S Brandon Jones
(We just heard from CB Nik Needham that it was his first time playing free safety. Playing back there with him, can you tell us how you thought he did?) – “I think he did a really good job. Especially the free safety position in our defensive scheme, a lot is on their plate when it comes to formation adjustments, getting people lined up, making the calls. I know I was in here sitting here listening to him and he said it was his first time but I was a little shocked on that because of how confident and comfortable he was out there. He did a really good job, like I said, getting people lined up, making plays and not letting the ball hit for however many yards and getting the guy on the ground. I was really happy for him. He did a really good job.”
(There’s only a few games left. How realistic is it for you to catch LB Jaelen Phillips in sacks?) – “How many does he have now?”
(He’s got like 8.5.) – “See, I ain’t catching him. I ain’t catching him. (laughter) It’s actually funny because me and Jaelen before every game we talk to each other and I tell him, ‘Hey, you get one for me and one for you.’ The last two weeks when I wasn’t playing, I came up to him and told him, and he got me one and got him one. I was like, ‘Who’s the first one for?’ and he’s like, ‘That was for you bro, that was for you,’ and I was like, ‘Alright, bet.’ That’s kind of our thing now. We kind of go into it and our sacks that we do end up getting if we do in the game is usually for, we do it for each other. I think that’s something pretty special and pretty cool that we’ve been able to do these last few weeks.”
(What’s the thing that’s happened with the defense in the last six weeks that you really hope continues in the last three games?) – “I would say just continue to play at a high level and I think we play our best ball when we’re having fun. You can definitely see that in the second half yesterday. I think the first half we were trying to do too much, everybody was trying to make a play and I think we got a little over excited just having that bye week, having that time off and we definitely started flat in the first half. I think once we re-grouped and got back together in the locker room, we said, ‘Guys, let’s just relax. Let’s calm down, let’s play our brand of football and go out there and have fun.’ I think once we do go out there and have fun, we end up playing our best ball. I think moving forward, we just have to continue to do that and understand the situation and not put too much pressure on ourselves.”
(Now that you guys have turned the season around and gotten it back to .500, can you talk a little bit about the challenge of keeping the momentum going? I know it’s a one game at a time approach but now you’ve got the nation watching a Monday Night Football game that’s supposed to be the biggest platform for NFL teams. What’s it like knowing that the whole nation is going to be watching the once 1-7 Dolphins?) – “I look at it as obviously the situation that we are in is a little different than it was at the beginning of the season but kind of like how Coach (Josh) Boyer told us, the best football is played in December and you’re going to see everyone’s best. Everybody is going to be playing at 100 percent and the stakes are always higher in December for every team. With that mindset, kind of like you hit on, it’s still the one game at a time mentality and approach but I also think that we just have to continue to play and have fun. I think when you’re having fun out there, it takes away a lot of the pressure and the stress of thinking about ‘Oh, we have to win this game, this is a must-win game,’ and just go out there and play like I said, our brand of football. When we do that, good things usually happen.”
(Yesterday was your first game back in about a month. I wanted to ask you first of all,how you felt back out there. And also, did it take a few snaps to feel totally back in the swing of things?) – “Yeah, it was fun, obviously. Being on the sideline those last two games was tough, especially when the defense was making plays and I couldn’t even run out there and celebrate with them. It was tough but it was really good to get back out there. Like I said, I love playing, I love being out there with the guys. Personally, I felt just a little rusty at first. I think I was trying too hard to make plays early on. But yeah, it was definitely fun to be out there with the team.”
(Is that tough to resist the urge when you haven’t played in about a month? You mentioned wanting to go out there and make everything happen right away.) – “Yeah. I don’t know, I guess it’s just my overall approach and my mindset on things. My biggest concern, obviously, was playing – here in December when it’s still super humid and super hot – I was worried about not cramping in the game because of not playing for three weeks. That was kind of my mindset going into it was stay hydrated because with this heat and humidity, these cramps are real. They real out here.”
(Did you drink more than usual?) – “Yeah, definitely. At one point on the sideline, I felt super full from all the fluids I drank. I was trying to stay a step ahead because I know once you cramp, it’s a wrap. You’re probably going to cramp the rest of the game.”
WR Albert Wilson
(I‘m not sure if you saw the news, but RB Duke Johnson is signing to the 53-man roster after yesterday’s game. What are your thoughts about that, your reaction and obviously his performance yesterday?) – “I think he did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunity he was given. He came in and did a lot of great things for us, and I think he’ll do a lot of good things for us for the remainder of the season. It’s a good thing for him and the whole team.”
