Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(We heard LB Channing Tindall has been making some progress. What can you say about it? What’s your progress report for him?) – “I think Channing is on course for where we were hoping he’d be. I think he’s doing a good job progressing. He got in the game a little bit the other day. I think he was excited about that and I think he did a good job when he was in there. So yeah, I think he’s progressing. Like any rookie, just kind of taking it all in and trying to get better every day.”
(How tough has it been to be patient? The defense isn’t – we don’t see the I guess the metrics, the sacks and the strip-sacks that we saw last year or even earlier this year. How tough is it to remain patient and keep faith in what you’re doing?) – “I think that’s football. You’re just constantly staying at it, staying the course. You believe in the guys that you’re coaching. I know we have great players and guys that care so much and great coaches around them. So it’s just staying the course, doing the work every day, and knowing that those results will come. So yeah, that’s why you’re out there every day, obviously, practicing and hopefully getting better every day, which I think we’re doing. But you got to go at it like a maniac every day. That’s just the way the game is. The NFL is a great league because obviously every Sunday you’re going to play a great opponent, and you got to get up and get ready to go for next Sunday and you can’t dwell on anything where you didn’t get the results that you wanted.”
(Obviously, a big topic of conversation around the league this week was the roughing the passer calls. Has there been anything different you’ve been trying to emphasize the guys with the way they take down quarterback on those types of plays or anything like that?) – “No, just the way the league conveys that message and trying to get them to play within the rules and making sure they’re doing a good job of that. They’re doing their very best to do that.”
(What will make Nunzio Campanile a great college football offensive coordinator?) – “Oh, man. I think ‘Nuns’ (Nunzio Campanile) will do a great job. He’s a passionate guy and loves his players; loves the place he’s working at. I don’t think you could be more New Jersey than Nunzio Campanile. Yeah, I was going to name my son Nunzio, and my wife was like – at the time we’re living in Michigan and she said he’s certainly going to be the only Nunzio in Michigan, so you might want to rethink that. (laughter) He ended up Anthony Nunzio. But yeah, I mean, I think he’ll do a great job. He’s a sharp football coach, he cares, he’s crazy passionate, and I’m certainly rooting for him. I love him. I’d jump on a grenade for my brothers, so I’m excited for him.”
(What kind of intangibles does LB Elandon Roberts bring to the defense?) – “I don’t think you could coach – we were talking about passion for football. I don’t think you could coach a more passionate guy than that guy. I mean I definitely talk to him more than I talk to my wife. (laughter) But I mean that in the context of like, even when he’s not in the building, talking about football or texting each other. I don’t know if anyone outside of this building could ever understand how much that guy cares and how hard he prepares. That’s one of the great things about coaching. You’re coaching a guy that’s a pro. Watching him do his job every day is really cool. And how passionate he is about just the littlest things. It might be short yardage, it might be whatever it is that week. Can you get a little bit of an edge with this alignment? Is there any tells? I mean, he goes out there on Sunday and he’s definitely expended all of his energy in the week, to the best of his ability, to try and get ready for the game on Sunday. I love coaching the guy, as a human being and as a player. I’m very fortunate to coach him.”
(Do you see that what he does and what he brings trickles down to the other guys?) – “For sure. I think that room has a very good culture of it’s just good people. It’s guys that care about each other. They’re not afraid to talk that way. And I talk about that a lot but I mean that like – I think anybody that’s in that room, you couldn’t be in a more proactive environment. As a coach, you enjoy it every day. You are around great people, they care and that definitely trickles down I think to the other guys in the room, for sure. Especially the young guys, seeing that, that’s a great way to come up in this profession, being around guys that do things the right way and care about each other. But yeah, for sure.”
(What kind of challenges does the Vikings running game and in particular RB Dalvin Cook present your group?) – “Just an explosive back. I mean I coached against Dalvin when he was in college, and having coached against him before, if you’re not where you’re supposed to be, if your eyes aren’t where they’re supposed to be, then he’s going to make you pay for it. So he’s an explosive, explosive athlete. He’s a hard, physical runner too, and a tough kid. So that to me, he’s definitely one of the better backs in the NFL, in my opinion. I just think he definitely challenges you to be where you’re supposed to be each snap and forces discipline and communication to be correct across the front.”
(How did that college matchup workout?) – “I think the year he was playing, he might still be running from that game. (laughter) I was at Boston College one year they beat us. I want to say it might have been maybe his last year there; and then the next year, we got them pretty good up in Boston. So that was, yeah. I don’t think he was there anymore though.”
Quarterbacks Coach Darrell Bevell
(How did QB Skylar Thompson look last week and what differences do you expect to see this week with full preparation?) – “I thought Skylar (Thompson) did a really nice job for us coming in in kind of an unforeseen situation, particularly obviously that early in the game. But I thought he did a nice job for himself. There’s always going to be some plays we’re going to look back on and what could we have done better or done different? We’ve focused on those. And then this week, just an opportunity for him to have full preparation and the whole game plan – the game plan is a little bit tailored to him as well. So I’m just excited to see what he’s going to do this week.”
(How much of a difference does that make for a quarterback having the full week of prep as the starter?) – “You guys have been around long enough to know as you as you watch practice, I mean the starter gets every rep. So for the backup guy, he’s getting whatever crumbs are left – the individual periods, the scout team reps. So it’s always big and important for them to get a full week of work. There’s so much involved in just nuances of the footwork game that we do, and so to have that preparation and have all that time, it’s going to be a big bonus to him.”
