Thursday, August 1, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(When “Jump Around” was playing at the start of practice, you were fired up getting everybody else excited. What was it about today that made you so excited to be out here?) – “You know what’s crazy man? The receivers haven’t had an orange jersey this whole camp, and I just wanted to, simply – I want to come out every day and set the standard. Today was one of those days that I felt real good, so I wanted the guys to follow suit. You see that the offense had a real good day today, it was just one of those days.”
(What was your reaction to finding out that QB Tua Tagovailoa got his big contract?) – “I was excited, man. I was turned up for my boy. We were all sitting in meetings, and when it happened, we all went down to the quarterback room and try to congratulate him, but he wasn’t down there. Yeah, I was real happy but the message was simply we got what we wanted. Our quarterback got paid, so now it’s time to take care of business, and we all know what that is.”
(There was a play today where it looked like you went one way and the ball went the other way and then you and QB Tua Tagovailoa kind of had a conversation about it. I’m just curious what those conversations are like when you guys are on different pages?) – “Man look, I be so fired up, I be so ready to go against (Jalen) Ramsey that sometimes I forget my freaking route, man. On that play, he threw it to a spot, he was right. I went out and it was supposed to be in. I was just so fired up and ready that sometimes when you get so in a mode going against these guys, it’s like you don’t even be thinking sometimes. You hear a word, and you’re like OK. You automatically assume you got that, but it’s just one of those things that I got to be in the right spot at the right time. And he came and told me, ‘Come on, ‘Reek, I need you in the right spot.’ I was in the wrong spot.”
(You guys have gotten CB Jalen Ramsey a couple of times at practice. You did the other day, and WR Jaylen Waddle did today. Do you chirp at him a little bit when that happens? Or is it respect and you move on to the next play?) – “It goes back and forth, man. We got a real good team. We’re very fortunate to have (Jalen) Ramsey on the other side, a very competitive guy. A guy who doesn’t shy away from anything. It’s fun, it’s a part of the game. You win some, you lose some. Fortunate for us, we’ve been on the winning side. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve learned a lot playing with Ramsey, understanding different leverages, understanding different releases I can use against different guys with longer arms. The process has been fun.”
(I don’t know if you saw there was an NFL Network reporter who visited the Kansas City Chiefs camp. It was on the internet there. He said the Chiefs have to have the fastest team in the NFL. Is that possible, or no?) – “Look man, people can say whatever they want to say. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. At the end of the day, we all know you can’t say that until you really put on the pads and get on the field. Obviously, people have seen what we do down here in Miami, which is fast, explosive, whatever you want to call it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, man. Kansas City got a great group of young guys who can fly, but I’m still going to stand 10 toes down for the guys we got here.”
(It seems like WR Jaylen Waddle is having a great camp. How have you seen him come back from the summer and get even better this year?) – “You know what, obviously when you’ve got the mindset and you take the right approach on wanting to lean on some of the veteran guys that you’ve got in the room, he’s done a tremendous job with that – leaning on myself, leaning on Coach (Wes) Welker. He’s done a great job of being real coachable in that aspect of it. For me, that’s what I told him. I said, ‘When I came into the league, it’s a lot of guys who are real talented, but the guys that are successful in this league are the ones that are real coachable.’ At the end of the day, we’re all trying to get better. Ain’t none of us perfect. I can go for 2,000 yards, there are still way I can get better. For him, he’s come in with a different approach on what routes I need to get better at, how can I be more talkative with the quarterback and what spots I need to be in and stuff like that. So far it has paid off for him. He’s came out here each and every day busting his tail, and we’re still competing. His team versus my team on one-on-ones. You can see at the end of camp the results paid off. He’s busting his tail, he scored a big one at the end.”
(You guys have three potential Hall of Famers on the team. You, CB Jalen Ramsey and DT Calais Campbell. How do you use that to your advantage on and off the field?) – “Well, on the field, obviously just having the presence of guys like that is amazing man, because veteran leadership is everything in this league. Off the field, I feel like we bring another aspect to it, because this is the most I’ve seen this Miami team hangout since I’ve been here. It’s a beautiful thing to see. Also when you add a guy like Odell Beckham (Jr.), the type of personality that he has, building that off-field teammate brotherhood that you need, because at the end of the day we all need it.”
