Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
(On what needs to change)
TYREEK HILL: “That’s what we need to find out. That’s what we talk about. We’ve got a great team that’s willing to correct some of the things we aren’t doing right. I think that’s the biggest thing, and we’ll get there. We’re still early in the season, a one-and-two team. That’s the beauty about it; we have a real good team, and we’ve got some great leaders who are keeping everybody together. We’ll have a captains meeting on what needs to be changed and be back to the drawing board Monday night.”
(On the challenges of working with a different quarterback, Tim Boyle)
TYREEK HILL: “I like Tim Boyle, man. He came into the huddle with a certain swagger about himself. It was different. Every quarterback has a different demeanor about themselves. With Tim, there’s something about him. He came in, we got it going a little bit and it was special.”
(On his first impression of Tim Boyle)
TYREEK HILL: “Real great guy. I thought he was on like Year 15 because he seems like an older vet in this league, that’s the way he carries himself every day. He’s in the meeting room with us helping out and stuff like that. He’s going to do a good job stepping in and filling in that role.”
Miami Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips
(On what the defense could have done differently to alter the outcome)
JAELAN PHILLIPS: “I feel like we’ve got to be better at starting fast, not letting them get points up early in the game. Then just capitalizing off momentum. I thought we did a good job being salty, coming out in the second half. But, yeah, just got to start better, for sure.”
(On what has been the issue when trying to stop the run)
JAELAN PHILLIPS: “Just in general, gap integrity. Everybody in the front, everybody in the back end, everything like, fitting the run properly. I thought we did a pretty good job for the first half. Obviously late in the game we started giving some big yardage and stuff like that. It’s all about the process. It’s a long season. We’ve just got to make the corrections and just move on.”
(On how do you avoid this becoming a demoralizing loss after losing another quarterback)
JAELAN PHILLIPS: “I just think we’ve got to be there for each other, understand that this doesn’t define us. Like I said, it’s early in the season. We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got to make the corrections and improve on what we need to improve on.”
Miami Dolphins DT Calais Campbell
(On facing an early deficit)
CALAIS CAMPBELL: “That’s football. You can’t control the circumstances. All you can do is control your response. I feel like we didn’t do a good enough job early on building that early lead. We gave up a couple of big plays and let them get that early lead and they were able to play from a comfortable position. You put pressure on your quarterback when you spot a team 14 points, 17 points, whatever. We’ve got to do better. Just kind of being real stout in the front at the beginning. Then we can get three, get six, maybe get seven, and start playing with the lead and get a little more confidence and you can take a little more chances. You can’t control anything else. We can control what we can control. But our defense is better than we played today. I don’t want to talk bad about anybody at all, ever, but I just feel we’re a better team than (how) we played today on defense, and I expect us to be better.”
(On how the defense improves against the run)
CALAIS CAMPBELL: “That’s something we’re talking through. I mean, you can go down the list of things that can make us get better. But one thing for sure, we’ve got to get better. We’ve been talking amongst ourselves and the coaches about things that can help us. But at the end of the day it really comes down to how we handle our business — doing our job at a high level and shutting down the run. I felt we did it well for all but like five or six runs, maybe six or seven, but those lapses can’t be there. Too much talent, too many guys that have done it at a high level and love ball for us to have those lapses. Usually it comes down to somebody trying to do too much. And it’s like, for what? We’ve got too many guys. You don’t have to do too much. Just make the plays you’re supposed to make. They’ll come to you. That’s just something we’ve got to be better at.”
Miami Dolphins DT Zach Sieler
(On what he tells teammates after a tough loss)
“Yeah, we’ve got to find what we did good out there, and try to emulate that next week. What’s great about the NFL is there’s a game next week. 24-hour rule, make the corrections, learn from what we did wrong, and go about it and handle business next week.”
(On his interception in the game)
“Shoot, I mean, I think Calais (Campbell) is the one that tipped it. I haven’t watched it yet, but it was just kind of floating up there. I thought I was about to get smoked from the side or something because that thing was just hanging there. Once I got it, I’m like ‘alright, let’s get some momentum, let’s get going.’ Offense went out there and drove the field a little bit, which is great to see. Things weren’t falling our way.”
