Thursday, October 1, 2020
LB Elandon Roberts
(I wanted to get your thoughts on the Titans and Steelers losing a game because of COVID, or postponing it. We’ll see when it’s made up. I wanted to know what your life has been like, trying to stay away from it. Have you been able to go out to eat at all? What has your life been like when you’ve left the building?) – “Us as players and the Miami Dolphins we do a great job of treating it like a bubble. We know the responsibility we have to our families and our Miami Dolphin families with the personnel in the building, with our coaches, with our teammates. With us, we’ve still been on a ‘come to practice and go home’ mentality and stuff like that. As Miami Dolphins, that’s just how we’ve been controlling it.”
(I don’t know if you’ve heard the news that Florida’s relaxed in some of it’s protocols. Restaurants can be full, bars can be full – does that make you nervous? Do you think that you are still in good hands? What is your reaction to what the state has done?) – “You can’t control what goes on outside of what you can control as Miami Dolphins. We just still are following our protocol here in our building. You can look at it as a job; we look at each other as family. We’ve just been doing what we’ve first came in doing and that’s coming in, washing hands, wearing our masks at all time – I just took mine off to get on this call – our contact tracers and stuff, doing everything that’s put in place for us to do. I think we’ve done that well as an organization. We’re just going to have to continue doing it more and more with everything opening back up.”
(I’m writing a story on LB Kamu Grugier-Hill. What have you learned about him? What are you impressed by with what he has done? Did you know him back in the day in New England?) – “Yeah, me and Kamu were drafted in the same class in New England. We’ve always had a relationship on and off the field. Kamu is a great guy. I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re getting from everybody. He comes to work every day, works hard off the field. He’s an exciting guy to be around and stuff like that. That’s my guy.”
(I wanted to ask you about this Sunday’s matchup against the Seahawks. We’ll see who is out there; but I know they’ve got a few guys like G Mike Iupati who can really roll up to that second level and really bring that physical mentality. Is that something you embrace as a player, that really takes pride in your own physicality, going against a team that wants to smash you in the mouth too?) – “That’s what the game is all about. It has it’s physical aspects to it and whatnot. Hey, it’s football. Just come to play.”
(How much are you restricting your contact with the outside world? When was the last time you ate at a restaurant or went to a store and stuff like that?) – “It’s been a minute. We went right from training camp to playing games. There really was no time for none of that. My wife, she loves to cook, so it’s all good.”
Thursday, October 1, 2020
LB Jerome Baker
(I wanted to ask you about something away from football here for just a moment. You’re pretty involved in the community both here and back in your hometown. I wanted to ask you what it was like during the pandemic to still try to find a way to give back, and if there is any specific event you can tell us about from this past summer that you were involved in?) – “A lot of my events, they didn’t get canceled. They either got changed quite a bit. I had the backpack giveaway at my high school. It was originally supposed to be a camp and everything, but with the pandemic, we just decided to give backpacks away and that’s pretty much all we did. It was hard. It’s definitely still hard, but you’ve just got to find different ways to try to be safe and just get through it.”
(I wanted to ask about you going up against the rookies – G Solomon Kindley and T Austin Jackson – in practice. What have you noticed from them specifically on Austin and it just seems like the offensive line is very new, but they’ve held it together here in the first few weeks?) – “Just right off the bat, they go hard and they’re willing just to get better. It doesn’t matter who they’re going up against. They’re not afraid to ask questions. Pretty much most of our rookies, they all just come in and pick everybody’s brain and just do things the right way. Guys like that just come in and have that hunger to them. You can just tell they’re going to have success and you can just tell our o-line has definitely gotten better and just continues to get better.”
(What was your reaction when you heard about what happened to the Titans – the outbreak they’ve had – and are you confident that something similar won’t happen here?) – “My reaction – I was actually surprised. With all the protocols, with all the things that we have to go through just to stay safe. For me, I’m not going to say it’s easy, but now we’ve adjusted to it. You definitely have the tools to stay safe and I’m pretty confident that we won’t have anything like that here; but you’ve just got to be safe and just be cautious of everything you do on the field and off the field.”
