DT John Jenkins
(How comparatively is the south Florida heat to the Chicago heat?) – “Different. You call that the Windy City and this the Sunshine State. It’s hot.”
(What’s it going to be like going back there? I know you weren’t there for very long but being able to see your old teammates and practice against your old teammates.) – “When you spend a lot of years in the league, you develop friendships with other teammates – teammates that you played with each other, guys who you train with during the offseason. It’s going to be good. Akiem Hicks, as everybody knows who don’t know, him and I spent the majority of our career with each other so we are like brothers. It’s always a pleasure to see him. Watch Bilal (Nichols) grow up. He had a good season last year. It’s going to be nice to see those guys again.”
(What did you like about your 2019 experience that made you want to come back this year?) – “’Coach Flo’ (Brian Flores) was hungry. When I got the call from him after I got released from the Giants, I heard it in his voice. I’ve been in some great defenses throughout my years and to hear a tone of voice like Coach Flo’s during that time and even now, it makes me want to do everything and anything possible to complete my job and do my job to the best of my ability.”
(What did Head Coach Brian Flores say?) – “Man, he just kept it straight. ‘Big John, I want you down here. I’m not going to tell you that you’ll start or anything but I want you to work.’ That’s what I needed to hear. Opportunity, right? A lot of guys, unfortunately, you see guys on the side of the road outside training facilities just holding a sign that says, ‘give me an opportunity.’ I get a phone call from a head coach like ‘Coach Flo’ calling me, so I had to take that opportunity. That’s what he said to me.”
(You mentioned that you heard that Head Coach Brian Flores was hungry in his voice and he talks all the time about player growth. What have you seen from him as a head coach from year one to year three at this point?) – “He believes in us. He allows us to be players. He allowed the leaders to step up. He allowed the groups to form an identity. When you have a head coach that allows players to be players, that shows a lot with a head coach.”
(What differences do you see where the team is now compared to when you were here in 2019?) – “Man, to be honest with you, every team is different. Everybody looks good on paper, everybody has a job, so I can’t really answer that question. Not to give you a politically correct answer, but the fact of the matter is we’re out here working. I can’t determine the future. All I know is we’re out here working.”
(When you heard they worked out the deal with CB Xavien Howard, that’s a big part of the defense on that side.) – “I was coming out of the meeting room. I’m happy for ‘X.’ I’m happy for any of my teammates and all my teammates who have a smile on their face who are out here working.”
RB Myles Gaskin
(As a guy who knows and is familiar with the RPO offense, what is the most challenging part for a tailback about the system?) – “I don’t think there’s any challenging part. I just think, obviously, you can pull it whenever, so always just be ready for the ball. That’s kind of the idea for a running back though, you always want it. I don’t think it’s that challenging at all.”
(Not knowing whether or not the ball is actually going to be handed to you is?) – “No, like I sad you always want to stay ready for it and that’s your responsibility. I don’t think that’s the challenging part. That’s up to Tua (Tagovailoa), that’s up to the quarterbacks to see their reads … That’s their responsibility and they’ve been doing a great job. But no, not for a tailback. I wouldn’t say that’s hard for them.”
(What are you looking to get out of the practices with the Bears and is it something that you are looking forward to because it’s different than going against your own teammates day after day?) – “Yeah, absolutely. You get tired of hitting your own dudes, seeing them in the locker room and stuff like that. It’s definitely good to see different fronts, different players. They got Khalil Mack so it’s going to be fun to see him up close and personal. Just stuff like that, just trying to compete against some different guys.”
(How big of an indicator of where you are do you think it might provide?) – “I do take it day-by-day but obviously, just seeing different fronts, being able to learn something new in the sense of we run a lot of three-down, we’ve got a different defense. Just kind of get into that football season-type learning guys tells and stuff like that, seeing how other guys play. It’s just fun like that. It’s getting close to that football season time.”