(I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but there’s a YouTube guy who claims that he’s going to race you today. Is this the first you’ve heard of it? Do you think that I’m crazy or?) – “I think you’re crazy still. (laughter) But no, what’s crazy is the funny story is I actually invited him out here to practice. I didn’t say I was going to race him, but I did say I was going to invite him out of practice, and I told Coach to put him in shoulder pads. I want to see how he’d do out here with us the whole day, the group of receivers. So just to mix it up a little bit, change it up, change his lifestyle up and see if he can hang with us in the sun.”
(And what became of that?) – “He didn’t show. He did a no-show. That’s all I can say, but hopefully he’ll come tomorrow. We’ll see.”
(On the receiver draft Year 2 obviously, you had to pay for dinner last year. How is your unit doing? Also I need the explanation why WR River Cracraft is always your first pick? And why do you get the first pick?) – “Right now the score is 4-1. ‘J-Dub’s’ (Jaylen Waddle) team is losing, getting his head cracked in every day. The reason why I pick ‘Riv’ (River Cracraft) is because ‘Riv’ is one of those guys that he understands the offense and he’s always in the right place. Last year when we were doing this, we counted blocks. He’s that one guy who’s going to make a key block for (De’Von) Achane or (Raheem) Mostert to break one to the house every time, and that’s why I always pick ‘Riv’ man. Because he’s smart, he knows where to be at on the field and you can always account for him. He’s one of those guys.”
(Why do you get the first pick?) – ‘I don’t know why ‘J-Dub’ (Jaylen Waddle) gives me the first pick all the time.”
(Does he pick the next two, or how does that work?) – ‘No. He just picks the next one, and he chose (Braxton) Berrios.”
(Now that the team took care of QB Tua Tagovailoa, are you vying to be next? I know you want a restructure or extension.) – ‘You know what man, at this point you see me out here practicing each and every day. At this point, my focus is on helping this team win games. I know it’s going to come whenever it happens. My agent, he’s doing his thing, I just got done having a conversation with him. The conversations are positive right now, so we’re going to keep it positive. But for right now, I’m going to keep practicing every day trying to help this team win games.”
(The NFL added some language to the speed motion rule. I don’t know if you heard that. It’s a clarification that states very clearly that you’re not allowed to have an abrupt false start or forward illegal motion after the speed motion. If in fact the NFL is going to have a point of emphasis on that, how aware will you have to be?) – “That’s my first time hearing about that, but our head coach, he’ll find a way to make a way around that. He does a great job of creating schemes for us to get open – that’s why he’s one of the best offensive minded coaches in the game, because he does a great job of creating these motions. He allows us to tweak it a little bit, but he puts his own little spin on it. I feel like we ain’t going to have a problem with that.”
(Without telling us, last year that was the big adjustment. Do you have something else coming down the line this year that is just going to wow defenses and totally reset?) – ‘You know what man? Every day I got to be prepared man, because there’s like all kinds of motions in this offense, dawg. The wording of it is crazy, so I’m not going to even say that – it’s crazy. But I feel like we’ve got some plays that’s going to wow teams, because teams are already looking for certain motions whenever I line up a certain way or (Jaylen) Waddle lines up a certain way. So we do have a few packages or few motions that’s going to be like, ‘Oh, where did that come from?’ That’s going to kind of like surprise the defense out of nowhere, so it’s going to be fun this year man.”
(How eager are you to get WR Odell Beckham Jr. into practicing with the wide receiver corps and what can it look like once he is?) – “I’m ready man. Our receiver room is real close and I’m looking forward to that. He’s been saying that the first day he comes out, he’s going to moss (Jalen) Ramsey with one hand, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m going to hold him up to that too. The first day he comes out here in one-on-ones, I’m going to say, ‘You got to do it, bro. You got to do it.’ So I’m looking forward to it man. Odell (Beckham Jr.) obviously, he’s one of those guys who can make plays everywhere on the field. Just having his energy, his presence on the field with me and (Jaylen) Waddle, it’s going to be fun man, and I know Tua (Tagovailoa) is going to do a great job finding him.”
