QB Tua Tagovailoa
(How much of the accuracy we’ve seen on the deep ball and other throws has been physical changes? Are you that much farther removed from the hip surgery? Is there something physical that you feel is helping?) – “I guess to that – I’ve been playing football since I was little. I’ve been playing the quarterback position for as long as I can remember. Really, it’s just coming out and working on your timing with the guys, seeing the speed of players. Not everyone is really fast. And I guess just everyone coming out to practice and being able to work on it. That’s what helped.”
(Where do you fee like you are right now in terms of the comfort level of this offense and understanding of it?) – “I would say I’m very comfortable. I think the biggest thing with my position is you can never get overly confident with the position that we’re in. You’ve got to stay even-keel with the ups and the downs. For me it’s just continuing to learn the offense, continuing to learn my guys up front, the receivers; and really just working towards what we want as a team.”
(How much do you feel your work with guys like WR Albert Wilson, WR Jakeem Grant and WR DeVante Parker, all outside of practice, has helped you from a chemistry standpoint?) – “I think being able to get with the guys throughout the offseason has helped tremendously with the timing. But I think until you’re able to put the pads on, come out and really work against an opposing team or guys on the opposite side of you, that’s when I think those things come up and show.”
(Has the previous chemistry you’ve established WR Jaylen Waddle helped in this camp? Are there things you just know he’s going to do in anticipating throws from the time at Alabama?) – “It’s not necessarily me knowing all the time where he’s going to be, but us really talking through it in the film room and then kind of getting an understanding when we’re coming out here of what we’ve seen previously from the defense and what they’ve shown. We work off of that.”
(Yesterday, LB Jerome Baker talked about how you come into the linebacker’s room and ask them questions and you’re super curious in asking different position groups questions. What can you gain from talking to the defensive guys at this point?) – “For me, it’s being able to see their alignment and their positioning. Why do they align this way? For me, it gives me an edge to know where to go with the ball a lot quicker and it speeds up my process. I think it’s always good to nitpick the other side. We have a veteran like ‘JMac’ (Jason McCouty), so being able to ask ‘JMac’ some questions. And also seeing how they disguise things.”
(Beyond just comfort level, what would you point to as the area that you feel there has been the most improvement for you?) – “I think every day I’m trying to get better. I’m not looking at the things that I do right; but most of the things I don’t do right. It’ll keep coming back to me just continuing to get better and continue to work day by day.”
(We’ve seen the deep ball out here a lot. I know you talked about it a little bit; but does it feel like a different ball that you’re throwing than last year? Or are we just seeing it more? How can you gauge where you are with that?) – “I mean, if the guy is open, I’m going to throw it to him. That’s what I can say to that. I would say it’s very much no different than my time I had at Alabama throwing deep balls.”
(What’s it like for you to have a veteran receiver like WR Albert Wilson back in the lineup after he opted out last season?) – “It’s good, being able to see what Albert is able to do. The coaching points he gives to the receivers when we have our group meetings, I think it’s really good to have someone like him, his work ethic, his mindset, to help not just the receivers; but to also help us in the quarterback room.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said today about throwing guys open … that some guys might be hesitant; but to throw a guy open, what is the difference between throwing a guy open and knowing where it’s supposed to go?) – “I personally think those two kind of fall hand in hand. You know where the guy is supposed to be, he has a guy right on him; but you throw it to the spot and he has an inch of separation from the guy and he makes that catch. I think that’s what it means.”
(The confidence in the group that you have, to be able to do that. You’re obviously getting more chemistry together.) – “I think all of us in the quarterback room have a lot of confidence with the guys we have right now.”
(This is a rough deal; but with the Olympics going on, there has been a lot of attention on the pressure that athletes have on them, especially when they are on a major stage. You’ve been in that position at Alabama and now here as a first-round pick. Is that something you can identify with and how do you deal with that pressure?) – “Luckily for me, I’m not on social media too much. I don’t see as much of what the talk is going around. For me, it always comes down to my family, being able to spend time with my family, spend time with my dogs – Dallas, Star, Gotti, if you guys see this, daddy loves you guys. (laughter)”
(What has it been like to have WR DeVante Parker out here today? Even though you haven’t had the chance to work with WR Will Fuller, have you been able to build a chemistry with him off the practice field?) – “Yeah, I’ve been able to find a chemistry with the guys. I think it’ll just continually have to be reps with a lot of the guys. But in the film room, we’re all sitting down, we’re all seeing the same thing and we’re all talking about the same thing. That’s what a veteran sounds like. (laughter)”
(How much did you and WR Will Fuller work together on the field? In June obviously with the mandatory minicamp but were there any other days that you’ve thrown to him beside the mandatory minicamp?) – “Yeah, there has been a couple of days in the offseason and throughout the month of July where I’ve been able to get with Will a couple of times and throw with him.”
