Tuesday, September 1, 2020
G/T Jesse Davis
(What’s the past couple of weeks been like at practice? I know moving to right guard is nothing new to you, but what’s that experience like trying to improve your communication with both of the rookies?) – “It’s been good. Moving around has kind of been my forte now recently, but moving around with those guys, it’s been good. They’ve been receptive to everything and just kind of bringing them along with what we see out there, what we’re calling and just helping them get where they need to be.”
(You’ve played in 47 of a possible 48 games over the last three years at a position that’s not exactly easy to show durability at. I’m just curious what is it about your regiment that makes you available for this team every Sunday?) – “Staying healthy is probably the biggest one and then playing through the little things which everybody does. I just want to be anything this team needs to me to be. That’s what I’m going to be and I think that’s why we kind of extended before the season last year, but I love being – the wanted feeling of ‘hey, we can put this guy anywhere and hopefully he can succeed there.’ And I take a lot of pride in doing that for this organization.”
(Obviously like you said, you’ve played just about every position on this line; but it seems like this year you’ll at least be delegated to either right guard or right tackle. What do you sort of view both of those positions? Where do you see your strengths at when it comes to those two spots?) – “I kind of bring a lot to the table in both of those positions; but playing next to either Ted Karras or rookie Solomon Kindley or Rob Hunt, it doesn’t really matter to me where they stick me. Right now I’ve had my most reps recently at right tackle so for me moving forward, that’s where I’d like to play. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter, like it always has been. If they want me to play left side in the future, then I can do that as well.”
(What is the biggest challenge building chemistry on a unit that actually hasn’t taken any live reps? This is a first for everybody, but you guys are basically putting together an entirely new offensive line. I’m not sure anybody in the NFL is doing that.) – “It’s very different. Like we can’t just go hang out with each other afterwards or go build chemistry that way or go to lunch. So it’s just been a lot of film, a lot of meetings, a lot of before practice stuff. And a lot of the vets on this team have come together and helped these rookies along and tried to build the chemistry, but we can kind of feel it in the locker room as well. The camaraderie has been very high, and just moving forward, we’ll see come game time exactly what we’ve got.”
(Differences you’ve noticed between T Robert Hunt and G Solomon Kindley? Obviously two very talented kids. How do they differ? How are they alike?) – “How are they alike? They’re big guys that can move people. They’re smart. They’re very coachable people. The difference is, I would probably just say the height of them, but they’re two good rookies and I’m glad we have them on our team.”
(Like QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, I find you to be a very selfless guy. Like you’re not going to hold back. You’re going to help your teammates no matter what. That’s my opinion, so on G Solomon Kindley, what are some things that you really wanted to make sure he knew how to do? What have you told him that maybe you wish someone had said to you early in your career?) – “I don’t try to really tell them how to be or anything other than when we’re in the huddle, don’t talk. That’s kind of a thing where as a rookie you want to kind of talk a lot and you want to try to figure stuff out. I just told them to hold on. We’ll get to it. Just focus on this next play kind of thing, but Solomon (Kindley) – he’s been great in how he’s been taking the reps and he’s made the most of it. And I think he’s coming along very nicely.”
(How do you I guess compare where you guys were on the o-line at this point last year to where you are right now?) – “I feel like we’re more solidified at positions than last year. We had a lot of guys coming in. We didn’t know exactly where they were going to be including myself. A lot of changing, a lot of moving parts as it was all season; but this season has been, I would say, a lot more solidified in the position-specific spots. And so I think guys have learned technique a lot better and how this offense has been running, so it’s been nice to see.”
(We saw a clip on social media of DE Shaq Lawson complimenting DE Emmanuel Ogbah’s big heavy hands. I’m just curious, going up against Ogbah as much as you have in practice, what are some of the challenges of that length and power that offers presents to you as a lineman?) – “Yeah, that’s the one thing I’ve noticed as well, is how long his arms are. It’s kind of hard to get a punch on him in pass pro. We’ve had our bouts there in practice, and he’s a good d-end. I’m glad he’s on our team. But yeah, he’s a very strong, long-armed, heavy-hand guy.”
