WR Jaylen Waddle
(Have you played in a snow game before?) – “No, I haven’t.”
(No one is going to feel sorry for you, but a short week, a cross-country flight. There’s a lot stacked against you going to Buffalo. How do you guys put all of that away?) – “I mean, we don’t. We just know we have a big game ahead. We’re looking forward to going out there and competing. There’s nothing we have to do differently. Just go out there and compete.”
(So when you have all this weather, are you bringing extra socks or changing your uniform at halftime?) – “Our competitive spirit, shoot. That’s what I’m going to bring.”
(LB Jaelan Phillips was saying he’s almost looking forward to being able to play in the snow. He’s like, “If it’s going to snow, I hope it snows a lot.” Do you kind of embrace the challenge of playing in the conditions?) – “I can count on my hands how many times I’ve seen snow, so that’s going to be different and fun. Yeah, it’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to the snow also.”
(How are you feeling because my clock is totally off after all that time out west. Are you back in your regular rhythm?) – “Yeah, my sleep schedule is definitely coming back, slowly but surely. I’m all good.”
(Knowing you’re in December playing against the Bills who are in first place, what’s at stake for you guys here?) – “We really don’t consider anything being at stake. We’re just going out there trying to play our best football. We have a good team in Buffalo, so just going out there and make it happen.”
(When you and QB Tua Tagovailoa are not in rhythm or the offense is not in rhythm, what’s the best way to get back into rhythm?) – “Just going back to our fundamentals. Going back to what we do best – playing complementary football, doing the things that he likes to do well, routes I like to run and just sticking to it. Back to our Day 1. Just drilling in our Day 1, back to the fundamentals, really.”
RB Raheem Mostert
(If you’re playing in snow, how does that affect you?) – “Honestly, it’s going to be a ground type of game, I guess you can say. That’s what I like to see it as. There’s going to be more carries or whatever. If we could throw the ball, that’d be beautiful. But I feel like snow and rain are quite similar.”
(It seems like, at least the stats seem to suggest that running backs have more of an advantage in a snowy condition as opposed to the passing game. Why do you think that is?) – “Because the ball might be a little bit tougher. I think the cold really makes it a lot harder to catch, but it’s definitely a game where it’s also like a rainy game where you’re going out there and running backs do a little bit better in the cold because they’re ready for handoffs.”
(Is it a thing where you know where you’re going and they don’t know where you’re going?) – “Yeah, that too – scheme. That’s what it boils down to.”
(There are a couple of 200-yard rushing performances in snowy conditions in Buffalo by some Dolphins – Reggie Bush and Ricky Williams.) – “Yeah, I’m ready. (laughter).”
(I know that players will say it’s one game at a time. Coming off the two losses, how important is this game Saturday night and that you don’t put that much pressure on yourselves?) – “It’s an important game. But at the end of the day, we have to focus on our ball and our gameplan and how we’re going to execute on Saturday and try to get a win. That’s the most important thing. We’re not necessarily worried about playoff pictures or what that entails. We’re just focused on how we can improve and get a ‘W’ since it’s been two weeks since we got a win. We just have to hone in on that.”
(If I could ask you some non-football questions, a lot of you during the holiday season are out there in the community around kids. Why is that important to you?) – “It’s important to me because I’m actually doing a toy drive this Monday and I’m collecting all the toys for my hometown who was hit with the hurricane and the families that were severely impacted. I’m going to be driving up on my off day on Tuesday and delivering those toys in person. I’ve got a couple people behind me like Morgan and Morgan, PER4ORM, Nick (Hicks) over there who is doing a heck of a job with players in the offseason. We’re using his facility for the drive on Monday. I just try to give back as best as possible because there are families out there that don’t have the necessary means to come up with gifts for their little ones or for their loved ones. I think that is a major role in my life to give back as best as possible, especially in the position that I’m in, to be able to go out there and help those that are, like I said, affected by tragedy or loss and just don’t have the right means to go about Christmas or the holidays.”
