S Eric Rowe
(What do you think happened yesterday in terms of why the team performed at that level when we haven’t seen that from you guys going back to last year, the third game of the season?) – “I’m not sure. I’m not sure what happened that game because that’s definitely not us as a team, really the whole year. That reminded me of last year when we were getting beat by Baltimore like that. I was like, ‘yeah, I remember that feeling.’ So it’s not a good feeling, but I’m not sure what happened. There’s no like exact words you can just put on it. Maybe it was just like a kind of feeling, like the energy was dying and then after that, they were just taxing it on us. But I’m not sure what happened.”
(Your teammates have mentioned it. I’m sure you agree that yesterday was not representative of how this team actually is, that you’re a much better team than that. I’m curious, do you think this is a close team? Do you think this is a team that is poised to take the next step this year or did it kind of expose some things you all need to work on?) – “It’s a little bit of both. It did kind of expose things that we need to work on to make that jump for next year, but looking from last year, from the 2019 season to this season, it was a huge jump. So now we’re obviously planning to take that momentum from this year to next year to make that next step where we can compete with playoff-contending teams.”
(What was it like playing with CB Xavien Howard this season? He obviously balled out, had his 10th pick yesterday and he’s in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year, so as a teammate, what would kind of be your final pitch to the ones listening out there?) – “It was definitely a special year seeing him kind of rise, especially after last year going through the surgery and something with his knee; especially as a DB, that’s tough to recover from. Just to go from that to get double-digit interceptions and to lead the league in picks and now in talks for Defensive Player of the Year, that’s not easy. And just playing alongside him, watching him play; it kind of amazes you because you’re watching it firsthand in-person from practice, training camp, all the way to the end of the season. I haven’t been around a guy close to being like that, that’s up there – like Stephon Gilmore when I played with him – so it’s pretty amazing.”
(I know you’ve only had about 24 hours now to reflect upon it. Maybe you haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m curious, how would you look back at your first full season at the safety position, but also you mentioned this offseason kind of having to prepare for that new position in a unique offseason. What can you take this year and apply to the offseason program to maybe get yourself more ready this season for your second full year as a safety?) – “I haven’t really gotten time to look back at the whole season, but I guess as my first full year at safety, I feel like I made a lot of improvements in the run game, something I had trouble with last year obviously coming from corner. And then working on that in the offseason, obviously always working on coverage stuff. You can never get enough work at that. I think for me just to make that next jump is to make those few plays that I left out there on the field against All-Pro-type of players that I’ve got to be able to cover those type of guys if I want to be considered one of the best covering safeties. So that’s something I’ve got to take in the offseason, work on it, improve and then I don’t know next year’s schedule, but hopefully we get that opportunity again.”
(My question is actually about CB Noah Igbinoghene. I’m going to be very curious to see how he comes in Year 2 not having played too much this year. What did you see in terms of his development throughout the year in practice, in meetings and what do you think he might be able to do in his career in the future?) – “He needs to – just like everybody – from Year 1 to Year 2, make that jump and even though he didn’t play much in the games this year – obviously you don’t get to see practice – but his coverage skills have gotten a lot better from whenever we played the Bills early on. We’ve all seen him in practice. He’ll go against DeVante Parker and when Preston (Williams) was here and Jakeem (Grant) and he had some really good coverage plays out there against them with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and Tua (Tagovailoa) throwing the ball at him, even though a lot of people don’t get to see that. Obviously he’ll take that into the offseason, keep working on it and for next year he’ll make that jump so when his name is called, his number is called again, it’s not going to be like how it was against whenever we played the Bills. So for him in the future, I know a lot of people think you’ve got to go based off that game, but his future is looking great.”
(I’m making an assumption with my next question here. I’m assuming that there were guys who are either frustrated or angry after yesterday’s game. If I am on-target with that, is anger good motivation to lead you into next season?) – “It can go both ways. It can go both ways. It’s a good motivator to kind of remember what that feeling feels like, because obviously you don’t want to feel like that again. But also, the first thing for me, like yeah I was frustrated and kind of angry. Like frustrated at the way the season ended because that’s not like us, but you’ve just got to take that lesson, that experience right there of, ‘Okay, well we know what we have to do, what we have to work on in the offseason, get ready for next season.’ Because you see 10 wins is not enough. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of wins, it’s hard to get, but it wasn’t enough. So yeah, you can take anger as a motivator. For me, yeah I’m frustrated, but I’ll get over it and just take kind of like the lessons that like why did you not make the playoffs throughout the whole year? Or why did we lose this game? Take those kind of theories and work on that for next year.”