(I wanted to ask you how has QB Tua Tagovailoa’s presence been when he’s commanding the pocket? Now obviously for rookie quarterbacks they have to find their voice a little bit there. How has he kind of responded and how have you guys kind of taken his leadership in those moments?) – “Yeah, he’s been good. Every week he is more vocal, more confidence in him, which is kind of the thing that goes about with rookie quarterbacks; but he’s been really good. It’s fun to see him out there playing and throwing that deep ball. He can actually get it out there and what he’s been doing and what ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) has been doing helping him along and everybody else – little things here and there – but he’s been really good.”
(How’s the leadership journey been going and what kind of things do you find yourself doing?) – “Just kind of mixing it up a little bit in the locker room – having a good time. Doing what we can when we can amongst ourselves, but it’s been good. I think – I’m not like, some stern leader or try to be. I just try to mix it up when I can with every rookie.”
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
K Jason Sanders
(We’ve had a chance to ask all of the players how COVID has impacted their preparations for the season. Obviously this thing has been going on for like six months not. When everyone was kind of sheltering down and their lives … How or in any way did that impact you?) – “From a kicking standpoint, it wasn’t that bad. It allowed me to – I had more time in the offseason. We started later, so it allowed me to get ready with a couple of more weeks to spare. The only down part in the offseason is that a lot of places were closed. There weren’t a lot of places for me to train, so I would have to work my way with that; but from a kicking standpoint, it kind of helped a little bit.”
(I wanted to ask you, from a kicker standpoint, did it make more of a difference to you that there were no preseason games this year?) – “I think it will help you save your legs for the season. The season is a long, long grind. Having that one game in the preseason might get you into that game shape that you’re not used to. You’ve got to stay warm for about four hours, or even longer than that – pregame, maybe five or six hours before, and now we are getting about an hour, an hour and a half or two hours at practice.”
(Have you convinced Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman to let you throw on the trick play this year?) – “(laughter) There are no secrets coming out.”
(I was telling Head Coach Brian Flores that Austin Peay went down to their fourth long snapper in their first college football game of the year due to COVID. He revealed a secret – he said that WR Mack Hollins is an emergency snapper. I remember LB Mike Hull used to do it. Do you have a WR Mack Hollins long snapper scouting report and is anyone else pretty good who is not a lineman?) – “That’s the tough part about the whole COVID protocol. If a guy goes down, you have to go through the whole protocol to get a guy in. Even as a kicker and punter, you have to know whose going to go in if something happens. As a player, I don’t know whose going to be there. We haven’t gone that far yet.”
(You just mentioned that the fact that COVID makes things uncertain obviously. Kickers seem to be the most likely option to kind of fill in if something was to happen to you guys. When was the last time you punted, and how is your punting ability?) – “We’ll mess around every once in a while at practice. I would say I’d be a good emergency punter. I’m not going to be an NFL punter in the league, but an emergency punter, I’ll be there.”
(With two years under your belt in the NFL, I’m just curious how would you assess your second season in comparison to your first?) – “The first season, I felt like I didn’t have as many kicks. I definitely didn’t have as many kicks as I did last year. The first season I think was a rather short year where we didn’t back it up very far; but when the second year came around, it was good to see the confidence that Coach Flores and Crossman had in me to throw me out there when we needed three points. Reflecting back, as low as my percentage was last year, I liked the things I did. I had a lot of big kicks. It was a slow start, but I had a lot of big kicks and a couple of big plays.”
(What are the areas of improvement that you would like to see from yourself this year?) – “Just try to – every kick is going to be the same kick. So if I go out there for a nice little PAT, I want that same mindset, same stroke on the ball going into that 40-45 yard field goal. For me, it’s all going to stay the same. As long as I keep my mind in the right place, you keep swinging the way you’re swinging, it’s all going to work out for itself. I don’t treat any kick differently. Every kick in my head is the same kick.”
(I know over the last couple of years, they made some tweaks to how you do onside kicks, and kickoffs in general. How has that impacted how you guys go about that kickoff play?) – “Every kickoff, or onside kick, is going to be a lot harder. You don’t get that running start as you would two or three years ago. It changes the kicks. It changes what somebody was good at, they can no longer do because it’s harder to get the ball back. I think having a kicker that can do a different variety of onside kicks is going to have that kickoff return team guessing on what’s going to happen. I think that’s what may give you an edge on the kickoff team to get that ball back.”