(There’s been a little bit of talk about the fact that QB Skylar Thompson had to go through the game without being able to lean on QB Tua Tagovailoa and QB Teddy Bridgewater, having them on the sideline to talk to. How does that affect how you handled last weekend and even this week, in terms of, are you talking to him that much more or trying to build his confidence? What’s happening there?) – “Yeah, last week there was a lot going on, and the two veteran guys weren’t there and then the next guy – even Reid (Sinnett) wasn’t dressed; he was on the sideline. So I just felt a little bit more urgency to stay with him, to communicate even more and just try to be the veteran presence that he would need. On a week like this, I can still give him the information, but then when I walk away, I don’t have to worry about what’s going through his mind, because you’ll have those two veterans that will be able to stand there with him and give him some of the insights that they have.”
(Has QB Tua Tagovailoa been in most quarterback meetings the last week and a half, some of them?) – “He’s been in some of them. Yeah, and more this week. Last week was no, so it’s just kind of been a progression.”
(What has he been like through the whole process of coming back?) – “Tua? He’s been great. He’s been outstanding. I mean, he’s chomping at the bit. I think anytime that something’s taken away from you in any way, I think there’s sometimes a more heightened awareness of how much you appreciate something, and I think Tua is going through that a little bit.”
(Looking at the film from last game, QB Skylar Thompson’s feet not being aligned on some of the plays, just how did you see that when you were you reviewing the film and how did it maybe kind of throw off some plays?) – “Well, we speak about our feet all the time, and we let our feet take us through our progressions, our reads and kind of speak to us. So when your feet are not correct, when you’re not taking the either the correct drop, or the timing for the play – because sometimes you can speed up your feet too fast, it’s telling you to move on. And so, those were some of the things that happened. With a full week of preparation this week and the different nuances that we have, he’ll get more reps of those in live situations and so I think he’ll be even more improved on that.”
(Is there a way to quantify how much two-high safety looks that you guys have seen, like, more than you thought or about what you thought and what do you do in the passing game to have success against that?) – “I think, to answer the first part is, we have an extremely fast team. So I think it’s not something that surprises us that we will get two-high safety looks. I think the next part of that is, what do you do against it? Well, I think the answer is always take what the defense gives you. So there’s still opportunities for explosive plays. There’s still opportunities for throws down the field, but there’s going to be throws underneath as well, just like there is if it’s a single high safety. You just have to be able to understand the progressions, the read, the timing and take what they give you.”
(It’s possible that QB Teddy Bridgewater without a concussion is able to play on Sunday and get cleared, but he can’t practice fully yet. So what goes into the decisions, those conversations, you, Head Coach Mike McDaniel, Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith have over deciding QB Skylar Thompson early in the week over Teddy without too much practice?) – “The head coach ends up ultimately making that decision, but obviously you want to weigh the situation and any time you’re in the protocols, you don’t know how the protocol is going to end up, so the guy could end up clearing on Sunday. So we thought it was advantageous for us to be able to get the guy that’s going to get all the reps in practice and not miss any days to be able to be the guy that’s going to get the start in the game.”
(What was your initial thoughts the first time you saw QB Skylar Thompson on the field? I think it was probably back in spring. What struck you the most?) – “I was really fired up just with his presence and how he was handling things. I know he’s a little bit older guy, but it wasn’t overwhelming to him, I think is the first thing that stood out to me. And then I think the second thing was just how well he prepared himself to be ready for the moments that he was going to be put into, and every time that we’ve had a critical moment, he’s answered the bell, and he’s done a great job with it. And there’s little steps along the way that just situations that he got put in, where it’s like, ‘okay, he passed that, what’s he going to do if this happens.’ And then that happened, and he passed that. So I’m just really excited about the progression that he’s made.”
(I can’t think a seventh-round, rookie quarterback coming into the NFL first time on a field like that. Probably could be overwhelming, couldn’t it?) – “It totally could be. But like I said, any time you’re prepared, that eases some of your anxiety. But still, once you get on the field, it’s a whole other level and sometimes I think it’s good to be thrust in the moment where you don’t have a lot of time to think about it. But he handled himself really well and he’s only going to get better from that.”
WR Tyreek Hill
(QB Tua Tagovailoa is still in concussion protocol, but just to have him back out there, what does it mean for you and the team?) – “Well, just to have him back out there, his energy, his leadership, the way that he’s able to have fun with playing this game throughout it all man, it’s just amazing within itself. So, it’s always fun to have your brother back out there on the field. I’m looking forward to having him whenever he’s back, but it’s good to see him healthy.”
(Do you get a sense that QB Tua Tagovailoa wants to be out there sooner than later? I know that there’s a protocol.) – “Oh, obviously, man – that’s every competitor. I know every guy in this locker room will be wanting to fight back to get back on the field at any point. But obviously, it’s up to the trainers, it’s up to the professionals for them to do their jobs and protect us from our own selves. Because we all love this game so much and we all want to do everything we can to help the team win, but we don’t often sometimes think about our health.”
(I know you said you could put up numbers with anybody at quarterback. Can you speak to your confidence with QB Skylar Thompson?) – “That’s just me, dawg. That’s just the way that my grandparents always raised me – believe in myself, no matter what. I was a fifth-round draft pick. everybody told me I was too little. Everybody told me I was just a fast guy in his league. So, I mean, I’m going to talk my (expletive) whenever I get a chance to talk my (expletive) – that’s just me, man. But for Skylar (Thompson), he’s a young guy who can come into this offense and make a lot of plays, whether it’s to me, or whether it’s to any one of the weapons on this team. So I’m looking forward to playing with him again. I know he’s very excited. He’s very confident in his game also. And, yeah, it’s going to be fun.”
