OL Connor Williams
(We didn’t see you at minicamp. It seems like it was a contract dispute. Why’d you decide to come to training camp and where do things stand with a new contract?) – “Yeah so let me get all of this out of the way. Obviously, I wasn’t happy with my contract. I had contract talks all of OTAs and stuff – it was a time for business and everything. But the pads are coming on now and it’s time for football. It’s time for camp. It’s football time. No business anymore. I’m forgetting about that and moving on.”
(Are you saying you wouldn’t want to get a deal done before the regular season?) – “I’m head down and focused out here. Everything upstairs, agents can talk. I’m working on me and focusing on me right now, focusing on my craft.”
(What are some of things you want to improve on in your second year here?) – “Just solidifying my game. Obviously coming in last year to a new position, things are picking up on the fly and now it’s just about solidifying that spot, feeling comfortable with all the blocks and all the positions and being able to solidify my role as a leader, as the center, and being able to lead better.”
(What were you feeling in OTA’s and minicamp when you decided not to be here?) – “You can’t be on this field if you don’t love football. I love football. I missed it, missed the teammates, missed the players and missed my time here. But like I said, it’s all in the past. We’re here now.”
(Are you at peace where things stand as far as there is no new contract yet. Obviously, the team likes you. Are you at peace mentally with where things stand?) – “I’d say so. I’m excited for football. I’m just excited to be back on the field.”
(Do you believe that you are one of the top-10 centers in football?) – “That’s up for you all to say. I’d say without a doubt in my heart.”
(Last year was your first year at center. It was a major change. Did you surprise yourself in any way with how well you performed at center?) – “My approach my whole career has always been steady, always been the same, always been the same approach. I think last year was just in the right light. It was a great year and great recognition and whatnot, but none of that (expletive) matters at the end of the day.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about how he’s able to separate business and football and and he talked about supporting you and what you have to do in business because it’s not part of football. How does it make you feel when you get that kind of support?) – “Mike’s definitely supported me through this. He has been able to put aside the coach and everything and be human-to-human, which has really helped along the way. I love the guy, I respect him to death and I love playing for him.”
(Is the pursuit of a contract extension more about security or risk of injury?) – “Like I said, it’s about football right now. I’m focused on football straight on.”
(What’s something that you can do even better in your second full-time year here?) – “I think the scope as a whole. At this level, it comes down to the inches. It comes down to the detail. It comes down to preparation. Just being able to perfect your craft in every minute level helps you elevate your game.”
(Last year you said you were pleased making the move from guard to center. Do you feel that way? Do you still feel the rest of your career will be at center?) – “I love center. I feel like it’s home. I feel like it’s second nature. I feel like I should’ve been there all along. It’s been good.”
(What is it like to see the type of talent you guys have put together here? Your window is now.) – “It’s exciting. We have experience and talent. We have depth. We have a great group of guys with good energy and we all know what we’re doing. We all know the task at hand and what it’s going to take, so it’s exciting.”
WR Tyreek Hill
(There was some news last month about an alleged altercation. On Monday, your attorney and their attorney put out a statement saying that you resolved the differences. Can you kind of tell us what happened last June and where you stand?) – “As far as the story, I’m not here to get into that. I’m here to play ball. I understand your question totally, but the issue has been resolved, and I’m currently cooperating with the NFL, giving them all the details on what happened on that day.”
(Are you concerned about a suspension?) – “No. When I’m able to come here and play ball, I get a chance to get away from all of that at the end of the day. That’s the thing about football. God has blessed me to be able to perform and do what I do, and I’m blessed and grateful for that. I just can’t make boneheaded mistakes like that.”
(Have you been given assurances that there won’t be anything criminally coming against you?) – “Like I said, I have no idea. I have no idea, man. Like I said, it’s been resolved and I hope everything gets situated.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that he talked to you about it. What did he say? What did you say to him?) – “I can’t give you all of the details because that would be basically like me pillow-talking to you guys. But he did tell m, ‘You know ‘Reek,’ we got your back, full support.’ That’s all the details that he said to me and I didn’t respond back.”
