Head Coach Brian Flores
(Do you expect to have everyone available except maybe CB Jomal Wiltz on Sunday?) – “Yeah, Jomal will be out. Everyone else I expect to be available, yes.”
(LB Jerome Baker – did he suffer an ankle injury in yesterday’s practice or was that just something that’s just lingering?) – “It’s Week 17, so everybody’s got something. He dinged it a little bit in practice yesterday. Obviously it’s on the injury report, but I expect him to play.”
(With obviously a difficult year, an interesting year – this was the last practice, what were your thoughts going through that process with the team and what will your message be to them?) – “My thoughts were on the tough opponent we have this weekend. Offensively – being efficient offensively, running the football and trying to move it against what’s a very, very good defense. Defensively, obviously it’s a great quarterback, good backs, good o-line, good receivers, good tight ends, so just how we’re going to handle those guys and then obviously the kicking game; this is one of the best special teams units in the league, so that’s where my thoughts were. Yeah, I knew it was the last practice. There was a little bit of ‘I think we’ve made a lot of improvement from the voluntary minicamp way back in April to where we are now.’ The team’s very different, but I’m very appreciative of really everybody in this organization. There’s a lot that goes into us practicing and putting all of this in motion. We can’t practice unless the field guys go out there and line the field. We don’t eat unless the people in the cafeteria and our chefs make us meals. From nutrition to equipment to the strength staff, there’s a lot of people that put in a lot of hard work to help us and help this team go out here and practice, play, prepare; so I’m appreciative of all those people. Media, security, video, the list goes on and on. We’ve made a lot of strong relationships over the course of this season and hope to continue that moving forward.”
(Do you feel like you’ve laid the defensive and offensive foundations that you want for the Dolphins during your tenure?) – “It’s so early. Again, that’s something we’ll reflect on at the end of the season. Right now it’s about the Patriots. It’s about going up to a tough environment and hopefully laying enough foundation to play a good game this weekend, and we’ll reflect on the end of the season at the end of the season; but I think every week, we’ve tried to build and compete and improve from foundationally how we prepare, how our process – it’s never perfect, but hopefully we’ve taken some steps to get better and hopefully we see some more success down the road as a byproduct of that process and hopefully this weekend.”
(For a while, people always look at Bill Belichick and say, “what’s he like behind the scenes?” You got to work with him for 15 years. How would you describe him and your relationship with him?) – “I think he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. Yeah, Bill is one of the greatest coaches, and I was fortunate to work underneath him. I learned a lot of football – situationally, having a tough, smart, disciplined team. He’s a great coach. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him.”
(There’s probably a lot of similarities from what they do, what you do … because you guys all spent time together. How much do you look at that when you’re maybe looking at players or looking at game plan – like what they do and how it compares to what you guys do?) – “I think anyone, any team that’s had success – and I think this is, if there’s a play that works or a defense that works or a kicking game, an onside (kick) that works, I think that’s part of growing as a coach, really in any field. You try to study what those people do well and if it works for you or you think you could emulate it and it’ll help you become successful, I think you try to implement that. So as far as Bill (Belichick) or ‘Vrabs’ (Mike Vrabel) or ‘Matty P’ (Matt Patricia) or ‘Billy O’ (Bill O’Brien) and the guys that have been in that group; yeah, I think you take a look at the things they’re doing, but you also take a look at the things that Pete Carroll’s doing and Mike Tomlin and the great coaches of the past as well, and how they’ve done things. So yes, to answer your question; but it’s not just that group. There’s a lot of great coaches that have come through this league. John Harbaugh is another one who’s had a lot of success in this league. I don’t know if that answers your question, but it’s not – there’s a lot of good coaches that have come through.”
(I wanted to ask you about DT Zach Sieler and the 4-technique. What is the difference in terms of what he brings as an edge player compared to what you guys have or had to utilize previously early this season?) – “I think Zach as a 4-technique, as a 5-technique, as a 3-technique, as a shade – he plays a lot of different positions. He’s big. He’s got length. He’s got athleticism. He plays hard. I think when you get a player like that, you just move him around and see the different things he can do. He’s very versatile because of his size, his length, his athleticism. It’s different because he’s different. How you play him is different because he’s a different style of player than Vince Biegel or Taco (Charlton) or Jamal Davis. Each player is a little bit different. Because he’s got some size, you can play him inside, you can play him at 4i, you can play him at the edge, if the game plan needed that. Maybe he plays out there this weekend, so we’ll see.”