(If I told you I’m going to be talking to Santa Claus tomorrow and if I could say to him what you would want this holiday season, what would you want me to ask him?) – “First off, I would just tell him thank you. Thank you for bringing a lot of joy to families and giving the time that it takes to wrap presents and get his little elves going and stuff like that. What I would ask is just for healing for everyone, people that are going through tragedy, people that are going through down times right now because it is definitely not the ideal world right now. I know that COVID actually did a lot of damage more than good for a lot of families and set a lot of people and businesses back. Just trying to regroup on that is definitely important, so I would just ask him for that.”
(What about the Bills defense makes them so tough, even when they lose a guy like LB Von Miller?) – “They’re very sound. They’ve been together for quite some time, and they know what they have going on. We just have to try to find a way to score points and break their will, I guess you could say. I’m not talking about physical will, more of a mental will, because like I said, they’re very passionate about the defense and they know exactly what they’re doing and they’re always in the right positions, it seems like.”
(I know this is a different game, but is there something that you can take from the first meeting with Buffalo?) – “Yes, we just have to play more aggressive, and that’s on both sides of the ball and even on special teams. I think that that is a key thing, especially now with it being the weather playing into a major effect. We definitely have to go out there and try to handle the elements as best as we possibly can and handle our execution.”
LB Jaelan Phillips
(With QB Josh Allen back there, they pose what could be a four-headed monster running. How difficult of a challenge is that?) – “You’ve just got to be aware. You’ve got to read your keys, trust your eyes and just play relentlessly. I think that’s all it comes down to is who wants it more essentially.”
(Those on the outside are putting a lot of weight on this game considering you’re coming off of two straight losses. How do you guys view this game? It’s not do or die, but how do you view this game?) – “I think that’s kind of how you’ve got to view it. It’s a one-game season essentially right now. We’ve got to look at each upcoming game and prepare for those games and just realize that it’s important for us to win all these games, especially in this time of year.”
(You’ve been involved during the season giving back to the community. During the holidays, a lot of you are involved doing that. Why is that important to you during the Christmas time to be around kids and to give back to the community?) – “I think that especially during the holidays, there’s a lot of families who need a little bit of extra cheer and who maybe can’t provide that for their kids. So I think that’s where we come in and try to help them do that and just serve as a beacon of hope in these times.”
(If I told you that tomorrow I’m going to be talking to Santa Claus and if I could give a message from you, what gift would you like this holiday season?) – “Fins Win. That’s what I want. A Fins win.”
(What was your favorite holiday moment growing up as a child, and what was your favorite gift you received?) – “I remember I got an Xbox when I was 10 years old, and that was the craziest thing. My dad kept telling me that he wasn’t going to get me one, and then he surprised us with it. Or Santa did. (laughter)”
(What did you learn from your win against Buffalo way back when in September?) – “I just learned how gritty our team was. When we come together and we play for each other and we execute the plan like we’re suppose to, I think we’re a really, really talented team. I’m excited for this week.”
(How are you guys feeling with the long flight, quick turnaround, short week?) – “I’m well rested now. I’m ready to go. Let’s get it happening.”
(What’s the key to turning it on, on gameday? You guys aren’t really going full speed and it’s late in the season. How do you flip that switch?) – “I don’t think it’s a complete 180. We still get our workouts in. We still do conditioning. We’re still active during the week. It’s not necessarily a flip, but we’re always ready.”
(Trying to get to QB Josh Allen, how big of a challenge is that for you?) – “We all know that Josh is a really great athlete, a great quarterback, so we’re really going to have to have rush lane integrity. That’s going to be important for us.”
(The first time that this rivalry maybe is as fiery as it’s been in a long time going into Buffalo in that environment. Have you guys talked about how to manage the crowd?) – “The crowd is just noise honestly. We’re so focused on the game that sometimes it’s hard to remember that you’re out there in front of thousands of people. We just do the same thing we always do.”