(I know your goal is 2,000 yards this season. How much effort have you been putting into this offseason to make sure that goal is a reality?) – “I’ve been grinding this whole offseason. Obviously I’ve been doing the camps all over the U.S. But I’ve had time to fine-tune my game. When I come out here to practice, to me it’s not all about running fast anymore. Now it’s all about getting open and being in the right spots for my guy Tua (Tagovailoa), or whoever is in at quarterback at the moment. As you saw today, I was out there coasting, trying to find ways to get open, trying to be like Travis Kelce-ish. Yeah man, just learning the game a little bit more. I’m playing at my own pace and just trying to control the tempo for myself.”
(You mentioned QB Tua Tagovailoa. How have you seen him grow since you’ve been with him?) – “He’s more vocal. I would say Tua is more vocal, and that comes with confidence, obviously. I feel like the year that he had last year gave him everything that he needed to go into this year. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do this year. I know he’s going to do very exciting things this year.”
(The last time we talked to you, you talked about year two in this offense. Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned it as a foreign language. What does it feel like for you now having another year in it?) – “Like I said, just being able to play at your own tempo, being in the right spots, and then understanding every route and how to run every route. Like I said last year, I was just out there running routes and just getting open. But this year, I completely understand the offense, and how to use leverage against DBs and know where I need to be at in certain coverages. Everything has slowed down man.”
(What does that translate to?) – “Two-thousand yards. That’s what it translates to sir, 2,000 yards.”
(Was there a time last year where you thought 2,000 was in the bag for you? Because you were certainly on pace for that.) – “Obviously. As a competitive person, it never slipped my mind, or it never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t hit the goal of 2,000. But obviously that wasn’t my first goal. Obviously my first goal is to win a championship here, to bring something special to Miami.”
(Earlier this offseason, you mentioned that you were planning on retiring after the Dolphins’ contract is up. It caught a lot of people by surprise. How serious were those comments, and how many more years do you think you can play at an elite level?) – “I can continue to play this game for forever, I feel like. I’m feeling great. Obviously I’m still fast. My dad had a chance to talk with me the past two years. He told me, ‘you can make all the money in the world, but what is it for if you’re not able to spend it? You don’t want to spend your whole life working. You want to be able to enjoy your life.’ That’s kind of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been traveling the world. I was able to go to three countries this offseason. I really enjoyed that. I don’t know, man. If I keep traveling the country like I’m doing, who knows man. I’m enjoying life, having fun.”
(Zach Thomas goes into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Miami Dolphins. If you’re able to win a Super Bowl here, do you plan on going into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Dolphins?) – “Did you say would I want to?”
(Yeah) – “Oh yeah, for sure. Obviously I have a lot of history down in Kansas City. Shoutout to those guys down there. Andy (Reid), Brett Veach, John Dorsey, Mr. Clark (Hunt). Those guys brought me in and gave me a chance. A young kid from south Georgia that they believed in. But I feel like here is much more special. You’re in a great city with a bunch of legends. Being able to do something here similar to what the ‘72 team did would be remarkable. I would want to enter it here.”
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I guess first, can you take us through the tattoo? There’s a lot of excitement about this.) – “It’s something that falls off a piece that I had earlier this year. It’s a piece that represents my first child. There’s a lot of things that go on behind it, a lot of cultural significance, a lot of things that have to do with protection, guidance. Sort of things like that that we believe in the Samoan culture. So that’s what it is and then we implemented this piece that I already had with this so it’s almost like when you pray you take it off; it kind of has the sense of you’re taking part of the tribal out of this side.”
(How long does something like that take?) – “This was about three sessions. Took about two-and-a-half days. Took about two full days and then a half day. A lot of detail.”