(How would you say RB Salvon Ahmed has grown from the time he got here until now?) – “Just confidence. Me being with him at Washington, it’s kind of the same jump from his freshman year to sophomore year. It’s kind of the same thing in the league, rookie year to second year you make that jump. Confident, making a lot of good cuts, asking a lot of good questions in the room. Definitely having a good input on what other guys are doing or ‘hey, did you see it over here’ or ‘I saw it like this’ or ‘this is what happened in the third.’ Just seeing him grow into an NFL running back is always exciting. That’s what was going to happen regardless, I got a lot of faith in that dude.”
(How do you see your offensive line coming together and how comfortable are you back there with those guys?) – “Very comfortable. They’re just working hard. We got a lot of moving pieces. It’s a brand-new offense, brand-new calls and guys are just adjusting to it, getting better each and every day. I love the way we practice; some days we lose, some days we win. Just seeing the o-line go at it every single day is very important. Guys don’t ever get down on each other. We aren’t afraid to yell at each other, aren’t afraid to get on each other but obviously in an encouraging way. That’s very encouraging.”
(How important is it for you personally to step into a leadership role this year?) – “Very important. I’ve been here for three years, I’ve been with ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) for all of them so I have been able to see what he wants to see out of his players, how he wants to see this organization ran as a team. Being able to relay that message to the other players as a player who has been there myself, especially to the young guys, I feel like that’s my role at this point.
CB Xavien Howard
(So how does it feel?) – “It feels great to be out here with my team, getting better. We got the deal done so it feels great to be out here.”
(How happy were you that you’re staying here?) – “I’m happy. I’ll always be happy to be with the team that drafted me and stuck through the ups and downs. Just being here and being happy to be here and help guys out.”
(As the final terms were explained to you by your agent, David Canter, was your reaction one of ‘Ok, this is good. This is fair?” What sort of reaction did you have?) – “I was just happy about the whole situation. I’m just happy to be here and compete with the team.”
(What was your level of concern that the Dolphins were not going to modify it?) – “At the end of the day, we got it done so all of the other stuff, I’m not even worried about it. I’m just happy to be here.”
(So now that you know where you’re going to be, what are your goals?) – “My goals this year – after the season you’ll see the goals. I don’t want to put it out there like that; but as a team, we want to win. That’s the only thing I’m worried about right now.”
(Had this been a stressful two weeks for you – obviously dealing with the ankle and not knowing what was going to happen trade-wise, contract-wise?) – “Like I said, the deal got done. I’m here with the team. That’s what it’s all about.”
(What does this defense and the teammates you have around you, and how will your skillset make you a better player?) – “I think we expect highly of each other. We protect each other. We’re going to be there for our guys no matter what. They did their thing and we all did it together.”
(When did you find out exactly the deal was done?) – “When David Canter hit me up and told me we’ve got a good deal. We got the job done.”
(While this takes care of your concerns in the present time, are there still more concerns later on in the contract?) – “I’m just worried about this year right now. I’m taking it one year at a time. I’m focused on getting better and helping my team out the best way to win the game. That’s it.”
(Other holdouts, you see guys won’t be at practice or training camp. How important was it for you to actually be out here…?) – “It’s still a little rusty on my end, just getting back out there and knocking a little rust out. I wouldn’t call it a holdout. With the new CBA, you can’t holdout. There’s a different way you can say it. I’m just happy to be out here.”
(How much of a relief is it to just play football now? That’s ultimately what you wanted…) – “Yeah, that’s the ultimate goal right there – just be out here and play football. Football is fun. You’ve been doing it since you were a kid so that’s what it’s all about is having fun. Everything will take care of itself.”
(You had some changes in your defensive backfield. Observations of those and what has S Jevon Holland shown you? Two picks in the last three days.) – “I’m just happy to be out here with those guys and making plays like that. That’s what it’s all about on defense.”
(Was there any nice moment that you and either Head Coach Brian Flores or General Manager Chris Grier had after it was done, just in terms of putting it behind you and embracing or anything?) – “We’re just moving on. I’m out here and that’s the whole thing, being out here and helping the team win the best way I can.”