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(How tired are you guys just going into your third straight road game and being where you’re at in the season and understanding what’s at stake?) – “I would say a couple of the guys are a little worn out just with the time change of getting used to our sleep schedule in L.A. – the west coast time change – and then coming back and trying to re-calibrate everything and figuring out our sleep patterns again. Guys are tired but there have been a lot of adjustments to the schedule that have accommodated sleep schedules, where there’s a later start time that we had today. And it will be the same tomorrow and Friday. But in the grand scheme, we want to do something special here and (the time change) is not really the big emphasis for us. We’re trying to get some things corrected so come time Saturday night, we’re ready to go out there and play the football we know how to play.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said he’s not paying too much attention to the weather. Obviously you’re prepared for whatever may occur. But as a quarterback, what are you trying to be mindful of, especially with what the forecast could be for Saturday night?) – “I think for me, it’s understanding that it could be many things. It could be snowing. It could rain. I don’t know. I think for me at least, I can speak for myself, it’s a mindset thing. And if I’m too focused and worried about if it’s too cold, can I grab the ball, can I not, then I would say I’m focused on the wrong things. It would be hard to play that way going over there against a really good team.”
(Have you tried any special cold weather gear? Tom Brady famously wore a scuba outfit.) – “No, I’ve never tried that. I would say I’ve done the cold tub many times. (laughter) I did the cold tub out there in L.A. and it was outdoors. It was already cold. Just to kind of get my body used to it in that sense. Although it won’t necessarily simulate that. I just try anything and everything that I can.”
(What can you take away from your previous experiences in cold weather games?) – “Well, I would say one, not necessarily being too focused on that. That was sort of the case the past couple of years. Just worrying about the right things.”
(Did you tell us back in the spring you actually went to a cold weather location?) – “Yeah.”
(Can you tell us the story about that?) – “Yeah, I went to Maryland to go visit my brother after the season, and it was pretty cold up there. It was probably in the 20s and there was snow on the ground, too. So I got to test that out. I got to throw up there with a couple of his guys. That was good.”
(What did you learn from that experience?) – “I think – I mean me personally, it might be a mindset thing too but it felt really good throwing it while it was snowing. I don’t know. I can’t give anything more than that. I didn’t feel any effects of throwing in the snow.”
(Have you seen snow before?) – “Yeah. It snowed in Alabama my first year. It snows in Alabama guys. (laughter) People don’t know that. Some people just think it gets cold but it does snow. (laughter)”
(You’re coming off a two-game losing streak. I’m just curious, how does Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s style after a losing streak different than Coach Saban’s? Are they different? The same?) – “Yeah, I would say they’re different in the way they approach things but similar to where they want to go within the message. But they get to it different ways. The tone is different. The way the message is portrayed and said is different with the way our head coach would say it compared to Coach Saban. It’s different but essentially they get to the same end result of what they want to say.”
(Some of the football analysts were breaking down the film on TV, and they said that the Chargers, for example, used inside leverage and sticky coverage with deep safety help to take away the middle of the field and limit your favorite throws. What is the way to defeat that?) – “Well, I think first just coming out the gate is just getting completions, finding the rhythm of the game for the guys up front, for the receivers, for myself and not just always wanting to take deep shots, essentially, even when it’s not there. So I would say regardless of the coverages, I think we have good enough or more than good enough players to account for whatever routes they have, and me being the distributor, I’ve got to give them those opportunities.”
(What do you want to work on as far as if you come out in the game and maybe the first drive or two the completions aren’t there, but having a “short memory” and coming back out and sort of remaining settled for the rest of the team?) – “I would say it was a good lesson last week for all of us. We look at the tape, and the cool thing is there’s no like, ‘it’s your fault. It’s your fault.’ It’s all everyone kind of holding themselves accountable, like, ‘Oh, no. This is my fault on this play.’ And then guys would be like, ‘No, no, no. It’s not your fault. It’s my fault.’ I think that’s a step in the right direction for us as a team, but the next play mentality definitely needs to show itself more evident for us with the way we play offensively. Because of the success that we found early in the year, we really haven’t been given that opportunity. And so kind of given the two losses that we had to endure, that’s an opportunity for us to kind of continue to preach that and work through that throughout these practices and leading up to the game.”
