Head Coach Brian Flores
(When you look over the film, obviously the special teams score was a misstep or complication; but what areas do you feel you were close to getting over that hump?) – “I thought we played well in a lot of areas. I thought we moved the ball well offensively. I thought we got the run game going. I thought the protection was fairly good. I thought we made some plays down the field. I thought we converted on third down. But really, at the end of the day, this game comes down to execution in the critical moments – so third down, red zone, two-minute – and then limiting turnovers. We didn’t do those things. There were a crucial couple of plays there down in the red zone (where) we didn’t convert and we turned it over. I would say in those critical moments, we didn’t play well enough. We did a lot of good things really offensively, defensively and in the kicking game; but we’ve got to do a little bit more.”
(I know moral victories aren’t really important in the NFL but do you have to remind the players that you are getting closer to where they need to be?) – “I think they know that. I think they’ve heard that before. I think we’re at the point here where (we’re getting) closer and closer and closer and closer but at the end of the day, the result isn’t what you want, so we’ve got to do a little bit more. We’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to execute better. We’ve got to practice every situation with the intent to execute those situations in the game in all areas, because I don’t know which play it’s going to be and they don’t know which play it’s going to be. So we have to practice all of those situations with an intent to execute the way we’re going to try to execute it in the game, and I’ve got to do a better job of getting this team to do that.”
(What qualities does RB Mark Walton have to enable him at his size to run so successfully up the guy of the defense?) – “He’s got really good vision, a low center of gravity, good burst through the hole and he’s just got a good feel for running the football, setting up blocks and I guess he’s a small guy to find behind those big linemen. I thought he ran the ball well yesterday and I think he’s been running the ball well for the last few weeks. We’ll keep giving it to him since he’s being productive and hopefully he’ll continue to develop and get better. This is a guy that comes in and works on his craft at a daily basis from blocking to catching to running the football to playing in the kicking game. Those are the types of guys that we need around here.”
(Is that what you want – what you’ve seen from RB Mark Walton – a guy who makes it clear that I need to be playing more?) – “Oh, yeah. We want every person on this team to take advantage of their opportunities when they get out there. Once you do that, I think it’s clear to anyone who watches that if you’re a Dolphins fan, you want to see Mark Walton get the football a little bit more. I like all of our backs. (Kenyan) Drake has gone in there and made plays, (Kalen) Ballage has gone in there and made plays. But Mark has definitely been playing well the last couple of weeks.”
(What do you need to do to start getting some takeaways?) – “Those, a lot of times, come in bunches. I think we just need to get one. Let’s just start with that. Punching at the ball, making the catch when the opportunity presents itself on a tipped ball. I think once we get one – well let’s just start with one. That’s really where I’m at with that. Let’s just start with one.”
(Obviously you don’t want to lose but how do you stay optimistic and not let the losses get to you?) – “I mean I’ve dealt with a lot of adversity in my life. I’ve been punched before and you just get up and you just keep going. That’s kind of been my – that’s kind of how I go about my business. Look, I’m never going to make excuses. I’m not going to point fingers. I’m just going to get up and get better the next day. That’s been my approach and that’s the approach of this team. That’s the way I’m going to handle my business.”
(There’s a report that a fan claimed that S Bobby McCain threatened or spit on a 13-year-old boy. What do you know about that report and have you followed through?) – “Yeah, I talked to Bobby about this this morning. He and I had a pretty open dialogue. I heard his side of the story. It’s unfortunate. I feel like he needed to handle that situation better. We’re going to discipline Bobby for that. We’ll handle that discipline internally. Situations like this, we’ve got to handle those situations. Before I say that, we take those very seriously. There’s a standard that we’re trying to set here of professionalism, of the way we go about things, and we need to live up to that standard and we’re going to. I talked to Bobby and again, I heard his side of the story but we need to handle the situation better – really on the field, let’s talk about Christian (Wilkins) and that situation, and then this other situation as well. That will certainly get handled internally.”
(Will the discipline involve S Bobby McCain missing playing time?) – “Again, that’s going to be handled internally.”
(Obviously the losses are at the forefront but besides the losses, what’s the most disappointing part of the season that you’re going through with this team?) – “I don’t focus on that. I focus on the improvement I see, the progress we’re making as a team. The communication, the guys coming together, guys playing hard, guys fighting for one another, guys practicing and trying to get better and improve, and you see the improvement. I really don’t focus on disappointments yet. Is it tough to lose? Yeah, especially when you come out here and you work on a daily basis. I see progress, I see improvement. At the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses. We’ve got a group of guys who are tough and they are motivated and they don’t quit. I like this group.”
