Monday, August 31, 2020
TE Mike Gesicki
(I was wondering – you and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick became tight last year. I was wondering how you reacted when you heard the news and what support you provided him?) – “Yeah, obviously it’s a really tough time for him and his family. I really felt for him and his family, and his kids. I’ve met all of them before; but knowing him, a big family guy, he’s handled it really well. He’s been there for his kids, for his wife, for his dad and his brothers and all of that. Obviously, (I send) all of my condolences and wish the best for him and his family moving forward.”
(I wanted to have an unrelated question about the tight end room. Last year it was basically you and TE Durham Smythe. You’ve got TE Adam Shaheen in there now. Do you think that might affect the rotation and could you perhaps see your snaps go down this year because of the added depth?) – “I think there is a ton of competition in our room, so I think that’s going to bring out the best in everybody. Getting Adam in there and Chris (Myarick) has done a great job this camp as well. Chandler (Cox) is in our room too, and he’s done a very good job. Then you have Nate (Wieting), who we signed at the beginning of training camp. A ton of talent, everybody is making plays whether it’s the run game, pass game, or pass pro. For me, I love it. I think it’s exciting and I think it’s something we can continue to build on.”
(One of the big challenges obviously for defensive players around the league is finding players capable of covering skilled pass-catching tight ends like yourself, whether it be a linebacker or a safety. What do you think could make S Eric Rowe effective in that role? We saw him obviously handle it late last season. Who besides Eric has been on you this camp in coverage?) – “Eric has done a great job this entire training camp. He’s done a good job playing physical, using his hands. I think that’s helped me as well moving forward, just being aware of different moves at the line of scrimmage that I have to be aware of, being ready to use my hands, getting off press coverage. I think that entire room, the safeties have done a good job on the tight ends. That’s been a competition that has been day in and day out. Sometimes they get the best of us and sometimes we get the best of them. It’s been fun.”
(TE Durham Smythe said that you guys got together this offseason to work on things to strengthen each other’s weaknesses. What was that experience like and what do you feel like you learned from him technique wise?) – “I always joke around with Durham. I’ll call him an extended tackle and all of that kind of stuff. I’ll joke around with him; but honestly he’s done a really good job this training camp of making a ton of plays in the pass game. Then obviously the other way around. He’ll joke around with me, telling me I should be in the receiver room and all of that kind of stuff. Me and Durham are best friends. We have a really good relationship. We’ll joke around with each other. I’ve kind of watched him and his footwork when it comes to run blocking, and his technique and his hands. I’m still trying to put it together in that aspect. He’ll talk to me just about routes and releases, some things that I kind of got better with last year when (Tight Ends Coach) George (Godsey) came in and helped me out with that. I think we’re just kind of building off of each other and like I said, there is a lot of talent in our tight ends room that we’re going to continue to try to build around.”
(Often times you’ll hear people talk about the challenges of a tight end coming into the league the first couple of years because you have to worry about run blocking, pass protection, running routes, you have to know all of the assignments on the offense. How do you feel you are doing in that area now coming into Year 3? Do you feel like there’s another level of comfort you’ve kind of stepped into this year?) – “Yeah, I feel good. I’m excited to just continue to develop, to continue to get better and more comfortable day in and day out. It also is good playing with the same receivers outside, the same quarterback back there, all of that kind of stuff. I think from that aspect, it’s been good as well – just that chemistry and that continuity. I think sometimes when I’m running a route, ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) kind of knows where I’m going to be, or I know what he’s thinking pre-snap. Just that chemistry, just that comfort level, I think it’s going to continue to grow.”
