LB Jerome Baker
(Your early impressions of being in this defense after being on the field now? CB Jalen Ramsey, and CB Xavien Howard were saying on the back end is not all zone, it’s not as much zone as people think. What do you think overall and different specifics of the defense, what are your thoughts?) – “You’ve got to be a smart player to play in this defense, but once you get it down and once you have an idea of what you’re doing it’s so fun playing. Just the different things we do, the different things we ask from guys, it’s definitely going to be fun so I’m excited.”
(What are your thoughts on the rookie LB Aubrey Miller and what he’s been able to do?) – “He’s a fun guy. He’s really just trying to learn. Every play he’s trying to figure out how he could get better. That’s all you can really ask for from rookies. They don’t know what they are doing yet, but just try to soak in all the information and he’s definitely trying to do that.”
(Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio… how are you getting along, and what have you noticed about him?) – “He’s a great guy. He really is. He’s one of those coaches that he will sit down and explain every guy’s role what they got to do on every play and that’s all you can ask for as a linebacker. You really just try to understand the defense and he really sits down and explains everybody’s role and how you can get better. Whether you do good or not he’s just coaching you up to get better. It’s definitely fun.”
(I was asking Head Coach Mike McDaniel about basically culture. How important is it to have guys that buy in and the window in the NFL is short because of free agency, and guys moving around. How important is that?) – “It is super important. That’s when you lean on the leaders and the guys that have been here and they know what we’re about. We have great leaders, we have guys that really buy in. We have young guys that are just willing to do anything to get on the field and help our team win and that’s all you can really ask for.”
(How big of a part of that is the head coach?) – “He sets the tone for everything. Even the first day we came in he set the tone of ‘all we’re going to do is try to win the offseason right now and worry about the season when it comes.’ I think we all have been doing that.”
(When it comes to QB Tua Tagovailoa we see a physical difference, he’s put on some weight. What are you seeing as far as his progression, and what’s different about him now?) – “He’s one of those guys that every year he’s trying to get better at every aspect. This year you can tell physically he looks different. Mentally he’s sharp, I don’t think he’s thrown a pick this offseason. Mentally he’s just sharp, and he’s on it. You can tell now that he’s on guys when they are not doing right and that’s just good to see.”
(Yesterday LB Jaelan Phillips talked about how this offense stresses the edge position and how tough it is to react. I’m curious from this second level position how this offense challenges you in that role?) – “The amount of speed we have is kind of crazy. Every day it feels like a track meet. Like I said, right now it is a track meet because there are no pads on. We got to keep pushing through this offseason and when the season comes we’ve got to just lock it in and see what we are about.”
(This is Year 6 for you, do you have any personal goals, or accolades that you want to accomplish this year?) – “Personally – I have my personal goals I keep to myself – but honestly I want to win some games in the playoffs and see what we can do. I think last year I got a taste of it and now I want more. That’s really my main goal, is to get to the playoffs and win some games.”
(Do you think with the South Florida teams winning in the postseason, do you think that will rub off on you guys?) – “Yeah, I hope so. Shout out to the Heat, shout out to the Panthers and everybody. I hope it rubs off on us we got to taste of it last year. When it’s our time to do it, hopefully we win some more games.”
(Does that Buffalo game stick in the back of your mind, or do you kind of wash it away and move on to the next season?) – “Personally of course I’m still thinking about that. I always think about plays that I could’ve done better, especially when it’s a close game like that you definitely think about the plays you could’ve done better. Of course I’m thinking about it. But as a team, it’s last year. We’ve got a new team so nobody really cares about it.”
(What do you think about the Heat and the way they’ve been able to do it as an eight-seed with a bunch of guys that hardly nobody knew?) – “That’s just a credit to their team. Their mentality is no matter what we’re going to go in there and fight, and as you see it’s working out for them and hopefully they get it done.”