(I actually wanted to ask you about RB Myles Gaskin. He’s from the Seattle area, so I don’t know if he grew up a Seahawks fan; but I’m sure he’ll be jacked up for this game. Some of us are kind of surprised that he’s gotten so many touches in the first few weeks. What did you see from him even on the practice field and in training camp that was kind of impressive?) – “If you’ve been around here, you’re not surprised at all about Myles (Gaskin). He goes hard. He’s smart and he truly works hard not just during practice, but outside of practice. Even this week, we had a few days off. If I come in and just do some stuff in here, he’s on the field doing ladder drills, running. He’s a guy that does way more than what they ask him. For me, I’m happy to see guys like that just work hard and get what they deserve; and for him it’s more carries, but nobody’s – if you’ve been here – nobody’s surprised. One-on-ones – he does great in one-on-ones, pass protection, he does it all. It’s not a surprise. For me, I’m definitely happy for him.”
(I’ve been looking back at some of your snap counts over the last couple years and you pretty much play every snap, and you do come off the field sometimes. I’m curious if when they call you off the field for the couple of snaps a year that you do miss, are you kind of like, “no, I don’t want to do that” or is it hard to get you off the field?) – “Some of the time it’s a little hard just simply because you can be going – you only can get a play off, two plays off. It drains your energy more to run off the field then run back on. You really don’t get any water. You just pretty much run off the field for nothing; but overall, it’s good. I just try to stay healthy, try to stay ready and try to stay in the best shape I can, and that’s just a credit to it.”
(I wanted to ask how much do you miss Raiders LB Raekwon McMillan? How’s he doing? Have you kept in touch with him over the last couple weeks?) – “Oh yeah, ‘Kwon’ – that’s my boy. Yeah, I talked to him a little bit. We talked a little bit of football, but he’s good. He’s doing his thing over there. Yeah, I definitely miss my boy, but I’m definitely happy for him.”
(It’s the first time you guys haven’t been on a team.) – “Yeah, in a long time. Yeah. We end up playing them later on, right? So it’s definitely going to be cool.”
(I wanted to ask you about the pass rush. What are you seeing out of it that has improved since the first couple weeks? What did you see in the Jacksonville game that was so much better?) – “We’re starting to jell together. We’re starting to really understand every guy’s strengths and weaknesses, so that just comes with time and we definitely are moving in the right direction when it comes to that. I know the DBs, they’re happy because it helps all of us. It’s starting to come together, but we’ve just got to constantly just improve and get better and we’re doing that.”
Thursday, October 1, 2020
CB Byron Jones
(The question we are all thinking: how are you feeling, how has your rehab gone and what do you think your chances of playing on Sunday are?) – “I feel really good. Rehab has been on schedule, which is great. Honestly, it’s just day by day. I felt really good today, so we’ll see where we are at.”
(I understand that you are going day by day, but what kind of challenge does the group of Seahawks receivers and also TE Greg Olsen present, knowing QB Russell Wilson is their quarterback?) – “Yeah. They have a really good receiving corps. It’s really a combination of the receiving corps and also the quarterback, and how he can get the ball to those receivers. As we’ve seen in the past three games, they are taking deep shots. They’re getting big explosive plays so as a secondary and really as a defense, our job is to eliminate and really minimize those deep shots and those big plays. They have fast guys, they have strong guys, they have savvy vets. It’s really impressive to watch Russell and how he can pinpoint those deep balls. That’s something we have to take care of going into the game.”
(Do the doctors and trainers think the groin is anyway possibly related to the Achilles?) – “Not at all. That wasn’t a conversation. No, not at all. Groin – muscles are like a weird, finicky thing man. They come and they go. I’ve had hamstrings in the past. I’ve never really had a groin like that, but it’s just a part of ball. If you play long enough, you’re going to get hurt.”
