Monday, November 18, 2019
WR Allen Hurns
(Your reactions, your thoughts on getting the contract extension?) – “Right now I’m not really thinking about that. There is too much to think about in the game.”
(How tough was that fumble? When you watch it, it looks like you really never had control. But when you slow it down – how tough was that when you have the momentum going and something like that happens?) – “It’s very tough, especially with a big momentum change, especially right after we got the onside kick. That’s just something that’s totally unacceptable. The good thing about that is it’s all on me. It’s something that I can fix. I’m just eager to get back to practice and look myself in the mirror and move on from it.”
(Was it something that you were trying to make a play too soon before worrying about getting the ball first?) – “Yeah. I was pretty much trying to make more of it rather than securing the ball and securing the catch and then move from there.”
(What was it about you wanting to be here beyond this year that made that contract appealing to you?) – “It’s a lot of reasons; but the main thing is I see where this program is headed. Just the last few weeks, you’ve seen the progress of where we’re headed and the camaraderie built on this team. Just being around here with the guys, I feel really good going forward, so that meant a lot to me.”
(What’s in store for the future here do you think?) – “I think the main thing as far as us is you can see the camaraderie and things like that, but we’re going to get to a level where we’re winning consistently. There’s a lot of things holding us back right now, like me when I fumbled that ball, and things like that; but once we get to a level where we’re doing things consistently, we’ll win on a consistent level.”
(They always say to put the wins behind you real quick and the losses you have to put behind quick, but it’s hard. I can sense it in the way you’re feeling right now. How hard is it to put those losses behind you?) – “It’s tough. It’s tough but that’s the thing about football: each week is a new week. Right now it weighs heavy on you because you don’t have anything to do and we haven’t had practice yet, but I think once I get back out to practice Wednesday, I can put it behind me. Right now you just have to learn from it. (When you) watch film and see things like that, it’s going to weigh heavy on you because you feel like you let your teammates down. At the end of the day, like I said, you look at yourself in the mirror and you’re able to move on from it.”
(How would you describe your season? You came in and now you’ve worked your way into the starting lineup, how satisfying was that?) – “It’s been good. It’s been one crazy journey for me, especially coming off of this injury – training camp, on the cusp of making the team or not making the team. That’s the thing, that’s what I love about this receiving group: we came in and we came ready to work each and every day. They accepted me. We really play for each other. When Preston (Williams) went down, that meant a lot of us had to step up. You saw that this past Sunday. A lot of guys were making plays, whether it’s Jakeem (Grant), Albert (Wilson) – Albert is getting back to himself. That just shows where we’re at as a group. There is not any selfishness or anything like that. We all play as one.”
(When you signed with the Dolphins, were you thinking this could be a place you could be for a while, or were you pretty much just looking at this year?) – “I was really just thinking about this year, just short term as far as me just showing people how I’m able to rebound off of my injury and things like that. I wasn’t thinking of anything long term. Just come in each day and take it one day at a time.”
LB Vince Biegel
(On the Bills game yesterday) – “Obviously we broke down the tape today, and I think ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) said it best: what we did yesterday wasn’t the Miami Dolphins. I think for us, what we do is – the best thing we can do is get back to the basics and that’s having a great week of practice (and) getting back to the fundamentals – tackling, understanding our alignments and our assignments, our techniques. I think we’ve got so much talent in this locker room, and I really do think that we’ve got a lot of great young talent. When we are able to go out there and play loose, play free and play for each other, great things happen. There’s a lot of good things on film from yesterday, but there’s a lot of things that we need to correct, and I think this week is a time to address those things, correct them and move forward to the Cleveland Browns.”