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
RB Matt Breida
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about the running back position in general. For a while now, it seems like running backs weren’t getting the respect that they once did, financially, around the league. Now we’ve seen just in the past day that an 1,100-yard rusher in RB Leonard Fournette is released. When something like that happens, what is your reaction? Did it shock you?) – “Yeah. I think it shocked a lot of us. At the same time though, we don’t know the circumstances. We don’t know the situation and what all went into that decision. That’s out of my control, obviously. That’s got to do with their team. I just focus on my team. Yeah, it was shocking but like I said, there’s probably more to that story than we know.”
(We saw a clip of you kind of jawing with LB Jerome Baker a bit during the scrimmage. I just kind of wanted to get your side of not only that battle but just in general, talking about the challenges that these Dolphins linebackers present both in coverage and defending the run.) – “They’re all very fast, very physical and they all can cover and run and hit. It’s a very unique situation – we have a lot of guys on the team that can do all of that. It’s just fun competing against those guys because they’re making me better every day. Iron sharpens iron. It’s just great having those guys out there to be able to compete and talk a little bit of trash to.”
(Have you guys got a better view at this point of how you and RB Jordan Howard are going to be used and what specific roles are better fits for each one of you guys?) – “I think they’re going to use all of us – me, Jordan, Myles (Gaskin), Patrick. They’re going to use all of us in all different types of ways. I don’t want to give out any secrets or anything, so you guys will have to wait until Week 1.”
(Going back to that LB Jerome Baker video we all saw, it seemed like a really cool interaction obviously between you guys. How has this transition kind of gone for you, being a new guy on the team and kind of meeting some new guys yourself and also getting to meet with some guys who were here last year, as well?) – “It’s awesome. Like I was telling people before, this locker room kind of reminds me a little bit of San Fran(cisco) when I first got there. We’ve got a lot of young guys, guys don’t have big egos on the team. I think a lot of guys feel like they’ve got a lot to prove in the league, and that’s only going to help our chemistry as the season goes on. We’re just going to build on that. We’ve got a lot of guys who love to compete. I’m just very happy to be here.”
(You’re obviously capable of playing every down but as a third-down back, is that a role you enjoy? What skills do you have that you think make you effective in that role and historically in your career, have you been more comfortable when you come in during a series or had an entire series?) – “I’m a football player at the end of the day, so whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do. That’s how I look at it. I play running back. I can do it all; but at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about the team. So whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do. I’m very comfortable in my skillset. I can run, I can pass block (and) I can catch the ball out of the backfield. So like I said, I’m one of those guys that’s not selfish. Whatever the team asks me to do, I’m going to do.”
(Without a preseason, I’m guessing that you probably have not been tackled since last season. Have you actually been tackled once?) – “You’ve got some young guys in camp who maybe even though they shouldn’t tackle, they tackle. I’ve gone to the ground a couple of times; but you’re absolutely right. We haven’t actually had like a live game because we don’t have preseason this year or anything. One thing I think that helps for us more than the young guys is that we’ve actually had some seasons or actually played some NFL games, so we have some experience as far as getting hit. The offseason is different. You haven’t done it in a couple of months. But that’s for everyone. We’ve all got to adjust. Every team is going to be like that. You’ve got to adjust to the first game. I think we’re all on an even playing field.”
(I think the defense is going to miss a lot of tackles in the first game. I watched the first college game and there were safeties that were running in circles, like they hadn’t tackled in…) – “College is a little different than the NFL. We’re still able to practice tackling without actually having to go to the ground or actually hurt each other. That’s one thing I feel like we do a great job of – Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) does a great job of emphasizing every day is tackling, ball security, turnovers and we work on it every day. I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of missed tackles.”
