Saturday, September 5, 2020
LB Kamu Grugier-Hill
(I had a question for you about kind of working in coverage as a linebacker and when you have so many guys on this team that can lock up in man coverage, how does that kind of impact the way you approach whether it’s dropping in zone or playing in man against a running back or a tight end? How does that help your job on defense?) – “I think it just ultimately takes away any kind of confusion there is. You have your guy and you just go and lock him up. It’s really one-on-one. It’s a passing league now like we’ve said, and you’ve got to be able to play man coverage. That’s just what it comes down to.”
(You and QB Tua Tagovailoa seemed to really hit it off here in Dolphins camp. I wanted to ask how much did you know him before this experience and what has it been like kind of sharing it with him?) – “Yeah, it’s been cool. Me and him actually didn’t know each other at all coming out. I’m obviously a lot older than him. I kept up with him when he was at Alabama and stuff, so just kind of watching him do that and then to see him here and both being from where we’re from, it’s awesome. I think we – like you said – I think we hit it off and it’s just nice to have someone here that also grew up the same way as you.”
(Just kind of piggybacking off that. What does it sort of mean I guess to the Polynesian culture and the Hawaiian culture to have someone like QB Tua Tagovailoa – kind of having that big name frame and possibly being a starting quarterback here one day?) – “I think it’s awesome. Hawaii is a very proud state and just a very proud culture, so just anyone that makes it out and goes on to do what they want to do and be successful; it’s cool to see the whole state and all the islands and the people there just have each other’s backs and be so supportive. So I’m excited for Tua (Tagovailoa). Whatever he does in his career is going to be awesome, so I’m excited.”
(What part about this defensive scheme excites you the most?) – “I think the biggest thing for me is just the diversity – being able to play so many different positions. So many different situations, you’re doing so many different things and it just keeps things fun and keeps things exciting and will ultimately keep people surprised. So I love it.”
(Obviously you’ve been really good in your career as a coverage linebacker. How do you sort of view I guess your role going forward in this defense? Do you see them using you in that role going forward?) – “I think we have a good linebacker group. We have so many different guys that can do so many different things and like I said, that’s one of the reasons I even came here in the first place, was just the diversity of the defense and being able to do so many things. I can’t tell you I know the answer to that, but I know for sure week-to-week it’s going to be something exciting.”
(Speaking of the linebackers room, your coach Anthony Campanile had a good answer the other day about Sunday family dinners for him growing up back home in Jersey. Have you guys had any of that kind of Jersey influence – that family atmosphere – like a family dinner type of situation in the linebacker room?) – “With ‘Camp’ (Anthony Campanile), yeah he’s passionate. He’s a great coach. We get good vibes from him about everything. He loves talking about his family and you can definitely tell he’s a very family-oriented guy, so he fits in perfect and we have a good thing in that room for sure.”
(Speaking of food, have you and QB Tua Tagovailoa brought any Hawaiian dishes or got together for any Hawaiian dishes out here yet?) – “(laughter) No, we haven’t been able to actually because of all this COVID stuff. We haven’t really been able to do much, but we talk about it all the time and we talk about eventually when our families get to come out and the dishes that they make and all that kind of stuff, so we’re excited for when that can happen.”
(One more on QB Tua Tagovailoa – I guess what’s it been like for you guys to kind of hang out? What are some things that you guys do if you do hang out and do you kind of feel like a responsibility maybe just because you’re a little bit older to kind of take him under your wing a little bit and kind of show him the ropes of being in the NFL?) – “I wouldn’t say the ‘responsibility,’ but I think just the bond that we have is cool and I get to answer any questions he has and just kind of put him at ease and just at the end of the day, it’s still football. I know it’s business – bigger platform, bigger performance – but it’s still football. It’s still the same thing he’s done as a little kid.”
(You’re talking Hawaiian food. You really got my attention there so tell me what’s the ideal menu when you guys get together? What would it be like?) – “For me I’ve got to have my Kalua pig, my laulau, my poi. I’m a big barbecue chicken – Korean barbecue chicken – guy. The list can go on. When my mom comes out here she kills it, so we’ve got to get that going soon for sure.”
Saturday, September 5, 2020
CB Xavien Howard
(How tough have the last few months been for you with COVID-19 and the knee recovery, and do you expect you’ll be ready for the Patriots opener?) – “It’s been good. I’m here today. I’m focused on – we should be starting on the Patriots real soon, so I’m just focused on that right now. Everything has been good. I’ve been taking care of myself so I’m good.”
(I know we haven’t talked to you since they signed CB Byron Jones. What do you think about potentially playing the opposite of him and having another top corner on the other side?) – “That would be great. We can do a lot of great things, just having another top-tier corner on the side. However that plays out – also we have Noah (Igbinoghene), so there’s a lot of competition in that area right now. So, whatever happens, happens. It would be a great idea, me and Byron outside.”