(People have pointed to you, for the short time you’ve been here, as a leader on his team. Is there – how do you approach when a new quarterback is out there, “Hey, I’m here, whatever you need?” Is there a conversation? How do you approach that as a leader?) – “Well, me just being me, I just tell the quarterback, ‘Look, man, it’s your show, dawg. I’m just buying tickets and showing up to it, you know what I’m saying? I’m just trying to make plays for you.’ Skylar (Thompson), he’s a young guy. Obviously, I’ve been in this league for a minute and that was just my whole message to him. You just go out, call the plays, and you’ve got the keys to the boat. You drive the boat.”
(Earlier in the week, Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that it was the captain’s decision to take the ping pong tables out of the locker room. What went into that decision? How did you guys come to it?) – “You know what man, I’ve got a brand new ping pong table coming for the guys. I just decided to get like an all decked out Miami Dolphins ping pong table for the guys, because the ping pong table we had in here was just too basic. So I feel like the guys, they really deserve something brand new, so that’s what we’re going to roll with, dawg – a brand new ping pong table. I don’t get into all the analytics, giveth and taketh away – I don’t get into that … That’s something that my grandparents never taught me to be, and that’s not what I am. So I feel like the guys needed a brand new ping pong table, man.”
(What was it about the focus part? Guys being more focused and taking the ping pong table out?) – “Look, these are professional athletes. This is our job, this is our livelihood. I can look every guy in his eye and stand in front of this whole team and just look at the faces on this team and tell you that every guy on this team is focused. Every guy on this team has the same goal and that’s to win games. Like, we don’t come up – we don’t drive all the way up here and just say, ‘Oh, we’re going to play ping pong today.’ No, that’s not what we do – our job is to go out and play football, man. Having ping pong is nice, but I just feel like the guys – we just needed like a better table.”
(So when is that delivery coming in?) “I don’t know yet, man. It takes a minute for things like that. Instead of Pimp My Ride, it’s pimp my ping pong table. So that’s what we’re doing – custom job, baby.”
(So why chuck out the old one?) – “Because it was kind of bent. It was bent. We’ve got a serious tournament going on. You see the paper on the wall? It’s still up there, so that’s the tournament we’ve got going. The tournament isn’t in the air.”
(You have WR Justin Jefferson on the other side this week. Do you ever get into battles with other receivers, check the stats to see who played better? Does that ever matter to you?) – “No, that doesn’t matter to me, man. As long as I see that ‘W’ on the win column for us, I’m cool with it. Fairly, having stats is cool and all, but I feel like being a winner is something that I can be a part of forever. I’ve been playing this game so long, and that’s the way I’ve been taught ever since I was a kid. Like it’s cool to have 200-yard (games), 100-yard games, three (touchdowns), but if you want to be a true guy that really loves the game of football, a true competitor at this level, you’ve got to learn how to win. Sometimes it’s going to be you getting 20 yards a game, sometimes it’s going to be you going crazy, so it’s all a part of the sport.”
(What impresses you about WR Justin Jefferson?) – “Oh, Justin Jefferson? Bro, he’s like a real sneaky – he’s sneaky fast and the way he’s able to get in and out of his breaks as a route runner. I’m really impressed with his game as far as him being so young. I believe he was like a two-star recruit coming out, so I really applaud him for working hard and getting to the level he’s at now. So man, shout out to him. I know he’s going to keep working hard. The receiver market is steady going up, man, so I’m very happy for that. I hope by the time my son is able to play football in the NFL, it’s like at $40 (million) or something like that. (laughter) So Justin Jefferson, keep raising the market brother.”
(Let me go off script for a second. You talk about winning and that’s more important than stats. Have you thought about Canton? You seem like you’re on track there. Have you thought about that?) – “I mean, I really haven’t thought about any of that at this point in my career. Like I said, I was – for me, I already accomplished everything that I basically wanted to accomplish. A smalltown kid, fifth-round draft pick, and I’m able to be that role model for so many kids around the world, but most importantly, I’m able to be a role model for kids back in my hometown, who probably don’t even believe in themselves, but they get a chance to look at me from the same city, same dream, as a role model. For me, man, that right there is a part of my blessing every day, and that’s really why I play football. That’s really why – I try to motivate myself with that each and every day, because I began to think it’s not all about me all the time. (I’m) really blessed to have this platform that I’m able to perform at. I thank God for it each and every morning. I’m able to wake up, provide for my family, provide for my kids. And, man, if I’m blessed to go to Canton, I’d be very thankful for it. If not, I’m just happy to be able to play this great sport. I grew up jumping on a trampoline imagining I was jumping over Randy Moss as a kid – now, I’m here.”
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(So you guys have faced a lot of high quality receivers. You get Vikings WR Justin Jefferson this week, what makes him so tough?) – “I think his body control, his ability to catch the ball from all angles, he has very strong hands. He has a very quick, I would say, release. He’s sudden at the top of the routes and he does an outstanding job of tracking the deep ball.”
(RB Dalvin Cook, same question.) – “Dalvin Cook, he’s a dynamic runner. He’s very strong. He does a good job of pressing blocks and he can take – if space is available – he can take a play and make it a big play in a hurry and he’s been very good at that. He’s very physical, he’s very big, he’s very fast and he presses blocks well. He has great vision so he’s able to find seams in the defense and he’s been an outstanding player for him. They also use him in the pass game when there’s space there, and that presents an issue, too. And we’ll have to guys to close to him quickly.”