(If I could ask maybe a two-parter. One, you talked about the takeaways and you guys were so great at that this year. They always say that takeaways is sort of volatile from year to year. How do you make sure that you guys can still be great in that in 2021?) – “Yeah, the takeaways, they were huge this year. It really started in training camp. Everyone says all 32 teams defensive-wise say, ‘we’ve got to get turnovers.’ Obviously that’s the key to success, we’ve got to get it. Everyone talks about it, but I think from this training camp and last year, we really made it a focus where – I don’t know if y’all remember telling y’all in training camp that we had that game going on between safeties and corners and who can punch the ball out, who can try to get the interceptions. It was just a focus every single day and that carries on in the season. It helped us well. So next year we have to start from – if we can do OTAs – but if we can’t, we have to start from training camp again. We can’t just talk about it. We’ve got to do it all over again because we can go from the best to the worst from year to year.”
(I guess the second part of that question, and I asked LB Jerome Baker this earlier, turnovers was probably one of the biggest jumps that you guys made year to year. If there’s anything that you would point out maybe in 2021 where you would say, “hey, I would love us to make a jump in that area,” what would that be?) – “Like defensive-wise?”
(Yeah, defensively. I guess you could say team as well, but maybe defensively because we were talking defensive categories.) – “I know one thing we do need to improve is – it’s not horrific, but you can always get better – is our run game. Especially early on in the year, we started struggling against the run and kind of from then on, once teams know what you’re weak at, they’re going to keep attacking it. So I know that’s one thing that definitely we can work on for next year. Obviously we’ve got to keep the takeaways, keep the turnovers high and then shoot, maybe another thing is – I don’t even know. I don’t know. We were pretty good in other categories. You keep that consistent, but yeah, the run game; if we can just get that nailed down from the start, it’d be a lot easier.”
LB Jerome Baker
(You registered career highs in several categories this year, mostly as a pass rusher. I’m just wondering what elements of your game do you think you took to another level this season here in your third year?) – “I think I just got more opportunities. This year, I had more opportunities to blitz, more opportunities to pass rush and it’s more a credit to the d-line. They take up most of the o-line and a few of my sacks, I’m usually free, so it’s a credit to them.”
(In terms of the areas of improvement, where do you feel you’ve made the most strides this season and what do you hope to add to your arsenal next year?) – “Just like you said, I think my pass rushing has definitely gotten better. Just getting to the quarterback has definitely been exciting and definitely helped us this year. This offseason, I have a lot of areas to improve on. Just linebacker things (like) making sure my eyes are right, being more explosive, being faster, being stronger, being bigger. I definitely have a lot of things to work on this offseason.”
(We just had a chance to talk to DE Emmanuel Ogbah and he mentioned that yesterday was not your identity, it’s not who you guys are and it was one of the most embarrassing losses of his career. I was wondering if you kind of share those sentiments and why do you think that was not representative of what this team is capable of?) – “That’s nothing of how we are. We have a lot of guys that are tough, a lot of guys that are smart and we play for each other. Yesterday, the outcome wasn’t what we expected, and that just wasn’t our football. That’s pretty much it.”
(Where do you see the franchise headed over the next one or two years? What do you think in the future for the Dolphins’ franchise?) – “We’re just going to keep going upward. We’re led by a great leader in ‘Coach Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and the ownership. We just have great people all around. The only place we can go is up. We have great guys in the locker room, great trainers, we have a great support staff, we have it all. We just have to put it all together and the Miami Dolphins are definitely going to go upward.”
(Kind of following up on what DE Emmanuel Ogbah said a few minutes ago, he used a phrase that 2021 is our year. Do you second that and if so, what gives you that kind of confidence that next year is your year?) – “Yeah, definitely 2021 is our year; but ultimately, we have to put the work in to make sure it’s our year. We’re definitely going to take some time off, but we’re definitely hungry to get back out there and definitely excited to get back to work. We have to put the work in before we start saying that.”