(I’m sure you’ve gone against your fair share of quarterbacks that are on a roll before, how do you describe this roll that QB Russell Wilson is on? He has not failed to throw at least four touchdown passes in any game this year. How do you describe how hot this guy is?) – “What he’s doing down in Seattle is impressive. Like I said earlier, his receiving corps and what the entire offense over there is doing is really creating big and explosive plays on a consistent basis. That’s a challenge for us, but that’s an exciting challenge. You’re really going against one of the best in the league at this point. It’s really a good measuring stick as to where our secondary and where our defense is going to be going forward.”
(WR DK Metcalf seems like a Deebo on the field for a lack of better term with his size and his strength. What do those challenges present for you guys as a secondary?) – “He’s a guy that really has it all. He’s got big speed, he has a really big catching radius, he runs good routes for someone who is that big and he has a really good quarterback who puts it on the spot. It’s a challenge, like I spoke about earlier. It’s one of those things where it’s a really good opportunity to see where we’re at as a defense and as a secondary. We know what the challenge is, we’ve seen the film, so lets go out there and stop it.”
(Is there a certain threshold you need to reach for you to be comfortable on the field? Obviously your speed and agility is a big part of your game. You’re not going to be 100 percent – no one is during the regular season, but what do you have to feel like to play?) – “You just have to keep running through the paces. Today was a really good challenge today with what we did, and tomorrow is going to be a bigger challenge. As we go along, you continue to push yourself and you gain that confidence. You start at 50 percent, then you go to 65 percent, then 75 percent. It’s just about the workload and the speed and how the recovery is and how I feel the next day. I’d say we’re on a good track.”
(You mentioned that playing long enough in this league, you’re going to get hurt; but you haven’t missed many games in your pro career. Something I’ve heard before is that sometimes it helps a player to get mental reps in from the sideline. Have you had any of that experience the last couple of weeks?) – “Of course. I’ve played in every single game since I’ve been in the league. I missed my last game last year, which was the first game I’ve ever missed. This year, this is the first time I’ve had to prepare throughout an entire week knowing that I wasn’t going to play last Thursday. That was different. It was just different. It’s something that I didn’t go through (in the past). I actually called one of my past friends whose gone through it in the past and he’s given me some really good advice. Like you said, it’s really going through the mental reps, it’s putting yourself through the paces and seeing how a play will develop on the left side of the field, on the right side of the field. You get a chance not just to focus on your matchup, but you get a chance to really focus on, ‘what it looks like from the nickel position or if I’m at the left corner position, or if I’m at the right corner position?’ It really does give you that exercise, that mental exercise, that really keeps you sharp. I’ve probably taken more notes now than I typically do, but I’m just trying to keep my mind and my body fresh.”
(We were hoping that for most of the season, the team will have you Xavien Howard, and Noah Igbinoghene all available at the same time. When that does happen, what in the first few games have you learned about the potential for the three of you guys as corners?) – “We’re still growing. There is no question about that. We have Noah who is a really talented young rookie, but he just hasn’t seen a lot. I can tell you this, he’s probably one of the most impressive young guys I’ve seen in a very long time. The way he approaches the game, this kid is here early. He’s here early with the coach looking at film. He’s there late. The way he practices and the way he really approaches practice is really impressive for a young guy to understand that. For me just to see ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), when he came back towards the end of camp, I think his first couple of days, he got like two or three picks. You can see his play-making ability right away. It’s going to be special but it’s going to take work. You really have to bond together as a unit. It’s not just about having really good players on the roster. You really have to develop a bond and really develop that level of communication that can really lead us to a different level. There’s a lot than just the physical talent. There’s a lot of mental talent. There’s trusting each other, knowing that this person is going to be where he’s supposed to be, knowing that you have inside help, outside help, whatever it may be. We’re still developing that but that’s a fun challenge going through the year.”
(How long do you think it will take for you and CB Xavien Howard to develop the kind of understanding that you would really like to reach so that you automatically know what each guy is going to be doing?) – “That’s the exciting part because there is really no timetable on that. There is no script to it. As I watch more film with him and of him, I understand more about him and the same thing for him watching me. There is really no timetable to it. It’s just playing and getting as many reps as you can, talking in the locker room about it, talking off the field about it, talking while on the field about it and whatever play you saw, how you’re going to play this, how you’re going to play that. It takes time, but there is no timetable. That’s just something you work on every single day. Every single day, let’s keep working on this, let’s keep getting right and let’s keep preparing so we can be great.”