(Right before practice, it looked like Head Coach Mike McDaniel went over to the wideouts and said to talk smack during practice. Is that what happened, and how much smack talk did you guys do?) – “We’ve been on that energy since we woke up this morning. So when we had meetings this morning, we woke up with the mindset of we’re going to win the orange jersey today. I know he’s going to give it to somebody else because he likes to show favorites. (laughter) That’s what Coach do – like we work up with that energy today. When (Jalen) Ramsey said what he said about the offense, how they whooped our (expletive). Offense, we came with a different mindset today like, ‘Hold on, bruh. Y’all must’ve forgot we’re No. 1 for a reason, dawg. We do this for a reason.’ You feel me? We got teams backing up for a reason, like this what we do. So we had to go ahead and show them who we was today and remind them, ‘Hey, y’all still little bro today.”
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(How do you see this early guard competition playing out? Guys mix-and-matching, and you can’t get OL Isaiah Wynn yet in there, just what’s your overall impression of how that’s played?) – “You know our philosophy in camp, it’s a process all the way till the end of August. So, so far that’s been a good competition, guys getting through, getting opportunities to play. With pads just coming on, I think that the next couple of weeks will really reveal itself. Also this year with the joint practices, so we’ll have a bunch of stuff and really excited for the next couple weeks.”
(How have you seen OL Liam Eichenberg progress over your time with him?) – “Just the growth and knowledge of what we’re trying to do, his growth in his technique and fundamentals, just every year he gets more confident and comfortable with how he wants to play what he needs to do to be successful. So the next couple of weeks with pads coming on more and having those opportunities, excited to see how he grows. Especially with the flexibility he’s been able to have for us being able to play multiple spots has always been extremely valuable.”
(And OL Robert Jones, same question?) – “Yeah, Rob (Jones) is doing a great job, same thing. Growth in the system really helps understanding, second year (of the) same line coach, getting familiar and they’re all working together. I think he’s done a good job so far in camp and really for the next couple of weeks really excited to see where they’ll go.”
(How have you seen growth from WR Jaylen Waddle year over year? Looks like to us, he’s having a pretty good camp.) – “Yeah, it all starts with really being in tune to yourself and knowing what you’re trying to accomplish, how you want to play. He’s done a great job of knowing how he wants to work his techniques inside the system and just getting better his releases, what he’s trying to do at the top of the route. Overall, you couldn’t ask for how hard him and Tyreek (Hill) work at what they’re doing, and Jaylen (Waddle) really every day he’s here, he’s just trying to get better and he’s so competitive. So I’ve been really pleased with him so far and really excited for the rest of camp to see the growth.”
(Without obviously giving away too much competitively, are there things you trust him to do now that maybe two years ago you were still, ‘Hey, we got to see this, this and this,’ but now, boom – full package Jaylen Waddle?) – “I don’t know if it’s necessarily trust in him doing this, I think it’s more, for him and just for everyone, familiarity with what we’re doing. So it’s like, you can start pushing the envelope for everyone just when you start moving to Year 3 of like, ‘Hey, we can do this.’ Or ‘What if we did this motion or alignment or something like that?’ I don’t think it’s necessarily him in Year 3, I think everyone in Year 3 just gets a little more familiar with what’s going on as opposed to your second year you’re kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.’ Third year you’re like ‘Yep,’ and you can take it to that next level.”
(On the same lines with RB De’Von Achane, he’s in his second season here, how’s he developing compared to this time last year?) – “Your rookie year, you’re trying to take it all in – alignments, formations, everything. You can really see a growth of his understanding of the offense, where he fits in, just overall in the run game, where he’s trying to affect his aiming points, affect the defense, working together with the linemen, how it all fits together and then in the passing game as well. You can tell it’s Year 2 for him. He’s really made substantial growth and I think this camp will really be good these next couple weeks for him to continue to grow upon everything he’s done.”