(On what Miami’s defense did well to keep the team in the game)
“I think what we did best, and what we need to keep doing, was just doing our responsibility, doing our job, not trying to do too much. When that happens, guys will kind of do things, I’ve done it multiple times, I did it today; you try to be the game changer, try to make a big play, but things happen. So, we have to trust in the coaches, trust in the DC (defensive coordinator), trust in the calls, and play within the snaps to do the right thing.”
Miami Dolphins T Kendall Lamm
(On the attitude right now for the team)
KENDALL LAMM: “The only thing you can do is lock in, look at the film, break it down, be very real with yourself and keep it moving forward. You’ve been around this game for a long time, you know every opponent [doesn’t care] about what happened the week before that. They don’t care what your team looks like, they’re going to come out and give you their best shot, regardless. From my offensive line perspective, we just try to handle what we can. Like I said, be very real with what we see when we break down the film. Of course, we’ll all be on the plane watching so we’ll be talking amongst ourselves and then we’ll move forward as we can.”
(On their penalties)
KENDALL LAMM: “You know as well as I do, first game on the road, certain things happen. Especially in this type of environment. Seattle has one of the best home field advantages in our league. It’s been documented over time. But at the same time, it just boils back down to preparation, really locking in. Just because this was the first doesn’t mean that this has to be the standard for every other game. You learn from it, see what you can do better and keep it moving.”
(On having the right attitude going forward)
KENDALL LAMM: “It’s on everybody. At the end of the day, because you’re a professional athlete, you know what comes with this. You know that every single week, whether it’s Thursday, Sunday, Monday, what comes with what we do. As a grown man, if you want to be in this league a long time and be successful with it, you have to turn the page quick and keep it moving.”
Miami Dolphins S Jevón Holland
(On the performance of the defense)
JEVÓN HOLLAND: “You just have to go back to the film, look at it and move on. That’s basically all it is. You just have to capitalize on the plays that you got beat at and then use that as motivation to build from there.”
(On the positives on the defense)
JEVÓN HOLLAND: “I think it’s all solid, it’s just a matter of us putting it together. I think it’s just a matter of us being locked in when the time is needed and taking advantage of us being in that motion and in that mode. Playing together and that’s all we really need to do, just trust each other.”
(On the long touchdown pass to DK Metcalf)
JEVÓN HOLLAND: “It was a good route combination by them to challenge our rules. It just so happened that they were able to take advantage of us. That’s how it works.”
(On how they were able to lock in after a tough first couple of drives)
JEVÓN HOLLAND: “I think it just comes down to us trusting ourselves. As defensive players, our job is to get the ball back to the offense. Regardless of what the circumstance is, or our situation, just continue to try and do our job. That’s all it comes down to.”
Miami Dolphins QB Tim Boyle
(On his mentality.)
TIM BOYLE: It’s an attitude game. Go out there, we’re down a couple scores. But you got to go out and prove what you’ve got. It builds a lot of character as a person, as a competitor. I’m glad we put a couple drives together. Obviously, we got stopped there on fourth down at the goal line. When you’re struggling like that, you’re trying to find completions, you’re trying to find positive yards and put a drive together.
(When a team is struggling, what’s the most important, is it individual mindset? Is it team leaders? Is it coaches? How do you keep going?)
TIM BOYLE: That’s the beautiful part about football. It’s the ultimate team game. You can’t be a well-oiled machine and have one guy doing the wrong thing. I think it always starts with the quarterback. And going out there for the first time and kind of getting the first couple of reps under my belt, I could clean some stuff up in hindsight which I will. But on offense it’s tough to move the ball. Felt like we had some momentum going into it, a couple drives, and all of a sudden it was a penalty or a key incompletion or it was something that kind of held us back. And it’s tough to sustain drives and put points on the board when you do that. We’ve got to be critical with ourselves on the tape and come back and get better.
(When did you find out you would be signed to the active roster?)
TIM BOYLE: I found out yesterday morning I was going to be signed.
(How did you feel?)
TIM BOYLE: Felt good. Obviously it’s good to be on the roster and get ready to go. That’s one of the cool parts being a backup quarterback; you got to be ready and prepared like a starter. It’s one of those weird things. Skylar (Thompson) was battling. He was a tough son of a gun all day. I saw him laying on the ground and all of a sudden you spring into action. You’ve got to fill in the gaps and try to execute the offense. And I feel like certain points we did that. But, again, like I said, we shot ourselves in the foot too many times.
(You also might get a chance to start a ball game on a Monday Night Football next week. We’ll see, check on everybody’s health. If that were to occur, what approach would you take?)