(With DT Christian Wilkins, do you see a common denominator between what happened yesterday and his roughness penalty against the Chargers?) – “(He is) a young player trying to play aggressive, trying to play with a fight, and a vigor and an ‘I’m not backing down from anyone type of attitude,’ but you got to play with poise. It’s just – losing your starting d-tackle for an entire game, that’s a tough loss for any defense. I think our guys fought through it. Christian was upset about it. Look, he’s a good kid. There’s no doubt about that. He works hard, and this is important to him; but again, there are consequences to our actions. I think that’s something that we all need to understand, on the field and off the field. Aside from football as a coach, that’s what you’re teaching these guys, or trying to teach them. There’s consequences for your actions. If you throw a punch in the game, you’re going to get kicked out. If you miss a meeting or you have an issue, there are consequences for your actions. That’s not just on the football field, that’s life. We need to learn that and learn a lot of life lessons in this game. That’s part of coaching as well.”
(How did your center adjust to his first start? How did he do?) – “(Evan) Boehm, I thought he played well. The communication was good, the snaps were good, he made some good blocks. We played well as an offensive line for the most part. Protection was solid. We had time to throw it. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) did a good job of getting it out and for a guy who – (Daniel) Kilgore is a big part of this team. (He’s) a captain, a leader and his voice is – he’s a leader on this team. Boehm stepped in and I thought he did an admiral job.”
(How did G Shaq Calhoun play?) – “He played – look, he’s a young player. I think he had a missed block early I think resulted in a TFL (tackle for loss). I want to say the safety came off of the edge and we missed him. After that, I thought he played pretty solid. As an offensive line, and as an offense, I think we moved the ball fairly well. He’s a young player. It’s good to get those reps and that experience.”
(Was C/G Chris Reed in there because of injury or just performance-based?) – “Shaq had a little – he got dinged a little bit and he had to come out. Chris has been in there. He has been with us since the spring. He knows exactly what we’re doing. He can play multiple positions. He’s a tough kid. He’s worked hard. We felt fine sticking him in there. That was no issue.”
(This is your fifth combination on the offensive line in six games. At what point do you want to see some continuity, some consistency there?) – “There’s – Injuries happen. That’s been the case for us. I’d love for everybody to stay healthy and have the same offensive line the entire season. The likelihood of that – I don’t know how many teams have the same five guys the entire season. As far as continuity, I mean this is the game. This is kind of how it goes.”
(I know you never want to see your starting quarterback try to run over a defender, at least I assume you don’t. After watching that on tape, what did you see on that play with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick?) – “I saw someone who – It’s very important to him to put it in the end zone and score. That’s what we want out of guys on this team. At times, a quarterback has to do that. I think it – at that position, at that leadership position, when that guy shows that type of toughness, I think it permeates throughout the entire team. ‘Fitz’ is a tough guy and thankfully there was no injury or anything like that. I like the toughness.”
(Are you optimistic that CB Xavien Howard and S Reshad Jones will be back this week?) – “Both guys are working extremely hard to get back. We’re close with Xavien and I think we’re going to be close with Reshad this week as well. It’s early in the week and we’ve got an extra day, so hopefully. But look, we’re going up to Pittsburgh. It’s another tough place, another tough environment. (They’re a) really good team – physical, tough, great environment. If you like football, this is the type of environment you want to be in.”
WR Preston Williams
(Do you feel like you’re getting closer?) – “Yeah. We’re working every day. Just different situations, different ways we’ve been losing games, different reasons why; but I feel like we’re getting better.”
(I know there are no moral victories, but do you sense that things are different around here the last couple of weeks with the way things are trending?) – “Yeah, we’re definitely progressing. We’re getting better. We’re moving in the direction we want to move. (We’re) still trying to get that first victory, though.”
(The roster turned over a lot right before the season started. Does that, kind of looking back at the first few weeks, almost feel like sort of like the preseason again as you were all trying to get to know each other, know each other’s tendencies and stuff like that?) – “It’s business at the end of the day. Everybody is working for a situation like that. Somebody might go down, somebody might get traded or something. We just (need) to be ready when our number is called or anything.”