(Is there anything he’s done, or any running back has done, that might make you change your plan for how you’ll use running backs this year?) – “I don’t think – right now, you can’t really say. It’s easy to go, ‘Hey, today,’ and then what is today to where we try and take in, ‘OK, what’s our objective today?’ It’s to grow, it’s to get better to make sure that we’re improving upon our fundamentals and techniques that are going to play out for the whole season. So it’s not necessarily like you make decisions today for long term as opposed to, ‘OK, how am I going to work the short term for using the guys to give them opportunities to continue building their skills necessary for the long push starting in September?’”
(Following up on that, RB Jaylen Wright has mentioned that he’s watched a lot of RB Raheem Mostert film. How has he picked up the offense through camp?) – “The hardest part – the running game in our system is a process to learn, especially when you’re coming from his offense at Tennessee which was very different. But he works so hard, he is on it. He’s with (Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach) Eric (Studesville) all the time, really trying to understand the nuances to everything – why our tracks and aiming points, how they fit where he’s trying to run and what the line is trying to do, and then add in the pass game element. So he’s done a great job – he is always working; I see him all the time. He was here all summer, every day. He is putting in the effort and the next couple of weeks, especially when you’re a rookie (running) back, they’re vital. All of these days of camp, allowing yourself to really understand, see where you fit in the equation, understand the different blocking schemes we use. So it’s been good so far and really excited for him the next couple of weeks, especially when the preseason games start.”
(How much do you need to see WR Odell Beckham Jr. before you can really gauge what you have in this offense with him?) – “I think it’s a little easier sometimes when you have veterans with that much experience. You can kind of have an understanding through watching the tape of them previously kind of knowing what he brings, where he’s at. Whenever we get him in and can start practicing, really what you do is you build the timing in the offense and the passing game, getting used to how he’s seeing things with the quarterbacks, that connectivity. But no, I think overall we understand what he brings to us and we’re excited whenever we can get him to the field.”
(We saw you up there in the media room for the QB Tua Tagovailoa press conference. How much pride personally did you have in the fact that you got yourself $53 million quarterback and you guys helped make that happen, you helped develop him?) – “The most rewarding thing that we get as coaches in this industry is helping guys achieve their goals – whether it’s on the field or financially and personally. So for him be able to have that, it’s unbelievable, it’s awesome. He deserves it, how hard he works, everything and the investment he’s put into the program. So really excited for now, going to work and getting ready for the long push of the season.”
(In the last week, have you kind of noticed – lightness isn’t the right word – but now that that’s cleared off his mind, is it full bore football with him? Or was that always the case?) – “He’s very much focused on what he’s trying to get better at. He’s able to come in and know ‘I need to use this opportunity to get better at what I need to do.’ He’s been very much staying on the mission and being present towards what needs to be accomplished today. But the big thing with him is now, with all that getting done, we can get to work and the next couple of weeks with him are going to be really fun.”
(Anyone can see WR Tyreek Hill’s speed and the impact he has on this offense. What way would you characterize it all and everything he does with it in every aspect of the Dolphins offense?) – “I think the big thing with him is just his work ethic when he goes and how diligent he is to everything that he does. It’s one thing to be a faster and then also play fast, whether it’s practice and the games Sunday. So having guys like him that have that speed element, it really helps us because it allows us to move guys everywhere to affect defenses, because when you have a guy that plays that way, it forces a reaction on the other side. So whenever he goes, he’s always on it. We’re very lucky and really excited for the rest of these couple of weeks to keep pushing the envelope of what we want to try and do this year.”
(Tackle play, we haven’t asked you about the tackles yet. How else do you see – obviously haven’t seen much of T Terron Armstead yet, but how have you seen that group collectively and T Kion Smith in particular, what have you seen from him?) – “There’s been some really positive stuff we’ve seen through understanding fundamentally what they’re trying to do, especially in the run game and the pass protection. All the guys just being more comfortable in Year 2 of the techniques that (Offensive Line Coach) Butch (Barry) and them are really working on trying to set the pocket and understanding where they’re at relative to our different protection schemes and where the quarterback is at. So overall, I think they’re done a really good job of learning and growing, and now, the biggest thing of o-line play is when you get the pads back on. Because if you’re trying to stop a surface without pads that you can slide and whatever, now you’ve got the pads which gives you something to latch onto. So really now is when offensive line, you get used to the surface you’re going to have to block, and that’s where they can really get into the nitty gritty of things they need to do, because if you’re hitting a surface that’s just your chest as opposed to you have pads and stuff that you can grab, that’s where really now, that’s where we’ll really put the work in, if that makes sense. Just a little different thought process, so that’s why the next couple weeks of the pads are really important for us.”