(I know you guys have spoken on defense about “bend but don’t break” and it seemed liked early on, they got their yards, but you guys seemed to hold them at least to field goals. Did it wear down towards the middle of the game, end of the game?) – “I thought we were stingy at times, but I also thought we gave up some chunk plays as well. Through the passing game, through the run game, there are definitely some plays that we’ve got to get better at from a gap standpoint, speaking as a front-seven guy. I think the biggest thing for me is, I think we need to create and generate more pressure on the quarterback. Creating and generating pressure makes everybody – the back end’s life easier, the linebackers’ life easier. Overall as a defense, there’s a lot of things we can improve on, but overall, I’m still – I know the media wants to kind of say the Miami Dolphins are downhill – but listen to me, I love this team. There are a lot of great things to look forward to, and what it starts with is having a great week of practice and continuing to improve every single day, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
(So looking forward here, Browns QB Baker Mayfield and that offense – why, they haven’t been clicking like everybody thought they would, but they’re pretty dangerous. They’ve got some dangerous guys on that side, no?) – “I literally just flipped the page on the Buffalo Bills corrections. The little tape I’ve seen is – Baker Mayfield is a great quarterback. They’ve got a great young, great back with – now Kareem Hunt – Nick Chubb, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry. They’ve brought in a lot of great pieces to have that offense go well. They’ve also got a very good offensive line, so I think we have our work cut out for us, but I’m excited for the challenge, and I know ‘PG’ (Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham) is going to put another great game plan in for us to thrive in and go from.”
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What was most frustrating and disappointing after watching that?) – “We just, a lot of things we talk about – penalties, missed assignments, tackling – we really just didn’t execute across the board in all three phases. We’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to play better; we’ve got to coach better. There were a lot of things that were disappointing. Obviously we lost the game. I think there were some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of. We have to do a better job.”
(Good things that you saw yesterday? I guess including WR Jakeem Grant and WR DeVante Parker.) – “Yeah, they played well – both guys. Again, it’s football so you need a team effort. One or two guys can play well and it’s still not enough. You need as many guys – really, we need all 46 guys in the game to play well and contribute. We talked about that and we didn’t get that accomplished. But yeah, there were a couple of bright spots. At the end of the day, even they’ll tell you that an individual effort is not really what we’re looking for. We’re looking for a good team effort.”
(You guys looked like you were trending the right way on your offensive line, at least with the way your pass blocking was going. In the last game there were a lot of sacks given up. I know there was one change made but do you think continuity or anything you guys did upfront changed your effectiveness?) – “I wouldn’t say it was one – Julién went in there and started and I wouldn’t say that was the issue. I think Buffalo played well. I thought they did some things in the front that were a little bit – not different but tough to block and you have to have really good communication and really good execution to get it handled. We didn’t do that yesterday. We need to play better. There were some instances where it was just bad technique, bad fundamentals and we got beat one-on-one in some situations. We just have to play better. There’s games like that. This is how it is, really, I would say. Week to week it’s a different matchup, a different scheme, different communication, a different set of issues. We didn’t execute yesterday.”
(With the offensive line, you had a coaching change, a big trade involving a left tackle, you had injuries. With all of that, over the course of this year, how much progress do you feel like you’ve made and laying a foundation for what you want?) – “Based off of yesterday and I would say the last few weeks, it looked like it was moving in the right direction. I still feel like it’s moving in the right direction but (it was) definitely a setback yesterday. We have to play better on the offensive line. And really, I don’t want to put it all on the o-line (because) it’s everybody. It starts with me. Coaches, players – we have to do a better job executing. We have to do a better job with our communication, our fundamentals, our technique and just overall, it has to be better.”
(With T Julién Davenport, will he be able to come through whatever he was dealing with yesterday?) – “We’re still – it’s early in the week. He got dinged. A couple of other guys got dinged. On Monday, they come in and they get evaluated and then we’ll see how it goes throughout the course of the week.”
(S Bobby McCain?) – “Same.”
(Neither of those guys you are overly concerned about the long-term stuff?) – “I think it’s early. It’s still so early. We’re still kind of going through the evaluation. It’s still early.”
(How much did wanting to get an evaluation of T Julién Davenport on the field play a role in him starting?) – “We’re always going to put the group we feel is best to play against that opponent. We’re always going to put the best five guys out there. That’s how we felt going into yesterday’s game. (There were) a few things that went into it. We’re always going to put the best five out there.”