(WR Jakeem Grant basically said he challenged you, or wants to challenge you, to a race. I know he’s not healthy now but what terms would you accept this challenge under?) – “Oh, man we’re going to have to wait until the offseason for that. Me and Jakeem did talk about that a little bit. Maybe we’ll get something together. Maybe we’ll get somebody else in there – I’m not going to mention names. But we’ll just have to see. We’ll worry about that in the offseason. We’ve got a season to play right now. We’ve got to focus on training camp right now and then our first game, so that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
(When you see a back as fast as you are, it’s tempting to just say ‘Oh, he must be an outside guy.’ But we’ve seen you do a lot of work inside as well. How do you feel about running up the middle and getting the tough yards? How do you feel about doing that role as well?) – “I love it. That’s one thing that since I was a little kid, I love the I-formation, getting ISOs, running up the middle. That’s the quickest way to the end zone to me. Outside zone is great but I love going straight down because I feel like I can burst through the line, get to the second level and like I said, it’s the fastest way to the end zone.”
(Obviously Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey has been out of the year for a years before coming back here. I was looking back at the last time he was there and he had RB Matt Forte and RB Bilal Powell running his system. Have you guys watched some of the old 2016 Jets tape and kind of get an idea of what he wants?) – “Yeah, we watched a little bit of tape of that. I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t seem like he’s been out of the league because it seems like to me he’s been coaching every year since then. He’s a great coach. He knows what he’s doing. His mind is crazy. He just comes up with things off his head that just make sense. I feel like we’re in a good situation with him as offensive coordinator.”
(I know you don’t want to mention any names but it sounds like some other people on the team want that smoke from you and WR Jakeem Grant. You’ve got to give us a little something here.) – “(laughter) I can’t. Like I said, I’ve got to leave you guys with a little tease. Maybe I’ll mention something later on but like I said, right now we’re still focused on training camp. We’ve got a long season ahead of us. It’s the first time in NFL history that we had to go through these circumstances, so we’re just focused on right now and like I said, we’re just trying to get ready for Week 1.”
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With the news of RB Kalen Ballage failing his physical with the Jets, where does he stand with the organization? And also, what is the team’s level of interest in RB Leonard Fournette, now that he’s available?) – “Well, we look at the waiver wire every day so to your Fournette question, (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and the scouting staff, they’ll make their evaluations, write a report and we’ll just kind of see – like all players who hit the waiver wire or street free agents, we’ll see if we feel like it will be a good fit for us. If we do, then we make a move. If not, then we won’t. As far as the Kalen situation, obviously he reverted back to us. We’ve had obviously discussions internally and that’s an ongoing situation. We’ll address it when it’s necessary to address.”
(I wanted to check in with you on your stance on how the rookie class as a whole has done, knowing that they had no OTAs and preseason and now that we’re in the last week before you guys make some big decisions. How do you think the rookie class that you drafted, as a whole, has done to adapting to everything that comes with being a Dolphin?) – “I think given the situation, I think they’ve worked hard. They’ve improved over the course of training camp. But the big thing with the rookies on our team and really across the league is you never really know about a player until there’s live action. Some guys get tight when there’s live action. Some guys play better when there’s live action. It’s hard to know, so we’re going to go into the unknown this season. You know a little bit more in the preseason, but even that isn’t a regular-season game. I’m pleased with our rookie class. From the guys we drafted early to the undrafted guys, I think they’re all working hard. I think they’re all bought in. But there’s a lot of unknown here, as you guys could imagine. Playing an NFL game, the speed of it, the pressure that’s involved in playing in the game, the players you’re playing against – these guys are big, they’re physical, they’re strong, they’re tough, they’re angry. When you get put into that situation, pressure busts pipes is a phrase that’s been used for a long time. We’ll see. It’s not just us. That’s every team.”
(I wanted to ask you primarily about your rookie linemen – not necessarily T Austin Jackson but the decisions you have to make with T Robert Hunt or G Solomon Kindley, whoever fills into the right side of that line. What goes into your judgement? Is it where G/T Jesse Davis best fits? Or which rookie you feel is further ahead and ready to start? Conditioning? What goes into the thought process on that decision you have to make on the right side?) – “I mean all of those things. Everything you mentioned goes into the decision. Conditioning, best fit, best overall – I would say the number one thing is the overall – we’re talking about five guys we need to get on the same page from a communication standpoint. I think the three rookies – Austin (Jackson), Robert Hunt, Solomon Kindley – I think they’ve all played well at times during training camp. They’ve all made mistakes, as well. These are tough decisions that we have to make. Look, things change over the course of the season. Like I was telling (you guys) earlier, we may feel a certain way now and put a group out there; but if a player freezes up, we’ve got to make an adjustment. I think we all know that. But I like where they’re at. I think they’re all working. We’re still in a little bit of an evaluation phase here at practice today and a couple of practices later this week, so no official decisions have been made. Honestly, you guys probably won’t know until opening day exactly what it is. I like where they’re all at.”