Thursday, October 1, 2020
WR Preston Williams
(I noticed at practice, every time Pop Smoke is on, Six Nine is on, you’re always loving the music, loving the energy. What makes you want to bring that juice when you’re on the field and on the practice field?) – “It’s kind of my style of play. I just like to have fun. The team, if someone is upset, I go cheer them up, warm them up, make them feel better. As long as you keep your mind straight the whole game, I feel like you’ll produce well and have a decent game. I just try to stay positive all of the time.”
(When CB Noah Igbinoghene covers you in practice, going back to training camp, what’s the skill about him that you think will make him a good NFL cornerback over time?) – “He’s got all of the tangibles to be a great corner in this league one day. He’s young right now. He’s still learning. He’s a real patient – for a rookie corner, he’s really patient. He’s going to get hands on you. He’s very physical, and I like that. I like Noah out there. I think he’s going to be a great ballplayer in the years to come.”
(We’re a few episodes into WR DeVante Parker’s cartoon now and I’m just curious, when are you going to get that cameo?) – “(laughter) I’ve got to ask DeVante and his team how all of that works. Hopefully I can get a feature in his cartoon. I’ve been watching it myself. I think it’s pretty cool. Hopefully I can get a feature in it.”
(There are specific routes – Week 2 near the goal line and then last week in Jacksonville on the slant, I thought that was much tougher coverage against that corner. What did it just mean mentally for you to be able to haul that touchdown in, knowing that it followed up the drop from the week before?) – “It was more of just having a clear mentality. I dropped that pass in the Bills game and they came to me later that game, but you have to just move on to the next play. The league is full of contested catches. A lot of DBs are pretty good. It’s all about creating space and making contested catches. That’s one of the things you’ve just always got to do. There’s always going to probably be a contested catch of a DB in the area.”
(I noticed that your snaps went from 61 to 35 and I was wondering if that was planned in terms of just maybe taking some pressure off the knee with two games so close together.) – “No. We added more personnel packages. We’ve got different people in the game, a little Wildcat and stuff like that. The snaps tend to go down when you’re not in on certain personnel (groups).”
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With DT Christian Wilkins, I know he played well the second half of last year. Have you seen another jump this year? Is his play on par with what it was last November and December or is it better now in your opinion? And FB Chandler Cox, just wanted to ask you about why he’s been incorporated more and the value of having a fullback in Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey’s offense?) – “I’ll start with Christian (Wilkins). I think he’s someone who works really hard, really on a daily basis in all areas – in the weight room, conditioning, obviously football – so he’s definitely improved really from the day he got here through his rookie year and he’s continuing to improve. I’m really happy with that improvement. I think he just needs to continue to do the things that he’s been doing. He’s getting more comfortable, obviously this being his second year in the league, having played a full season under his belt, so he’s much more comfortable with the system and how we want to do things, and I think he understands what type of players he’s going to see on a weekly basis. So hopefully he continues to get better and improve. I know he works in a way that gives him an opportunity to improve and we’re happy with him. As far as Chandler (Cox), I think he’s made a lot of improvement as well from that first to second year. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s competitive. He fights. He competes. Especially as a fullback, as a lead blocker taking on ends, taking on big linebackers in this league; you need toughness at that position and he tries to bring that on a weekly basis, so we’re happy with him, too.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa. A. His progress – we haven’t obviously been able to see him practice so I was wondering your thoughts, what specifically is he doing better? What does he need to work on? And has there been any thought given to maybe seeing him in a series or two to get him work and maybe as a change of pace quarterback?) – “He’s doing well. I think we kind of do a Tua breakdown every week in some form or fashion, and it’s the same, really the same answer. He’s doing well. He’s improving in meetings and walkthroughs, when he gets his reps in practice. He’s making good throws, good decisions. He’s learning. He’s getting better. I think every time he’s on the field for a game, there’s something that comes up where he’s got a question or wants to have a conversation about a situation, so it’s good. We’ve got projects for him that he’s working on as well as practice, and he’s just going to continue to get better. When his opportunity presents itself, I think he’s doing all the things that he can do so that if and when that opportunity presents itself, he’ll be ready. As far as a series, it’s not really something we’ve talked about; but that could change. But look, as the No. 2, he’s one play away from being in the game, so he has to be ready to go. It could be a series. It could be for whatever reason he has to be ready to go, which he’s prepared that way.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Jerome Baker. Last year he logged over a thousand snaps for you and is on track to do that this year as well. Just wanted to get your take on what it is about his game and his leadership and kind of the qualities he presents that allows you to keep him on the field for almost every snap on defense.) – “Jerome (Baker) is very athletic, tough, physical. He’s a smart player, so he can help us in a lot of different ways. From a pass rush standpoint, from a coverage standpoint, he’s got, let’s call it, every-down ability. So we feel good when he’s out on the field. He communicates well. He tackles well and he gives us a guy who’s athletic and can make some plays. Those are guys that we want on the field, so if you can help us in a variety of ways and he can do that, like I just said from a, let’s call it blitz standpoint, a coverage standpoint, a run game standpoint. Obviously he’s got a lot of ability and he helps our team, so we’ll leave him out there.”