(You’ve talked about the Heat, and the Panthers and it seems like Inter Miami is getting ready to make a move and bring Lionel Messi to South Florida. What do you think about that? It’s a big-time move right?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely big time. I guess you can say Miami is trying to win some ball games around here. That’s just the credit to the culture of Miami. We’re just trying to win in every aspect and it’s going to be a good one.”
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Inter Miami just got Lionel Messi. What do you think it does for the Miami sports culture?) – “We’re getting Lionel Messi? I just got done watching ‘Ted Lasso.’ Anyone watch ‘Ted Lasso’? That thing’s awesome. I thought you were pulling my leg because someone told you that. But I’ve been raving about how good ‘Ted Lasso’ was in the locker room. But that’s awesome. Got another superstar. Big, big names out here in Miami. It’s good for the culture out here, just like what the Heat got going on and what the Panthers got going on.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about your ownership of the offense and leadership role here in your second year in this system. I’m curious to hear your perspective on how you feel more comfortable in the second year?) – “Yeah, we feel extremely comfortable coming off of a year having to study, having to get a good feel of how Mike (McDaniel) calls plays. Get a feel of the guys running the routes and then the concepts and where guys are going to be and the distribution of those. It makes it a lot easier when you can transition from that into this year and not have to learn a new offense.”
(What are your initial thoughts on WR Robbie Chosen and how has your time been working with him?) – “Chosen is a great teammate. He’s really fast. He knows how to get the ball. He’s been getting the ball a good amount this OTAs. But he’s a really good player, just like everyone in this room.”
(You’re using the new quarterback-specific helmet. I’m wondering what you learned about what makes it safer and how it feels to play with it on?) – “I’m still trying to feel it out. So what better time to feel it out than OTAs. I heard it’s supposedly better than the helmet that I had been wearing last year. If it could be that much more safe, then why not give it a shot?”
(So you’re not sure it’s what you’ll go with? You’re still feeling it out?) – “Yeah, still feeling it out.”
(It looks like you’ve been in the weight room a little bit this offseason. What have you been trying to work on?) – “Well, I’m trying to work on everything. As much as I’m trying to work on throwing the ball, getting the ball to the guys, being able to push the ball a lot more downfield. You know, getting in the playbook. I’m doing the same with my body.”
(You brought up culture. Coach (Mike) McDaniel talked a little bit about bringing the right guys in. How much more important is that than maybe some guy with a little bit more talent that doesn’t have the right attitude?) – “Yeah, I think that’s really important because if you have someone with talent that does their own thing, it’s going to screw up that entire symphony of the offense, the defense or the special teams. If you get someone that’s less talented, but understands what they’re doing, their assignment, he’s going to be where he needs to be when he needs to be there and whatnot. It’s going to move like a symphony and guys in the backend are going to be able to help that one specific guy, kind of cover his tracks, if he’s not as good as you know, per se someone else at that position.”
(So when you put it together, everybody talks about WR Tyreek Hill’s work ethic. When you have guys like that at the top of the food chain, does it make it a lot easier?) – “Yeah, it makes it a lot easier because before Tyreek (Hill) came here, he was a well-known person. He’s a superstar in the NFL. For him to come here, we have a young team so a lot of the younger guys look up to someone like him. Now that he’s on the team, they see the kind of work ethic he has. They see what kind of person he is in the building, around the building and it’s like, oh, he’s a cool dude. He’s just like any other person. He’s not this, ‘I’m this ego person.’ Although everyone in the locker room thinks they’re better than everyone. But at the end of the day, it’s a team and everyone respects each other in there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the 10k donation for Eric’s GoFundMe. I guess what inspired you to do that for a fan that was really a diehard about you?) – “Yeah. Well, you basically said it. He’s a diehard fan about me, but out of my respect to him, I mean, he basically not just covered me but the entire Dolphins. For me to have done that, Tyreek (Hill) was able to do the same. Other guys have been able to do the same as well, to donate. But I just want his wife and his kids to know that we’re praying for them and that we’re thinking of them.”
