Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Opening Statement) – “I’d like to start today recognizing August 27th and what it means to the Miami Dolphins. It was a year ago today that we lost such a valuable member. I think the people that Jason (Jenkins) touched in this organization, in the community, it’s so visceral and real that I’d be short-changing the reality of a lot of people in this building and a lot of people really across America that lost someone so dear to them. Our prayers are with the family, that they continue to progress while mourning. It’s a day that’s not lost on any one Miami Dolphin or all the other people that he’s touched in the National Football League and across the country.”
(Thanks for that memory of Jason Jenkins. It is a day that we can’t forget. I wanted to ask you naturally about WR Daewood Davis. I know he’s released from the hospital. What more can you tell us about his situation and have you had a chance to talk with him?) – “He just recently got in the building. He’s in the concussion protocol. We’ll continue to evaluate him. He’s doing better than last night in terms of strength and stuff. Like I said last night, there were certain things that we were worried about that were avoided. But we’ll continue monitoring him extensively as he’s in the protocol. I know there’s certainly a lot of guys that are very, very, very happy and relieved to see him.”
(Hoping also for good news on RB Salvon Ahmed and DB Elijah Campbell. Any sense on if Elijah’s leg injury is long-term and is Salvon also in concussion protocol like WR Daewood Davis?) – “So Salvon is not in concussion protocol. He’ll be day-to-day. Elijah, after we had talked at the press conference, there was a little apprehension amongst the medical staff that it could be his ACL. Fortunately, it is not. We’re kind of assessing the extent and all I can really tell you is there’s a season’s chance for him. He avoided one thing, but there was a substantial injury that will take him into the season.”
(How pleased are you to get the extension done with DT Zach Sieler. Can you speak to his importance to the team?) – “I was fired up and so were a lot of his teammates just because Zach epitomizes such an important thing within the journey of the NFL player. You’re talking about a guy that has earned every cent that he’s paid. He’s been cut twice and I think the timing, as far as it relates to the team, couldn’t be better for so many guys in the next 48 hours that aren’t able to make the final 53 (man roster). I think that is something that’s real and can feel in the moment like your dream’s over. I think he’s a great example of worrying about what you can control and we’re happy to get that done as well as the locker room’s happy for him too.”
(Getting DT Zach Sieler’s deal done first, what does that say about where things stand with DT Christian Wilkins?) – “Fortunately, there’s a good amount of players on this team that we want to keep around. They’re really independent of each other. What it boils down to is you have an organization and a player and his representation being able to come to an agreement. With regards to Zach, we were able to come to an agreement. That’s independent of Christian and speaks nothing as to anything but that. It’s just we were able to come to an agreement, both parties, and that’s really the length of it.”
(How’s it going coach?) – “Good. I apologize for my somber speak. These are my least favorite days of the entire calendar year to be honest. I don’t mean not to be excited.”
(I had a question about yesterday’s game with QB Skylar Thompson. Just him showing poise after throwing those two interceptions. What were some things that you discussed with him on the sideline, if any, just for him to get things going and leading to the team’s scores on offense during that game?) – “I think another caveat to that story that made me happy about the way he responded was that the second interception was something that pretty much I don’t put on him at all. There was a protection missed assignment. So in those situations, I’m most worried about a quarterback recognizing people that aren’t accounted for in protection. When they aren’t accounted for, you have to make split-second decisions. And when he let the ball go, he didn’t see that defender. That’s something that if I have a quarterback chasing ghosts on jobs that were expected to be done by other players, then they’re going to be very ineffective. So I was very worried about him naturally (letting that) snowball and affect his play, and what I was able to talk to him about was, ‘Hey, listen’. He immediately came to the sidelines and was like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t see that guy. We busted protection’. I was like, ‘Perfect, okay, so if that’s the case, should that play, that last specific play, factor into anything as far as the next drive, the next play, the next assignment, read, footwork and decision?’ And he said no. So to me, that that shows mental fortitude at a high degree. He went out and responded and made some good plays. We need to minimize turnovers on offense, always with the turnover differential being the number one indicator of wins and losses. But that’s with everyone. And sometimes it’s not as simple as the quarterback threw an interception. The second play, or the second interception for sure, I don’t put on him. And I was glad that he didn’t put it on himself.”
(Now that we’re two weeks away from the start of the regular season, I wanted to follow up on the situation with WR Tyreek Hill. Have you gotten any indication from the league in terms of where they stand with a potential suspension? Whether they close the book on it and no he will not be suspended, or where things stand there?) – “I mean you’re just trying to layer my, whatever day it is today, Sunday. As far as I know, nothing has been brought to my attention. My focus right now is on things that we can control. The things that we can control are very difficult decisions with a roster that has more NFL players than NFL spots.”
