s McDaniel office or General Manager Chris Grier’s office and say, ‘Hey, we need more?’ And if you didn’t, why didn’t you?) – “Well, we have on the roster is what we have on the roster. We always say the next man up. These guys are doing an unbelievable job of understanding what we’re trying to get done. And Mike is doing a great job of managing the things that we have and what we don’t have. We have guys that just in case need to go in there and get things done. We’ll plug and play. But Josh (Boyer) is doing a very good job of putting the game plan together and the guys are understanding it very well and just going out and executing.”
(What did you think of CB Noah Igbinoghene’s game on Sunday? I think he got his most extensive action of the season.) – “Yeah, that was the most he’s had all season. He’s getting better. I mean, when your number’s called, you got to go out there and the other 10 guys on the field are really expecting you to go out there and do your job. Throughout the course of the game, I was talking to him and then Raekwon (Davis) saw me talking to him and he was like ‘Coach, leave him alone. He knows what he’s doing.’ So I just let him go and just handle his business. But Noah is one of those guys that’s going to go out there and give it his all. He’s still learning the position and I’m trying to give him all the little tools that he can to go out there and be – not perfect, but be in a position to be able to make plays. He was finally able to get his head around a couple of times. He got pulled down one time by (Adam) Thielen I believe. But he’s just got to go and attack the football and those are the things that I’m trying to really work with them to hopefully turn the ball over and get it back to the offense.”
(What have you seen from CB Justin Bethel?) – “Man, listen – Bethel, he’s a professional. He’s been in this league. He’s been around for a very long time. The majority of his career he’s been a special teams guy, but he understands everything that we want him to get done. I talked to him coming into this game and he, as well as Kader (Kohou), spent some time together talking about the nickel position, the star position and he went out there and handled his business very well. We try to talk to these guys on a consistent basis. If anything happens, be prepared. And he was prepared when his number was called.”
(When CB Nik Needham went down, what did you feel for him as your player, as a person?) – “Man, just watching the things that he’s been able to do since I’ve been here, he’s been asking question, he’s been a quiet leader. He’s not one of those guys that really talks up and does a lot of talking. He just goes out and tries to get the job done. But I just feel for anybody in this position. We know that this is a game that at anytime you can be lost in this game, you can pretty much end your career in this game. That’s one of the things that I try to talk to these guys about. Leave it all on the field because you never know when that last play will be. But Nik, he was a guy that could go and play corner, he could play star, he could play safety. He’s going to be one of those pieces that we’re really going to miss. I had the opportunity to talk to him on Monday, I know he had surgery on yesterday, and the one thing he said was, ‘Coach, no matter what, I still want to be in the meeting rooms if y’all want me to.’ He still wants to be around. He’s definitely still locked in and wants the best for each and every – whoever goes out there and play.”
(There was a play where WR Justin Jefferson got down to the two-yard line and I think they had three receivers stacked on the right side of the formation. It looked like CB Justin Bethel and CB Xavien Howard went with somebody. Was that a mental on your guys’ part or just a good play design on theirs?) – “Well, communication on those two guys. It was a situation that we’ve gone over multiple times in in the past. We went over it this week. They just have to get that thing – they have to go out and it’s two guys on two. So we have a call that we make that they work together and they just didn’t work together and the communication was off.”
(Was that something where maybe because CB Justin Bethel hasn’t gotten as many reps?) – “No, he’s had multiple those reps. And throughout the course of no matter what the week is, when I look at the depth and who we’re going to be potentially putting into the game, I put those guys in and try to get those reps no matter if it’s walkthrough or if it’s a regular practice. They’ve had a number of reps on those things and it was just bad communication.”
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(So obviously with QB Tua Tagovailoa back, there are concussion concerns at least from the outside. How do you protect Tua more or is it a matter of protecting Tua more? How do you do that?) – “I think every quarterback when they’re playing, I mean, our goal is to protect them. So I think ultimately as we’re working on our things this week to try and improve from last week, overall just making sure our pass protection is good and making sure we’re on rhythm getting the ball out. I think ultimately you don’t necessarily look at it as just pertaining to Tua. I think you look at it as just making sure we protect all the quarterbacks because I think that’s an area that we’ve been trying to improve with our fundamentals and just overall understanding of our launch points, timings and working as an offense.”