(I wanted to ask you about the helmet cam. What was your reaction when they first approached you about doing it? Were you onboard? Were you like ‘oh this is kind of strange’? How has it helped you?) – “It’s almost like, you think of the integrity of the huddle. Like, man, do I really want the coaches to hear what I’m saying to the guys? Because sometimes you might not like a play and you go into it and you tell the guys how you feel, but you basically tell the guy, ‘Hey, I’m skipping this progression to come to you so you better be there.’ Well, it has its good, and it has its bad. That was one of the things that we felt wasn’t as good. But a lot of the cool things that you can do with that is it gives audio for a lot of the new guys so that they can listen to the play over and over and over from the guy giving the play. Then they can listen to the cadence. So when they go off from OTAs, it’ll be good for them to just listen to the cadence over and over and over. That’s something that’s been big this offseason for us, is operation.”
(You’re going against a Vic Fangio defense every day in practice. I remember going back to your rookie year that was one of the bigger challenges you had was playing that Denver game over there. What do you remember about that game and what makes his defenses so difficult to go against?) – “Yeah, I remember I was getting hit a lot. I was getting confused where to go. I think what he does a really good job with his guys is holding shell in the back end. They do a really good job holding shell and being able to disguise their coverages in that sense. But there’s so many nuances to what they do and how they run their defense. So many coverages, it’s not just one. There’s a knock off of like, six in just one coverage. So you’ve got to know what they’re doing and if you don’t, they’ll make you pay.”
(Just watching today, there seems to be a motion and a shift, at least one, every single play. Is that a philosophy where you just want to give the defense as much to look at pre-snap as you can?) – “Yeah, I would say it’s something that we tried to harp on last year during our operation. What we don’t want to do is go out, get the defense set, and just run a play. Those guys on the other side are already good. So forcing them to have to communicate, back, back backs, you know, shifting the front. Just having to force them to communicate and not just get set and just go out and play football and not have to think.”
(When you skip a progression in the huddle, when you’re like ‘we’re not doing that, we’re doing this.’ How does Head Coach Mike McDaniel respond to it?) – “I won’t do that to Mike (McDaniel). (laughter) I’ve got too much respect for Mike. It’s more of a, I don’t like this play but what do I know is going to be open more often than not if I’m given these three or four coverages. So that’s how I kind of gauge it.”
(You’re not the first quarterback to do that but now you’re more conscious because it’s on camera?) – “Yes, not the only quarterback but because it’s on camera, you start thinking of everything. Then it gets weird when you start hearing yourself calling plays in the huddle, calling cadence.”
(I think one of the leagues used to have a helmet cam live. Do you guys remember that? Would you want that to come back to the NFL? Like, you could watch…?) – “No, no. Let’s not do that. I just think there’s too many things that are said on the field that should be said on the field and on the field only. Just to keep the integrity of the game with the guys out there.”
(Regarding the offense, where do you feel like you’ve made the biggest growth in terms of comfort?) – “The biggest growth in terms of comfort? I think, for me, it’s continuing to work on the little things. One of the things that we’ve been harping on has been operation. When I think of my position, I think of what have I done as a leader for the guys up front, for the guys out there to have gotten them better? What have we done? So I think we’ve been doing a great job, working operation, doing some cadence deals, motions, trying to work a lot of things just to give some eye candy for the defense and forcing them to communicate in the back end.”
(How has it been as the leader of the quarterback room, coming from working with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Teddy Bridgewater in the past and taking on more of a leadership role? How has that been for you?) – “It’s been good. I think the coolest thing is now that we have James (Blackman) in our room, I’m finally not the youngest in our room which is great. That blows my mind that I’m going in to my fourth year and it took me four years to not be the youngest. It was cool. Everyone has their own ideologies of how they like to do things, how they like to prepare, how they like to think of plays, and how they like to go about those. I think for me I’ve been able to learn from all of those guys. Being able to learn from Mike (White) as well. With Mike White being in our room, taking a little piece of what I think is pretty cool that a person does and trying to implement that into my game.”