(What was your evaluation of how CB Noah Igbinoghene did in his first snaps on defense?) – “I thought there were some really good clips out there. I think there’s some things that we can improve on and I think especially, I would say all of us, you internally look at yourself; and I would start with me and things that we could detail and coach a little bit better. But I did think he had some positive clips out there, for sure. I thought he had some good ones and I think there’s some things that we could probably detail and coach a little bit better and get him a little bit better on, but I thought it was a good start for him.”
(Through the first three games of the year, you guys had one of the best fourth-quarter defenses in the league. Obviously that slipped down after Cincinnati and New York. How big of a topic of conversation has that been? How big of a concern is it for you guys right now?) – “I think when you look at the past two weeks for us, we look at a lot of different things and things that continue to be issues, and then you make an assessment of okay, are we coaching this? Are we stressing this? Is there a different way to do it? Is there a better way to detail it? And I think that’s kind of the process that we’ve kind of taken this week going into it. If there’s some better ways to do some things that we’re struggling with, that we need to implement that and we need to get it done in a hurry. And we have a great group of guys. We have a great challenge this week, so it’s an awesome opportunity and it’s very humbling when you come in and the majority of your coaches, and the majority of the players; everybody looks at it as ‘it’s my fault.’ So the accountability is huge and the work ethic, and I would say the dedication to get it right, has been an awesome thing. So this has been a really exciting week for us and we’re really excited for the opportunity this week.”
(To follow up, what are some of those things that you guys might not be executing as well in game situations as you did the first three weeks of the season?) – “Well, I would say there’s things even in the first three weeks that I would say are still ongoing things that we need to improve and get better without going into scheme or specifics on that. But I would say there’s things that we’ve kind of pinpointed that we need to probably detail better – that’s probably a good adjective to use, on how we approach it and the amount of progress that we need to see on that to be really the defense we want to be.”
(I remember last year when we asked you about some of the early season struggles from the defense and you talked about having to evolve and how teams catch on to what other teams are trying to do. At this point in the season do you think that the defense has evolved enough to stay on its toes or to keep opposing teams on their toes?) – “Yeah, I think we’ve definitely had a variety of different things. I think the way we detail and execute things, I think can be better. I think there’s been certain situations that we obviously can get better. There’s a lot of things – and without getting into specifics on every single thing, because I think that would give you a schematic disadvantage if you went into all those – but I definitely think we’ve had a high volume of defense in a lot of different things that we’ve thrown at people and I think that us executing better, communicating better and detailing it better as coaches, and I would start with myself on that, I think that will allow us – and like I said, I’m really excited because our players, they’re accountable, they’re dedicated, they’re working hard and we’re really, really excited. That’s the beauty about sports, especially we’re talking about, you know, Game 6 here. So when things don’t go your way and then you’re presented with another great opportunity in front of you the following week, it’s a great opportunity and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
(What led to LB Channing Tindall’s first two defensive snaps of the year on Sunday and do you want to weave him in a little bit more?) – “Channing (Tindall) has been making great progress in practice and obviously physically, there’s a lot of things that we like that he does, and I thought he did well with the snaps that he was in there. And obviously, you’re always trying to work ways to get guys involved, especially if you think they can excel or succeed at those. And it’s like all of our guys, I was excited for his opportunity. Just like Noah (Igbinoghene), I was excited for him to get an opportunity. And when guys go out and they execute, you try to create more opportunities for them just knowing and understanding that you always want to put them in a position that they’re comfortable with, that they can handle and that gives them the best opportunity to succeed.”
(It seemed like the first three weeks, this team really did well at playing complementary football, P Thomas Morstead’s punts and nailing people inside the 20, you guys with the stops, the offense with the big plays. It seems that that hasn’t happened so much the last couple of weeks. No. 1, is that accurate? And No. 2, how does that affect the defense when you, I guess it makes you have to work a little harder?) – “Yeah, I mean a lot of complementary football is really kind of field position based. So you kick the ball off, if they get a decent return, that puts you a little bit behind the eight ball. Or if you start on defense and you give up a couple of drives – even if you do get them off the field, and they punt, now it’s a plus-50 punt and your offense is backed up. So all the yards are important as you go down and that’s really how you kind of play a complementary game. If the offense turns the ball over and you’re able to get a stop on defense – you could go through the games, and I would say all three phases, we’re working hard to make sure that we can play a more complementary game. And I think there’s always, from opening kickoff, there’s always opportunities for each team to play complementary football. So if you kick the ball off and you pin them down and you’re able to get a three-and-out or call it a four-and-out or you’re out in the first series, then you’re not punting it at midfield, your offense is not backed up, and then they have less field to go. Or the same thing, if you can create a turnover defensively, then you’re putting your offense usually in better field position. Now if you create a turnover in your minus territory, then you’re really preventing points there, and then it’s the offense, okay, they get a couple first downs, now they can put the opponent in a, call it, poor field position starting point.”