(You mentioned this is one of your least favorite days. You also seem to be someone who really values players’ dreams and helping them fulfill their dreams. So over the next 48 hours, how do you get the best 53-man roster, while at the same time as a human, ending so many people’s NFL dreams?) – “I think it goes back to a concrete look at what my job is and who I’m responsible for, which is a lot of people. When push comes to shove, it’s the job of Chris (Grier) and myself, that’s a job at this point in the year that nobody wants, so you have to make the tough decisions. And in that, you find a little solace, but it’s very, very minimal. Because again, you’re right; the journey of an NFL player is not lost on me at all. I don’t take for granted anything that really – you have all the investment in the world from these guys that are doing everything in their power to be a part of the team. When guys are circumstantially falling short, because I mean, there’s a ton of really tough decisions where sometimes your roster makes you let go of a guy that you’d never think you’d let go of, but one position has an abundance of players, there’s another position of need that you have to kind of pull from that. So it’s very convoluted. Thankfully, there’s so many very talented and capable people in this building that Chris and I don’t make that decision alone. Although we have to together make the final decision, the input of Vic Fangio, the input Frank (Smith) and Danny (Crossman) and all the position coaches – we have a very talented coaching staff – and then all of the people that Chris has under his wing. It’s a collection of people. You try to take in all the information, and then you just know that you have to do what’s best for the team and that’s your motivating factor, but there’s going to be residual casualties for me of emotion that is ever present. That’s why, again, it’s the least favorite time of the entire season, the entire year, calendar year. A roster that has a lot of talent makes it that much more difficult.”
(So more so than tax season and say a trip to the dentist, this would be No. 1?) – “Way more so, it’s not even close. It’s in conflict. You’re trying to make people the very best that they can be, and then in turn, you have to tell them, ‘Well, hey, that wasn’t good enough for the 53-man roster.’ Even if they’re very sensible and understanding of the competition, it really hits people in the gut. It’s not easy. But you have to keep in mind that I was hired to be a head coach, and within that isn’t all bells and whistles and skips. These are things that somebody has to (do). There’s what, 90-man roster (down to) 53, that math, even for some of you guys are math deficient, I think you can see how difficult that is. It’s not something I take lightly in the least.”
(A question as it pertains to your backup quarterback situation. What is QB Mike White’s situation regarding the concussion protocol? And have you seen enough to publicly announce your No. 2 quarterback?) – “As far as Mike White is concerned, he cleared concussion protocol on Friday. And with regard to an announcement of the No. 2, I think it’d behoove the players involved to tell them first, and you’ll probably be getting some buzzworthy notification of that in a press conference maybe next Monday.”
(I thought you guys were going to win the challenge. On the initial replays last night, I said, “Oh, that’s obvious.” And then the more replays I saw, I said, “Oh, maybe it’s not quite so obvious.” Has anything changed about the replay advice, protocols that you guys have in place for this year? Fewer voices, more voices, anything like that?) – “No, ultimately that decision always is mine. But in terms of the streamline of the information given to me, we have adjusted how we do things on a game day, being able to streamline the voices and having very valuable people in the box, making sure that their voices are heard, but then delegating one person to make sure that their eyes are on television copies and all the replay access that we have at all times. Someone outside the coaching staff, that their sole purpose is to give me aid in that so guys know speak through them to me.”
(RB Jeff Wilson Jr. and OL Liam Eichenberg, are they both probably in good position to be healthy for the season?) – “Both guys are some of my favorite battlers of my career. Liam for instance, has definitely shown his teammates how far he was willing to go last week in practice and was dressed for the game in case of emergency. However, in a competition of a lot of able bodies, I didn’t think it was fair to him to be three-fourths competing and the one-fourth just trying to make it to the next play. He’s getting better. It was an extremely painful thing that he’s gone through. And very similar to Jeff Wilson. Both of those guys would have gone last night if it would have been up to them. However, the injury with Jeff as well, he’s going through some very painful midsection things on top of a finger he was dealing with. All of the things were compounding, and I didn’t think either one of them, it would be a fair representation of them to play in that game. So they’re progressing as they know they need to.”
(With training camp and the preseason kind of coming to an end, I know one thing that was really big for you and the offense was building off of what you did last year. In the preseason games specifically, we’ve seen a lot of screen passes. I was curious how that kind of complements and can complement what you all did so well in Year 1?) – “I think you’re always trying to find ways to – it comes down to the base principle of taking advantage of overplay. There’s different mechanisms in Year 2 that you’re able to kind of get to the nitty, gritty details of how to execute the plays. You’re very correct in that, that did fall in the offseason assessment of things that we could improve upon. That’s taking advantage of the space created when you are able to engender some explosive plays. Whether those show face in the regular season, I think the more things that defenses have to think about, the more advantageous it is for the offense.”