(T Kion Smith in particular, he’s a guy for us that kind of came out of nowhere, but he was already playing last year.) – “Yeah, you can see it in practice and that’s where he shows an ability with his movement, with his set, just stuff that we’ve really enjoyed watching, because it’s like when you come out of a development circle as an undrafted free agent, sometimes it takes a little bit in the process. So when it clicks, it clicks, and that’s why this year for him is going to be so important. But yes, so far it’s been very encouraging. I think the next couple of weeks will really be overall important for the group.”
(With T Patrick Paul, what do you think is the biggest teaching point he needs to still grasp?) – “I don’t know if it’s necessarily one thing. I think the biggest thing is just in how we operate and why we’re doing what we’re doing, and then take here’s why we’re doing it and now how to do it consistently, because it’s like – we have just more scheme variation than you do in college, so I mean he can pass protect and then the run game, you can see he’s come along. I think the biggest thing for him is just trusting the process, because sometimes you get impatient and you want it to come now and knowing that we have a long time before the end of camp. It’s just making sure each day you stay – you don’t get frustrated as you’re maybe learning something new, OK. When you learn something new, the first time you do it is going to be your worst as you get better. SO I think with him it will just be trusting the process, because from now until the end of August, I think that’s where you’re going to get your biggest growth, especially as a rookie.”
(Would you be OK with WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle returning kickoffs?) – “Above my pay grade. (laughter) But I remember in the divisional when Tyreek (Hill) was catching punts and stuff, watching looking back and going like, ‘Woah,’ I just worry about the offense. (laughter).”
(The running back room overall – more speed than you had last year, certainly guys that you’ve seen more of than last year – just a better feeling about it this year compared to last year? Or is it the same old every year?) – “I think we have a good group of guys who are really excited about it. I think it’s always just – this time of year, I’m always like we’ve got a lot of growth to do, more times in pads, more times where everyone is getting used to things. So that’s why in my situation I’m sitting there going, ‘We’ve got a long way to go before we really know what we’ve got.’ You have encouraging signs of things, but the one thing this year is that we have veterans who understand how to play, what’s necessary, De’Von (Achane) coming into Year 2 and Jaylen (Wright), it’s really encouraging, but the same thing, we’ve got a long way to go before we really can say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to be and how we’re going to be.’ But really encouraging so far.”
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(Can you tell us the changes you expect from the new kickoff rule, how much time that you spend on that and what overall you foresee happening in the games?) – “Have spent a ton of time obviously off the field, more time on the field than I’ve ever allocated to kickoff and kickoff return. Really have no idea, and I don’t know if we’re going to get a real good idea until we get maybe a couple weeks into the season to see what’s happening. I think anybody that says they’ve got a great idea of what it’s going to look like they’re probably lying. If I had a great idea, and I had that information on anything else, I’d be somewhere at the track or somewhere I could place bets.”
(Does that not make it fun for you or a little bit anxious?) – “Super excited, super fun. I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to add a good, crazy, fun element to the game. There’s going to be a lot of things going on. I think there’s going to be a lot of good and there’s going to be a lot of bad for everybody. I think the key to this is going to be as the season progresses, learning, developing, so when it gets to the second half of the season and it gets crunch time, you really know exactly how you want to handle things and how you need to be able to react and adjust to how things are happening.”