(Not to pin everything on one guy but with the pass rush, DE Emmanuel Ogbah has been the impact pass rusher the last couple of seasons and this year he’s got one sack in five games and we’re not really necessarily feeling him all that much at least from our vantage point. What do you see happening with him this season?) – “Again, I start with self-reflection. And that’s not an easy thing to do. I don’t know how anybody else feels about that, but when you look at things, and you have to sit there and tell yourself, ‘hey, this isn’t good, this isn’t good,’ that’s not a fun thing to do, but I do think that we can detail things a little bit better. I think he’s a dedicated player for us. I think he works hard. I think we can put him in some better situations from time to time and I know it’s important to him. And like I said, that’s why I feel really blessed to be here and be around the guys that I’m around because those guys – all of them are like, ‘Oh, this is my fault. This is my fault.’ He’s accountable, but I do think we can detail things and put him in a little bit better spot and then I’m really excited for his opportunities coming up. And I know you guys have heard Mike (McDaniel) say this a lot that adversity is an opportunity. And that’s really the way we look at it. And I know that we’ve kind of approached things, I would say, tweaked a little bit different this week just on the things that we emphasized or detailed and our players are working hard at it, and hopefully we’ll see those results on Sunday.”
(How much of an emphasis have the missed tackles been and how much do you think this can kind of clean up some of the problems that you faced in recent weeks?) – “Again, it ties all in together with complementary football, detailing things that we want to work at and get better at. And again, I would say any time that we can eliminate yards after catch or yards after contact, it’s going to do two things. I mean, really it puts the offense behind the chains, which sometimes narrows down the plays that that you can see. And the other thing that it does is it saves you field position. So it’s definitely something that that we’ve emphasized, and it’s definitely something that – and again, you can say something like, ‘hey, we need to be better at this,’ but like, okay, what are you doing to get better at it? And are the things that you’re doing to get better at it, are they helping you? If they’re not, then what you need to do is detail it a different way or take a different approach. And I think that’s the great thing. Nobody’s complaining, nobody’s making excuses, nobody’s quitting. Our guys are really detailed in what we’re trying to get done. And like I said, we’re really excited to go out there and play a really good football team this Sunday here at home.”
(We’ve all seen how effective your defenses can be with Cover 0 over the past few years. Not having your top two corners for either the whole game or part of the game at least 100 percent, how much does that factor into how reluctant or willing you might be using Cover 0?) – “I think when you’re talking about call it, and again, there’s different ways to go about pressure. I think when you when you factor all that in; one, you look at the offense, what what’s available to them and then what’s available to us defensively. And I think anybody that you see us put out on the field in any call that we make, we’re very confident in those guys. And I think we have a lot of guys that we’ve been able to play on defense that we’re pretty confident in. I don’t think it so much changes. It’s more like what do we think puts us in the best spot against that offense? And again, obviously, you’d like to have every player that’s available to you. When you don’t, you adjust and you don’t want to really put players in, call it a disadvantage. But I don’t think it really has to do with so much the player who it is. It’s really basically what the offensive structure is, what they’ll do to it and then our matchups. That’s really kind of what it comes down to.”
Associate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(What has RB Raheem Mostert recently? We were just talking to Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith, and he says RB Chase Edmonds will still get his opportunities as well. Just kind of the dynamic of them two right now?) – “Well, I think right now, those guys have been sort of taking the reps and who we’ve had in the game the most. We have great confidence in both of them. Raheem (Mostert), played well last week, having 100 yards and doing some things. But I’ve got a very talented room – I, we – we have a very talented room of guys in there, and there’s going to be opportunities for everybody in there. We’re going to need all of them at some point in time, so we just keep moving it around. We think that’s to our advantage, and we think that’s an advantage that we have with our running back room.”
(We saw RB Myles Gaskin get his first real carries of the season. You spoke about a lot of the selfishness of that room, but obviously a guy like RB Myles Gaskin, who was really getting a bulk of the carries his first couple of years maybe kind of stepping back into a secondary role and then having an opportunity on Sunday, just how have you seen him handle the first month or so of the season?) – “I think it speaks volumes to the room. The room is that we have a talented group in there. There’s a lot of guys that are good football players, and they’re unselfish. I think I’ve said that before. They’re competing – they all want to be the lead dog. They all do, and really, you want that from a running back. Their opportunities are going to come, but they all want to contribute whatever way that is to help us win. That’s the one thing about that room is that all those guys are going to do whatever they have to do to try to help us win. I think that’s the mentality that you have to have, because you’re going to need different guys at different times. Things are going to happen along the way. They’re all ready to go. They all prepare great, and when their opportunity comes, they’ll be prepared for it.”
(Are you operating under the assumption that you’ll have RB Raheem Mostert available on Sunday?) – “I’m always operating under the assumption that I’m going to have all of them until we make a decision as to who we get. But that’s why we have to all be ready for it, because we don’t know what those things are. Different things happen at different points in time. I expect Raheem (Mostert) to be there. I expect Chase (Edmonds) to be there. I expect Myles (Gaskin) and Salvon (Ahmed) and Alec (Ingold) and everybody to be ready to go because it’s – we just never know when those opportunities are going to come.”
(We’ve seen some instances where you’ve had RB Raheem Mostert and RB Chase Edmonds on the field at the same time. What type of challenges does that pose for a defense as opposed to just having a standard maybe FB Alec Ingold in there or maybe an extra wide receiver by having those two running backs?) – “We don’t know – that’s why we do it, right? We do it to see what the defense is going to do and what kind of challenge that poses to them. It may change a lot of things. It may change a personnel grouping. It may change the front. It may change how they perceive coverages. It may change what they think is going to happen – is it run? Is it pass? Is it – whatever that is, that’s to our advantage. And so the ability to put those two guys on the field, who are two of our better players, it’s just one more thing that they have to prepare for, and they have to chase ghosts on and try to figure out where we’re going with that.”
(Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith was saying that the run game success that we saw against the Jets kind of built off of the Cincinnati success. What’s been going on in the last couple of games? What have you liked that you’ve seen last couple of games?) – “Well, I think the thing that I liked the most is that this entire offense is committed to this and getting better. We’ve done some things that we could have certainly could have done better. There’s been some plays out there that we’ve hit not as consistently as we want. So I think there’s an urgency in the entire group to get better, and that’s what we’re seeing. We’re seeing that guys aren’t saying, ‘Oh, this isn’t this.’ They’re committed to it. They’re focused on it. They’re taking care of each other. We’re trying to get this run game going better, and it takes everyone in the run game (and) it takes everybody in the pass game. I think what we’re seeing is that the whole group is saying, ‘You know what? We’re going to all put this on all of our backs to get this improved.’”
(Where does that come from? Is it that they know the offense depends on it, or the coaches are making that a priority or it’s it comes from inside?) – “I don’t think it’s a different priority than the pass game. We want every play to be successful, so we’ve all got to be coordinated on every play to get better. That’s not – that’s run, pass, or whatever that is, screenplays, whatever that is, we’ve all got to be in on this. It’s not coming from one place, other than I think all of us – coaches, players, the entire organization – we want to be the best team possible and we’re going to keep pushing to be excellent in what we do. And if we’re not excellent, then let’s figure out ways that we can get better.”
(Getting WR Tyreek Hill involved in the run game and having that play where TE Durham Smythe comes in under center in motion and scores, that kind of creativity that you guys have began to add or expand on, how much do you enjoy that aspect?) – “I like all those things, because I think those are – again, I think that goes back to the conversation just a moment ago, that’s more things for the defense staff to prepare for and chase ghosts for and get ready for, and I think that’s to our advantage.”
(Last week when I talked to RB Raheem Mostert about what you guys might need to do better to improve the running game, he specifically said calling out IDs and stuff like that. How have you seen that area improve over the last couple of weeks?) – “Well, again, I think it’s the same message. Right? We’re all in on this, so we are all involved in pass protections and run game, that way we all know where everybody’s going and why and what the purpose of that is. And that’s on – the entire coaches, players, all of us want to get these things right, and that’s what we’re practicing, that’s what we’re meeting on, that’s what we’re correcting, that’s why we watch tape – all those things to make sure we are on the same page. Because that – when we’re all on the same page, that increases our chances for execution.”
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(The missed field goal – nobody expects a 54-yarder to hit, but what happened on that?) – “It was just a little inside out. Again, we expect – any time we send Jason (Sanders) out on the field, we expect points. We wouldn’t send him out there if we weren’t expecting points. So again, just another little inside out, missed by a hair. But you only get points if they’re through the uprights, and when we take the field, we expect points.”
(I know in Week 2, you had the kick return touchdown against the Ravens that you allowed. Obviously, you haven’t allowed a touchdown since then, but some returners are getting pretty long returns. What has kind of stuck out in those plays, maybe a call or is there maybe somebody out of place?) – “I think it’s a little bit like we talked about before – we’re shooting ourselves in the foot with a little bit of some technique issues. Some – we talked about couple weeks ago, it’s like fitting a run and everybody needs to be in the proper gap and the proper fit. If you get off against good football players, like you’re going to see in the National Football League, you’re going to get leaky and you’re going to give up some yardage. So we’ve got to clean up those technique issues. Again, I’ve always told you guys, it all starts with me. We’ve got to be right and we’ve got to be where we’re supposed to be.”
(Can you assess how S Clayton Fejedelem did in his first game back?) – “It was like a first game – there was some real good stuff and there’s some stuff that we got to get cleaned up. But it was good to have him back.”
(How much of a boost can a player like S Clayton Fejedelem lend to special teams? Just having that veteran presence there.) – “Well like anything, I think when you have a guy that has experience and has had success and has been a productive player, when you get that guy back, I think it builds everybody’s confidence, first and foremost, and it’s a great example for the younger guys.”
(How has TE Tanner Conner come along in special teams?) – “He’s growing. When you look at his background and where he is now, a lot of things for him the first time is literally the first time. (laughter) But we’re very happy with Tanner (Conner) and how he’s progressing and very happy to have him on our club.”
(Something that I thought that I saw – the kickoff return when TE Durham Smythe went out, WR River Cracraft came in. That seems like it’s usually a heavier player or tight end. Is it his blocking? Why was that?) – “There’s a lot of different things that go into why certain guys are at certain spots. That was a situation we had multiple guys at that certain time with some injury stuff. So you’re allowed to have 11. We hope to only have 11, but we’d like to get 11 out there. So we have a lot of guys that we ask a lot of in terms of what they learn and having to be able to play multiple spots in a backup role, but that’s the National Football League.”
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(The blocking of the tight end room – outside of TE Durham Smythe, who I guess is in question this week in case Durham can’t play because of the hamstring – with TE Mike Gesicki, with TE Tanner Connor, with TE Hunter Long obviously coming back, is there enough blocking skill there to run the offense entirely as you might want to?) – “Yeah. And I think also, when it comes to that, there’s also different options as far as scheme, different things we can utilize to help everyone execute what we need, fundamentally. So I think that, yeah, if Durham can’t make it to the game, then we have a plan and we have contingencies like we talk about for all positions. But ultimately, our job is to put our players in the best position possible to execute what they do well.”