(You guys aren’t much of a max protecting from my little film watching. Without giving away strategy, is that something you could change? Or could you slide coverage some way?) – “Yeah, I think that the big thing is as you’re looking at what the defense is presenting, what options do we have and what gives us the best chance to maximize getting the ball down the field. So when we feel that it’s schematically necessary to do it, we have those abilities and we had them in the plan, where we can help the edges whether it’s max protection, or just the guys affecting the edges on their releases. So I think that ultimately, you want to have options in a game plan and we normally do. And I think just overall, we just need to execute on some of those things and be able to use our help when we have it.”
(In terms of sacks and pressures Sunday, I believe it may have been a season high on both fronts. I know you can’t pin every sack and every pressure on the offensive line, but what stood out to you from that day and maybe some of the pressure that was allowed?) – “Yeah, I think a lot of it comes down to we’re trying to create some consistency up front and we had the tackles, obviously, making sure that we understand where we fit on the edge of the pocket, understand our relative position to the quarterback and the launch point. Just understanding really when we’re working through our drop-back protection, just working all five on the same page as far as ‘Okay, here’s where the quarterback is going to be. Here’s the timing of the play.’ Understanding how that all fits, and then in turn, how does my individual set technique? How do my fundamentals allow me to have success inside of that? So I think that for us, that’s just really like – as you look at this week or last week, it was really more particular, just understanding, alright, when I can do certain techniques, when I can do – as opposed to in the past you rely on – it’s trusting what we’re trying to teach and do that. So I wouldn’t say it was necessarily one thing, but I think necessarily that we understand now that what we’re going to try to do, we’re going to really try and make sure we maximize what we’re coaching as far as being able to hold pocket integrity.”
(I know on one of the first sacks, they ran a stunt on the left side and the d-tackle stunted and then the tackle kind of looped around and kind of passed OL Liam Eichenberg. I remember reading an old quote from T Terron Armstead where he said sometimes the stunt, it might not be the left guard’s fault. It might be the left tackle’s fault. It might be his fault. What’s the key to passing off those stunts and make sure that they’re blocked properly?) – “Yeah, I think Terron (Armstead) hit the nail on the head there. I mean, when you’re working in concert with other men on the line, you guys have to be in phase together and know who’s in charge of what element of the game, the stunt. So I think as you had that one, that was just, we were poor timing on it. Later on in the game, we got better at it. There was one we passed off. So I think just ultimately as you learn from it, and you have to understand, ‘Okay, in this part of the protection, I’m responsible for this. Okay, therefore, I have to do this to execute at a level if they try and bring games and stunts.’ So I think that we really learned from that and I think that the group overall knows now, like some things is, how we’re trying to work together and who’s going to be requiring what because that’s the ultimate thing is every defense presents a different challenge with their front. That was one of the challenges and that’s an area that we’ve really made emphasis this week to improve.”
(Until the point that OL Austin Jackson comes back, did OL Brandon Shell give you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel and Offensive Line Coach Matt Applebaum enough to think about last week where there’s now a decision you have to make at right tackle between Brandon and T Greg Little until Austin returns?) – “I think overall we’ve been pleased with Brandon in such a short term, coming in, grasping the offense, understanding what we’re trying to do. He’s constantly trying to work on his fundamentals and he’s been a true pro. I mean, ultimately, I think that decision is down the road. We’re not necessarily there at the moment. We’re just trying to stay in this week and making sure that we’re with the guys that are going to play, we’re in the right spots. But overall, we’ve been pleased with what he’s been able to do and it’s a testament to just who Brandon (Shell) is that he was able to come in so quickly and really get himself in shape and then at the same time understand what we’re trying to do.”
(What are some of the keys to limiting or reducing penalties?) – “I think ultimately when you think about penalties, they stem from lack of execution, whether it’s mentally executing in the play or physically. So I know you’re probably referencing that sequence kind of at the top of the red (zone). And then I mean, it’s all just little things in the moment, like when you’re trying to press to make a play and you just remember to let the play come to you. Don’t be so focused on that moment and ‘I got to do this.’ Making sure you understand your fundamentals better. So in that moment, especially Miami in the heat, alright, as you fatigue, you’re able to keep that mental stamina. So I think a lot of it is just understanding that why did that occur? Right? How can I get better? And then in turn, we address it and work on it. So I think every guy that had an issue in there, in that sequence that forced us to not execute; I think ultimately, every guy was able to take ownership of it, understand why it happened and in turn this week, we’ve really been working on our fundamentals to reduce those issues. So I think ultimately, it comes collective as an offense understanding, as a unit understanding and then individuals and coaches working on our fundamentals so we execute better when it’s necessary.”