(I know you’re a receiver and of course you like to get targets, but does it kind of feel like an extra sense of pride and maybe feel even better when you’re able to run against a team and they can’t stop you and they can’t move that front? Does it feel better as the game goes on and you’re having that success on the ground?) – “Oh yeah, for sure. Everyone knows football starts with being able to run the ball and if you can get into a game and do that successfully, you’ll definitely have a good chance of winning a football game. For us to get in there and get that done, it felt great.”
(After seeing you all these years with the afro and the cornrows, what went into the decision to cut it all off?) – “No real factor to really cut it. I was just getting tired of it. It was getting long. It was fighting inside of the helmet of getting all the hair inside. It be hot down here in Florida even though it’s the winter. I think it was just time to cut it off.”
(How do you feel about the performance of everybody stepping up in WR Jaylen Waddle’s absence?) – “Good. When we can get into a game and run the football well against a tough divisional opponent, it’s always a plus on our side. Then to go into a game with so much going on with COVID and the roster changes, for us to get in and focus and face a little adversity at first, but get things going and pull the game off, it was a good thing for the team.”
(The NFL and NFLPA recently made changes that basically said players can get tested whenever they want to and that’s on the league. Do you think that’s a positive step in terms of keeping you guys safe?) – “I’m not too sure what was their whole point behind that. I can only do what’s for me at this moment. Test as much as possible, stay masked up and keep my distance. We’ve done a good job at the Dolphins of being home and being virtual. I think our organization itself is doing a great job to keep us safe. As long as we stay by the guidelines and do what we need to do outside the field, I think everything will turn out good.”
(The next game is on Monday night. In your career, do you have a special Monday night memory or moment?) – “We played in some good Monday Night Football games. Nothing in particular that stands out to make it. The next one will be the best one. I’m looking forward to getting to the Saints and playing a good football game.”
(The most important part is it’s a ballgame. But in general, do you like the idea of everyone is watching and it’s a big game? Does Monday feel like a big game?) – “Prime time football, that’s what it’s all about. Everyone is watching Thursday night, Sunday night, Monday night. Even when we get done playing a game, we look forward to watching that Sunday Night Football game. Or leaving here after meetings on Thursday and getting settled down for that Thursday Night Football game. We know everyone is watching. People on other teams are watching. To get out there and play in front of your peers and not just the fans is special. We all look forward to that, to those prime time games.”
(To follow up the question about the new COVID changes, they also put in an opportunity for guys to opt out again. I know you did it last year. I don’t know what your feelings were about it, whether you have regrets when you did it or didn’t do it. But is there any thought to that and what would you recommend to guys who are considering that?) – “I have no regrets from last year. I think I did what’s best for me, my family. It worked out pretty well for me. Everyone stayed healthy and fortunately no one in my circle has gotten the virus. As for opting out now, like I said, I think our organization is doing a good job trying to stay proactive on all of these things. The season is coming to an end and there are not too many more weeks to go. I’m just going to try to do my part and just stay ahead of this thing as much as possible.”
Head Coach Brian Flores
(So RB Duke Johnson’s camp announced that he’s been signed to the 53-man roster. Do you have any corresponding roster moves or any COVID list updates for us?) – “Jaylen Waddle, he’ll come off COVID today, as well as Phillip Lindsay.”
(I wanted to ask you about G Robert Jones and the decision to use him yesterday. Had he been practicing well? Did you see opportunities with a sixth offensive lineman package yesterday to do some damage in the run game?) – “Yeah, I mean every week it’s gameplan-specific. We felt like putting Rob in there in some heavy packages at tight end would help us or potentially help us in the run game. We decided to do that and we thought he did a nice job in there.”
(We ask you every week. Is this the week finally that WR Will Fuller could come back and begin practicing?) – “Will’s had some setbacks in his rehab. I don’t expect him this week and I don’t expected him back this season.”
(Also, RB Malcolm Brown. Could he come back? And one other question about the special teams play where the direct snap went to S Clayton Fejedelem. Was that by design and was there a miscommunication?) – “Malcolm Brown will practice this week and we’ll see how that goes. The special teams play, I’ll take full responsibility for that. My call. We didn’t execute it. Thankfully the defense kind of bailed us out there. We need to do a better job of execution.”
