CB Nik Needham
(I looked it up before we walked in here. You’ve played more than 50 snaps the last three games. Obviously the coaches believe you could get the job done. What’s it like to earn their trust?) – “It’s been good, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do as far as that point. It feels good to be trusted and seen as reliable and dependable. I’ve been trying to work on that since I’ve been here as well. That’s one of the things they gave me my rookie year. I’ve been trying to build on that every year and year. I think this year I just really matured more, so I’m just trying to take that to the field as well and just executing.”
(What’s it like to have to – every year you have to come here and you have to prove yourself all over again. I know that’s the case for a lot of NFL players, but it seems like it’s more the case for you. Every year, there’s somebody to replace you.) – “For me, I guess I take that as that’s my life story. I’ve been the underdog. I keep that in my back pocket, a chip on my shoulder. I don’t really try to focus too much on that because like I said, I’ve been working as an underdog my whole life. I just keep one day at a time. That’s my mindset. If you get too wrapped up in all of that other stuff, you start going down, and your play starts going down. Whenever they need me or whenever they need me to make a play, I’m going to do my best to go out there and execute. I’ll just try to keep doing that and hopefully they’ll keep relying on me.”
(What was the moment when you knew that you could make it in this league?) – “I don’t know. That’s a good question. I guess when I first got here, that was a little glimpse – in practice and training camp. But then obviously preseason didn’t go how I wanted it to go, so that was tough. I guess when I got brought that fifth week and I played in the game and I saw – like I watched myself play and I was like, ‘Wow, I really can do this.’ It was cool to see that. I think I played fairly well my first game. I think that just helped stack the confidence and keep me going.”
(What was the mood of the secondary after the last game? Was it humbling after facing QB Tom Brady and those receivers? Was there eagerness to prove that that’s not you guys?) – “It’s kind of humbling, I guess. But realistically, we know that’s not us. We are a way better unit than what we put out there. It’s definitely tough to lose like that. We gave up some big plays. We know that’s not how we play. We’ve got to go out there this week and do what we normally do. We’re just trying to go out there and execute and compete at a high level.”
(Yesterday we heard from a lot of guys excited about the trip to London. The timing of the trip is weird because you guys are trying to snap a losing streak. Is it that much more of a challenge going into this week knowing the trip ahead of you?) – “I don’t think so because Jacksonville has got to do the same thing too. We’re just trying to go out there and get a win. We’re not worried about what’s going on in the outside world and that type of stuff, and other distractions. We just want to go out there this week. It’s another game week. We’re playing another opponent. We just want to go out there and come out with a victory. We don’t want to worry too much about travel and stuff.”
(Can you enjoy London though?) – “My friends have played up there from the Falcons and he said it’s not what you think it is. I heard we’re staying like an hour away, so I don’t know. So we’ll see.”
(Who is your friend?) – “Jaylinn Hawkins.”
(After giving up so many scores and yards against QB Tom Brady and company, what’s the main thing the secondary has to focus on to improve this week?) – “Just techniques and your mindset really. You can’t just go out there and give up all of those plays. You’ve got to trust in your technique, trust that your other teammates will be there to help and trust your leverage and all of the things that fall under that. You can’t beat yourself up too much because we still have plenty more games to play. So if we’re just all thinking about Tom Brady and the Bucs, we’re not going to be successful for the Jags. We just try to put that behind us and go out there and play.”
(What do you think about QB Trevor Lawrence?) – “He looks like a good young quarterback.”
(We didn’t see CB Xavien Howard today and he missed yesterday. It’s been a couple of weeks where he and CB Byron Jones are dealing with different things. How do you approach that you may have to step up?) – “How do I approach that? Whenever they need me, whenever my name is called, I’m going to be there and try to give my best and try to be as reliable and accountable as I can. You can’t worry too much about what’s going on with everything else. You have to just focus on yourself, so you can be in the best position to execute when your name is called.”
DT Zach Sieler
(So are you ready for London?) – “Yeah. I think it’s going to be a good trip out there. Go execute and go play ball.”
(Is it tough when you guys are on a losing streak to go abroad like this with maybe extra distractions when you guys are trying to focus in on putting a W on the board?) – “I think there are always going to be distractions. It’s always going to be something. Just as players and as a team, we’ve got to focus on the task at hand, which this week is playing Jacksonville.”
(Just defensively, what do you see out of their offense – QB Trevor Lawrence and RB James Robinson?) – “Trevor is a great quarterback. James Robinson is a great running back. I think he’s in the top five this year (in rushing) or something like that. We’ve just got to make sure we do our job and execute.”
(In terms of the run defense, we come in here and we hear guys talk about ‘Ok everybody has to be disciplined, everybody has to do their assignment and everybody can’t try to do more. This has been an issue that pre-dates just this season. It goes back to last season and it somehow still hasn’t been fixed. How does it get fixed?) – “I think it just comes down to execution. We’ve got to know our assignments and like you said, the discipline, and it comes down to executing each play and every play, and not trying to do too much.”
WR Jaylen Waddle
(Obviously you got back there to handle some of the returns. Is that something that just comes second nature?) – “I mean I returned in college and in high school, so yeah for the most part. Pretty much.”