(This came so fast. I was surprised that I had to flip the calendar to September tomorrow, and that the first game is only 13 days away. How do you feel hearing that – that the first game is only 13 days away? How much time is left and what do you guys still need to get down before then?) – “It’s obviously exciting, just to know that it’s that close. At the same time, if you guys know ‘Coach Flo’ (Brian Flores), he isn’t letting us look too far ahead. (We) just kind of focus on the task at hand, focus on the day’s practice. We’ll come in here, watch the film, get better and improve. Right now, we’ll just continue to focus on the Miami Dolphins and helping each and every one of us get better day in and day out until we put our mind and game plan together and all of that kind of stuff into that next phase. Like you said, it is very exciting.”
(QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been in the league for close to two decades. He’s seen a lot. Has there been anything different you’ve seen about him this year than maybe last year?) – “I feel like at this point, you kind of know exactly what you’re going to get. Like you said, he’s seen it all. He knows what’s going to happen before it happens. Today we ran a play in practice and I came in motion across him, and I just asked him, ‘hey man, what do you think the coverage?’ He just told me what the coverage is right away and I knew exactly how to run my route and caught the ball down the field. Just those kind of little bits and pieces of playing with him and being able to pick his brain, whether it’s in the meeting room or whether it’s three seconds before the ball is about to get snapped. It’s just going to help you continue to grow and develop, help you make plays and I think you’ve seen that time and time again with ‘Fitz’ out there.”Clayton Fejedelem – August 31, 2020 Download PDF version
Saturday, August 31, 2020
S Clayton Fejedelem
(We know the special teams value you’ve accomplished throughout the first few years of your career with the Bengals. Has it been important to you to get defensive snaps over the course of your career? Is that something that’s important to you now and do you feel you’ve made a case for that to Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and to Head Coach Brian Flores over the last few weeks?) – “Yeah, any way I can help out the team – if it’s on special teams, defense – wherever I can help get us in a position to win games, that’s where I want to be. So if I can help this team on defense and (special) teams – wherever I can fit in – is what I’m trying to do. Defensively, yeah, that’s a huge part of the game, so it’s important to me.”
(I think you had an interception in the last scrimmage, if I have that right. Can you tell me what you remember about the situation and the play?) – “Yeah, you’re right. I did have an interception in the scrimmage. I was post high safety there. I was just able to get a good read off of the quarterback, go up in the air, high-point the ball and defensively our job is to get the ball back for our offense or score in our case; so that was a big play. It got us off the field and kept us moving defensively.”
(There’s so many ways to earn a role on this defense considering how many different schemes that they have. What in your opinion is the best way to sort of get noticed by this coaching staff?) – “Just to win your matchups. Like you said, there’s a lot of ways to fit in because it’s a very – it’s a match defense – so it’s just to go out there and win your one-on-ones, do your part and that’s what’s huge – you have to understand the entire scheme and work to your help, use your leverage and be accountable.”
(In a spelling bee, what would be correctly answered more: “Fejedelem” or “Igbinoghene?”) – “(laughter) I would say ‘Fejedelem.’ Once you realize there’s just an ‘e’ between every letter there, you’re pretty good. You’re set to go.”
(You and C Ted Karras are both Illinois guys right?) – “Yes. We went to school together.”
(So did you play together? What was he like back then? Did you know him then?) – “Oh yeah, he’s the same guy. He’s football through and through. He’s got a deep bloodline of football over there in the Karras family. He’s been a great guy since the moment I transferred to Illinois and our relationship just going through to where we’re at today. Just a great friend of mine. Great teammate.”
(Obviously a lot about this offseason has been different given the pandemic. I guess what stands out to you as the most unusual or different thing about preparing for a season this offseason?) – “You really just have to be a pro. When I say that, I mean it’s not like anyone is breathing down your neck in the offseason. You have to take care of your business. You have to get yourself in a routine. You have to make sure that you’re doing the proper workouts, working on yourself, which doesn’t sound like a big deal because everyone’s – but days get, they add up. You’re down here in the South Florida heat, and you really have to take yourself, take care of your nutrition and be on top of it yourself, which when you’re at the facility you have a lot of those moving pieces taken care of for you. So this year, it was a little different and you’re responsible for everything – your training, your nutrition – the whole nine yards. So take care of your own business and staying on top of it was probably the most difficult from just a league-wide instance and we’ll see coming here Week 1 who stayed on top of it.”