TIM BOYLE: Business as usual. Nothing’s going to change. I have a pretty good routine, year seven at this point. Watch my film, look at my corrections and move on to the next team after the 24-hour rule, kind of feel this one, bond with the team a little bit, but it’s on to the Titans on Monday Night Football.
(How comfortable do you feel with this offense being in it for — has it been a month yet?)
TIM BOYLE: I don’t think it’s been a month yet but every day it gets more comfortable. It really does. It’s a pretty tricky offense as you guys saw. But Mike (McDaniel) does a really good job of detailing up the quarterbacks’ responsibilities and our actions. And I think all of our motions get guys open, which is nice for the quarterback. It definitely requires some studying. And as a quarterback, that’s what I’m expected to do. And I love the offense, and I love how Mike calls the game. Just got to execute.
(How much carry-over is it from what you known in the past few years?)
TIM BOYLE: Some of the verbiage from a couple teams I’ve been on, so that helps cut some of the studying hours down. But the concepts most of the teams run the same concepts. It’s just how you get to it, how you dress it up. The motions, shifts, run actions, play pass. Thankfully some similarities to my former offenses, so I’m not just stepping into a completely new offense.
(Year seven in your career. How would you picture your career in your own words?)
TIM BOYLE: I’m chugging along. It’s being interesting, obviously spent three years in Green Bay, since then bounced around some teams. But I’m proud of how I’ve been resilient. No matter what team, I’ve been ready, I’ve been the same from a preparation standpoint, from being a teammate standpoint, trying to instill my leadership in the team as I can, whether it’s on P squad (practice squad) or the backup or the starter. But there’s definitely more out there for me. I’m going to try to go get.
(What’s the message Coach McDaniel or Coach Bev has given you since your arrival or recent weeks that sort of resonated with you or you found helpful?)
TIM BOYLE: I think being similar systems, I think they saw the timing aspect. I think this offense revolves around timing, quarterback footwork, route depth. I’ve been around that. I think just being on time and staying ahead of the chains is something that I think they appreciated. But again, none of that matters if you’re not executing and you’re shooting yourselves in the foot on drives, and you can’t put three points on the board and expect to win. We got to be better.
(What kind of communication were you able to have with Tua Tagovailoa on the sideline?)
TIM BOYLE: Yeah, very encouraging. Tua (Tagovailoa) has been great ever since he’s gotten hurt, he’s a ray of sunshine. His smile. Always upbeat. Hell of a teammate. Great leader and I’m glad he’s been around obviously in the quarterback room, but just words of advice. He’s been in the system obviously now for three years and just small things here and there that help me, eye placement, techniques, stuff, but I’m glad Tua is in our corner in the quarterback room.
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(On positives from the game.)
MIKE MCDANIEL: I thought the positives were we took care of the ball. I did think Skylar (Thompson) did a good job operating the offense. I think there needed to be a lot better job in preparation on my part. 11 penalties is not good enough but we took care of the ball. I think (Tim) Boyle came in and I thought did a great job of leading the guys, was very good in the huddle and was very good in communicating the things that needed to be communicated from the sidelines. And I think the bottom line is I see the quarterback is an extension of the offense, and the offense is an extension of me. And three points, I’ve never won a game scoring three points. So I think collectively, starting with me, it just needs to be better, and we have to get it figured out fast.
(On the injury to Skylar Thompson.)
MIKE MCDANIEL: I haven’t talked to Skylar (Thompson) as of the end of the game. It was a rib injury that was pretty painful. And half the pain or half of the frustration for him, I think, was he was trying to find a way to not come out of the game. And ultimately it was pretty painful. He fought through it but we’ll get a chance to look at him tomorrow.
(With these past two weeks, having Tua Tagovailoa go down, having Skylar Thompson go down, what is kind of the next planning step, I guess, for you guys the coming weeks? What’s that plan?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think you have to look at everything. And you have to find a way to give your team a best chance to win. In 2022, this was something that happened to us as well. And ultimately the rest of the league does not care nor should they. We have to find a way to get better collectively. And it’s going to take a better effort by everyone, including myself, or starting with myself.
(What was the reasoning behind the play call right before the end of the half?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: The approach was the same that we did Week 1 of last year against the Chargers where you’re trying to take a shot and see and make a defense defend. In that situation last year, we got a defensive pass interference that led to a field goal that was ultimately a two-point game. We were trying the same thing and it did not work out the same. But that was the thought process.