(Are you open to using LB Elandon Roberts at fullback or do you want him to focus exclusively on defense? And also, I’m curious how close the QB Tua Tagovailoa and QB Josh Rosen competition is for the No. 2 job?) – “Obviously Elandon has played fullback in the past. Look, he’s someone who is willing to play wherever we ask him to play; but we’ve got a lot of guys that way. It’s definitely a possibility, I would say that; but it’s not something that we’re going to make any definitive decisions on right now. We’ve still got 12 days, so that’s where we’re at with Elandon. As far as Tua and Rosen – we might as well throw (Ryan) Fitzpatrick in there as well – that’s still a lot of competition at that position. We’re not saying somebody is one, two or three. It’s still a competition. Obviously ‘Fitz’ has played well – they’ve all played well in spurts, and they’ve all made mistakes. We’ve still got a few days here. I think we like where all three of them are and we’ll continue to leave that as a competition moving forward.”
(I guess we’re getting closer to cut-down day, so I wanted to ask what’s your comfort level on who you think your 53 is at this point? And I know you just mentioned the quarterbacks, but is there a day going into Week 1 where you would like to know who QB1 is or at least tell us who your QB1 is?) – “On the 53(-man roster), we’ve got a lot of competition on this team at various positions. There’s probably – let’s call it 60 players that we feel good about, and probably a little bit more than that when you start talking about practice squad spots as well. There’s 16 practice squad spots this season. I think we’ve got some talented players, some guys we can develop. So as far as forecasting who the best players and who the guys we think can develop, that becomes a little bit of a longer conversation, to say the least. As far as who the 53 are, I kind of look at it as who the 69 are, to be honest with you. We’re going to have to release some of those guys and hope that we get them back on the practice squad. But yeah, I’ve got a pretty good idea of who the 69 players are. The next question was about QB1 and when we would like to know – as soon as possible. You guys will know probably as late as possible is where I’ll leave it. (laughter)”
(Will giving QB Tua Tagovailoa more time and separation from his injury be a part of the discussion about who is active at the quarterback position? Or is that, at this time, no longer a factor – is it not a part of the discussion or the equation?) – “That is definitely part of the conversation, for sure. I think we’re at 10 months. It was a pretty serious injury. He looks good though. You guys have seen him. He looks good, he looks healthy, he’s moving around to his right, to his left. But yes, that’s part of the conversation. Look, he’s a great kid. I care about him. I want what’s best for him and that’s definitely part of the conversation.”
(I wanted to ask about T Julién Davenport. How would you assess his development over the past year?) – “He’s made a lot of improvements. He’s stronger. He’s made a lot of gains in the offseason. His technique, his footwork is a lot better. He’s made a lot of improvement. Obviously he started some games last year. I’ve been very happy with him. I’ve seen a lot of improvement. We’d have no problem putting him in a game.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about your comfort level with your receiver depth, especially considering the injuries that you’ve got and WR Preston Williams’ pre-existing injury. Where is that comfort level and what have you seen from guys like WR Mack Hollins, WR Isaiah Ford and WR Charles Rogers?) – “I feel – guys like Ford, Hollins, Rogers and obviously you mentioned DeVante (Parker), Preston and Jakeem (Grant) – I think they all, I like the depth. They’re all working. They all understand their role in the offense. Malcolm Perry is part of that as well. They all have different and unique skillsets. I like the depth. I think their role in the kicking game will also play a role in that evaluation, whether it’s Jakeem as a punt returner, Mack Hollins as a gunner, Malcolm Perry and his roles as a punt returner and as a ‘PP’ (personal protector) on punt. Isaiah Ford, who can move around and play multiple positions. I like the depth. It’s a hardworking group. They all block and it’s important to them. I think they’re – I like the group.”