(After now watching film and seeing DT Christian Wilkins’ touchdown celebration, how would you rate your big man’s boogie? It seems like he got really into it out on the field.) – “Yeah, it’s good to see his teammates huddled around him and excited for him, and their support for him and his excitement to help the team with the score It’s always nice to see that. I can give you my opinion on defenses, offenses or special teams but dance, that’s somebody else’s wheelhouse and not necessarily mine. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you about some comments from some of the Jets offensive players mentioned about spacing your defense. They said that they expected going into the game to see a lot of that Cover 0 pressure that you guys were showing on film, but then post-snap it was more zone. I was just curious about the psychology of showing blitz or showing Cover 0 pre-snap and then going into more zone or maybe a man look that’s not Cover 0. What effect can that have on the offense and how they maybe approach things?) – “I thought they had a good plan. I thought they did a nice job of executing some of their protections and kind of blitz beaters. I thought they did a nice job. That’s football. You make it look like one thing and it’s another and you try to disguise things. We’re doing that really in all phases – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(I wanted to ask you about RB Salvon Ahmed who was up and didn’t play. Was that health-related or more kind of the way the flow of the game was going?) – “He just came off of COVID. We only had three backs so we were going to take three backs regardless. That combined with Duke was running it well, Myles (Gaskin) was running it well. That’s kind of how it goes. But initially, the plan was to get those guys more snaps. I thought they did a nice job with their snaps. Salvon was ready to go. He battled back from having a different week dealing with COVID and getting back and getting back into form. He and Myles both, I thought, did a good job from that standpoint.”
(Obviously DT Christian Wilkins had his moment in the sun yesterday and it seemed like a lot of guys kind of rallied around that and had fun celebrating that play with him. I just kind of wanted to gauge your take as far as how you view celebrating making big plays after all of the work you guys put in throughout the course of the week. What is your philosophy or take on celebrating when you do make a big play?) – “I think the guys work hard. I think they should celebrate. I think they should celebrate, I think they should support one another. I think it’s hard to score in this league. I think it’s hard to make those types of plays. You should be excited about it. I encourage that and at the same time, we’ve got 40 seconds to get ready for the next play. That’s about the amount of time that you have to celebrate. We were right on it, I would say, after Christian’s score. We ended up kicking with two seconds left. We’ll certainly have a conversation about the time limit on the celebrations.”
(How did CB Nik Needham play at safety? Have you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander been working him there the past couple of years in case you needed him on a day like yesterday with S Jevon Holland out?) – “Nik is a smart player. He understands the defense just kind of conceptually, who is supposed to be in what spots. He hasn’t had a lot of reps there obviously throughout the course of the year but was able to step in last week, take some practice reps and then really step up for us. I thought we had a lot of guys who stepped up, Nik being one of them. But just being down a few guys. Duke, obviously. Nik. Isaiah Ford. I think that’s what we need. We need contributions from guys and really everyone. I think Nik, like I said, he’s smart, it’s important to him, he just wants to help the team. So safety, corner, nickel, we can really kind of plug him in in a variety of spots and feel confident that he’s going to get the job done.”
(I was looking at the AFC standings, which I know you probably don’t spend a lot of time doing. But there are 10 teams with six or seven losses. So they’re all sort of bunched up and clustered together. What do you think will determine which of those teams actually make it through over the course of the end of the season here?) – “Execution. I think that’s always something that we talk about. Mental toughness. Mental toughness and physical toughness. I think those are the things that it takes to finish strong in the season. There are a lot of good teams, obviously, throughout the league. There will definitely be some competitive games. We know that. We’ve got a big one coming up against a very good team. We’re just kind of putting initial eyes on the Saints and this is – we’ve got our hands full. We’ll certainly have our hands full.”
(I just wanted to get clarity on S Jevon Holland because he was taken off the COVID list and then couldn’t play. Like RB Phillip Lindsay and WR Jaylen Waddle, is he now able to return to the team and practice even though he didn’t play yesterday? And you just keep him off the COVID list?) – “Activated. We have to activate him the Saturday before the game in order to potentially get him back. So he’s still on the COVID list. I hope that kind of clears it up. He has not cleared COVID protocol yet.”
(So not on the COVID list but hasn’t cleared COVID protocols as of right now?) – “Yes.”