(When the rule was first instituted, you probably were sort of guessing what it going to look like, but maybe you had some ideas. What, if anything, has surprised you the most on how it’s actually working out on the field?) – “The biggest thing that you thought is how quickly everything was going to happen. Forever that was a distance, time reduction play is how I always looked at it – you got to cover space before anything really happened and now you have to play. Now, everything happens right now. So the spacing, the five-yard spacing with blockers where it used to be able you could read, what we referred to as indicators and try to have an idea and a concept of what’s happening, that reading part of it is now out of the game. Everything is happening right now; it truly is much more like an offensive and defensive play where you and the competitor are in close proximity and things happen fast.”
(When you say everything is happening right now, I’m sort of wondering does that not lead itself toward speed which you guys have a ton of?) – “Well yes and no. The speed where you are able to really portray that speed, would come into effect when you were able to – we’re at the 35 (-yard line) and those blocks weren’t happening until the other 25 (-yard line) where you could close that distance before people were able to get to their drops and get set. Well now, they don’t have to drop and get set. If they’re worried about a speed player, they don’t have to get any depth to control or combat that speed. They can take it away right now with being more aggressive because of that lack of space. It sort of takes a little bit out of it. I think if you look around the league, after here and going through the preseason, I think you’ll see more size players on kickoff and kickoff return than you’ve seen in the last ten years.”
(Has all of this made you rethink at all WR Braxton Berrios as your primary returner? I know you’re open minded about everything going into a camp, but at this point is WR Braxton Berrios your returner barring some unknown development?) – “I think Braxton is very experienced, he’s got a lot of great production in this league and he’s one of those guys were looking at. How that all plays out, we still haven’t gotten to that. We’ve only had one day in pads so there’s still a lot of guys to evaluate and look at, see what the roster portrayal ends up being and then see what else is going on. You see different guys around the league saying that ‘Hey, maybe I’m going to try this,’ or ‘Coach is talking about trying different guys.’ That stuff we fortunately have a month before we make those decisions.”
(We wanted to get your take on Kyle Ulbrich, the former Middle Tennessee State punter who’s been camping out here everyday with signs looking for a shot. I’m curious, your take on what he’s doing and how much you’re familiar with him?) – “Yeah, not familiar at all. I worry about the guys we have in the building. Whoever (General Manager) Chris (Grier) brings us, we’re going to coach the daylights out of them.”
(You haven’t driven by him with the signs?) – “I get here very, very early in the morning. So unless he’s getting here at three o’clock in the morning, I’m not seeing him.”
(So you’re telling us to get him here–) – “I’m not saying anything. (laughter) I’m coaching the guys that we got.”
(Last time I spoke with him he says he gets here at six. 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, so I guess not early enough, right?) – “Maybe not early enough for me. (laughter)”
(We talk about the importance of continuity on offense and defense all the time, what’s the value of having the same battery of LS Blake Ferguson, P Jake Bailey and K Jason Sanders in the kicking game?) – “I think it’s going to be important, and hopefully it plays and works more to our favor this year. (We’ve been) changing punters every year until this year where we’re going back to it – goes back to my first two years when we had Matt (Haack), so it’s hopefully going to portray. Those guys have a great relationship, they work very well together. Hopefully we see the dividends of that on the field.”
(With the new kickoff rules is it, for you as a coach, is it like a work in progress where, ‘Maybe that’ll work, maybe that won’t work’? Or maybe it’s getting in the fire during preseason to see.) – “It’s all those. We’re trying a lot of things in practice, we’re trying a lot of things in walkthrough with the kickers, with the returners, how we’re handling different balls. On the practice field, trying different stuff, but again, I think it’ll be a couple weeks into the regular season where you really start to iron out exactly what it’s going to be. You don’t really know what teams are going to show in the preseason, so it’s going to be a work in progress. I don’t think it’s going to be like offense, defense where you know exactly, ‘Hey, here’s our concepts. Here’s our schemes. Here’s exactly what we’re doing and we’re going to hang our hat on this.’ We’re still working on where we’re going to hang our hat.”
(Have certain players volunteered, like ‘Hey, I want to get back there,’ at this situation or anything like that?) – “Well a lot of times the guys I get volunteering are the guys we don’t want back there. (laughter) So.”
(Namely?) – “No, I don’t put anybody’s name or business in the street. (laughter)”