(You alluded earlier to throwing the ball on time and on rhythm for protecting your quarterback and earlier this week, Head Coach Mike McDaniel had said something about how impressed he was by QB Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to kind of learn the offense and get the ball out quickly sooner than he thought he would. What is unique about Tua in terms of how he’s able to see it and get the ball out so fast?) – “Yeah, you say ultimately like Tua is, that’s been the one thing that very pleasing about him, is the way he plays through fundamentals and allows him to when you play through your fundamentals, and you’re able to feel the rhythm of the play through your footwork; it allows you to play on time and distribute the ball accurately. So I think that’s been one thing that he’s done a really great job of, is understanding how each concept, the timing of it, understanding how his fundamentals will allow him to play. And just overall, really understanding the concepts in general of where am I trying to go with the ball now? All right, if it’s not there, then where do I go immediately. So I think just that also goes into his preparation, I mean, throughout the entire offseason, just really owning the offense and understanding his piece of the puzzle, and also getting with wide receivers to make sure that they’re all on the same page as far as where they need to be and when they need to be there when the ball is coming out.”
(Were you encouraged to see TE Mike Gesicki score those two touchdowns and are there ways to get him to see more of that earlier in the game, not just when you’re playing from behind late and trying to mount a comeback?) – “Yeah, I think we’ve been trying to get him opportunities with the ball. I think the way every game goes, sometimes they have different ways to challenge the distribution. So when you look at the Vikings and the way they were playing their coverage, we knew that the ball would probably have to go to other guys at times, just because when they were trying to take away things. And then that allowed for access for Mike (Gesicki) to make some plays. So I wouldn’t say that (we are) trying to do more; I think it’s just more continuing on that and just making sure that we’re getting those opportunities because a couple of times earlier in the season when we were trying to get him the ball, there was an issue, whether it’s pressure on the quarterback or not at the right depth at the right time or something flashed. I mean, I think it’s ultimately like, that’s what we’re trying to make sure that as we grow and through quarter two of the season is that all of us have an understanding that ‘hey, the ball is looking to go here but ready for a coverage change.’ So I think Mike maximized his opportunities this week and we’re excited to keep expanding upon that because the more guys that get the ball on this offense the better, because it makes it harder for defense to pinpoint where we’re trying to distribute it.”
(To kind of piggyback off of that, I thought there was a snapshot of TE Mike Gesicki with a pancake block on a RB Raheem Mostert run but was that Gesicki’s best game? And if so, why?) – “Yeah, I mean, I think that it’s a culmination of all the hard work he’s put in. I mean, like he said, in training camp in the beginning of the season, he was trying to work on things that he hasn’t done in the past. So production-wise, you would say, yes. And then you can see glimmers in his blocking as well, too. So I think ultimately, when you have a game like that as a player and you’re able to have the production, you’re able to have some good fundamental work, that’s what you want to keep growing upon this week. You take the success, you learn from it, and I think those are where your greatest leaps come because you’re able to see all the hard work paid dividends and then now you get another chance to execute at a high level. So yeah, we’re very pleased with what Mike did last week and we’re looking forward to continuing that for the rest of the season.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Can you assess CB Noah Igbinoghene getting significant snaps?) – “Yeah, I think this has kind of been the ongoing conversation all season. I think he’s been working very hard. We’ve been, I would say detailing and stressing certain things in his game, and I think he’s kind of risen to the challenge. I said earlier, I was very excited when he would get his opportunity, not knowing when that would be. But you always prepare guys like they’re going to play. I would say he’s been out there and he’s been very competitive. He’s been good at the line of scrimmage. And like all of our guys, we’re striving for consistency play in and play out.”