(In comparison to last year, how much more comfortable do you feel Year 2 with your head coach being out there and he described it as a foreign language last year you were learning and now Year 2?) – “It’s been good. It’s been really good. It’s not only good for me, but it’s good for a lot of the guys that have been here as well, getting comfortable with the offense, being able to understand the logic, understand why we’re doing things more and not just going out there and running and trusting and hoping that this is what the expectation is from said coach to said player. So we all have the same expectation out there when we play with each other. There’s still some things that we’ve got to clean up, but I think overall it’s been a really good first day to be able to go out and compete against the guys that are going to be on both sides of the field. Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle) on this side and then obviously the other side everybody wants to see ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and also Jalen Ramsey. So it was good to see everyone.”
(Does it feel more like a continuation of last year as opposed to coming in, not knowing what to expect with Head Coach Mike McDaniel?) – “Yeah, definitely a continuation of last year. Everyone feels a lot more comfortable, like I said, and it’s not something that we had to really strain this offseason to learn. We could sort of use our strain on other things such as getting together outside of the facility, throwing, working on route timing, things like that.”
(When you look at the various metrics from last season, you led the league in passer rating, top 10 in a lot of key stats. Reasonably in Year 2, what can people expect from this offense after another year of what you guys did?) – “I think if God willing we all can stay healthy, I think this offense can do crazy things. I think we can be dangerous. I think we have the potential to do something really, really special for the city of Miami, to do something special for the organization, to do something special for guys on our team that don’t really have that opportunity, but it’s almost like we all have some sort of influence in others’ lives when we play together and when we win and when we do something special, whether you’re a two, a three, whether you’re a practice squad player. Guys want people that win, so I would say that’s the expectation, that’s the hope and that’s what we’re looking for.”
(Did you see Justin Herbert’s contract? What was your reaction to a number like that?) – “Yeah. I mean, it’s big. Big. First off, congrats to him and congrats to Jalen (Hurts) as well earlier on his contract. I think it’s really good for the quarterback market. That’s what I would say. It’s really good for the quarterback market. It gets me excited, gets me going. But at the same time, they got what they deserve and I’m happy for them.”
(Do you think it’s best for you and the organization – for everyone – to wait and see and put the contract aside for the season and see how everything goes?) – “I think regardless of what it is, if they wanted to do it now, if they wanted to wait, whatever; I think for myself I’m always a person that wants to prove to myself that I deserve whatever I get. So for me, I feel like this is something that I need to work for. It’s as plain and simple as that.”
(You were named the on the list of Top 100 players this past season. Were you surprised with your placement and how cool was it?) – “No, I wasn’t surprised at my placement. I got hurt. I had a good season but I never got to finish it, so I wasn’t surprised at all.”
(You’ve been in South Florida a few years now and you talked about the fans and what they expect. Do you get that sense that they’re thirsting for it? How much responsibility falls on you?) – “I think South Florida is hungry. I think they’re hungry for something, a championship. You’ve seen it when you went to the hockey game with the Panthers. You’ve seen it when you went to the Heat games, so these guys are more than ready and I think as players, being able to watch as fans, to see the city turn up; that’s something that we’re excited for and we’re really hoping that we can get this group of guys ready to do that.”
(One more question about the contract. Would you categorize it as ongoing talks? Have they been tabled until the season is over? Where do things stand with you?) – “I haven’t talked about any contract since what I’ve understood with my fifth-year extension. I don’t think that’s a worry of mine. When things come, they’ll come because you either deserved it or it’s supposed to happen that way.”
(You talked to Head Coach Mike McDaniel. What have you noticed about how he approaches an offseason now that you’re entering your second year with him?) – “I would say Mike (McDaniel) is the same. Mike has always been the same. His approach might be a little different… (laughter) but that’s his sort of mantra for the team this year, is ‘different.’ He’s the same person. He’s here at like, 2 o’clock every morning working hard trying to do everything he can to put players in the right position and whatnot.”