(I saw a drill out here today where you literally did bootlegs for twenty straight minutes. Right side, left side. You hit WR Tyreek Hill. Is that just a reminder that this whole thing always comes back to the basics, that you can never drill it enough?) – “Yeah, it always comes down to the basics. I was just over there talking to our OC Frank Smith telling him you know when are we going to start doing these plays, these plays, because the defense are overplaying this. He said that Mike (McDaniel) wanted to stick to the basics. Once everyone understands where they’re going, gets the foundation of it, then we can move on from there. That should tell you all from the drills that we did.”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I wanted to touch on base on the South Florida athlete and how they stand out? During your coaching tenure you’ve had time with Santana Moss, Travis Benjamin, Devonta Freeman and Nick Bosa. Your thoughts and what’s unique about those guys and how is WR Robbie Chosen been similar in those aspects as a South Florida athlete?) – “First and foremost, it’s one of the hotbeds in the country for talent and my experience doesn’t mean it’s a 100 percenter, but the guys he just named; a common denominator is that they’re very used to good competition and have a chip on their shoulder to go above and beyond. Any time in professional football, you have athletes that also have the drive – you have top-tier athletes that are super driven to be the best at their respective positions in the game. It’s a good formula for success. So I’ve always really, throughout my career, and all the teams I’ve been, there’s been guys from South Florida that they have stood out because they’re familiar with the competition, and they have a burning desire to uplift themselves for sure. Chosen has been awesome to have him around because he’s at a point of his career where he’s experienced a good amount of success. But he’s hungry to continue to develop and improve. One of the most coachable guys that I’ve been around that have had success at the level that he’s had in this league. He is open-minded, bright-eyed and wants to be better and doesn’t just say that. A lot of people can say they want to be better, but then when you’re trying to improve stuff, you have to be real with yourself and take criticism. And he is a tough-minded individual that means what he says and has followed through, has really just approached it that he wants to be a part of the team. I think he is about the cause as much as anyone in terms of he knows the direct history of the Dolphins and what it would mean to the city to for the Dolphins to be a success at the level that we all aspire. So he’s doing it for the right reasons and doing it well.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. Obviously last year he seemed to take basically every single rep. Didn’t do too much team or I don’t think 7-on-7 yesterday. Is this just understanding at this stage in his career he doesn’t need all that kind of work or is he dealing with something?) – “I’m very consistent that I’ll be inconsistent with player to player. I think it’s hard, but if you prove to the players that your intent is right, and you’re doing stuff for the right reasons and you pay attention and know who’s deserving of a little time off or maybe we’re hypersensitive to maintenance of someone. Case by case, you approach it as such. I know one thing if Tyreek (Hill) is at risk for further injury, he doesn’t know any speed on the practice field as you guys know, but full go, so there’s also a component of coaches protecting players from themselves. And he’s dealing with some minor stuff, but if at any point, we think it makes the Miami Dolphins worse for someone to practice, turn the page, he will not practice. So that’s kind of where he’s at. I have no concerns of any player, whether you’re the 53rd, the 90th, or one of the best players in the league; all those players in a pool, Tyreek is probably the least I’m worried about him being physically able to perform his tasks. And I will say in executing his assignments in walkthroughs his putting his best foot forward is night and day ahead of where he was last year with regard to the offense and has his mind set on improving and getting better from last year, which is the only place we want it.”