(Would it be fair to say that on Sunday versus the Vikings, the cornerbacks were pressing more than usual in terms of like press man coverage? Because I know, earlier in the season, the thing that CB Xavien Howard was talking about with a lot of the Cover Zero looks and blitzes, maybe sometimes he was playing more off than usual. And then you kind of can see and naturally kind of give up some space there and some yardage there?) – “I wouldn’t say that’s accurate. I think that’s a – I would say that’s a false assumption. It depends on the calls. There’s some calls that we have off. I wouldn’t say we were pressing more last week than we have in weeks past. I would say there’s certain calls that don’t put us up at the line of scrimmage and I would say that’s been pretty consistent throughout. I would say we do a variety of different things at the line of scrimmage. I would say the amount of times that we’re up there has probably been pretty consistent from game to game.”
(Obviously you guys did not win last week, but did the defense put in a winning effort aside from the WR Justin Jefferson 47-yarder and the RB Dalvin Cook 53-yarder?) – “No, because we didn’t win. I think the things that we talked about earlier in that week, that there were different things that we were going to do to detail certain things that we needed to improve – I think our preparation, and we talked about our players being accountable, that they would come to work, and that we would strive to improve. I think we’ve made some strides in certain areas. And I think there’s other areas that we can continue to make strides. I would say that we’re always looking for consistency. Each week is going to be different from week to week. But I think there’s some things that we saw some improvements on that we can build on and get better. You want to continually get better as you’re moving forward. And I would say at the end of the day, the most important thing is to put yourself or the team in a position to win. I think there were times that defensively we were able to play complementary football, or at least give the opportunity for complementary football. And then there were other times that we probably needed to be a little bit better. I think those are the things that we’re striving to do. I think the process, the players, the coaches, I think we understand our targets. I think there’s a lot of times the targets don’t change but if you’re doing the same thing that you’ve been doing and you’re getting the same results, then you need to change that. I think there were some things that we detailed a little bit different a week ago that we saw a little bit of progress with that hopefully we can build on moving forward.”
(The disparity in snaps between LB Melvin Ingram and LB Andrew Van Ginkel was the closest it has been all season on Sunday, 26 to 23. Was that entirely a gameplan decision? Or was it partly your conclusion that Andrew needs to play a little more and these two players are comparable in skill?) – “Yeah, I think it’s a week-to-week thing. We’re very comfortable with either player. So whether Van Ginkel is on the field or Ingram is on the field or Jaelen Phillips is on the field, it makes no difference to us. We’re very confident in those guys. Then I think just from a rep count, trying to keep guys fresh and stuff, we continue to do that. Ultimately, we try to put those guys in positions that we feel that they’ll succeed. I would say it doesn’t matter really. Certain guys have I would say certain qualities that are a little bit better than the other and we try to put those guys in those positions that highlight the things that they really do well. Sometimes that will be gameplan oriented. Sometimes it is a rep count that we’re trying to keep guys fresh. I would say the overall picture is we’re very comfortable with either one of those guys playing in the game. “
(What have you seen in the limited tape so far of QB Kenny Pickett from the Steelers?) – “Yeah, so obviously very athletic. I mean he can drive the intermediate throws, he can get the ball down the field, he can definitely scramble to run or scramble to throw. He’s making quick decisions for them. They do a pretty good job of putting in plays where he gets a quick read and he can make those decisions. I think he’s been productive for them. And, obviously, we’re preparing for both guys, which we would anyway, regardless of situation or injury circumstance, and both of them will present a challenge to us for sure.”