(With you guys working so hard on defense all season, it kind of seemed like in that Bills game, when the offense wasn’t rolling, it kind of discouraged you guys defensively. How does that kind of work as a defender when you see the offense not really clicking on all cylinders? How does that make you want to play on the other end when you see the offense is kind of struggling?) – “One thing that is unique about our team is that we play for each other. It’s how it was all year – when the offense wasn’t necessarily clicking, it’s our job to hold up our end and give them good field position, give them the ball back or whatever it is. But yesterday as a whole, we just weren’t clicking – offense, defense and special teams – and the outcome is what it was. We definitely can’t have games like that. When we’re down, we expect the offense to build us up, and when they’re down, we build them up. Yesterday wasn’t the outcome (we wanted) and we just didn’t do a good job of doing that.”
(If you could give us one thing you feel like you guys as a defense can make the biggest jump in, and on thing in 2021 you still would like to make a jump in?) – “Takeaways. With takeaways, we did a great job of getting the ball back to our offense. I think that’s the one thing, I’m sure that (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) would say the same thing, that he’s proud of. We got the ball back to our offense. I think ultimately, we have to just get better in the sense of our run defense. We can get better in that. Just continuing to take the ball away, that helps everything. Get after the pass rush – we got a lot of things to work on. We have some time to really look back on our season and we’re definitely going to do that just to see what we can improve on.”
(The Dolphins have a history of rewarding their players after the third season with a contract extension. I was curious if there have been any of those conversation and if it’s your expectation to be here long term.) – “I’ll let my agent do all of that, but I love being a Dolphin. I want to be a Dolphin for a long time. Ultimately, I’ll let my agent do that. We just played a game yesterday, so I’ll let that handle itself.”
C Ted Karras
(You are one of the few and the brave to actually play on a one-year try-me-out deal. Your thoughts on making it through the season without injury and what do you feel like you’ve proved this year?) – “Very grateful that I did make it through injury-free and did some good things. Obviously we were 10-6 and that wasn’t enough. Obviously we did some good things winning 10 games but came up short ultimately. But I got to play in 100 percent of the snaps. That’s the first I’ve ever done that in college or any time in my career. I’m very grateful and lucky. It’s a big spring coming up and looking forward to what’s next. Hopefully – I would love to be here in Miami.”
(This team is obviously building something and made big strides from 2019 to 2020. What’s it going to take to take that next step because what we saw, obviously there is still some work to be done?) – “Whenever a season is over, you look back and there’s a lot of things that you want to take back play-wise. It’s making plays – you look back at some of the games, some of the close games early and then we went on a little run and then dropped a few – looking back at those, we’d probably be playing this week. But just making plays when your number is called and taking advantage of opportunities and the goal is to play in the postseason. We didn’t make enough plays to get there.”
(What can you say about how QB Tua Tagovailoa kind of performed in his nine starts and what it kind of says about him and the future of the team based on his performance?) – “Like a lot of us, most of us; we did enough to win 10 football games but didn’t get into the playoffs, which is when you look back at it, you’re not going to think of it as ultimately super successful. But we did a lot of great things. (Tua is) a great leader and it’s been a pleasure to work with him and hopefully can moving forward. I’m looking forward to growing with him if that is what it comes to.”
(If QB Tua Tagovailoa asked you for advice this offseason on maybe how he can improve as a player or as a leader of the team, what might you tell him going into Year 2?) – “The biggest jump you take as a football player that I’ve seen is from your rookie year to Year 2 and just being more familiar not only with your guys; but (Tua is) going to have a full offseason which will be great for him. Just take advantage of all those moments to get reps with guys. This is a repetition sport and he’s going to take a big jump and I’m excited for him.”
(You played every snap this season. I just wanted to ask you what that meant to you to be a guy that was so reliable and dependable for this team?) – “It was one of my biggest accomplishments in my career, in my life. I’m very grateful to make it through and look forward to continue to play some good football. But it was really special and I’m glad that I got to make it out injury-free – like (you guys) said, one of the brave on a one-year deal – so that was pretty important coming out of that last game healthy.”