(I know a lot of the narrative coming into this year was about you pushing the ball down the field. You guys have done that well. You just mentioned taking the easy throws. Can you take me through maybe what that balance is between wanting to push it down but also maybe hitting the back in the flat?) – “Yeah, I would say just with what the progression of the play gives us a lot of the times is we’re not trying to chase these deep throws, but they’re always within our progression. So that’s really essentially what it is. We’re kind of seeing two routes as one if it’s a deep play and then checking it down. But a lot of the times, this year when we found success, the first read on a deep route would be open. So essentially, we never needed to check it down a lot this year. It’s good lessons that we’re learning now in the season, getting into the grind time of the schedule. It’ll be good to just continue to fall back and resort to the things that we’ve been taught to play the position, which is take what the defense gives you.”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(We saw a knee come up for T Terron Armstead on the injury report yesterday, which means I guess he’s getting treatment for it. Does the knee put him at all in jeopardy at all for Saturday and is there anything you can share on whether RB Jeff Wilson Jr. is out Saturday?) – “No, when you’re physically unable to practice as much as you want, the callouses you can’t build and there’s a trickle-down effect that it’s not surprising. It is different, but it is along the same lines of he’s going to get treatment and we’re not going to be doing much of anything full speed in this short week anyways, so we’ll be using all that time and same goes with Jeff Wilson. He’s a true warrior. Really, really was nervous when I saw it visually. There’s some scars of some people in the past having something similar and it really being a major deal. He’s going to be doing everything he can and he’s one guy that I have complete experience with and trust in that if he’s going, he’s not only going to go, but he will meet expectations with his physical style of play and what he brings to the table.”
(What has changed about the Bills defense since Von Miller has gone out?) – “Well, Von (Miller) is not there anymore. I really respect and hold in regard units in football that have a character that is consistent. And so I think a mark of that is do people’s play style still hold up when some of their marquee guys are out? And that’s the thing about the Bills, is that that’s why they’re a good defense because they aren’t trying to be a one-man show in the least. They very much utilize some of Von’s rare, rare attributes, but they do not rely upon it. So it’s a defense that loves to take advantage of people that take them lightly. They are a fast, reactionary, trigger-ready unit that has played together a long time so know where each other should be and rely on each other and really play to that team defensive philosophy. To their credit, they are dangerous with him and they’re dangerous without him. That’s how they play and that’s a mark that has been there since that whole coaching staff has been there, really.”
(How much are you guys monitoring the weather at this point in the week in Buffalo and what can you do to kind of prepare?) – “Zero monitoring for myself. You guys live here. How much do you hold your breath on forecasts a week out here? Weather changes. I think you expect it to be as cold and it could be five feet of snow. You know that the elements are going to be different than what we’re in right now. Talk about room temperature. (laughter) And the biggest thing is you do adjust a hair – we won’t be outside – but you don’t really prepare for it besides mentally deciding if it’s going to matter to you or not … It’s a mindset as well. So to me, you just decide if you’re going to let it factor in or not and then you adjust as best you can. There’s certain things that become harder when there’s moisture or it hits a certain level of frigidness, but the good news is there’s not different atmospheres on both sidelines. So we will be playing the game in the same elements and as a competitor, man for man for our football team; that’s the objective, is that are you going to let the elements matter more to you than them? It is the same field, the same elements, so you just decide mentally how much you’re going to let it affect you.”