(What kind of things can you detail to try to increase opportunities at interceptions?) – “So, a couple things, just talking turnovers in general, one of the things is when you turn on the tape, are we making an attempt at turnovers? Are we punching at the ball? Are those things happening? Are we getting enough people to the ball? Because usually the more people you have to the ball, that’s going to create a greater opportunity for turnovers. And those boxes are checking off. I would say there is – we’ve had our opportunities where we’ve been in position to catch the ball and we got to make those plays. It’s all hand in hand. So like, for an example, if it’s a three-step (drop), it’s a quick-game pass, if we get our hands up, you tip a ball, guys are running to the ball, you have a greater opportunity to turn the ball over. One thing that we have to do, we had really two opportunities last week in the game – (Zach) Sieler forced a fumble. We had an opportunity there. And again, the more people you get around the ball, the better your odds are to get it. Now again, sometimes you can knock the ball out and bounce right up to a guy, like Alec Ingold from a year ago, when we’re playing the Raiders. We force a fumble, it pops up, he’s right there as a fullback, he catches it and there’s not much opportunity there. The same thing goes back with the pass game. So whether you bat balls at the line of scrimmage, you defend balls on a pass, and you have other people running to the ball that have an opportunity for that tip ball, then that increases your odds, which those are things that we’re working on. And then obviously, when you’re in good position, you basically as a DB or a coverage linebacker, become the receiver and your opportunity to go attack the ball, those are the things. Then the reality of it is you have to make the most of those opportunities when they arise because there’s only going to be so many. I think what you look at is are you setting yourself up for a chance to create them? And then are you making the most of them when you get those opportunities? So again, I think those are things that, we’ve looked at how we’ve detailed that, how we practice that. I would say we get good effort. We get guys run into the ball. As long as we continue to do that, sooner or later, they’ll come. And then when we have opportunities to catch the ball, we need to catch the ball.”
(What do you think would be the best ways for the players to reduce or limit penalties? When there’s a reduction in penalties, what usually goes along?) – “Yeah, I think – well, you start with the obvious like we can’t be in the neutral zone, we can’t jump offsides, hands to the face, defensive holding, illegal contact – the things that we can kind of control – our hand placement or fundamentals techniques, I think when you kind of drill that down, a lot of those kind of eliminate themselves.”
(The first career full sack for DT Raekwon Davis in 34 games last week. I was wondering, obviously stopping the run is by far in a way the number one responsibility for player in his position. Do you look at pass rush from that position as gravy that’s nice to have? Or would you ideally like someone in that position who can generate consistent pass rush?) – “Well, in that situation, the sack came up, it was really a passing situation for him, so he was in a straight rush. But whether it’s Raekwon or any defensive lineman, when you’re playing run and you’re trying to – let’s call it, it’s not a gap-charging scheme. You’re playing run, you’re trying to play square, you’re trying to build a wall. But what you have to do is when you recognize that it is play-action, you have to transition into a pass rush. And I think those are things that we drill and we work very hard at. It puts you a little bit behind the eight ball when you’re playing run. Then the harder the sell is of the play-action, or the better the sell is with the offensive lineman, then the slower you’re going to be on the transition. Now if they’re running play-action and it’s high-hat right away, then your transition should be very quick. Then again, it matters what you’re doing in the back end to marry the coverage with the front structure to allow those guys time to get there. So again, it just depends. Sometimes like when you’re playing man coverage, okay, if you have good tight coverage, then you might have a little bit longer extra second to get there. If you’re in a zone coverage that the quarterback reads pretty quickly and accurately, then time is going to minimize. And then again, if you’re a pressure scheme on the opposing side of the ball, they’re going, ‘Let’s get the ball out quick. Let’s get the ball quick.’ So that also minimizes when those opportunities come. A lot of times you would say defensive linemen that are playing run technique that have opportunities on play-action passes is when it’s a deeper route concept where it’s usually more guys in protection. There’s usually two to three guys out in the route, but that puts more guys into protection. And again, a lot of those times when that occurs, there’s usually about one one-on-one situation that somebody has to transition right to get the pressure there.”
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(WR Tyreek Hill had a punt return that was -2 yards. Should he have fielded that? The one that bounced.) – “Yeah, that’s two weeks in a row where he’s actually done a fabulous job at saving field position. The previous ball was a ball that wasn’t a great ball and he got on it before it rolled for another eight or 10 yards. Then the ball this past Sunday, the guy hits an absolute bomb, 73 yards, and he saved field position by getting on it. So he has two returns, each for -2 (yards), but both are good plays because he’s saving field position. That’s where stats sometimes tell you one thing but it probably saved us about 18 yards of field position on those two plays. We’ll take the -4 as opposed to -18.”