(The times you were holding onto the ball for a couple of reads, was there something you need to see better or do you just chop it up to the coverage? – ‘Well, I’m not as tall, so I’ve got to get back and try to maneuver my way to see where the guys are going to be. But for me, it’s really spots on the field.”
DT Christian Wilkins
(I wanted to ask you about the run defense. Obviously you guys, before you went down with COVID, last year struggled a little bit earlier in the season and then it tightened up. What was it that you guys were doing or achieving that made you have more success in the second half?) – “A few things. I think just guys learning to work together, confidence, mindset and just getting better. You get better with reps and as time goes on. So the more reps we get together as a unit and just as a defense, you’re able to do a little bit more things. Definitely we’ve just got a good group of guys on the d-line and on the defense, period, who lock in and try to get better every day. That’s why I feel good about this group, that we’ve got a group that works hard; so it’ll be exciting to see what we can do as we build this season.”
(I’m not sure how much you’ve gone against him in practice, but I’m curious as to what kind of progress you’ve seen from G Durval Queiroz Neto?) – “That’s my man. I love ‘Q’ (Durval Queiroz Neto). Just love his spirit. Just love how he comes every day. He just likes to get better, loves football, likes to get better, likes to work hard. It’s good seeing some good things out of ‘Q.’ He’s a fun guy to have on the team. We crossed paths well before I knew I was going to be a Dolphin. I like ‘Q’ a lot. He’s a good guy. Like I said, he just works hard and really just loves football and he’s a good guy to be around.”
(So you crossed paths with G Durval Queiroz Neto before you got to the Dolphins?) – “Yeah.”
(Circumstances?) – “He was a Clemson fan and he liked our d-line.”
(Last week I asked DT Raekwon Davis obviously knowing both Marion Hobby and Defensive Line Coach Austin Clark. Both good coaches. I asked him sort of what the difference has been in the approach. He said Coach Clark is very demanding. You can’t screw up. You can’t have a mistake. He’s actually a little afraid at times of Coach Clark, is what Raekwon said. So I was going to ask you is there anything in particular that Clark has honed in on with you where he said “I want you better in this specific area” and are you able to share what that is?) – “I’m not going to exactly share what it is, but (Austin) Clark is definitely one hell of a coach. I feel good having him work with me every day. He’s a great coach. Like you stated, very demanding and just really cares about his players and wants us all to be great. He doesn’t want us to be good; he wants us to be great. And good isn’t good enough. So he is definitely very demanding and got a lot of respect for him to be such a young coach, too.”
(What’s it been like on the field, especially since pads came on yesterday?) – “Hot. Hot. Hot as hell. Hotter. (laughter) No, it’s been good. It’s been good to finally get the things on and get a little more physical in there and really see more so what guys can do. Some guys show up a little bit more in pads once you can finally get a little more physical and things like that; but it’s good. I like what we’re seeing out of the guys in the first couple days and it’s just been fun competing.”
(On that topic of the running game, I know you guys obviously work a lot – the defensive line with the linebackers in terms of stopping the run – but what – communication is a big part of this club as well. How much do you communicate with the linebackers in terms of pre-snap and just kind of getting things aligned? Is there a lot of communication between those two position groups?) – “Yeah, definitely. We work together and we’ve got to work in cohesion. If I do my job right, the ‘backers make plays. If they’re doing their job, I’m going to make a play. So it’s definitely a team effort. We’ve all got to work together and be coordinated and definitely when we break down film or watch film together; it’s like, oh, you really get to see the big picture. Sometimes when you’re just out there practicing, you don’t necessarily see it; but then it’s nice when you go back and watch the tape and you’re like, ‘Oh, I took this double team so now this ‘backer can run free and make this play. And if he shoots the gap, then I’m free.’ Or whatever it is. It’s definitely good to see that and we’ve got to be on-point together.”
