QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(How hard is it to try to put offensive drives together when the scoreboard isn’t in your favor during these games?) – “I think the first two (games) – when they get out of hand like that, you get out of your base offense. (You’re in) more of a 2-minute mode, trying to get some stuff downfield. I think both times in the second half of the first two games, it was a lot of that. We just have to be better early. We want to start fast, and it’s always a point of emphasis for teams; but that’s been a tough thing for us, especially the last game. Starting fast – which didn’t happen – and good, positive plays on first down, which didn’t really happen. Those are things that we’re focusing on and emphasizing.”
(So not only are you not able to execute the game plan, but you’re having to divert what you do offensively because of how the second half is unfolding. Is that what you’re saying?) – “You get into a different mode where you get away from the run game a little bit and you start throwing the ball a lot more trying to play catch up and come from behind. That’s a mode that you want to try to avoid and stay out of, which means you’ve just got to play better early on.”
(As the voice of experience on this team, what kind of sage advice can you give these younger players at this point in the season?) – “It’s only Week 3, right? So just come to work every single day, put your head down and just do your job. Focus on doing your job and do the best you can at what you’re doing, and if you do that and you get better, then collectively the team is going to get better. That’s our message right now, focusing on us and trying to do a better job individually, which collectively will bring everybody up.”
(Is there a different mental or emotional impact on you when these big losses happen the way they do?) – “I think sometimes they are harder to put behind you. A lot of times with a loss – whether it’s a 1-point loss or what we’ve seen the last few weeks – you’re always kind of down for a little bit. To have two in a row, maybe it lingers a little bit longer but by Wednesday, you’ve got to put all your focus and energy into the next team and the next game. I would say that may be one of the differences.”
(How have you found ways to compartmentalize some of these current struggles?) – “That’s it. You have to – that word – you just have to compartmentalize everything that you’re doing and put it behind you and put all your focus into this week. That’s it. It’s a difficult thing to do sometimes, but as a football player and really as a quarterback, that’s how you do it. You block out the noise. It’s the other way, too. When you’re winning and everybody’s happy and you’re doing so great, you still have to put that on the back burner and really focus on what you’re doing because every week presents different challenges.”
(Was there a part of you that was wondering if you’d start this week after how the first two weeks have gone?) – “I’ve seen it every way – I truly have – between a lot of different instances. Starting because of suspension, starting because of a guy breaking his jaw, not being in, then being in, not being in and having somebody tear his ACL and being in – there’s a million different things and ways that it’s happened in my career. For me, always being ready and knowing that when I have my opportunity, I’ve got to go out there and do my best. My whole career has been like that, and I’ve just tried to do my best and putting my focus into what I can control. The first two games – obviously, there’s a lot of things that I need to do better in order for us to perform better, and that’s what my focus is on right now.”
(Have you ever had to share the job where you’re playing and the other guy’s playing and you’re playing and the other guy’s playing?) – “There’s never the two-man – like you would see in college, like the platoon – you don’t really see that in the NFL, so that’s not really something that happens. You’re-in-or-you’re-out-type deal.”
(Do you find it more beneficial in general when a teammate or teammates is having problems with drops to just not talk about it because it’s such a mental thing or to actually openly discuss it?) – “I think it’s unique and different for every guy, but it’s not – there are certain things. There’s the elephant in the room. There are certain things, whether it’s the Minkah (Fitzpatrick) trade or Laremy (Tunsil) or Kenny (Stills) or dropping the ball or throwing an interception that some people treat them as taboo, but it’s really – you just have to be open about it and put everything out there. (You) know that guys are going to make mistakes but maybe getting to the root of why it’s happening. That’s not just for drops. That’s for bad decisions, bad throws, all that stuff; but I think as a whole, just overcommunicating on all that and getting it out there is an important thing.”
(You mentioned the “elephant in the room” topics. Do you guys as a team kind of discuss those topics maybe as we do? Like do you mention the trades or different big things that happened about the team?) – “A lot of this stuff, it’s got to be talked about and put out there, and then you move on. That’s kind of the way that it’s been handled.”
(Has it been discussed that this roster doesn’t seem like it has the talent right now to compete? Is that something that was brought up among you guys?) – “No, I mean guys – with transactions happening, that’s brought up (like) whether guys are here or not here or who’s getting brought in, who’s not. That stuff is just open and honest and gets discussed right away, and then you move on and again, just bury your head in the game plan and what you can do every day to improve.”
(Having said that, how hopeful are you that the dust has kind of settled – at least with major moves at the top of the roster?) – “In the NFL, you never know. Especially as the season goes on with injuries and different things as well, it’s just part of it. There’s always a revolving door of players coming in and out. You’ve got to do your best to control what you can control.”
(How do you feel about the overall talent level of the first four opponents on the Dolphins’ schedule?) – “(They’re) really, really good teams obviously. The thing is, it’s the NFL. There’s talent everywhere. Obviously especially the first three weeks in what I’ve seen and now what I’ve looked at for this week with Dallas, they are very talented teams. Dallas has a great defense. The things that they’ve done, they’re playing very well offensively right now; but what we’ve looked at, they do a great job on defense and rallying to the ball and making plays. The speed of their defense – all that kind of shows up on tape. Physicality.”