(Did it surprise you that S Jevon Holland muffed that punt early?) – “Any time that you – you never like to see it. I think he took a late peek. As he was coming over to fair catch, he got a little but of a cutter ball played from the outside in and he was looking outside in. It’s always a dangerous deal. It’s scary. But those things happen. Hopefully we don’t have many of those because those are the disaster plays that you have to avoid, but that’s another example of…”
(There’s been a lot of good plays but Head Coach Mike McDaniel said there’s other things that are just not the way you guys have wanted to go. When you get things that haven’t gone your way in so many areas of special teams, what do you do? How do you work on that? And are you dissatisfied with some of those things that have gone on?) – “The job is to help win games. That’s the job. When you have plays that are not leading to you and your club winning games, yeah. I don’t know if disappointing is the word. There are a lot of other words I would maybe use. But yeah, that’s not why you’re in it. Those are things you have to eliminate. Now, we also know that things come and go and there are ebbs and flows and that’s part of it. But we’ve got to be able to create some more plays. Our opportunities have been limited. We’ve had six punt returns for the year and two of them are Tyreek (Hill) saving field position, one of them is (Jevon) Holland on a muff that you just mentioned. So we’ve got three returns in six games. When we do get the opportunities, those are the things we’ve got to take advantage of. And then those plays we’ve got an opportunity to make a play, you’ve got to make it. If you get a chance to make a tackle, you make a tackle. If you don’t make a tackle, the next thing you know it’s 20 more yards of field position. You just keep grinding and stay with the fundamentals. We’ve got some guys moving around a little bit. But you’ve got to make plays when you’re in position to make plays. If we can just do that, we’ll be fine.”
(Punt returns are down across the league, I don’t know if you know that.) – “They’re not. But certain teams – the numbers play out but some teams have a boatload of them and some teams have hardly any of them. We’ve had so many plus-50 opportunities where we haven’t really gotten any opportunities. We’ve only had two real good chances for the year. Some of it is they hit a good ball. Or they hit a bad ball and you don’t get things. That’s just part of it. Those numbers will change and it will balance out. When we do get the opps, now is when we’ve got to make something happen.”
(We’ve grown accustomed to seeing K Jason Sanders hit field goals over 50 yards pretty consistently until this year. Has there been a common theme in the three misses that you’ve found?) – “There really hasn’t. This past week was the first one that was a bad ball. That was a bad hit. A lot of his other hits, as we’ve talked about, are just missed, off the upright or what have you. When we send him on the field, we expect points. That’s the nature of the beast. It doesn’t matter if it’s 52, 54 or 56 (yards), when we send him on the field, we expect to get points out of it. That kick was a rarity in my opinion. I can say that because I’m with him day in and day out and I watch and see every kick he makes. So that was a rarity. But the bottom line is it doesn’t matter what you do during the week. It matters what you do on game day. We know that, he knows that and we’ve got to improve.”
(There was a time when 50+ yard field goals were almost viewed as … but nowadays, is it more the expectation to trot your kicker out because he’ll be able to hit it?) – “Without question. If you look at the numbers around the league over the last year – they go up every year. It used to be a strength/question. Now the strength of kickers and being able to kick 56, 57 and 58 yarders is not part of it. Now the question and the equation is field position, how the game is going, are you playing to the offense, are you playing to the defense? Now those are the more situational questions.”
(That miss was a fourth-and-10. Should you guys have gotten running into the kicker? It looked like K Jason Sanders got leg-whipped.) – “Those are hard calls. Unless things are just blatant and exact timed up, that’s not a call that’s going to happen. The bottom line is if we get the call, let’s get the call; but let’s make the kick and then we have a choice.”
(I don’t know if you happened to see the Monday night game but it ended basically off a muffed punt where the returner had a teammate blocked into him. I was thinking about you when I saw the play and I was curious how you would coach to not get your own guy blocked into you. What’s the coaching point there? Then on the other side, do you coach guys to try to push those guys?) – “Question one, it’s hard. That’s where communication and awareness and recognition is so big for not only the returner but for the corner and for the safety. Then yes, as a gunner, you are not able to touch that guy on a fair catch. So if you have an opportunity to deposit the defender into his lap and he’s the one that makes contact, it is a legal play. But yes, everybody in the league should and does work that, as far as I know.”
(It looked like a little bit of that happened with S Jevon Holland.) – “Yeah, close. He thought where the ball was, he would be able to duck inside and then the ball cut and it ended up not playing that way. But again, that’s where communication and recognition are huge.”
(There was a national game where the kicker sort of kicked through an injury. I wondered if the punter would be the emergency kicker. Does P Thomas Morstead ever take any sort of emergency practice kicks?) – “We have guys that practice everything for an emergency.”