(What about the breakdown on the DK Metcalf touchdown?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: Yeah, there’s a couple things from the beginning of the game that I know the good news is we found our rhythm as a defense, I thought, as the game progressed. And the good news is that we have the right people on this team, I think, and the right people on the defense in particular for them to not worry about the overall score but more worry about how we can keep self-inflicted wounds from hurting us. And as frustrating as that was, being a point of emphasis going into the game, I think collectively I was happy with the resolve to put forth better defense after that and respond.
(With the self-inflicted wounds, a lot of penalties, pre-snap on offense, also on special teams. Just really the rhyme or reason of —)
MIKE MCDANIEL: No, I think we have to handle the road better, and that starts with me. But then that continues throughout everyone. I think that the crowd was rocking and we looked as though it was the first time in a hostile environment. And so that’s a fast lesson that you have to learn from and get better or you are not going to expect any differing results moving forward. But, yeah, I think it was 11 penalties for 85 yards. And especially when you’re having issues in the red zone and coming up with no touchdowns and being down there several times, you can’t afford that to win the football game.
(On injuries.)
MIKE MCDANIEL: With Terron (Armstead), he got poked in the eye. And then the UNC cleared him during the game and postgame looked at him again. And him and (Kendall) Fuller are in the protocol now and we’ll evaluate them tomorrow.
(How do we get Tyreek Hill more involved in the offense? In the first half he only one target and second half seemed to pick up. But going forward with all these injuries, where do you see him fitting more in the offense?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: Absolutely. As a captain, leader, Tyreek (Hill) did a great job all week trying to make sure that he was doing his part, not only the pass game but the run game. And in that process give the Seahawks credit, they did some things to try to nullify him. I think ultimately some of the stuff that we expected to be cleaner in the run game leads to longer drives, more opportunities for him. But this team needs him. He was prepared. He was ready. He had the appropriate energy. So, got to do a better job getting him the ball. And we have to do a better job staying on the field so we can get our playmakers the ball. I think we only had three three-and-outs, but I think there were a lot of four-, five-play drives where we were able to get a first down and then couldn’t get out of our own way. So it has to get better for everyone to get better.
(Touching on the offense too being with kind of the roller coaster at quarterback you guys are having right now, how does the offense stay clicking like they have been with so many changes under center there? What do they have to do to ready?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think consistency has to be found from the nucleus in the group. The guys that truly know the offense have to really be on it. And we have to just keep chopping wood and get better fast. Again, those things happen. And every single season there’s teams that find a way to win football games when their starter or even their backup’s out. So that’s what we’re signed up for this year in the present situation. And I think it’s also important to — like I told the team — we’ve had two consecutive seasons where we were winning football games. And I think were 3-0 in both scenarios. And it’s a long season. It’s Week 3 and we have to — the idea is that you’re continuing to get better so you’re at your best at the end of the season. That was our main focus coming into this year. It hasn’t changed. It’s just magnified. But that’s the National Football League. You have to do what you have to do. And we need everyone to focus on the right things to get better.
(When you look at today’s offensive inconsistencies, how much can you attribute to uncertainty at quarterback coming in with an unfamiliar face, relatively speaking? And then how much of it is Seattle’s defense or penalties or like that?)
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think as competitors, we look at ourselves first. However, it would be silly not to acknowledge the very good plan, effort, and strain and detail by the Seattle Seahawks. I don’t think it was as much of the quarterback as it can easily be made out to be. I think it was the overall orchestration and execution of plays down in and down out. And I have to look at that hard in terms of myself to what we’re doing, what we’re good at, and how to play clean football. And then as well as I think there’s going to be a lot of guys looking at their finer details and whether or not it lives up to the standard of the way they execute their job. Bottom line is it has to be better. So that’s our jobs, and we need to do it immediately and have no time to waste.
(Question about fourth and one and going for it.)
MIKE MCDANIEL: It was a combination of the work week where Jason Sanders was at pregame. And I thought the match-up with the defense, I thought points were at a premium. Although there were 17 first-half points and they came early, I was kind of playing to where I thought our defense was at. And those are things that you’re always debating — had it been three yards further back or four yards further back, maybe I make a different decision. But basically on the first down, I’m kind of considering where the field position is, and I thought it was close enough that he would have a good strike and effort.