(You’ve mentioned CB Noah Igbinoghene. I wanted to ask what you’ve thought of him and his progress so far. He seems to be really pesky out there, kind of like a ball hawk.) – “Noah has been getting better each day. (He’s a) very strong, fast kid. He’s been learning, and trying to learn from the older guys. He’s been improving each day.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit more about yourself and CB Byron Jones. When you look at the tandems of cornerbacks around the league, where do you think you guys are going to stack up? Are you willing to put yourselves at the top of the list?) – “It’s too early for that. At the end of the season, you’ll see where they put us at. Right now we’re just focused on getting better each day and we’ll go from there.”
(Has your recovery from the most recent surgery taken longer than you expected?) – “No. I feel like it was perfect timing. Me and the Dolphins, we did a great job. We stayed and believed in the plan that we had. With that plan, it worked perfectly fine. I’m here today. I’ve probably been here for about a week going with the team and stuff like that, so everything has been good.”
(It seems like at the end of 2018 season, you were starting to make your name as the co-leader of interceptions and whatnot, then the injuries started to happen last year. Do you feel like you got to prove to people again what you are as a corner?) – “I always feel like that each year. Each year, you’ve got to set the bar higher. With that in 2018, (we are) way behind that. It’s 2020. Through the ups and down that I’ve had the last two or I’d say one year, at the end of the day, put the work together and I should come back on top again.”
(From this time last year until now, there were a lot of changes in the secondary. In particular, a couple of former cornerbacks in S Eric Rowe and S Bobby McCain are playing safety now. I’m just curious from your perspective on the perimeter, what does having two guys that can come down and cover like that do for your skillset and your place in this defense?) – “It should make a lot of guys’ jobs easier. The coaches put us in position to make plays They put us in positions to make plays so I feel like everything should be easier for a couple of guys that are in the secondary.”
Saturday, September 5, 2020
G Ereck Flowers
(How much stronger do you feel now that you’ve had some time to practice more after being out?) – “I feel a lot better. Definitely a lot more confident. I’m just trying to keep on working and get ready for this week coming up. It’s the real deal.”
(You’ve been playing next to T Austin Jackson a lot. I wanted to see what you’ve seen from him and his growth so far in camp.) – “Yeah, he’s getting better every day. He’s taking coaching and really just trying to work on his game. I’m excited to see how this game goes and where he builds from there. He’s excited too, so we’re ready.”
(You guys obviously haven’t played a game yet. You all have practiced against each other. But how do you sort of see the battle in the trenches? Since you haven’t played anybody yet, is there an advantage that goes to one side of the ball or the other in this offseason?) – “It’s kind of an advantage because we kind of have the same kind of defense as the Patriots, so to say. I think that’s great. Whenever your defense is going to resemble who you’re playing, coming up on the first game, I think that’s definitely an advantage; and also a disadvantage if your defense doesn’t play what you’re going to see Week 1. I think it’s been to our advantage being that we don’t have any preseason games. It’s been good.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said today that you guys are going to roll with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa as your quarterbacks. In what ways have you seen Tua progress?) – “Yeah, he’s learning his plays, watching film, watching Ryan (Fitzpatrick) and I think it will be good for him. Taking time to – how he’s doing things, he’s been going about everything the right way. I think when he does get his shot, I think he’s going to do very well.”
(I’m curious to ask you about maintaining your weight along the offensive line. I know you have to put a bunch of work into your bodies to maintain that high weight. Have you noticed any challenges going from a place up in the northeast like Washington or the Giants compared to down here in Miami, and the extra effort you’ve had to make to maintain that weight?) – “No, it’s actually been pretty fine for me. I’ve been down here my whole life, from little league to college. It really was harder in New York for when it got cold, for the weight to stay down as opposed to being here. I’m here every offseason so nothing really changed for me. I would say it’s pretty hard for other dudes who aren’t from here, having to do more hydration and eat more carbs and stuff like that. But for me, this is just what I’ve always been at.”
(T Austin Jackson, I don’t know if you heard but he said he’s going to buy ice cream for everyone for the night before the Patriots game. Do you have a request? Any flavor?) – “Shoot, I’m a cookies and cream dude but I think teams have snacks. He hasn’t been to a game yet so he’ll find out the team has snacks after meetings. (laughter)”
Saturday, September 5, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I was wondering your thoughts on the decision to move on from QB Josh Rosen.) – “This time of year, every decision is tough to let go of a player. At the end of the day, Josh – he worked hard, he competed, he did everything we asked; but at the end of the day, we just felt like moving on was the best thing for the Miami Dolphins.”
(What do you think I guess went wrong with QB Josh Rosen’s tenure in Miami where it didn’t work out?) – “Like I just mentioned, he’s a hard-working kid. He competed. I think he fought through – last year was a difficult year for him. Being up, coming down. He fought through it. He came back. He competed this training camp. I don’t have any bad things to say about him. It just didn’t work out and we felt like it was best for us to move on. I wish him the best. He’s immensely talented; but we just felt like this was the best move for the Dolphins. Again, like I’ve said before, there are a lot of factors that go into every decision we make. They’re long conversations. They involve a lot of different circumstances and we just feel like we try to make the best decision for the team right now. That’s how we felt about the situation.”