Head Coach Brian Flores
(We just got the news that you guys re-worked CB Xavien Howard’s contract. Can you talk to us a little bit about the process and what this two-week or multiple-month journey has been for the team and for “X?”) – “We’re excited. I’ve been up here multiple times saying we’ve been making progress. (You guys) were asking me question after question about progress. We were making progress. I know you guys probably felt like we were – or I wasn’t giving you all the information, which I wasn’t; but we were working on it. I’m not going to give you guys the details, but we’re excited to have gotten this done and we are just looking forward to continually improving with ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and really his teammates on a day-to-day basis and just try to build and get better offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(Do you feel like this is a Band-Aid or this is a solution that will take you throughout the length of the contract?) – “We’re excited to have ‘X.’ He’s obviously a very good player, a good teammate. You can see that by the way his teammates support him and look, I’m a one-day-at-a-time guy, so that’s how we’re going to approach things. And any negotiation – I think compromise is important, which we talked about the other day. And at the end of the day, we want all sides to be happy. We feel like that’s the case right now and that’s how we’ll move forward.”
(When this thing first started to unravel, what was your level of concern given that CB Xavien Howard was your MVP last year?) – “Look, like you said, he’s a very good player. We want him back. We wanted him here. We want him here and he’s here, and we’re excited to have him. So the level of concern was – I can’t say that there was much level of concern. I think Chris (Grier), Brandon (Shore), ‘X’s’ representation; there was always communication, so like I said a few weeks ago, I think any time there are lines of communication that are open – there’s dialogue, there’s concessions, compromise, whatever you want to call it on both sides which obviously on our side there was definitely some concessions – and you do that on a case-by-case basis with certain players. In this instance, we felt like we were doing – we’re always going to do what we feel is best for the team and we’re excited to have him.”
(You had previously talked about not setting precedent. Is this not a precedent?) – “I think every situation is different. That’s the case in football. I think there’s instances where there’s some defenses you wouldn’t run or plays you would run and then you can run them with certain players or certain coaches or schemes or whatever it maybe. So I think it’s case-by-case. It’s situation-by-situation and in this instance we felt – I would say in any instance we’re going to do what we feel is best for the team and something we think at the end of the day will help us.”
(Should we assume CB Xavien Howard will be a full participant in practice?) – “He is – obviously was dealing with the ankle which was day-to-day. He practiced yesterday, practiced the day before. We’re probably still going to be on a modified kind of process here and work him back in. That’s the case with him and some other players as you guys have seen and noted throughout training camp. That’s how we’ll move forward with him.”
(There was a report this morning from Michael Lombardi – you know the former Patriots executive – saying the Dolphins are calling around looking for offensive line depth. Is that accurate? Are you happy with the depth you have right now behind the group that’s been getting both the first-team snaps?) – “Yeah, we’re happy with the guys we have. Like always I’m not going to get into conversations that we have with other teams, but I think we’ve got good depth along the offensive line. But look, this time of year, there’s conversations that are had on a daily basis about players offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. Those conversations will only pick up moving forward. It’s that time of the year. I’m not sure that’s big news. I think that’s just the time of year it is. Everyone is kind of having conversations as we get into preseason games. I was a scout. I went to those preseason games and was looking for offensive tackles, offensive guards, defensive tackles, safeties. I’m timing the long snappers to just see if there’s anyone that you feel like is going to get cut loose that could potentially help your team. I’m not sure if that’s big, big news. I think everyone’s looking for different ways to improve their team and we’re definitely part of that. We’re no different than any other team.”
(WR Jaylen Waddle yesterday – he’s got a compression sleeve on his right calf and he seemed to be – I know we’ve gone through this before – a little bit of a limp or modified walk. Is there an injury that is a concern with him? Still looks fast.) – “I think after nine practices – nine training camp practices – he’s a rookie. It’s his first time kind of going through it at this level, at these speeds. I know he went to a great (school) – Alabama – they’ve got a lot of great players, but it’s his first time in this environment. I would just kind of chalk it up to soreness and he’ll be out there today and we’ll just take it one day at a time, try to get better and that’s the case – we’ve got a lot of guys who are sore and tired and they’re pushing through and working hard and we’ll push through again today.”