(I’m wondering if you could take us through the process of you joining the Miami Dolphins and why you’re in Miami.) – “I’m here because I really feel everything that Miami is doing. I had the option to come down here and I just loved what ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and what they’re building down here. It’s also not too bad to move down to the South Florida area.”
(Can you go through the concept of making sure a strong safety hits his run fits? What is the biggest challenge there?) – “What do you mean as far as run fits?”
(Run fits. Your responsibility hitting the gaps as a safety – assignment football?) – “As a safety, you know if the d-line, if they miss a tackle, the linebackers can clean that up. If the linebackers miss something, the safeties can clean it up. Safeties, we have to be gap-sound and we need great angles and you need to be able to get someone on the ground. If we miss a tackle or we don’t make that play or we don’t fit that gap correctly, it’s not a first-down change; it’s a scoreboard change. So it’s Judgement Day 365 when you’re in the back end and you have to be on top of your assignments.”
(I wanted to go back to something you said earlier about kind of the self-accountability you had to have this offseason. We’ve heard Head Coach Brian Flores talk all the time about he wants guys that love football, guys that it’s important to them. I wanted to kind of just get your take on how you’ve noticed that atmosphere around here at the Dolphins facility and just is it kind of prevalent across the football team?) – “It really is. The guys here are here for a reason. We have a very young staff. It’s not only that football is a job. Football is a lot of our lives – our passions – and if you’re not accountable and if you’re not willing to do whatever it takes here, this isn’t the building for you because right here we’re building towards something special.”
(Before you signed here, did either Head Coach Brian Flores or Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer or General Manager Chris Grier or Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman reach out to you? What did they tell you if they did, and was the idea of needing a skilled special teams player part of that discussion if they did reach out to you?) – “With all the COVID going on, it was definitely – it was my first free agency – and it was a different one at that with travel restrictions, all those kind of things. So there wasn’t a lot of communication, but the system that Danny Crossman runs here is similar to what I ran the last four years and it was a good transition.”
(I got this story from the Chicago Tribune that they wrote when you were at Illinois. It was kind of interesting. It said you were a 103 pounds as a high school freshman and that you went to NAIA St. Xavier in Chicago. Honestly, I’m not familiar with that school. How would you describe your journey and how likely it would be that you wound up here in the NFL?) – “If you’re just looking at it from a numbers standpoint, it’s not very likely that anyone winds up in the NFL; but yeah, when I actually entered high school I was smaller than that. I was in the upper 90s going in, but by the time that second semester came around for wrestling, I was 5’2, 103 pounds. So it was a little bit of a transition. I hit all my growth spurt there late end – the late end of my junior, really sophomore/junior year was when I hit my major growth spurt. But that was a factor in why I didn’t get many looks going into D-I college. I started at NAIA. We won a national championship there at St. Xavier, which is in Chicago and then if I wanted to play on Sundays, I knew that I had to get to the bigger screen. I played in the Big Ten. It was a great transition and I was lucky enough to get drafted and here we are today.”Christian Wilkins – August 31, 2020 Download PDF version
Monday, August 31, 2020
DT Christian Wilkins
(Since you’re wearing that Vote t-shirt, when your playing career is over – hopefully not for a long time – in the future, are you going to go into politics or what?) – “I’ve thought about it. I’m going to give it some more thought once the time is up. I think I’d do a decent job in politics, so we’ll see. We’ll see. Maybe (I’ll be) the mayor of Miami or something like that. We’ll see.”