(I would assume you saw some of the Saints on Sunday night. I wanted to get your thoughts on if anything jumped out that you may not have already known about them.) – “That’s a tough, physical team across the board – offense, defense, special teams. They’ve got a lot of great players. Obviously they’re well-coached, really across the board. Sean Payton, (Pete) Carmichael, Dennis Allen, ‘Riz’ (Darren Rizzi). I think they do a great job. They’ve got a lot of really good players. They played well last night. They’ve been playing well. Like I said, we’ll have our hands full.”
RB Myles Gaskin
(Can you take us through the whole process? Obviously you were out for a week with COVID or on the COVID list. Your relief when you found out that you could come back and then getting ready for a game after one practice.) – “Like you said, getting sick and everything, getting COVID and whatnot. On the front end, because it was the bye week, it worked out where I could just focus on getting healthy and then once I was feeling better, it was pretty much time for the game and it just worked out kind of perfectly to make that one Friday practice and be ready for the game. I felt a little bit better beforehand, so I would run at a park by myself. I just did a little few things but yeah, I just made sure I was ready, locked in on the gameplan so when my number was called, I was ready to go out there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the fourth quarter run but you piqued my interest with the running at a park by yourself thing. What was that like? How did you choose a park? Which day did you run?) – “Just Thursday before practice. There is a park by my house in Miami Lakes, just by my house and nobody was over there. I just wanted to see if I could get my wind back, just see where I was feeling because COVID does affect your lungs and everything and all that type of stuff, with this being the second time I had it. I just wanted to test it out myself and got a few striders in. I felt pretty good. For myself, I was really concentrating on trying to be able to make the game and just testing where I was.”
(Did anybody see you? You weren’t wearing Dolphins gear or anything were you?) – “Nah, I wasn’t decked out. I was dolo. It was just an empty park, just grass. Got some 50s in, like 10 50s and kept pushing.”
(You had a 30-yard run on the game-winning drive. Thinking about that play, can you tell me what you think worked well on that play?) – “The o-line did their job. The hole opened up right where it’s supposed to be, right where you practiced it all week and it just worked out. Everybody did their job, I was able to hit the hole in stride and that’s just the type of runs you hope for in the fourth quarter, especially in that Miami heat. Just trying to finish the drive, trying to finish the game.”
(What did you think about RB Duke Johnson, the game that he had and just what he has brought to this running back room since joining on the practice squad?) – “Had a great performance. Very happy for him being able to do that back home. We were talking about that before the game, being able to play back home and what it’s like for him. Just that experience of being the older dude, he brings a lot of energy every day. He still helps me out a lot just being the older guy, being in this league longer than I have been, how to take care of your body, things like that, just trying to pick up everything I can from him and just seeing what he did yesterday is just inspiring and just trying to build off of that.”
G/T Austin Jackson
(How did it feel to get the run game going the way you guys did, rushing for a season high as a team. And also watching RB Duke Johnson, the veteran, do what he did at his first home game back with his hometown Dolphins?) – “It was great. Like you said, it was definitely great to see Duke back in his hometown, back in Hard Rock (Stadium) making plays like he’s been doing. Huge credit to our backs, they had a great game. They did an excellent job reading. It feels good when the outcome of your work is that. We look for plenty more 100-yard rushing games definitely. That’s going to be our goal.”
(You played well again yesterday. You didn’t give up a quarterback pressure. Obviously you were a part of a run game that really good. Are you at the point where you look back at the decision the Dolphins made to move you to guard as a good one in your career? And if you’re not at that point yet, do you think you’ll ever be at that point and feel that way?) – “I definitely think moving to guard has enhanced my career and me as a player. Just the knowledge that it’s given me as an offensive lineman, it’s forced me to really focus on my technique, which is something I think I needed at tackle as well. I think playing guard is definitely going to help me become a better and greater player that I am and will be.”
(Has the feedback you’ve received on how you’ve played the last few weeks, has the feedback from Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre been positive? Are you playing well in your eyes and in the team’s eyes?) – “I’m doing my job, definitely. If you’re not doing your job, they will tell you. (laughter) So I’m definitely doing my job. My mindset is whatever position I’m at on the field, I’m going to put 100 (percent) into it and I think this organization knows that as well. Every week we come in and have a new team and we’re just looking to win.”