(Is there a communication in a game or in practice where you’re doing one thing and he says, “I need you over here” or vice versa? Is there some of that communication?) – “It’s constant communication pre-snap, in the huddle before the snap or if we get this look again; let’s do this. Or whatever it is. It’s constant communication.”
(Obviously you, DT Raekwon Davis, DT Zach Sieler, DT Adam Butler are going to play a lot. Does it matter to you if you’re on the field the first snap of practice? Some days you have been with first team. Some days you haven’t. And in games. Is that important if you’re on for the very first snap?) – “The biggest thing for me is to just make the most of my snaps and for all of us; we’ve got a really good group of guys who care about each other and want us all to succeed and want us all to be great and do better. We’re not focused on counting the snaps; we’re focused on making the snaps count and just being there for each other, supporting each other. ‘Hey, good job’ or ‘I’ve seen this, I’ve seen that.’ And that’s what I really like about our d-line group. We’ve got a really good group, a lot of guys who’ve played a good bit of ball, who know a lot of different things and we try to help each other a lot as much as we can. We’re a fun group to be around, that’s for sure. I really like what we’re building in there.”
(What’s the next level for you this year?) – “I just really want to keep improving. Mindset, every day just working on the little things that I need to work within my game or within myself to get better. I just love this game so I just love to compete, work hard and just love that football is the ultimate team sport. So I try to be a leader, try to be a good teammate. All those things are important to me.”
(Finish this sentence. “A defense that does not stop the run…”?) – “That’s not how I would have worded the sentence. (laughter) No, like, you’ve got to stop the run. It’s tough to compete; it’s tough to be a good defense or the defense you want to be or to be great if you can’t stop the run. So we’ve got to be able to do that first and then if we take care of that, that takes care of a lot. You can either run the ball or pass the ball, so if you stop the run, you know they’re going to have to pass and things like that. That takes away half of their options, so you definitely have to just make plays in the run game and do all you can to stop it.”
DB Jason McCourty
(I know you’re willing to play anywhere, but was it fun to be back at corner? Obviously that’s where you spent most of your NFL career?) – “Yeah, I’m taking it all in stride. Corner is a lot more stress, I’d say that, of having to cover some of these young guys play in and play out. But I said when I first got here, whatever position they want me to play I’m going to go out there and I’m going to execute it to the best of my ability. Today it was corner. Getting a chance to get out there and still try to be a key piece of communication, whether it’s from the middle of the field or from one side of the field, I’m just trying to continue to grow with this defense and whatever spot the coaches feel is going to help us be a better defense, I’m willing to go out there and compete at it.”
(What have you seen the strides S Jevon Holland has made? Obviously as you moved to corner he moved to first-team safety.) – “Yeah, for sure. A ton of strides. I think my interactions with him early on when we first got here, you can see the intelligence. I think that’s the toughest thing, especially a rookie, of being able to learn the defense. Because as a safety, you’re the key communicator. You’re the guy who has to get checks out, who have to tell guys what to do. So you have to be able to master the defense. Early on when I first jumped on the Zoom calls, you saw that from him. Whenever a question came his way, he knew the answer. He knew what to anticipate and you can see it out here on the field. As we go on, he’s making more and more plays. He’s a hell of an athlete and he’s a fun guy to be around. I call him Canada. That’s where he was born, so we refer to him as old Canada. He’s making a tone of strides and it’s fun to watch him and a lot of the younger guys out here.”
(On differences between playing against tight ends and wide receivers) – “A lot of it is body position. The smaller guys, you’re just the same size and you can body them up. The tight ends you kind of have to get at it away and use your speed to your advantage. It’s a little bit of a technique thing, but I’m figuring it out as we go.”
Head Coach Brian Flores
(This is probably more of a question to ask you like at a breakfast at the owner’s meetings when we’re relaxed but since there were no owner’s meetings and no breakfast, I just wanted to ask you just going back, what the thinking was in making changes in the linebacker room. Obviously you made significant changes. What did you hope to accomplish in terms of skills you wanted to add? Are you happy with the group now that you have after obviously adding a handful of players at linebacker?) – “I’ll take you to breakfast. That’s not an issue. We can go to breakfast. (laughter) Yeah, we made a couple of additions to the linebacker room – Duke Riley, (Benardrick) McKinney – and yeah, we like the group. They work hard, they’re tough, they’re smart, they’re competitive, it’s important to them. It’s early so over the first few days of training camp – and I shouldn’t say that. Going back to the spring and OTAs, it’s a group that works well together, or they’re trying to work well together. They’ve all got a different skillset that we can potentially use, whether it’s pass game, pass rush, run defense, kicking game. Again, (it’s) a very competitive room. The new guys plus ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker), plus (Elandon) Roberts, plus (Calvin) Munson, plus (Sam) Eguavoen – I think it’s a competitive group. If we continue to just build and take it one day at a time and try to improve every day, we’ll hopefully have a solid group.”