(You’ve obviously had tragedy in your life. You had someone close to you pass. I was wondering if you’ve said anything to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick the last few days to lift his spirits.) – “Yeah, of course. Ryan is a guy who I have a lot of respect for and who I love. He’s like a big brother – a lot older brother – to me. (laughter) He’s been a great friend and just a great guy to be around – a great leader for us. Really since Day 1, we’ve hit it off and he’s someone that I love and care for a lot. I got to meet his sons and his kids and we’re pretty cool, so really I just reached out to him. I shot him a text (just saying) I kind of was just there for him and let him know that. I let him know that I’m there for him and I love him, and things like that.”
(I wanted to ask you about tackling. In the sport of football, it’s pretty much the most important thing you guys do – make sure you get the opponent on the ground. Let me see if I have this right: since the last game of last season, you haven’t been able to really tackle someone right? How hard is that? How do you sort of simulate that? Have you been able to tackle anybody for real?) – “Not really. That’s one of the challenges, one of the biggest things with all of the adversity we’re going through this year. With the new guidelines and everything, it’s tough. We really haven’t been able to tackle anyone or go fully live; but we’ve done a lot of drills and a lot of things to kind of simulate that. Really, just even in practice, taking our proper angles, thudding guys up, getting a good pop but just not bringing guys all of the way to the ground. If you practice the right way, hopefully it’ll carry over pretty well into the game.”
(What will make this defense different and look more like the hybrid defense that Head Coach Brian Flores wants to implement?) – “Well, really a big thing is we’ve got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things. You don’t really need to – we’ve just got guys with a lot of versatility, so we can do a lot of different things. From a scheme standpoint, everyone we’ve got can play multiple positions, whether they’re on the d-line, (line)backers or in the secondary. I think that’s really important. It’ll add a lot of versatility to us and make us, hopefully, a pretty solid defense.”
(In what ways is Head Coach Brian Flores’ approach with the team different here in Year 2, would you say?) – “Coach is just – he’s still the same old coach. He does a great job every day. He’s just a guy you can look to who you know is going to bring it every day. You know he’s going to have it every day and challenge us as a team. I wouldn’t really say his approach is different; but I would just say – it’s weird. Like you can see growth with players and you can kind of see growth with a coach going from Year 1 to Year 2. I’m not saying he was a bad coach or anything last year or had many flaws or anything, but you could still kind of see growth and it’s good to see that, and just his confidence and everything. He’s a great leader for us to follow.”
(I’d like to follow up a little bit more regarding Head Coach Brian Flores. I think the ideal situation for a lot of football coaches is to have that tunnel vision where it’s football, football, football. But with Brian, obviously there’s been a lot of things going on that he has dealt with, and he’s not afraid it seems – he’s not afraid to talk to you guys about real-world situations, as we saw last week when you had that team meeting out on the field. As a player, what does that do for you when you see a coach who is willing to go beyond the bounds of just football and talk to you about those things?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely – it’s interesting because I feel like you don’t get that too often at this level, at the pro level. So it’s great to know you’ve got a coach who’s in your corner, that has your back, that’s very supportive of you as people and as men, not just as players. You can tell he really wants the best for us as men, on and off the field, so that’s great. I just kind of feel like we all have more respect for him ultimately as a man, person and as a coach too, as well.”
(It’s likely that a rookie guard will start for you. How much have you worked against G Solomon Kindley and T Robert Hunt so far in this camp, and thoughts on those two?) – “I think both of those guys are pretty good. I think we did pretty well getting the right guys in here, and those guys have been competing and working hard every day. I could definitely see that they both have great potential and if they keep their head on the straight and narrow, they’ll be pretty good in this league.”
(You’re 13 days away from the opener and you guys are kind of in this phase of end of training camp, starting to transition into preparing for an opponent. I’m curious for a player like you, when do you start to kind of make that switch to saying you’ve got to prepare for a certain opponent and a certain guy across from you?) – “I feel like right now until like training camp fully breaks, I’m still locked into training camp and competing against our offense every day and trying to improve myself, work on my technique, polish up those things. Then once camp officially breaks and is over, then I’ll start focusing more and locking in completely into the game plan and focusing on the opponents. I’ve even started to do a little bit of that now, just to kind of get some familiarity; but not too much. I haven’t fully delved into that. But definitely come this weekend, I’ll probably start looking into New England.”Brian Flores – August 31, 2020 Download PDF version
Monday, August 31, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I was wondering if you had any update for us on QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, how he’s doing and if there’s any idea of a timeframe for his return.) – “’Fitz’ was back in the building this morning and we expect him at practice today.”