(One of the surprises of this past offseason was Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey coming out of retirement after three years away. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what it was like working under Chan?) – “I thought it was a fun, great year and we did a lot of good things. Again, we had a great relationship and I hopefully look forward to working with him in the future, but it was a good season and I learned a lot. It was fun to learn a new system and I had a lot of fun with the guys at the helm and being able to play with them was great.”
(The one area of this team that I felt needed to improve and was kind of inconsistent was the run game. How do you guys take that – if you’re around – to the next level? How does that improve? How does it become more consistent?) – “Repetitions and really honing in on our fundamentals and our techniques and then when it comes time to perform, playing our best and sticking on blocks and the main thing – getting some more movement on double teams. So there’s a lot that factors into it and we’ve got a lot of guys that work really hard and got it going there towards the end of the season, which was encouraging. We’re looking forward to building off that in the future.”
(If I could ask a two-parter, I asked a couple of the guys earlier. If you could maybe say what the biggest jump you would like to see this team make from where you were or I guess the offense in 2021, what would you like to see most?) – “Being able to go in the fourth quarter and just go win a ballgame. I think that early on, we could’ve stolen a few. That would be – being an offense that could go out there with a lot of confidence in the fourth quarter and going to win a football game at the end.”
(And then I guess for you individually, you mentioned playing all games all year on a one-year deal. How do you sort of handle this period not knowing and not knowing if you’re going to be back or not and heading into free agency?) – “I know that it’s a business and there’s a lot of decisions that have to be made and I’ve really loved this season. It was the most fun I’ve had playing football in my life. There’s such great guys here and I’d love to be a part of it and I understand the business of it and I’m going to be patient and I will be grateful for any opportunity in this league. It’s very special to have a job in this league and I will never take that for granted, and I’ll always look forward to the next challenge, the next opportunity.”
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
(What’s the area that you’re proudest of in terms of what you were able to do this season?) – “I think just being able to set the edge and be able to help stop the run and force everything inside to where the help is. Really, just adding my strength and continuing to try to get after the quarterback the best I could, I think. That’s a huge step in the right direction and it’s something I can build off of.”
(I know that one of the things that folks are talking about is what was the message after the game yesterday? Obviously that was a very tough loss. What sense do you get in terms of what Head Coach Brian Flores and the other coaches want you to keep in mind in the offseason?) – “To use this as fuel for the fire. Obviously that one stung and just to remember that feeling and use it as motivation in the offseason and use it going forward, and use it to help push you to be the best player and work on your weaknesses throughout the offseason.”
(My question is from a team perspective. When you look at what you accomplished this year, winning 10 games after five last year, and yet what was left on the table, how do you classify this year? Successful or unsuccessful? What do you take away from this year?) – “Obviously when you can go from five to 10 wins, that’s a pretty good jump. But to not make it to the playoffs and get to where we want to go, it’s kind of a disappointment to me, to not reach the playoffs. Just to see where we came from and how far we’ve come and all the work and dedication that every guy on this team has put in throughout the season to get to this point, and to improve on a daily basis, has really helped this team grow.”
(I don’t know if you saw this stat but you, LB Kyle Van Noy and LB Jerome Baker all had at least five sacks this year. It’s the first time the Dolphins have had three linebackers with five or more sacks. I’m wondering what that might mean to you and what it says about your pass rush that you guys have so many guys that can produce big numbers like that.) – “Right. And I think the coaches put an emphasis on it this offseason and it’s something that all of us in the linebacker room and on the d-line, we put an emphasis on it and what we wanted to improve on. Yeah, after last season, we didn’t have as many sacks as we would have liked, so I’m just seeing improvement there. Really the focal point of that and turnovers, just being able to get after the quarterback and get them on the ground, it’s a huge deal. It means a lot.”
K Jason Sanders
(I was curious, I wanted to get your thoughts on how the season as a whole went. Obviously yesterday didn’t go how you thought, but what will you remember of 2020 and what was your sense of where this team stands?) – “Just simple, this team is fun to be around. Just the guys we have on this team, the energy they brought every week, the coaching staff. I really enjoyed this season as a whole and I’m ready and excited to see what the future has for us.”