(What was it like having a week where you prepare to have QB Teddy Bridgewater as a starter, and the first play he goes out and you have QB Skylar Thompson going?) – “Yeah, the last two weeks have been an interesting time in the NFL to be honest. But also really a great time for us to really act upon the adversity that the NFL provides for this roster to really learn nothing’s guaranteed, for everyone to maximize their opportunities. But if you dwell on what you don’t have, you will be reminded really quickly of what you won’t get, and that’s not winning. So our goal is always around here to focus on the future, focus on the present and make sure that everyone that’s active on game day is preparing in a way to make sure that they can help us execute to win a football game.”
(Now, what gives you confidence in QB Skylar Thompson with a full week of preparation for him to start?) – “Well, I think it’s pretty evident from what you guys have been able to witness through training camp, for Skyler, he’s not your average rookie. The way he’s been able to prepare, the way he’s been able to execute, we have full confidence in what he’s going to be able to deliver to help us win on a full week of preparation. The scenario to which he went in, I can’t even imagine sometimes. It’s the second play of the game and you’re standing there and you’re kind of by yourself. I mean the rest of his position group that he’s been prepping with the entire offseason was not available. So he’s by himself pushing through and I think you really saw a lot of the moxie he possesses and the reason why he’s going to grow and continue to get better. We felt like this week, with him being available and getting the full preparation, that he was our best chance to help us win.”
(Let us get some, I guess, an explanation on the offensive tackle situation last week and this week. OL Brandon Shell made his debut at left tackle. But you have T Greg Little, who I believe has flexibility. So why go with Brandon on the left side as opposed to the right side last week? And then how is OL Austin Jackson after yesterday?) – “I think overall, it just stresses back to our goal to create consistency for guys at positions. When you’re flipping guys constantly, you’re not allowing for that to happen. We felt all along that if we can create consistency for the guys, we’ll give them the best chance to execute when we need them to be at their best on Sundays. And always, it’s never a finished product. There’s always things to work on. There’s always the ebbs and flows of the game that create challenges. But overall, at the tackle position, we’ve tried to create that consistency so if and when we have to make changes at those spots, we try and make sure that we’re not flipping them back and forth because in the course of a week, just with our experience, we found it’s extremely challenging. It would be challenging for many positions – if you’re on one side, you’re on one side. That’s just kind of like, you’re back in the 1980s and you’re going strong guard, quick guard like everyone else was doing.”
(And OL Austin Jackson, are you optimistic?) – “Yeah, extremely. I think A.J. has done a great job in his rehabilitation, his preparation, being active and involved. He is such a hungry learner. I mean just coming into the NFL so young. I mean, he’s just been really fun to work with. I know we’ve all enjoyed his progression. So we’re very optimistic and hopeful that he’ll be able to help us this Sunday the rest of season.”
(I wanted to ask you about T Terron Armstead. Obviously he signed here in the offseason, and yet he hasn’t been able to practice hardly at all really. How sustainable is that? Does it hold him back more? Or is it a matter of having an opportunity to work on chemistry with the other guys?) – “I would think if he was younger in his tenure, maybe more. Now granted, practice is where you want to refine and work on the things that you’re trying to get ready for Sunday. Terron, and like many elite tackles in this league, though, have such a wealth of experience to draw upon. And I mean, it’s a credit to him in the last couple of years in New Orleans – I know it was very similar, as far as making sure any little things are being maintenanced and also his mental focus and his stamina is elite. Like he’s able to stay on-task through everything else. So we haven’t had any concerns with that. Just knowing the guy since he was a rookie, he’s one of those guys that when you draft him, he acts like he’s 31. I mean, he acts older, he’s more mature, he’s always been that way. So I don’t think we’ve particularly had any concerns, and we won’t probably going forward. I mean, you’d love to have practice time, but it’s the NFL and sometimes it’s not available. But especially for younger players, you’d like to be able to practice more.”
(I know he had some injuries early, but what’s been the issue or challenge in getting WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. involved into the offense?) – “I think that the challenge is, ultimately, just trying to make sure that we’re getting guys in positions to do what they do well, and then secondly, how does the game play out? Like, guys have opportunities throughout the game plan, where we really want to have options. And then ultimately, what the coverage is dictating, what the defense is trying to do can sometimes have us adjust and have to move the ball around. Or the primary gets open immediately. Or when we thought a check-down was going to be there, or obviously the second progression, first or second, we have to adjust. I wouldn’t say that for us, really, we’re trying to make sure that we spread the ball around, because great offenses make sure they push the ball around as much as it can. So I think that the continued work in practice by all guys is to try and work on – getting involved in the offense is the most important thing because that’s where we build the confidence for getting ready for Sunday.”
(Watching the games, it looks like on a weekly basis, you get good blocks on the perimeter from your receivers. I’m curious if you agree with that. And then also, as kind of an underappreciated part of the position, if you can maybe just quantify how valuable it is to have that good blocking on the perimeter?) – “It’s vital. I think (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes (Welker) does a great job with one, playing the position of such a high level, and then understanding how to execute the fundamentals of perimeter space blocking. (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) also has experience because that’s kind of been a hallmark of their system of having all skill players be good blockers and understanding that that element is going to help them get more opportunities in the ball with being good blockers. So overall, yeah, there’s always stuff you can improve on. I mean, we never really think everything’s a finished product, especially at this point in the season. The growth is from week to week. I mean there’s obviously a couple blocks that occurred in the game on the perimeter that we feel that we could have improved on. But overall, we like we’re progressing, especially with Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle)’s production in the passing game. The fact of which that they strive to be not just effective blockers, but excellent blockers is just a credit to who they are as players and who they are as men.”