(You had a new role and a lot of new relationships last year. How would you say your relationship with your players evolve in Year 2?) – “I think it’s like any relationship you have – friendships, relationships – over time, relationships evolve. I think the players who were here a year ago, they’re more comfortable with me (and) I’m more comfortable with them. With the new players that are here, you put the time in to get to know them, get to know them on the field (and) off the field, what some of their quirks are, and try to build that trust and build that camaraderie. It’s been – obviously a year later, some of those relationships are stronger than they were a year ago, which I think that’s the way it should be. I’m sure that’s the way it is with most relationships.”
(I wanted to ask you for a couple of injury updates. How is WR DeVante Parker’s status and then separately, what does the team need to see from CB Xavien Howard for him to be able to participate at the start of the season?) – “We’ll start with Xavien. Obviously ‘X’ is coming off a knee (injury), just coming off the PUP (and) COVID (lists). (He’s) conditioning. Just those fundamentals – those techniques, the footwork, the hand placement – that everyone takes for granted that people think just happens, he needs to work on those and he has been. He needs to work on those techniques, work against the receivers, work with his teammates on communication. I think a lot of people just kind of take those things for granted. I know he doesn’t. I know he’s working diligently to get in and get those reps. He’s talked about and he’s anxious to get in there because he knows who needs him. I think he’ll work towards getting to where he needs to be. Look, if we feel like he’s ready to go Week 1, then we’ll let him go. If we feel like he’s not, then we’ll make the decision when we get to that point. As far as DeVante, he’s working every day to get back out there as soon as he can again. He’s been through some of this training camp and some of the conditioning and some of the fundamentals and techniques. When you’re out a couple of days, you just don’t want to lose those; which if you don’t practice them, you start to lose them a little bit. But he’s built up enough – or I feel like he’s built up a good amount – so that hopefully he can kind of get right back to it. He’ll lose a little bit, but then he can get right back to where he was and continue to improve and elevate – hopefully elevate.”
(I wanted to ask you what you saw when you took a look at the film Saturday. What was good and what was bad?) – “I’ll start with the kicking game. I thought our specialists played well. I think (Matt) Haack had a couple of really good punts. Jason (Sanders) kicked the ball well. We got some good snaps out of Blake (Ferguson). Just from the phases, I thought we were working our techniques and fundamentals and communication on punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return. Again, there’s still a lot of work to do there but I thought it was a step in the right direction. It’s always good to get onto the stadium field and work with those phases. Offensively, from an o-line standpoint, I thought we made a few moves there. We played Robert Hunt with some different guys; we played Solomon (Kindley) with some different guys. It was good to get Hunt up there with some of those more veteran players, so that was good. I thought he played well. I thought the line as a whole played well – both units that were out there; but we can always get better communication, a little bit better fundamentals and technique. I thought our quarterbacks played well. I thought they made some good decisions; I thought they made some not-so-good decisions. Defensively – I’m not going to go through the whole thing but I’ll just go quickly – defensively, again just communication. There were a couple of instances where we had the wrong amount of people on the field, so we’ve got to get that cleaned up. But I thought they played hard. I thought the conditioning was okay. It still needs some improvement; but we’ve still got a long way to go. Today is – I don’t have it in front of me and all of the days are kind of running together but Practice 13 or something like that? We’re working and trying to get better.”