(You spoke about WR Jaylen Waddle’s toughness before, that’s really one thing you guys liked about him. Even trying to play in the championship game.) – “Yeah. He’s a tough kid. It’s important to him. He’ll push through – let’s call it minor bruises, soreness, give us what he’s got. But again, it’s training camp. We’re going to be sore; we’re going to be tired. That’s part of building the mental toughness of the team as well.”
(Is WR Jaylen Waddle one of the kids you have to drag off the field?) – “Yeah. We’ve got a lot of guys like that though. We’ve got a lot of guys who want to be out there, it’s important to them, who want to compete. He’s no different. I think he’s done a nice job so far but still a long way to go.”
(With WR Lynn Bowden Jr., where is his development in this offense? I know he’s primarily working with the second team. He’s kind of in that jet sweep role. What progress did you expect to see from him in the second year of this offense?) – “Like any other second-year player, just more comfortable with just the National Football League – the schedule, obviously this area and how we do things. The conditioning we want our payers to be in, the level of execution we’re looking for, alignment, assignment, responsibility, the things that really have nothing to do with athletic ability. We want that be 100 percent. It’s not all the time, but that’s the goal. Those are the things I know Lynn in his second year understands and I think he’s doing a nice job of taking care of those little things. I think like we tell all the players – and it’s not just me but it’s our support staff, coaching staff and everyone in the organization – if you just continue taking care of all of the little things, some of the bigger things that everyone talks about, they normally come to fruition. But it starts with taking care of those little things.”
(Could you say what CB Noah Igbinoghene needs to improve on?) – “There are techniques, fundamentals – but this is for everyone, not specific to Noah. Leverage, footwork, hand placement, where is your help and use your help. You can say that about Solomon Kindley – footwork, hand placement, where is your help, who is your help. You can say that about Tua (Tagovailoa) – go through your progression. If it’s there hit it; if it’s not, check it down. You could say that about some of the veteran players as well. But you asked about Noah and I think he’s making improvement on a daily basis. I think as a young player, there is always a lot to learn. There is still more to learn. He’s tried to be a sponge with some of the older players. I think he’s on the right track and we’ll keep working with him and get him better.”
(In regards with the 53-man roster, let’s just say hypothetically receiver six vs. tight end four. How do you and your staff and General Manager Chris Grier and upstairs balance whether or not their production on offense or defense, how do you weigh that compared to what they produce on special teams when it comes to those decisions?) – “Once you said 53, you were way out there. (laughter) That’s like years away to me right now. But yeah, all of those are conversations we’ll have when we need to have those conversations. Right now, it’s about today, today’s practice and meetings, after practice, make those corrections. We’ll go a few days out – we’ll go to Chicago this week and practice against them and make some evaluations where – yeah, six receivers, tight ends, special teams, how we handle that, the performance in practice and games, will play into the decisions we make when we get to the 53, which feels like – I know it’s close. I know it’s not that far out. But when you take a one day at a time approach, it’s really not something that’s on the radar. But yeah, there are a lot of conversations that are had, whether it’s six – how many tight ends, how many receivers, how many DBs, how many linebackers, how many quarterbacks. All of those conversations are had and we’ll have them. I’m not saying we won’t have them, but right now we’re focused on today.”
(What was your playing weight at Boston College and what is it now?) – “Playing weight at BC, senior year? 218.”
(Now?) – “Want to take a guess?”
(218?) – “219. (laughter)”
(You probably heard the news this morning about Bobby Bowden. Did you have any encounters with him? Did you know him at all?) – “I didn’t. I didn’t hear the news.”
(He passed away.) – “Well, that’s extremely – my condolences to his family. Obviously a tremendous coach, leader, impacted a lot of young men. Man, I’m kind of going back to the Florida State, Peter Warrick days. Warrick Dunn. I’m kind of thinking about those teams just off the top of my head. I’ve never had any encounters with him and I’ve never met him, but I know a lot of people are sad. I know the impact that football coaches have on players, on coaches. I know it’s a sad day for really the football world. I didn’t know that. My condolences to his family and to all the people who were impacted by him.”