(I don’t think we’ve covered this so far. Forgive me if I missed it, but I was going to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s recovery from illness, how that’s coming along and if he might practice today?) – “He’s still under the weather. It doesn’t look like he’s going to be out there today, so the most important thing is his health and trying to get him better. Again, (it’s) not COVID-related. We test every day and we continue to test every day; but yeah, he’s under the weather and again, in this climate – I should just go ahead and say he’s not going to practice today unless he miraculously gets better here in the next hour – but in this climate, we don’t want to take any chances, so he won’t practice today and we’ll move forward and practice with guys without him.”
(How has the practice squad quarterback looked yesterday in practice, and if you needed to Sunday, could you move him up?) – “Reid (Sinnett) has practiced well. We’ve gone through all of the contingency plans here, and Reid is obviously a part of that. We’ve gone through it, we’re going through it, and we’ll have someone if Tua (Tagovailoa) is not ready. We’ll see how it goes. We have to obviously plan for the worse case scenario, but we’ll see how this goes over the next couple of days.”
(WR DK Metcalf, I want to ask how high was he on the draft board for you guys? I know he went two picks after the pick that went in the QB Josh Rosen trade. What did you guys think about him at the draft and how high was he on your board at that time?) – “I’d have to go back and check the notes as far as – I’m not going to give you the draft position on our board, but he’s a very good player. Big, strong, physical, talented, good player. There was definitely some love for him as there should’ve been. But again, the draft is the draft and there are a lot of things, a lot of other scenarios and things of that nature, and situations. It’s really case by case on who picks who and why. But he’s a good player. He’s certainly a good player. They got a good one and we’re going to have to try to do our best to defend him along with the rest of their team – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. It will be a good challenge and we’re looking forward to it, playing at home and playing in front of our fans. We’re looking forward to it.”
(You have two very interesting players who actually have played quarterback in WR Lynn Bowden Jr. and RB/WR Malcolm Perry. I’m wondering if this is a situation where you probably kind of have them dust off their quarterback skills and maybe serve as a backup for you?) – “I understand the question. Both guys have played quarterback in college; but quarterback in college and quarterback in the National Football League are two different things. We’ll see. Malcolm has yet to be active. Lynn has played sparingly, so we’ll see. To throw that on those guys would be a lot, especially as rookies. I get it, they’ve played quarterback before. I understand the thinking of ‘hey, we can just put them out there.’ I think that’s easier said than done. Look, we have a plan in place. Right now it’s ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick). We’ll see how Tua looks here over the next couple of days. We’ve still got some time. Yes, we have to go about business as if – or plan for the worst, I should say; not even go about business, but plan for the worse, which is what we’re doing. But we still have a few days. Hopefully Tua gets better and again, nothing is more important than his health, and the health of the players on this team. We’re going to do what we feel is best for this team. If that means playing one of those young guys in that type of role, great. But, I think that will be tough in my opinion.”