(When it comes to Year 2 in this system for QB Tua Tagovailoa and overall Year 4 for his career, what are you looking at on a day-to-day basis from practice to say, “okay, I saw what I needed to see from Tua, we had a good day with him”?) – “There’s a lot that goes into that. I think Year 2, the prerequisite is that he, as the quarterback, he has to have ownership of everything he’s doing and what everyone else is doing as the facilitator of the offense, and he’s checked that box every day. It’s been really cool in a year’s time, how he’s not only learned the language but is now fluent in it. That opens quarterbacks up to doing some of the components of the job – it’s really hard to try to be the leader of an offense and motivate guys and encourage guys when you need to or maybe be hard on guys when you need to, when you’re just trying to spit out a play and know your own assignment. So this offseason, hoping that I would see a graduation of sorts and really have every single day. That’s first and foremost. For his game, you’re less concerned about the really good plays. Your attention is less drawn to that and it’s more about consistency of the entire practice. Just like a game where you can have some – he had his games where he made some big-time plays and then he wasn’t as happy with the rest of the game. So kind of looking at it through that lens, he’s really been one of our more consistent if not – I think he’s been as consistent as anybody day in and day out, which has residual effects to the whole team. I know the team can feel it as well.”
(Is OL Connor Williams expected to return to the team before the end of minicamp or is he expected to be away for the remaining two practices?) – “Well, I don’t have my ‘what would Connor Williams do’ bracelet on, so like I said, for me personally talking about our workings, that’s one hand the Dolphins, one hand Connor. It’s something that I don’t think is business necessarily that needs to be out there on the street that he can’t answer to. We’re in communication. I’m not going to put a day when he’s back. He might be in the back of this room right now. I don’t know. But like I said, I know where he’s at. We’re in healthy communication, so there’s nothing wrong with that and I have so many other very quality players to worry about that you’ll get to watch in vet minicamp Day 2, which is where all my concerns really focus.”
(But to your knowledge, not here today?) – “To my knowledge, he’s not here today.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB David Long Jr. We have not seen him much at team drills in the days that we’ve been here. At what point – I don’t know if this is an injury-related situation or if it’s a veteran rest, if you could clarify that, but at what point does he have to get his legs in and gain a comfort level about the defense or do you just worry about that at training camp?) – “No, although practices started OTA 1, we had Phase 2 in front of that and he’d been getting really good work there and then had a minor tweak or something that isn’t that big a deal, but it’s cost him some immediate reps. Those we will see when he comes back, how much he got out of it. You can go one of two ways where you can be on the sidelines and observing and as an observer, or you could be gaining reps from putting yourself in situations that the people that are playing are going through. So I think he’s more of the latter, but the great thing is he gets to show me and the rest of the coaching staff and his teammates, how the time getting healthy has treated him. I love his energy. I love what he brings to the locker room. I love what he brings to the practice field. You can feel that he’s out there and I’m certainly excited for when he’s able to get back on the field, but I’m not going to all of a sudden overreact and put them out there before his body’s fully ready. He’s in a good spot and look forward to getting out there, but first he has to get fully healthy.”
(Kind of discussing what you just mentioned with LB David Long Jr., the guys who have been in there in place of him during this time, what have you seen from them and maybe your overall inside linebacker depth?) – “Well, that’s the key really, you have to be opportunistic to succeed in this league, for sure. When you do have available reps, you need to seize them and I’ve seen several players. It’s giving great, great work for our rookies, but the extra reps that ‘Gink’ (LB Andrew Van Ginkel) has been able to get, invaluable. Duke (Riley) has been doing a tremendous job at that spot. ‘Bake’s’ (Jerome Baker) been doing a tremendous job learning this new system and not just knowing it, but being able to react in an elite fashion. It’s hard to do. That’s why it’s not for everybody, but we’ve got several quality guys that have gotten work and then all the reps that the younger guys get are incredibly invaluable. As I talked to the team about numerous times, you don’t know – these reps might be more than your first two weeks of training camp. You just don’t know. So you have to be opportunistic, so each and every rep that people have been able to take as a result of him being out has been very beneficial because this is all stipulated on guys are going after practice in an elite fashion, and we’ve really had that thus far.”