LB Jerome Baker
(You get kind of shorted with the fact that your birthday is on Christmas.) – “Yeah, I’m used to it. (laughter) It’s been 23 years, so I’m kind of used to it. I kind of look at it as everybody is celebrating my birthday, so it’s all good. (laughter)”
(How do you guys approach this last game of the season going up to New England?) – “It’s still football. We’re still a family. It’s just one last time to go out with a bang and enjoy each other and also come out with a win.”
(How would you describe your growth this season?) – “It’s indescribable, really. In the beginning of the year, you have your own expectations, you have your own thoughts of what you can do. Throughout the year, things change; but one thing is I definitely grew as a football player and as a person. I’m definitely grateful for that.”
(What are you looking for – moving forward, what’s the next step going to be for you, do you think?) – “For me, it’s to take a little time away from football; but I’m definitely excited for next year (and) all of the pieces we’re going to bring in. ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores), it’s something special playing under him so I’m definitely excited for next year to see what we can bring. It’s definitely going to be fun these next few years.”
(What makes you confident that what they’re building is going to work and lead to success?) – “I think this year kind of proves a lot to everybody – from the beginning of everyone saying we were going to tank and not win a game to getting some wins. They were hard, they were tough, but we got it done. After this whole year, it’s hard not to be confident in this group – just the pieces we have, the people we had in and out and we still got a few wins. I’m definitely going to be excited when we gel together as a team for more than a few weeks. It’s definitely going to be fun.”
(What’s the biggest challenge about this season in terms of all of the guys coming in and out?) – “That was the hardest thing I think, out of everything. There were so many guys, so many new faces, so many different things you have to do. Getting guys ready to play, and they would just come in on Monday, I think that was the hardest challenge; but I’m definitely excited for next year. Hopefully we all gel together for longer than a few weeks. But for right now, it’s just finishing out strong with the guys we have and ultimately walk away with a win.”
(With so much change, do you actually know everybody’s name in the locker room? The DBs corner over there, that’s got to be a challenge.) – “I think I know everybody. Pretty much everybody on defense, for sure.”
(First and last name?) – “That’s tough. (laughter) That’s very tough. There are a lot of guys that I didn’t know like their real name. I’d call them one name – like De’Lance (Turner), I didn’t know that was his real name. Everybody called him ‘L.T.,’ which I still don’t know why. There are certain guys that…”
(They call RB De’Lance Turner what?) – “’L.T.’ I never understood that. But I pretty much know everybody.”
(Aside from winning the Good Guy Award, what would you say was the personal highlight for you this season?) – “The first win we had. That was a big one just because it felt so good. That was definitely a big one. I think the fun moment I had was definitely the ‘my mama’ video. That was pretty cool. This whole year has been hard – it’s been tough – but overall it has definitely been fun.”
(Are you pleased with how you played your first year in this new defense?) – “Yeah, it was definitely cool. I made a few plays. I made a few mistakes. But I’m definitely happy.”
(In what area would you even like to be more impactful next year? What particular area in the game?) – “Yeah, so after the season that’s really what I’m going to look over and see some of the things that I didn’t do as well or that I can work on. I’ll definitely have a better answer for you in a few weeks.”
(Will you sit and actually watch all of the plays or some of them?) – “I talked to ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and he’s going to put together a tape of me doing some things I could do better. I know (Linebackers Coach) Robbie (Leonard), he’s definitely going to sit down (with me) and watch a lot. It works a little better when your coach is there. It will definitely be good.”
(As a pass rusher, how pleased were you with how you did? You had some opportunities and obviously you were in coverage a lot, too. Were there plays where you thought you left something there where you maybe could have gotten them or were your pleased overall in that aspect?) – “Yeah, there’s definitely some plays I definitely could have worked on. I could have made – as ‘Flo’ would say – some good plays I could have made great. But overall, I’m still happy with this whole year.”