(There’s been a series – “Quarterback” – that came out. I’m curious if you’ve seen it and if that’s anything you would have interest in doing?) – “Yeah, I have seen it. There have been talks about going on it, but I feel like right now it just isn’t the right time. But even, too, because I’m a very personal guy, I felt like the series was a lot more personal. It was a lot more about their personal lives than it was more so what they did on the football field; and for me, that’s not something that I like to do, especially show my kid on national television or people seeing what I do. It would just be too hard to turn off. After a loss, a loss is tough as it is. I don’t know how that would go trying to talk about a loss in my car.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned today – he always mentions opportunity cost around us and I’m sure he mentions it a lot around you guys. He mentioned it was big and where he first started thinking about it when he became sober. Is there a different part of your career where you really focused on opportunity cost so far?) – “I think for my life, everything is an opportunity. I think for you guys, as well. You guys look at everything as an opportunity as well, whether you’re interviewing someone like me, whether you’re interviewing someone like Tyreek (Hill) or the o-line. I feel like everything is an opportunity for us and that’s what makes us who we all are, is our perspective on how we see things. So yeah, I look at all of this as an opportunity. This is an opportunity for people to see my tattoo. It’s an opportunity for people to hear what I have to say about our team this year. There’s a lot of things that are opportunities and we’re excited to have the opportunity to go out there, practice and hopefully become the team that I know the city wants us to be.”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(The four guys starting on Active/PUP, if you wouldn’t mind anything that you can share on those four? With the particular question about whether you expect all four CB Nik Needham, T Terron Armstead, T Isaiah Wynn, TE Tanner Conner to be back by the regular season.) – “Hmm. Well, so fool me once. I tried predicting the future last year and failed miserably, if you guys recall. Having said that, I think if I would order where the guys are at, I’m expecting sooner with Armstead and Wynn, then Nik, then Tanner. As far as when that is, like I said, I’ve kind of learned my lesson on that. But we feel pretty good about each and every one of them in terms of where they’re at, where they need to be and where they’re going. We’ll keep you posted.”
(It was reported that T Terron Armstead had a knee scope. Is that accurate?) – “He had some cleanup work done. I’m not sure the technical term. But yeah, that was part of his offseason.”
(Did T Isaiah Wynn hurt himself off the football field, or was it like a spring thing?) – “This is something that – it’s athletic football that he was playing. So he was training. It was light. But it was football activity, training to get ready and he’s diligently working himself there.”
(How does that impact what you want to see from your offensive line? I know T Isaiah Wynn was going to be in that mix in terms of competing for a starting spot, maybe filling in for T Terron Armstead.) – “I think in our particular situation, we have some competition that I’d be a fool to try to crown X, Y or Z. So, on one hand, the time that you miss is unfortunate to not seeing certain players. But wow is it an opportunity to grasp and gain some momentum for some other guys. So as long as the timeline isn’t too drastic, as you know, we’ll let time tell. As long as it’s not too drastic, there can be some benefit in that in terms of you can get a little more clarity or make sure that everyone gets their full due in that important competition.”