(For your performance personally, on paper it seemed like an excellent year for a kicker. Would you agree with that assessment that you performed well this year and what things do you have to work on in the offseason?) – “I think I did a good job taking it one week at a time this year and I think that’s what helped me perform well week after week. A lot of it goes back to the offseason, just work you put in the offseason. I have a tremendous support staff on me. I have a great family, friends, kicking coach, coaching staff here. It makes your job a lot easier when you know the confidence your coaches have in you when you to go out and kick the ball. Then you’ve got Matt (Haack) and Blake (Ferguson) that I’ve been preaching all year, too, as well.”
(Following yesterday’s game, what was the message from the coaching staff and what was the talk like among players? Just trying to absorb not only the loss, but the season?) – “You’ve just got to remember that feeling. Remember that feeling of losing to the Bills like that. The future is going to be bright for us. It’s a matter of what we do this offseason that’s going to change next year.”
(You wound up setting the Dolphins single-season record for field goal accuracy. I wanted to get your thoughts on the significance of that for you.) – “Like I said earlier, it makes it so much easier for me knowing I have a great holder and a great snapper on my side, too; but I think it’s a good time now to reflect on my season as a whole and I’m pretty proud of where I am right now. I love being in South Florida and I love the organization I’m a part of.”
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
(It was a career year for you in terms of stats and snacks and a bunch of different other stats. I’m curious from your perspective, what’s the one thing that you grew in your game that you’re most proud of this season?) – “This year was big for me because I really wanted to focus on my body and staying healthy throughout the year. The part of my game that I worked on the most I would say was my hands. I used my hands a lot. It definitely helps my game better, helps my game improve. There’s still lots of stuff I need to work on. I know for sure this offseason I’ve got to work on my lower body too. I feel my hands, for sure, was the most important thing I worked on last year. It definitely showed up this year.”
(What’s kind of the message, the mood, as you guys head into the offseason after yesterday’s loss?) – “First of all, that was probably one of the most embarrassing losses of my career. It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. I don’t want to speak for the rest of the guys but it definitely left a sour taste in a lot of our mouths. But the season is over. We’ve got next year. We’ve just got to use that as fuel for next year – 2021 is our year.”
(Has the club indicated to you or your agent that they would like to extend you and keep you in South Florida longer?) – “Ultimately we were waiting for the end of the season to have those types of conversations. My agent – I did my part; it’s my agent’s job to do his part. I’m just chilling. My season is over. I’ve just got to take a minute to reflect on the season and then onto the next.”
(You mentioned that 2021 could be our year. I’m curious, what gives you confidence that this is a team that is ready to take a big step forward?) – “As you can see, we won 10 games. A lot of people didn’t think we were going to win 10 games. There definitely is a lot of drive in us. Like I said, (yesterday) left a sour taste in our mouth, losing that way, because that is not us. That team Sunday was not us at all. I know we’re going to be better next year. I’m just ready to lead and I’m just ready to step up and step my game up.”
(What are you going to take away from this year, I guess individually and as a team?) – “This year was definitely a rough year for everybody in 2020. I’ll take the drive. Even though people don’t think you can do something, you can go out there and prove you can do it. I’d say that’s what I can take from this season.”
(Largely on the same topic as the past couple of questions, when you think back on this year, was it successful or unsuccessful?) – “It is definitely not a success if you don’t win the Super Bowl. That’s how I like to view things. But I would say we took a leap as a team that I’m grateful for. There’s a lot of learning moments that we’re going to take from this. We’re just going to use that as fuel for next season. Like I said, the season’s over but we’re just going to take it one step at a time and just reflect and be prepared for next year so it won’t happen again.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit to reflect on this season, on 2020, because it seemed like at some point it was really hard to see a full NFL season take place. Now it’s over for you guys. How can you reflect on just the opportunity to get back on the field and being healthy?) – “I’m definitely grateful for the opportunity to finish out the season. We played in a pandemic. Nobody thought we would do it and we somehow managed to do it, and all 16 games too. But when there is a will, there is a way. You’ll always find a way to make it work and we did that.”