(Obviously this is a unique year with the COVID-19 situation. Some folks might say “well why not keep around a talented third quarterback considering there’s always a risk of injury or this year virus?” What about that?) – “Again, we talked about a myriad of circumstances, situations – that being one of them. A lot of factors go into the decision-making, but we felt like even with that, this was the best move for the Miami Dolphins. We don’t take any of this lightly. We put a lot of thought into every decision we make. Josh (Rosen) competed. I wish him all the best; but that was the decision we wanted to make.”
(The move with QB Josh Rosen would seem to make a statement about your feelings toward QB Tua Tagovailoa and his preparedness to get into a game if need be right away. I’m wondering if you could address that, just how confident you are if Tua had to play almost immediately really.) – “Again, Tua (Tagovailoa) had a good camp. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) had a good camp. Josh (Rosen) had a good camp. All of these guys were competitive. There’s a lot of things that go into making a decision. Obviously from a health standpoint, we feel good about where Tua is. At the same time, we’re not saying that Tua is No. 2; we’re not saying that he’s No. 1. We’re going through it. We’re still making evaluations. We’re still looking at every possible scenario. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are going to be released this evening; but yes, at the end of the day, we feel good about where Tua is and same as ‘Fitz,’ and we’re going to move forward with those two guys and we could potentially add another quarterback or someone at another position as well.”
(I just wanted to ask how important is it for you to have a quarterback on the practice squad and maybe is bringing back QB Jake Rudock a possibility for you guys because of his familiarity?) – “Again, those are conversations that (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and myself, we have – and (Assistant General Manager) Marvin Allen. You can never have enough quarterbacks, so I could see us having one on the practice squad, but I think it’s too early to say, ‘hey, we’re going to do this, that or something else.’ There’s going to be a lot more players on the wire tonight. We’ll take a look at all of them and we’ll see where we are from there.”
(I know obviously last year you guys spent a second-round draft pick on QB Josh Rosen. I guess when you look back at that trade, is there any regret? Is there any looking back and figuring why it didn’t work – the trade?) – “I think the most important thing is to kind of move forward and not look back and worry about today and worry about this season and not worry about what happened last year or – look, you don’t hit on every play, on every trade, on every draft pick. Show me a team that’s hit on every one and I’ll applaud that team. So I’m not saying that there’s any regrets. I feel like in the moment, we felt like that was the best move for the Dolphins. It didn’t work out and we moved on from Josh (Rosen) and we’ll leave it at that.”
(The dynamic in the quarterback room primarily now is going to be QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa, and we’ve talked almost every day about how wonderful that combination is. The dynamic of ‘Fitz’ and Tua, is there an advantage from your perspective to that on and off the field practice reps included as opposed to having three quarterbacks in the room and sharing practice reps?) – “I think the dynamic, whether it’s two or three, I don’t really see much of a difference. I don’t think there would be much of a difference as far as what that dynamic would look like. ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is ‘Fitz.’ Tua is Tua. And whoever the third guy is – whatever kind of personality that person brings, I think it would fit in with those two specifically – to include Josh; I think there was a good dynamic when Josh was in the room as well. What we do next from a quarterback standpoint is yet to be determined. We’ve made no decisions. We brought Jake (Rudock) in for a visit, seen him work out and look, there’s still going to be a lot of transactions. There are a lot of transactions left to be made throughout the league. We’ll take a look and do our due diligence on players at all positions. I know we’re focusing – locked in – on the quarterback right now, but there’s 52 other or I should say 51 other players on the roster and that makes a team, not just one position. But I understand it’s a very vital position and I understand all the questions on it, but at the same time, it’s a team game. We need 53 guys who can help the team win and that’s kind of the type of team we’re trying to build.”
(To that point, I guess are you guys prepared to play QB Tua Tagovailoa a little earlier than you anticipated or than you may perhaps want to?) – “He’s had a good camp. He’s been competitive. He’s improved. I think if he had to go in, I think he’d prepare himself and do the best he could. Obviously he’s shown improvement and right now I would say he’s – he’s shown a lot of improvement. If he had to go in and play, that’s how it’d be. Now a rookie playing early on, we may have that at some other positions and if that were the case, then that’s what it would be. But I don’t like to speak in hypotheticals. I know everybody else does, but that’s where we’re at.”
(Last year you guys were aggressive on the waiver wire with five claims along with the number of trades that you did. Do you anticipate yourself being that aggressive and what are you looking for on the waiver wire – not necessarily positions but young players, moldable players, things like that?) – “That’s yet to be determined as well. We’ve got to see what’s out there. If there’s a player or players that we feel help us or improve our roster, we’ll have conversations about it and potentially put a claim in. But tonight’s going to be a long night from that standpoint across the league. I think every team’s going to be checking the wire, watching film and I think each team, to include us, is going to try to improve their team as much as they can tonight and obviously there’s probably going to be transactions over the next few weeks with teams making moves and trying to improve their team and we’re no different from that standpoint.”