(WR Jakeem Grant was able to attain All-Pro status for his performance as a kick returner and punt returner. How do you value and balance a player’s ability in that area, even if he’s not necessarily say a starter at the receiver position?) – “I think there’s a lot of value in having an explosive returner who can flip the field and flip field position and score. I think there’s a lot of value – I think we all see the value in that. Jakeem, obviously is very explosive. He’s obviously productive, not only as a returner but as a receiver as well. We’re happy to have him. We’ll keep working. Obviously there’s a lot of competition in that room. Again, last year was last year. I think we’ve said that multiple times and I think while we use that as a barometer for what we know he can do, every day we’ve got to prove it. That’s kind of what we tell the players; and they know that. They understand that. We’ve got to prove it every day in meetings and walkthrough and practice. And if you put all of those things together, we feel like you’ll have success in games. But right now, we’re just focused on today.”
(What level of growth have you seen from QB Tua Tagovailoa as far as the deep ball? We’ve seen it from our eyes but from your eyes, what have you seen?) – “I think it’s something he’s placed an emphasis on, and we’ve placed an emphasis on. Not pushing the ball downfield but taking advantage of those opportunities if they’re there. Like always, we want to have good fundamentals, good techniques, good mechanics, go through his progression, and if it’s there and it’s open, we can throw them open and take a shot. We’re not going to make them if we don’t throw them. I think he’s taking more shots downfield and I think hopefully he’s gaining more confidence that he can make some of those throws. But at the same time, not every throw is going to be a 50-yarder or a 60-yarder. You’ve got to make good decisions. You’ve got to check it down when you need to check it down. We’ve got to throw the intermediate route when we need to throw the intermediate route. We’ve got to throw it away and take an incompletion when we need to do that. He just needs reps. We’ll just try to give him as many reps as possible. That’s the same with all of the quarterbacks – Jacoby (Brissett), Reid (Sinnett) and really all players at all positions. But specific to Tua and the downfield throws, that would be my take on it.”
(What have you seen out of DT Zach Sieler? We see him working a little bit with the ones. And did DT Christian Wilkins come out with a little more juice last practice after he had some reps with the twos?) – “Wilkins always has juice. Sometimes too much juice. He messes with me a little bit. (laughter) No, we like Christian’s energy. His energy, his juice, his theatrics – I think he adds a lot to the team from that standpoint. The ones, twos – there’s no ones, there’s no twos in my mind. Everyone is out competing. Sieler has done a good job. He’s working. He’s had some production in practices. We’ll just continue to roll guys and work guys against different players. Both guys are working hard and I’m pleased with where both guys are.”
(The other day you used the phrase “moving in the right direction” regarding CB Xavien Howard. Where do things stand today?) – “Moving in the right direction. (laughter)”
(This time of year and when training camp rolls along, maybe guys have seen some of the same drills over and over, the same route concepts or whatever it might be. How do you evaluate the process of those practice reps if guys might be – not cheating the drill but maybe they know what’s happening or what’s going on. Is there an evaluation difference with that?) – “Yeah, guys cheat the drill. That happens. But I think we just need to keep the drills moving and there’s always an element to a drill you can do to force a guy not to. Normally he goes in and we go out. If he goes out, we go deep. There is an element of that. I think it’s up to us as a staff to try to eliminate that as much as possible, but I think we just need to continue to work the techniques, work the fundamentals; and I think whether they cheat the drill or not cheat the drill, we’re evaluating the fundamentals and techniques now. They may look a little cleaner because they’re anticipating it and not truly reacting. That’s part of the evaluation also. Is that a true rep? Are we counting that one? The player may think so but we may not be counting that one.”