(With WR DeVante Parker and WR Will Fuller being out, obviously WR Preston Williams has had to step up but a lot has been put on your plate. How comfortable are you with that burden and responsibility and the workload that you have?) – “I think it just goes into practice, just being confident in practice, taking all of your reps serious and that builds confidence for Sunday. I think all of that just goes into practice and the work throughout the week.”
(How has QB Tua Tagovailoa looked this week?) – “Good. Tua has stepped in and just been him.”
(Are you excited about potentially having QB Tua Tagovailoa be back? If not this week, then soon?) – “For sure. It’s always good.”
(There was a time last year where I remember WR Jakeem Grant was up here and we were talking about all of the touchbacks and everything. And he kind of sent a word out to kickers saying ‘Kick the ball to me, please.’ Because he wanted to have a chance to return some kicks. Last week you were back there eight times and you didn’t get a chance to return any kickoffs. So what do you want to tell kickers?) – “(laughter) Nothing. If the return is there then obviously I’m going to take it. But most teams have a gameplan and that’s pretty much how they’re going to play.”
G/T Robert Hunt
(So these sleep buds, they don’t have to connect to anything? They just play sleeping music?) – “That’s all they play, man. They play (white noise) all night. They play rain … they play waves. It’s something to get you to sleep, I guess, on this long flight that we’re going to take. Just a way to get extra sleep. I’ve never tried that. Or like little white noise or whatever. I’ve never tried that but I tried it the other day and I kind of like it a lot. So I had to get another pair from Jaylen (Waddle).”
(Are you looking forward to the trip this week?) – “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
(You hesitated there.) – “(laughter) Nah, I’m looking forward to it.”
(Is it tough to make this trip? I believe it’s your first trip overseas as a Dolphins player. When you guys have to rebound from these losses knowing there is so much to focus on, but there are going to be some distractions going overseas.) – “I don’t know. I think right now, the messaging within the team is we kind of know that it’s a business trip. We need a win. They need a win. May the best man win. I think we all know that it’s a business trip and I think we all want to compete. Like the coaches said, we all know we need a win, so we’re all competing to try to get a win.”
(Did the Dolphins get you your passport?) – “Is this illegal information that you’re sharing? (laughter) Shout out (Director of Team Security) Drew Brooks again. He’s like my father away from home pretty much. Yeah, he helped me hook it up. I got it set up. Shout out to Drew again.”
(What else has Drew Brooks gotten you?) – “I told you, man – my license. Drew got me my license. He got me my passport. And sometimes when I’m in my room, he’ll stop by and bring me some candy or something. So shout out Drew. (laughter) That’s my guy. Drew is definitely my guy. (laughter)”
(Is this your first time leaving the country?) – “No. I actually went somewhere in the spring. Jamaica. It was like two hours away from me. Nowhere but somewhere.”
(I feel offended. I’m Jamaican.) – “You’re Jamaican?”
(Yeah!) – “Nah it ain’t nothing bad. It’s just like two hours away. I had never been way over there (to Europe). I’ve been somewhere (out of the country) but I’ve never been way over there (overseas).”
(These sleep buds, did all of the players get them?) – “Yeah, we all had them in our locker. I think Bose hooked us up with them, like I said, for the flight. Pretty good deal, man. If you have a problem sleeping, you should try them out.”
(Now that the right side of the line has changed and I know it’s gone back to what it once was, with QB Tua Tagovailoa coming back, do you feel like there’s more pressure to make sure that blind side is protected?) – “No. I don’t think so. We’re just going to try to continue to do our job. Me and Jesse (Davis), we’ve been playing together for a while since like last year, since I stepped in, since I’ve been in. We’ve been playing together for a while. I think we communicate well. I think we play well besides each other. I don’t feel like there’s any pressure. I feel like we have a job to do. We know that. So we have to go over and try to compete and do our job the best we can.”
(How do you think it worked with T Liam Eichenberg and left tackle and T Austin Jackson playing guard?) – “It looked good. I thought it looked good. I thought just in general, the whole team came out and played with energy the last game. It didn’t go the way we wanted to but I thought we started fast. I thought we came out with some energy. I thought we looked all right. It’s been the same way this week in practice, just trying to bring energy and play with a little excitement. I think everybody has been doing a really good job with that.”
(Going back a question ago to the blind side and all, it doesn’t change anything or it’s not in the back of your mind that the last time QB Tua Tagovailoa was out there, he got hurt and we’ve got to really protect this guy?) – “Our job is to protect him. It’s part of football. Things happen. But I don’t think we have pressure on us. It’s our job to protect whoever is the quarterback – Jacoby (Brissett), Tua, me, you. It doesn’t matter who is back there, we’ve got to do our job to protect. We’re going to do the best that we can do with that and just keep trying to play football. Like I said, we have a job to do and we’re going to try to do that … We might be in some trouble with you back there. (laughter)”
(It would be better with me back there than with me protecting QB Tua Tagovailoa. That would really be ugly.) – “You’ll get in there and see how it is. It’s tough in there, man. It’s tough in the middle. (laughter)”
(Obviously you get a chance to see QB Tua Tagovailoa’s passes after they’ve been gone. How has he looked in practice?) – “I thought he’s looked good. It’s exciting to have him back out there. He’s a leader on our team so it’s good to see him back out there and firing away and being who he is.”