(The OL Connor Williams situation, how nice is it that he’s here to start training camp and in your conversation with him, what kind of feel did you get from where he’s at right now?) – “As a head coach, I think one of the things that I try to value the most to do my job up to my own expectation is being connected and having empathy for every player we have. So, whatever a player is going through and however they conduct themselves, I try to first see their issues and their plight. The business of football is tough. So, the biggest thing for me and Connor is being able to communicate the “why’s”. The whole time, I have lost zero relationship with him really at all. I feel very good about us working through that, really pumped to have him, think that he can put together a good year for himself, and I know he’s pumped to be back. So these are things that come up, will continue to come up as long as people keep paying tickets to watch football players, and it’s something that we work through. But the biggest thing to me is that you have to have a relationship with each and every one of your players because the business is real. Too often business can affect relationships. (General Manager) Chris Grier is the bad guy. I’m the good guy. (laughter)”
(How much more comfortable are you here because it’s year two, you’ve established your culture, your coaching style, as you head into day one of camp?) – “Comfortable? I think there’s some confidence that comes with knowing exactly what to expect. As I’ve talked about before, I did not take this job lightly and my work up until coming here, I tried to do my best to know what the job was. That being said, you don’t know what the feelings that are going to be produced when you’re doing it. So for this year, I think that each and every year of my career that I can remember, my sole focus has always been to be better than the previous year. That’s a lot easier when you know exactly what you’re getting better at. So that’s exciting. But the level of – it’s not anything like oh, yeah, I got anything ever. I think it’s so important for me to never get comfortable or complacent because the second I do that, how am I not going to expect everybody else, player, coach alike, to do the same. It is cool knowing what to expect, but the energy and the focus, I wouldn’t say I’m more comfortable. But it’s exciting that you guys have me back. (laughter)”
(What’s one thing you think you’re better at in year two?) – “Smiling. (laughter) I have to smile a lot. In year two – I think one thing that just going into last year, I would have told you that my core principles and just my foundation of what I believe in, you could never get me to waver. I think I learned in real time how important that is simply by the rollercoaster of the NFL season and how you can’t deviate that. I kind of got empowered to some things, I think, that I thought before, which is really, players respond to genuine, consistent, authentic intent and that was a really cool part of last year. You find out that although losing five games in a row is pretty miserable, there’s nowhere to hide in that process. I think this year’s team, the players that were a part of that, I think we’re closer because of it. You have to go through things to have the type of bond that is necessary to do great things in the National Football League with the parity and just with all the pressure on everyone. So my favorite part, really, of last year was going through that with them because there’s a lot of scars that people have from their past. It’s a heck of a responsibility that I take super serious and you gain belief in each other when you see what it looks like when everything’s not going your way.”
(The term “opportunity cost” has been one of the most common ones you’ve used around us in these press conferences. I was curious when and why that started to become important to you and is there any kind of message you impart on the team to start a season?) – “Yeah, hmm opportunity cost. It’s one of my favorites. I think that really started to generate, you know, the obsessiveness that I had with it, probably when I became sober. Only because, in that, you kind of realize when you’re doing one thing, when you’re not addressing an emotion, for me, in my experience, whereas using alcohol and not addressing stuff, that opportunity cost of doing that instead of addressing it manifests itself throughout your life. That example, and then you start thinking about introspectively, hey, every time that I’m worried about something that I can’t control, I just made myself worse at whatever I care about being. So, if I’m worrying about the fact that I’m not ascending in the coaching profession in the speed with whatever made up thing that I made up in my head, me worrying about that just made the whole process even worse. The time that I was really going through all that, it, I didn’t have anywhere to turn but my work. Then all of a sudden, I realized, hey, I’m doing better work and I let go of stuff that I can’t control. In that time, that opportunity I used to worry about what I can control. All of a sudden, my product as a human being, as a husband, as a coach, was a completely better product. I think those lessons really, in the time of my life, sealed the deal for me in terms of that. So I say it a lot because everything is an opportunity cost. If I’m doing one thing, I’m not doing another.”