(On that same front, what’s your general philosophy on adjustments in play calling or in the passing game without getting too specific of course but playing in the cold?) – “Well, so the game plan is… (laughter) We try to change it up and philosophically I think it does – it’s easier to win the games if you score more points than your opponent in cold weather games. But warm weather games as well. All games. There’s a lot of things that come into play. I think you have to prepare for – like me personally, I prepare for the whole spectrum. I’m not going to sit there and be like, ‘hey guys, sorry I didn’t know.’ I don’t think that’s appropriate or doing my job, so you have contingencies, but philosophically, I think you have to very much take every situation super independently. Live in the second quarter, what are we able to execute? And not just saying did things work or not; discerning – or you might know pregame – these are things that you just have to adjust and again, you try not to, if there’s certain elements, say that you can’t do one thing. Like, it’s literally impossible. Then I probably won’t do that thing. What is that thing? Quarterback sneaks. (laughter)”
(A lot has been made this week about defenses taking away the middle of the field for you guys offensively. What have you seen when you watch the tape? Has it been different than what teams have done against you schematically or just the plays were there that you’ve made in the past and weren’t these past two weeks?) – “No, quite honestly, I think if you went by percentages and stuff, it wasn’t that the Chargers did anything that we hadn’t seen. It wasn’t that they – what they were was hyper competitive. They played as good as they’ve played all year and we were far from that. And they out physical-ed us, but it wasn’t because they were doing this cheat code. It was because players were executing their plan. Their players were better prepared, is the way I look at it ultimately, because you don’t – as a coach, you get paid to prepare guys to play and when one team is more prepared than the other or more ready to play or more physical, that’s something that you have to look at in how you prepared them for that moment. There were times when they were re-routing us and out physical-ing us. There were times that I think our biggest play of the game was against bump (coverage). They just came to play and didn’t drop any coverage. Their one-on-one matchups in the rush won and they took advantage of us not being on and did it in a real way which was hopefully humbling to the entire offense and the team in general.”
(When you have a team playing a bunch of inside leverage on you, as an offensive coach, what do you tell your quarterback to do?) – “Don’t throw it inside. (laughter) The only time he listened to me was when Tyreek (Hill) hit a 55 or 60-yard touchdown. Finally and then I stopped giving advice, apparently. (laughter) No, there’s not a defense that – I don’t look at like, what our offense is. We have route trees and we have protection schemes, but I’m looking at the defense every week. I’m not attacking, I’m not saying ‘this is what we do.’ You try to set up a system that has offsets to everything and when they’re doing one thing, you have to – if someone’s playing inside leverage, they’re vulnerable on the outside. If they’re playing outside leverage, they’re vulnerable (on the inside), you know what I mean? So again, you could really look at the breakdown by coverage and there’s plenty of teams that have done the same things. They just, to their credit, their players really committed to it. Their coaching staff had a plan that they didn’t really drop many things and handled motions and everything very well. And they beat us and as competitors, that’s what happens if you get out-competed.”
(What did you learn from your previous losing streak, the three games that you bounced back and rallied for five straight, like in the throes of a losing streak that you’re applying now?) – “Winning is more fun. (laugher) No, I think, here’s the thing. I see that as the game that we, myself, the whole team, we should all be playing, and it has nothing to do – like you can hide in results. You can get disillusioned in results. You can be losing games and getting better. You could be winning games and getting worse. So it’s a bottom-line business, but you’re also trying to continue to progress and so what I learned from that first losing streak was that it kind of fulfilled my personal belief that you define whatever something means by your actions moving forward. So losing streaks can be the best thing that ever happened or they can be the straw that broke the camel’s back. And what you saw and I think what our team recognizes, and what I know you’ll see is you’ll see a team that won’t give up because they understand that the tough times happen. They don’t last forever. Tough people last – I guess nothing’s forever – but they last and this is a game of adversity. You guys see it in the locker room – ‘adversity is an opportunity’ is real to me because that is that is exactly what happens and in the moment, a lot of times in life and football is no different; what you think is the worst thing, you look in hindsight and say ‘that was the best thing.’ Well, how many times does that have to happen to you before you’re like, ‘Wait, there’s a pattern, maybe I shouldn’t rush to judgment. Maybe I should take the information, try to assess.’ And then all right, well, one thing we get to see is on Saturday night, we get to see a team, how resilient they are and how much they care about playing with each other. What does that mean in the end result? I want to see our guys completely compete and stay together because I know how much they put in for those last two and it’s tough when you put in a lot and you get the exact opposite in return. But that’s football. That’s why it’s fun to win. That’s why everyone’s chasing that trophy, because winning is hard and the longer you go in the season and when you play really good teams, the harder gets.”