(Yesterday was your first day in pads, I wanted to get your evaluation of the good that you saw and also the things that concern you that you need to see get better?) – “Day one in pads is every year kind of the same conversation – pad level, technique, fundamentals, footwork, hand placement. It’s the first time you’ve done it in a long time. Everyone is a little bit rusty. That’s what we’re talking about – footwork, hand placement, pad level. That can always be better. We can always play lower. We talk a lot about leverage and how you win against an opponent. We make those corrections and we come back out here today and get a little bit better. Come back out on, (the next practice day) is a Friday, and a little bit better and try to make those improvements on a day-to-day basis. Then we get into preseason games and do it for real.”
(How much of a priority was improving the run game and then improving the run defense this offseason when you talk about how you were going to build the 2021 team?) – “I think you always want to improve on a lot of areas. Obviously, in every area. But yeah, run defense is important. I think that’s always kind of a standard, ‘hey, we want to be good against the run, force them to be one-dimensional and play defense that way.’ I think every defense – high school, college, pros is saying the same thing from that standpoint. So yeah, there’s importance placed there. We’re working on that. We worked on that yesterday. Conversely, it’s important that we run the ball so we are going to spend time on that offensively (and the) run defense, defensively. Hopefully, like everything else, we’ll just try to get a little bit better every day.”
(Rushing the passer obviously in this heat can be exhausting. Are you comfortable now after adding DL Adam Butler – obviously to mix with DT Christian Wilkins, DT Raekown Davis and DT Zach Sieler – are you comfortable with the number of defensive linemen that you have that you can alternate in in this heat to rush the passer? And what did you like specifically about Butler? You knew him obviously well, which made you want to sign him.) – “I think our guys are in good shape. You’re right, it’s hot. Our ability to roll guys in and out of the game is important. I feel good about that group. Adam, specifically, he’s tough, he’s smart, he loves to play, he’s competitive and he’s team-first. I think he fits in well with the group. He’s a good communicator. Again, it’s early so we haven’t said, ‘you’re doing this, you’re doing that.’ We’re still in the evaluation process. I think all those guys in that group are really working. They’re in there early watching film and trying to get better and just trying to string good days together.”
(We saw LB Andrew Van Ginkel leave practice early yesterday. What can you tell us about his status?) – “He’ll be out today. He’s day-to-day. He’s already in the training room rehabbing. He’s just going to take it one day at a time and get back as quickly as he can.”
(Sometimes things can get testy at training camp or joint practices. I guess there was like a little scuffle out at Giants camp. In your whole career, is there sort of a memorable training camp or joint practice scuffle or something that you actually keep in mind now that you’re a head football coach?) – “I mean you put pads on, things get chippy. It’s a chippy game. It happens. It’s also a game where you have to keep your poise. That’s what I talk to the players about and it’s something that we talk about as a staff. We talk to the players about – we know it’s going to get; somebody is going to be on the ground, somebody is going to do too much. We had a little bit of it yesterday. Your natural reaction is to react and fight back. As we know, it’s normally the second guy who gets the penalty and in those instances, we have to keep our poise and we have to practice that. Inevitably, there’s going to be some kind of fight on the field and we just have to learn from it and get better. We try to use it as a learning experience when it happens because when it happens in a game, it could be costly. We just try to use it as a learning tool.”
(Yesterday T Austin Jackson talked about the importance of the bone marrow transplant, what it did for his sister. He also mentioned specifically to use that platform as an NFL player. How important is it, do you feel, that players can use their status or platform to help other people, whatever it may be?) – “I think it’s very important. I think these guys have worked extremely hard to get to this point. When you’re talking about something like what he did for his sister or a charitable organization that’s important to them, I think they should use their platform to – acknowledge probably isn’t the right word and showcase probably isn’t the right word either. I can’t think of the right word but I think they should use their platform to speak out about the things that are important to them. Kudos to Austin for doing that.
(Is it because they are so recognizable that they have that voice and they can inspire people?) – “Yeah, they’re NFL players. He’s got a platform to speak to you guys and reach all the Miami Dolphins fans and football fans who watch. I think it’s great that he’s doing that and he has my full support to do it.”
(We are 10 days out now from the first preseason game. At what point do you start to switch from a training camp mindset to preparing for a game week mindset?) – “It’s a little different this year because we are going to practice against Chicago. In a normal year, probably three days before. I like training camp practices. Those games are about fundamentals and techniques. We’re not trying to out-scheme anybody. We’re just trying to really evaluate the players, I would say at least the first preseason game, and get your first taste of blocking, tackling – a live taste of it, I would say. This year against Chicago, we are going to practice against them so it’s a little bit different. We are going to see them and then play against them, so it’s a little bit different.”