(You personally after the game said that you feel like you’ve gotten a lot better since the start of the year. Is there certain things that you can pinpoint that has changed a lot for you since you got here?) – “The number one thing is the game is slowing down for me. It was very fast the first couple of games. My mindset was just trying not to mess up and just trying to be perfect and more consistent. I’ve been more consistent. I just face different obstacles every week, just different ones. I’m just working on myself trying to be a better pro.”
(How much pride do you take in the number you’re posting?) – “I take pride in it, but it’s nothing without wins. Winning is number one on my list.”
(Drops were an issue for you particularly early on. As you kind of get used to the speed, does that kind of naturally clean up?) – “Yeah, the drops – I’m not known for dropping balls. The game is kind of fast. I’m just trying to get chemistry with both quarterbacks at the same time. You can see it’s getting better and everything is starting to mold.”
(How would you describe what QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has brought to the offense with what he has done the last five quarters?) – “Energy, great leadership and being a 15-year vet, just keeping everybody positive. We’re a young team and ‘Fitz’ is one of the only veterans here. He’s taking his wisdom and knowledge and spreading it over all of us. We need that.”
(How do you like watching QB Ryan Fitzpatrick lowering his right shoulder and plowing into the end zone?) – “’Fitz’ swears he’s a running back. I’ll let ‘Fitz’ do his little dual-threat stuff he’s got going. (laughter)We believe in ‘Fitz;’ we love ‘Fitz.’”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has done it before, right? It’s not like it’s new.) – “Yeah. He’s a hard-nosed quarterback.”
(Obviously to lose is tough on everyone. What have you seen from Head Coach Brian Flores, especially lately, and how he has handled everything?) – “He’s real motivated and just keeping everybody together. He’s not letting the losing get to him. He’s still staying positive. He’s not giving up on anybody.”
(How important is that from your coach?) – “It’s real important from your head coach. Everybody is looking at him when stuff hits the fan or we’re going into the fire. He’s probably one of our biggest leaders on the team.”
C/G Evan Boehm
(On the offensive line’s performance yesterday.) – “I think we had a pretty good game, but we lost. That’s what it boils down to is the wins and losses. I think overall as an offensive line, I think we played pretty well. Like always, there’s a couple plays that we always want to have back and see what went wrong here and what we needed to do better in certain situations. You look at the sack category; we didn’t let up any sacks and that’s a big plus. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) also helped us out with scrambling and doing what ‘Fitz’ does, but I think overall our pass pro(tection) wasn’t too bad. Like always, there’s always corrections that need to be made.”
(A lot of moving parts, so how did you feel it worked in terms of the chemistry and the communication?) – “I think we’re all starting to get a lot more comfortable with each other. It’s another brand new offensive line that went out there and played in the sixth game of the season. I think this week at practice, we had a pretty good week at practice with the chemistry of the offensive line and Jesse (Davis) and Shaq (Calhoun) – they’ve probably played together in preseason or OTAs or something like that. (Michael) Deiter and ‘J-Webb’ (J’Marcus Webb) – I think they did pretty well on the left side. Sticking me in the middle – like I said last week – I’m just trying to help this team win and do the things necessary to help this team win. We’re getting closer and closer and closer, but we’re doing something that’s not good enough still and we’ve got to figure that out and figure out how in the offensive line room we can set this team and push that boulder over the hill and get that first W.”
(And for you back at your old familiar spot, how nice and comfortable did it feel?) – “We miss Danny (Kilgore). Danny is the captain of this football team. Danny is the captain of the offensive line. He’s the old guy in the room and we definitely miss Danny and his leadership out there. It was nice being back, but ultimately we miss Danny and we want Danny back as fast as possible.”
(Considering how many of the starters are guys who got here just a couple days before the season started, is the progression like you guys are having, do you feel like that’s pretty natural just as you get comfortable not just with the five but with the seven or eight or however many guys?) – “It’s not only the new guys, but it’s the guys that have been here before like Jesse (Davis), like (Michael) Deiter, like Shaq (Calhoun), like (Isaiah) Prince, Danny (Kilgore) and Chris (Reed). ‘Guge’ (Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo) got these guys, what, three weeks left in training camp? They’re trying to learn a brand new technique, scheme that ‘Guge’ teaches that’s not ‘normal’ – that’s not what the norm was here, what they were used to and stuff like that. I think everybody is getting more comfortable with it and buying into it more and more and more. I think it’s just starting to show that we’re getting more comfortable and more confident in the technique that he’s teaching, plus also with each other.”