(You said the other day that you don’t consider yourself a good recruiter, which surprised me because you’ve brought in a lot of people that I know you feel very highly about here. But what led you to say that?) – “Well, I’ve never been in college football. That was the first thought that came to mind. I don’t – it’s probably just me being self-deprecating, to be honest with you. If I was in college, I feel like I probably wouldn’t be a great recruiter. I like to be hard on guys and that’s not a big part of recruiting from what I hear. (laughter) But I don’t know much. That’s kind of where that came from.”
(I couldn’t help but notice seeing some of the pictures that every time we see you looking at DT Raekwon Davis, you have a big smile on your face, dating back to draft day. I wanted to – I don’t know if that’s something that’s just happenstance or if just him as a player makes you happy?) – “Yeah, I don’t know if Raekwon would say that. (laughter) You might want to ask him if I’m always smiling at him. If someone catches a picture at the right time and Raekwon happens to be in the area. It’s a good picture. I’ve gotten it sent to me a few times. I could see where someone could get a few laughs at it. I’m not sure Raekwon feels like I look at him with that much admiration on a daily basis. You should ask him though. (laughter) Or any of the rookies, to be honest with you.”
(This is kind of left field but I was watching Central Arkansas and Austin Peay. It was like the first college game. And they mentioned that Austin Peay was without their top three snappers, presumably due to COVID. So now they’re on their fourth snapper. It got me to thinking about snapping in the NFL. I know that LB Mike Hull used to be able to snap even though he was a linebacker. This might be a better suited question for Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman but maybe you know, do you have a guy or two on the roster who is capable of snapping? And I’m wondering would you guys keep a practice squad snapper? What’s the snapping situation as it relates to the COVID emergency possibilities?) – “Yeah, this is something we’ve talked about at length. We’ve got three other guys who can snap on the team. The most interesting one of the three was Mack Hollins. I didn’t realize that. The more you can do in this league. Obviously this year, we’re in a pandemic and we’ve got to be ready to go at all positions, especially at the long snapper position. What you don’t want is to have a situation to where you don’t have anybody to long or short snap. You kind of take it for granted until it’s an issue; but we’ve had that question for sure, as well as at all positions but definitely long snapper, punter, kicker. Yeah, it’s something we’ve talked about.”
(Where do you feel like you are depth-wise at tailback and what’s your comfort level with the top two guys? Or I don’t know if you feel like they’re the top two guys in RB Jordan Howard and RB Matt Breida?) – “I feel good about really all five guys. Salvon (Ahmed), we just got him. I’m looking forward to seeing him and what he can do today, with this really being his first time out there. I think (Patrick) Laird and (Myles) Gaskin and Breida and Jordan, all four guys are capable. All are competitive guys. All have some role in the kicking game and they’re different styles of back, each one of them. I think I’m comfortable with any of the five guys – or four guys, I haven’t seen Salvon up close yet. Yeah, I’m comfortable with all of the guys. That’s a hardworking group and a competitive group. Those are the things that I’m looking for. They run hard, they’re fast, they’ll block, catch the ball out of the backfield. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do in 13 days.”
(I wanted to ask you has there been an increase in soft-tissue injuries for you guys coming into camp, given the big absence of time?) – “Don’t jinx us. (laughter) Knock on wood. I think we’ve been okay. Look, soft tissue injuries happen every training camp. It’s just the beginning of training camp. We’re constantly emphasizing hydration, stretching, getting in the training room, cold tubs, hot tubs, nutrition. It all plays a role in it. It’s something I talk about really every day. They’re probably sick of hearing me say it but I say it every day. Hydration testing. I know it’s been a little bit of an issue around the league. I know that coming off of 2011 in the lockout year, it was an issue. We tried to do everything we can from an education standpoint to help them and help educate them do all of the things we can to prevent them. Obviously it’s football and things happen. All we can do is educate them and let the chips fall where they may. We’re going to go out there and practice and try to get better and improve, and hopefully from a soft-tissue standpoint, we’ll make it out clean every day. Thanks for talking about it. (laughter)”