(A lot of the offensive players have talked about how the continuity of the scheme will make it easier to pick up in year two. At the quarterback position, what are maybe some nuances into the execution and what you’re excited to see with QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “At the starting point, I would equate it to language. When you’re learning a foreign language, you have to translate in your head. Then at some point in time, if you’re fluent enough, you can think in terms of that language. Last year Tua was – we put a lot on the quarterbacks in terms of how to communicate and being in charge of everything. He was literally speaking a foreign language and doing it at a pretty high level. This year, he owns the language. What that manifests? Everything. Ask a player what conviction does in a play call within a huddle. These little nuances are a big deal. All of a sudden, your conviction, the quarterback, you’re saying the same play, but with authority and ownership. Guys believe in it that much more. All of a sudden, your pre-snap penalties are less as well because you’re getting to the line of scrimmage faster. That, in combination with other people doing their part, including myself, gives the potential to have a really cool product. There are so many things we ask Tua to do that was a first for him last year. To his credit, he was able to do a lot of really cool things. Ownership of it and knowing with conviction and confidence exactly why you’re doing something so you can self-correct gives you a chance to take your game to another level. He’s had a tremendous offseason.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. He had that incident a while back. You had a conversation with him, I’m sure. Were you comfortable with that conversation and do you have any concerns he’ll have to miss time?) – “Yeah, I communicated with him, communicated with the league. In situations like that, everybody’s disappointed in what we’re talking about. I think it’s important when you’re in charge of making decisions to reserve as much judgment as possible until all the information is collected. The league’s still looking into it and we’re in communication with the league as we’ve been from the beginning. Outside of that, I’m looking forward to practice and to be continued as information comes our way.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa, T Terron Armstead and DT Christian Wilkins were named to the NFL Top 100 yesterday. Regarding Tua specifically, after the career he’s had, the ups and downs, and kind of the whole moment last year with the sideline report talking about ‘Do I suck?’, that whole thing, the confidence that comes and goes. I’m curious how you feel about his peers rating him that highly in the NFL ranks?) – “Those things are really cool. I think that’s awesome. When I talk, Top 100 stuff does come up naturally every year. It means a lot and it means nothing. Respect amongst your peers is a big deal. What does that mean? Is it right and what does it mean for you moving forward? Not that much. But you want to talk about something that you know without a shadow of a doubt, is earned respect. That’s what that one tells me, because I looked really hard and I didn’t see his name the year before. I think that is something, knowing Tua, he may not even know that it happened, nor would he care, because he’s forward focused. But I think deep down, I mean shoot, when you’re begging, you’re begging for a little positive reinforcement, and you’re considering if you suck, I do think that I can officially say if you’re on that list, you don’t suck.”
(You talk about trying to get better every year, specifically to training camp, when you evaluate how training camp went last year, how much self-scouting did you do on that, and what are some specific changes you wanted to make coming into this camp?) – “It’s important to always evaluate everything you do. I would actually be self-conscious if I was like no something is good and I’m not going to visit that. In terms of schematically, you’re always diving deep into what’s best for your players. Any time your players change at all, your scheme should change. It’s organic. What’s very unique about last year to this year is last year you’re putting forth, specifically for offense, a scheme not totally knowing what your players do best. You are projecting what they do best but you’re having them learn it and kind of seeing where your offense goes. This offseason you can kind of structure it more, tailor it toward your players, evolve the scheme towards the players, because you know things that they are comfortable with, things they have room to grow in, things that they can make plays and be the best player that they’re trying to be. That alone has been so powerful, and even just defensively, we have a new scheme, but knowing players strengths and weaknesses, being able to talk through with Vic (Fangio) and know who you can lean on. All that stuff changes, for me, the most because you know the people, and that’s a very cool thing in year two.”
(A lot of people are excited for camp this year, specifically seeing WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle go against CB Jalen Ramsey and CB Xavien Howard. What is your interest in seeing those two receivers and two defensive backs square off against each other in one-on-ones or team?) – “Have you seen their collective paychecks? My interest is high. (laughter) Since most of us aren’t elite athletes that excel in a professional sports league, it’s hard to kind of relate. But being a good player and getting paid a lot of money has its burdens too. What I’m pumped about is those four guys specifically are competitors that want to win in the worst way and want to be the best version of themselves. So what the gives you a chance to do is dictate the competitiveness of your entire team, but it’s also a burden because if you don’t come to play one day, it affects a lot of people. Those guys specifically know that their actions can influence a lot of the team and where we’re going, even if it has nothing to do with their stats or production. Having those types of guys is invaluable in terms of talented players that want to be great that are willing to work, and I would categorize all four of those guys as that.”