(As a group, the offensive line has helped reduce the number of sacks as the season has progressed. What do you think are some of the reasons and some of the ways in which the offensive line has been able to limit pressures and sacks?) – “To eliminate pressures and sacks? Playing better, I guess. (laughter) I don’t know. You can look back at other games where we’ve had off days, and yeah, our communication was bad, especially on my end. Like I could’ve done different stuff with my technique. I think the focus has always been there. We’ve always been focused on executing. But obviously when you go into a game and it doesn’t go your way, you have to figure out what else you need to do. I think we just got to the point where collectively as a group, as a team – because it doesn’t just start with the offensive line, we all work together and get on the same page with stuff to help us out in situations. I think us collectively doing that over and over again and leaning on each other and not pointing fingers – it’s so easy to point fingers. We didn’t do any of that. We just stuck together and worked to execute.”
(You were listed as questionable on the final injury report with illness. How bad did it get and were you ever concerned that you might not be able to play?) – “It wasn’t bad and I don’t think I was concerned about playing.”
(Next Monday is going to be your first Monday night game. A spotlight game with everybody watching, does that hold extra meaning for somebody like yourself that hasn’t played in a Monday night game before?) – “I have not played in a Monday night game. You’re right. I didn’t even think about that. Coming from the Pac-12, I remember we played at night almost every game. Like it was rare for us to play at noon. I definitely look forward to the later night games. I think they are fun. It’s like high school ball. Like Friday night lights. It’s good energy. We get to go up against a great opponent too, the Saints. We’ll have our assignments that we’ll need to execute, but they have a pretty decent front, good edge rushers, good interior. They are a good team. I’m looking forward to getting with my guys and coming up with a plan and executing on Monday night. I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
(How about the notion that mentally, not only the fans are watching this game, but pretty much your fellow NFL players around the league are watching that game as well?) – “Definitely. Everyone is watching those Monday night, Thursday night, Sunday night games. Everybody is watching those. It definitely is. We just prove ourselves right. We don’t just try to prove the whole world wrong. It’s not the Miami Dolphins against the world. We just lock in together and try to prove us right. At the end of the day, that takes you a lot farther than trying to prove a bunch of people wrong.”
CB Nik Needham
(You played every snap yesterday and it looked like you played a lot of those snaps at safety whether it was a split safety or a single-high safety look. I was just curious, when you line up at safety, what are some pre-snap stuff and post-snap stuff that you are looking for as keys as opposed to when you are in the slot?) – “When you’re back there, you get to really see the whole offense. You get to see the whole formation if it’s a two-receiver set, 11-personnel, it it’s trey, you get to see if it’s a loaded set and you can really see that more – which is like an RPO set so you can see more, get more intel back there. Just communicating with Brandon (Jones), he gives me a lot of help back there. We’ve just got to just build our chemistry. You just see a lot of different stuff from the safety position. It was my first time doing it at free safety. It was cool.”
(You didn’t really do any of that in college or high school or anything like that?) – “Nah, I’ve never played free safety. I usually played corner and receiver in high school and corner in college. Slot was my first year, like two years ago but never free safety.”
(This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen you at safety, but who came up originally or what coach approached you about playing that and what was your reaction?) – “I think it was just all the coaches. We were just trying to gameplan with Jevon (Holland) down. Just see if someone can step up and fill that role just for this game. Someone that can communicate and just knows the defense. We all trust each other and just want to work on the same page. I think that’s just what it came down to on a gameday decision.”
(I just wanted to get clarity on the free safety thing. Was Sunday the first time you’ve ever played the free safety role in your whole life?) – “Kinda yeah. I’ve never really been back there like I said. I’ve always been a coverage guy. I’ve never really played the safety position until really this year. I’m just trying to step up and like I said, do whatever the team needs me to do and play to my best ability and try to play at the highest level. I’ve never really been back there like that.”
(Obviously there was a little bit of hope on Saturday that S Jevon Holland might have been able to come back. Did you know the whole week that there was a good chance you might have to play some back there?) – “We really weren’t sure. You see how it played out with Myles (Gaskin) and Salvon (Ahmed). We just really didn’t know. They just said be ready and if we need you, we need you. I guess things worked out and we came out with a W so it all played out well. It definitely will be good to get Jevon (Holland) back there for sure.”
(What did you think the defense did best in yesterday’s game?) – “I think just responding to adversity. We came out a little shaky in the first half, first quarter. We weren’t tackling well, we regrouped at halftime and all just believed in each other and tried to bounce back and you could see it out there. It just was a change of events in the second half.”