(What kind of things do your coaches tell you about what CB Jalen Ramsey is like within the facility, what he’s like in meeting rooms, on the sidelines, when he’s not in team drills?) – “Just nice, very nice things. He’s a very talented individual in more ways than one. He’s been exactly what we need from a guy that is in charge of holding a predominant piece in our defense. He’s been engaged. He has history in a version of the scheme so there’s a lot of talking points that if you have the right type of players, you can really get to the next level in terms of how you execute your defense. He’s fit right in with a lot of the veterans here. I mean, you can already see him push ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) for ‘X’s’ benefit. The way he communicates with guys that are out there coming off the field in Jevon Holland. I mean, that’s tremendous, but there’s also, he’s communicating with all the secondary players, as well as some of the guys that aren’t practicing like, the Brandon Joneses or the Nik Needhams. He is exactly what we’d hoped for, probably a little bit more.”
(Along those lines, you talked about WR Robbie Chosen being a guy that blends in well here. As a coach, with all the turnover in the league now, how tough is it to get that group of guys? You’ve seen it go sideways in some places. How in touch do you have to be with it?) – “It’s huge. First and foremost, we wouldn’t have a chance to have the camaraderie that we have in this locker room if it weren’t for the personnel department and how good of a job they do and really figuring out what types of people we’re getting on this team. As a result, I think over time you have a bunch of like-minded individuals that are trying to be their best, which is ultimately, that’s the only thing that wins, really, are people going after it like that at least on a consistent basis. So it’s incredibly important. You have to pay attention to everything. I think before any player comes on this team, Chris Grier and I are spit balling what’s that going to look like starting with the position room. Then you extrapolate that out to the rest of the team, but a predominant fixture on our minds, is, what is our team going to look like? And it’s not just Madden, you know what I mean? To get it to orchestrate the right way, you need the right people and I’m very confident that we have that.”
(We’ve seen a more stout version of QB Tua Tagovailoa this offseason coming in. What does maybe that added weight or strength do for him going into the season?) – “I think that the major part of it is that he’s put time into his body that I think helps him perform all tasks. It’s funny to reflect on some of the areas of concern, so to speak, when I first got here, or just things that were on my radar of, you know, random people saying, ‘Okay, well, he’s young or whatever.’ I didn’t have a complete picture on what type of professional he was. As we stand right now, I mean this dude is everything you’d look for in a starting quarterback in terms of professionalism, how he attends to his job, how seriously he takes it. He takes pride in making sure he does his job, but more importantly, how he makes others better at their jobs. All of that can fall on deaf ears if you’re not living it yourself. So I think it’s empowered him to, kind of what I was talking about before where he is really owning the position and going about the verbiage of the offense as well as motivating teammates and encouraging them. That probably doesn’t look the same if he didn’t go about his individual work on his body, which has residuals all over the place. So you’re talking his ability to make certain plays is enhanced. His ability to protect himself is enhanced and his ability to communicate and do his job with his teammates is enhanced. I think it affects everything.”
(Can you give us an example about how the camera, the go-pro, has helped him? Have you seen one thing get better the next day because you were able to see it on tape?) – “I think that added resource, he’s seen it live and he has a very strong recall in what he sees and is able to communicate it to coaches. So it’s more for coaches to see exactly what he’s seeing. That’s proved beneficial as well as, I’m not sure if you guys have noticed or not, but I’m never in the huddle. Now I am. There’s a lot that goes on with that. How you communicate to your teammates, all that’s available now. I think he does get some enjoyment on, like, ‘See Coach (Darrell) Bevell? This is kind of hard to see.’ (laughter) But he’s at the stage of his game where he already knows what he’s seeing and he’s able to articulate it well enough to now we’ve just found out how honest he is, which is a great thing.”
(Can you use some of that to teach the other quarterbacks?) – “Absolutely. It has so many different applications, but they’re all not totally calculated. I’ve really set off the last two consecutive team meetings with random things that are hilarious like the noises Raekwon (Davis) makes when he pass rushes. (laughter) Like I said, it’s a tool of resource and it has many different applications. It’s just case-by-case, play-by-play how you can really employ those applications.”