(What’s something that can be better or should be better or will need to be better on Saturday night to leave that game having had an effective, successful rushing performance against the Bills?) – “I think there’s a commitment and conviction in technique and what does that look like? That looks like – it almost looks like guys moving together. It’s not herky jerky. And if you’re learning the right way, and our offense in the run game is learning appropriately, there’s guys finishing to the whistle more often than not. Understanding how hard it is, the great defense in the opponent you’re going against and instead of just talking about that you want to win, you do everything on the field you can to show your teammates that that’s the case. And then when that’s the case, you can live with results regardless of what they are. But the most important thing to me is that guys truly go after it. It’s easier said than done, and a lot of people do it, but if we’re trying to be a special group together, then you can’t let previous outcomes dictate more outcomes. Now you just let that game be even bigger, and that makes no sense to me.”
(There was a quote today from one of the ESPN guys saying Mike McDaniel needs to put his foot up the rear of his offensive line. And that didn’t really sound like your style of coaching. And I’m sort of curious, how do you balance that? You’ve got this sort of – I read in here about you being more of a positive motivation kind of coach. How do you figure out when to kind of do positive versus negative?) – “I’m a positive person. But I mean, don’t get it twisted. If you ask if you ask the players to be real, I guess you can’t, because you chose to have your priorities right, right now with open locker room. (laughter) But it’s not about – I’m positive because I recognize that things are so adjustable now and moving forward. I am extremely, not critical, but I hold people accountable in group settings to a fault, only because I don’t – what bothers me is intent and preparation. When that is an issue, that’s when there’s times that the team has seen it, and it didn’t happen a ton, but it’s because they don’t give me that option too much. That’s where the venom comes out and I get pissed. But if they need me to get mad at them to do it right, it’s not the guys I want. I want to teach them. But at some point, guys have to come together. To be your best, you have to want to. You can do as much as you’d like. Maybe it makes you feel better if you scream at somebody, but I want to have something that will help somebody. And it’s not because I’m trying to be nice to them. It’s because I’m trying to coach them and I don’t worry or lose any sleep. When people’s intent and their preparation is off, yeah, I don’t hesitate. And that’s where I guess my foot goes places. (laughter) I don’t know. But other than that, it’s more about being productive in my responsibility to them as a coach.”
(Did you talk to QB Tua Tagovailoa about running with the ball since he has returned from the concussion? And what did you think last game?) – “Yeah, he knows exactly what’s at stake. And he knows that we’re all counting on him, the organization, to protect himself. Tua is a competitor, almost to a fault. So good luck telling him to slide before the sticks if he’s frustrated during the game. Now, he’s done a better job of that. But I think in the moments that you have seen, it’s because maybe things aren’t going the way he’d like, and so he’s trying to take things into his own hands. Obviously, I don’t get super pumped about it. It almost feels like he feels bad because he’s like, ‘I know Coach. I know I’m not supposed to. I didn’t – I couldn’t control it.’ I mean he’s trying to achieve stuff and when you work as hard as he does, and certain things don’t go your way to a degree, one of the only ways that you can really express that at that position is when there’s an opportunity to make yards on your own, sometimes he’ll do that. So we just try to keep him out of those situations as much as possible. That’s where I’m more focused on getting him back to playing without so much frustration.”