(Did anything that Bills QB Josh Allen do with his arm yesterday surprise you guys?) – “No. He’s a good player. He’s obviously a talented quarterback and he’s made a lot of plays this year and a year ago. He’s a good young player and it wasn’t really surprising. We knew that was the case and we were going to have to play well against that entire offense, and we didn’t do enough good things.”
(How did LB Jerome Baker do against the run?) – “Again, if it’s a one-man show – it’s not a one-man show I should say. Jerome made some plays. There were some plays he didn’t but that’s the case for everybody. I think we just have to learn from this, learn from this game, make the corrections, turn the page and move on. They’re still in meetings right now and making those corrections. We’ll move on and hopefully play better next week.”
(WR Jakeem Grant obviously had a splash play on special teams. Is there a chance he could work back in at punt returner or are you happy with how CB Marcus Sherels is playing?) – “There’s a chance. There’s always a chance. Obviously he made a big play and made a couple of good plays for us. So yeah, there’s a chance.”
(Since we’ve seen you last, the organization decided to give WR Allen Hurns an extension. What can you tell us about what went into that?) – “Allen is a good player. He’s tough, he’s dependable, he’s a smart player. We like him. We think he has a lot of qualities we’re looking for in our players and we’re happy to have him.”
(The Wildcat formation worked for you guys in the fourth quarter. RB Kalen Ballage had his longest run and you guys scored on the next play. How important is it for you guys to want to be creative with the run game and try to get some plays like that?) – “I think we want to be creative really in all areas – offense, defense, special teams. We try to do that on a week-to-week basis. It’s something that we’ve got a creative group of coaches. But when, how – all of that kind of ties into play-calling. Whatever week, we’re trying to be creative.”
(The 2-point conversion, would a better block have helped WR Allen Hurns get that?) – “I think a better everything – a better block, a better set of block. It wasn’t just one (block). We could’ve blocked it, I would say, a lot better but we didn’t. Again, that’s part of the execution – the fundamentals, the execution – and we just didn’t get it accomplished. I thought it was a good play, a good play call, we got what we wanted but they made the play and we didn’t.
(Did yesterday move you any closer to finding a way to utilize your three running backs – RB Myles Gaskin, RB Patrick Laird and RB Kalen Ballage?) – “I would say not necessarily. I think we didn’t get the run game going, so we’ve got to find a better way to do that. Again, that’s everybody. That’s o-line. That’s tight ends. It’s backs and receivers. It’s (the) quarterback getting us into good plays, play-calling and the whole deal. We’ve got to be better. That’s something we’ve talked about for consecutive weeks now. We’ll just keep working at it.”
(You’re comfortable with how you use them as far as first down, second down, third down? Did RB Myles Gaskin get a couple more second-down looks yesterday? Is that because of down-and-distance?) – “Yeah, he was in there. Yeah, I’m comfortable with how we’re using them.”
(WR DeVante Parker looks like he’s on pace for maybe the best year of his career. What do you think has been the cause of that?) – “It’s DeVante. I think he’s – since I’ve gotten here, he’s worked hard in the classroom (and) on the field. He’s worked on his technique, his catching the football, running with it, blocking. He’s smart and I think he’s gone out there and he’s taken it from the practice field to the game. He’s done a good job, so it’s all – it’s DeVante. He’s done a really good job.”
(Why didn’t QB Josh Rosen play in the fourth quarter?) – “We felt like ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) gave us the best chance.”
(Somebody mentioned that WR Gary Jennings might’ve been injured during a celebration. Is that the case, and if so, do you talk to your players about chill out a little bit?) – “Yeah, he got dinged. He’s being evaluated and we’ll see how things go with him. I think as far as whether or not it was on a (celebration), I think we want our guys to celebrate, but that’s speculative on how he got injured.”
(How did you feel DE Taco Charlton and LB Raekwon McMillan not playing affect your pass rush overall?) – “I think any time you lose two starters, it has an effect on your team – offense, defense or special teams. They’re both good players. They’re both working their way back. Hopefully we get them back soon, and I think they’ll definitely help us.”