(You guys seemed to play complementary football very well in the first three games. Maybe not so much in the last couple. What kind of stress does that put on your unit and each unit when don’t get that complementary football?) – “The biggest thing is it’s just kind of the name of the NFL. I mean, if everything goes the way you thought it was going to go, every game would be boring, and you’d play out exactly as you prepared. But it’s our ability to adjust, it’s our ability to communicate, it’s our ability to push through the adversity that the 17-game season provides. And I think that’s truly where you learn the measure of your football team and how you’re built and what kind of guys you’re going to be able to count on when it really matters in December. So I think you normally would say, even our Baltimore win, it didn’t really go the way you would want it to go. But it went a good way at the end. And I think we learned from that. And then the Buffalo game was a back and forth contest. I mean we didn’t get a whole lot opportunities with the ball, but when we did, we tried to maximize it. And now the last two weeks, we’ve had some adversity where the quarterback at the start of the game didn’t finish it, and that is the NFL at its most. So I think ultimately, we’re learning as a football team that the next-man-up mentality has got to be the most vital and important thing. And I think that as coaches, our fundamental job is to communicate, educate and prepare our guys to be able to handle those variables and be able to execute regardless of situation.”
(It seems like for the longest time, the Dolphins have had a challenge in putting together kind of a dominant offensive line. What is it that makes it so hard to put together that kind of line? Are there things that the average fan doesn’t even think about that makes it that hard?) – “Absolutely. It’s a great question. I think it comes down to like last year, when I was in LA, and (General Manager) Tom Telesco was talking about the challenges that they were going through through the years of trying to get their line back because they felt their heyday years were back in the late 2000s, when they were running the ball with ‘LT’ (LaDainian Tomlinson) and they were really controlling the division through running the football. And the challenges are just as you allocate resources to the position, there’s uncontrollable variables that occur, (like) injuries, a guy maybe you wanted to have back and free agency and he moves on because of the market so high. I just think that sometimes guys – you have to make sure in your evaluation selection, that you’re making sure you’re finding the right type of guy. Sometimes coaching change is a big issue. I know that happened in LA when I was there, that they had been through a couple of different changes at not only the head coach but the position coach. So I think ultimately, if you’re trying to develop players, if you don’t have consistency of their coaches, that’s hard for a guy because he’s getting a different message each year. So I think ultimately, if you want players to have sustained success, you’re trying to create a world where there’s consistency and availability. And I think that is, in all life, in all jobs we work, that’s the hardest thing is trying to create a consistent environment where you can be at your best. And I think if you look at this group, they’re kind of a hallmark of there’s been injuries, there’s been changes in position coaches, changes in head coaches. None of those are excuses but that’s the reality of the situation, the adversity that the group’s got to overcome and meet the challenge head on with a positive attitude, and just realize that they are control of their efforts, their attitudes and their approach. They’ve got to trust us that our number one goal is to help them be their best, and then we form a bond and push forward.”
(What went right with the running game last week?) – “I think there was some consistency that we were looking for that we’ve kind of been talking about here with you guys. Just what are the little things where we can get better? There was some fundamental stuff that we’ve been really stressing that guys up front were able to execute. I think that we were able to create some space in the defense that our runners were able to exploit. I think some of the explosive runs contribute to a higher overall yards per carry. I think of the game before in Cincinnati, you add back and there was a throw on one of the runs that if we would have handed it off, you’d been looking at a double-digit gain. There was a penalty on the Tyreek (Hill) run, which would have been a double-digit gain. If you add those two onto our total, we’re looking at over a hundred yard game. So Cincinnati was kind of a prelude to that, and then we were able to capitalize on some of those learning lessons from Cincinnati into last week. So ultimately, week to week, it goes into how we improve and it goes from – it takes all 11 and to run the ball effectively in this league and you’ve got to be committed to it. I think we got some good positive growth that we’re really going to look to build on this week. And ultimately, the 11 that are in there every play have got to be able to execute collectively.”
(You talked about finding space in the run game. Are you seeing teams play more two-high against you guys to open up those spots? And is that something, in conversations with the coaching staff, like if teams are going to try to take WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle away, we have to take advantage of the lighter boxes?) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think that what we’re trying to do, ultimately, and with who we have, we’re going to see some of those coverages. And when we get those coverages that are advantageous for the run game, we got to maximize it. And that’s where I would think that we think collectively, that’s a great area where we can improve and really with the emphasis in probably the last two or three weeks, we’re starting to see the growth because the guys are really seeing how important and how small the margin of error is. So I think yeah, as teams try and make sure they have roof over the coverage on our wide receivers, we’ve got to make sure that our foundation is good in the running game. So I think that we’ve made growth and this week will be a great opportunity with way that they play their defense to try and continue our growth in that area.”
(Is RB Raheem Mostert setting himself apart as a lead back or do you still kind of see it as matchup based who will get the bulk of the carries?) – “I think Raheem has done a tremendous job and Chase (Edmonds) too. I mean his opportunities are going to come. Again, it’s a long season. To rush to any decisions about what we’re going to need or who’s where and who’s in what spot, in a month, we’ll be sitting here and saying it’s flipped. So I think we’re fortunate to have two backs that we feel really good about. Right now, Raheem is playing some really good football. But Chase is going to come up huge for us at some point. We all know that; we feel that. He had an excellent day of practice yesterday and really challenged himself. We’re excited for him to have another great day of practice today and look forward to him on Sunday and build into the next month and quarter of the season.”