(There was a story they brought up during the broadcast that you were getting texts during the week that people thought you might be asking for a trade because of the name “Fitzpatrick?”) – “Yeah, I think something flashed on ESPN, and I got a couple ‘what the –‘ you know, ‘what’s going on?’ (laughter) It was Minkah. (laughter) You know, that kind of deal.”
(This might be a good time to revisit the trademark thing?) – (laughter) “None of that was my idea. That wasn’t me.”
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
LB Jerome Baker
(On practice this week.) – “Nothing has changed. We still go out there and go to work. Our mentality didn’t change. If we want to go out there and win, ultimately we have to get better during the week. Today was just another day to get better.”
(You guys always say, It’s the next game – one game at a time. You don’t even talk about what happened, and you just worry about Dallas, and just trying to get better?) – “Yeah. That’s the main focus. Just worry about what we can control, and ultimately we’ve got Dallas coming up. That’s a great team. We (need to) go out there and just get better during the week, and Sunday give it everything we got.”
(Is it difficult at times not to listen or watch what others are saying on the outside, with what has happened in the first two games, and the score? How you’ve been outscored.) – “It depends on the person really. For me, I feed off of it. When somebody says I can’t do something and talks about our defense, it really hits me. I go out there and try to push everybody as much as I can, and just give it everything I have so we can get wins on Sundays. That’s my approach. I take ownership of it.”
(When you say you feed off of it, you feed off the fact that people are saying what they are saying? I know you guys are 21 point underdogs going into Dallas on Sunday.) – “I mean, yeah. It depends on the guy. Some guys, they just can’t listen to it. My whole career, somebody always says something about me. I kind of embrace it and really just want to show that we can play great defense, and ultimately get a win.”
(Talk about this Dallas offense. They’ve got a weapon in in the air and they’ve got one on the ground.) – “Yeah. They’ve got some good weapons – (Amari) Cooper and ‘Zeke’ (Ezekiel Elliott). Their o-line is big. They have Dak (Prescott) back there. They definitely have some weapons. I know with the guys we have, we can definitely contain them. We just have to ultimately go out there and do our job, and we’ll be fine.”
(You’ve said that there is some who go off of the stuff that is being said about you and you want to prove yourself. There are others who might have the personality that two straight losses kind of get them down and lose motivation. How do you sort of even that out a little bit? Do players talk to each other and try to pick each other up?) – “That just comes with your leaders. Your leaders always have to stay positive. Your leaders always have to set the tone. That’s really just the leaders. My job is to lead and get this team going. That’s all I can do. I never put my head down because others are watching me. When it comes to days like this, we want to go out there and perform. Ultimately on Sundays, we have to perform our best.”
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
WR Jakeem Grant
(On playing a game back in his hometown.) – “Being back home, it’s going to be good, because I get to see family and stuff for a short period of time. It (will) feel good to be back in the state.”
(How many at the game? How many are going?) – “It’s a family reunion. That’s all I can say. (laughter) It’s going to be a family reunion. There’s going to be a lot. I’m going to enjoy it.”
(Did you pick up the tab?) – “I made most of them pay for it. No, no. You definitely have to (have them) pay for that. That’s too many – No. (laughter)”
(You told me you played at the old Texas stadium in pee-wee football. Tell me about that. What do you remember about that?) – “I remember the first time we played, I know they basically were like in the mode of building the stadium that they have now and getting rid of this one. I remember running back a kickoff return and they had a little hump in the middle of the field like it’s basically like you run up the field or whatever a little bit. I played in the Cowboys stadium probably my whole career in college against Baylor – against Xavien (Howard). I had some good times and some bad times there, wins and losses. It’s an awesome atmosphere.”
(What is it going to mean to you to be back there as a professional? Is it going to be any more special than playing at Lambeau Field or MetLife Stadium or anywhere else?) – “I would say it’ll be more special because my family will actually be there. Most of my family will be there and be able to see me live in the stadium, just like them watching me in college and in high school and pee-wee as well. It’s going to be a great feeling to be back home and be able to go out there and play.”
(Did you notice that game as soon as the schedule came out? Do you look at the schedule and that game stood out or no?) – “It really didn’t stand out to me until I had all of my family calling me – because they’re Cowboys fans, of course – and like talking trash and stuff like that. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever. You’ll see whenever we get ready to play them.’ They’re for me and the Dolphins but then they’re (also) Cowboys fans, so I’ve got to hear a lot of trash talking. I’m not really worried about what they’re saying. They were like, ‘I hope you have a good game. That’s all I can say.’”
(What’s the funniest thing that they said to you trash talking-wise?) – “It really comes from my oldest brother. He plays with the Cowboys on Madden. He’s a Madden freak and die-hard Cowboys fan. He was like, ‘Keep your head on a swivel when you go across the middle.’ I was like, ‘Man, whatever.’ He was like, ‘I’m telling you, because I was playing against the Dolphins earlier this week with the Cowboys and I hit you pretty hard.’ I’m like, ‘Man, whatever.’ (laughter) He’s just giving me a hard time about that, but it’s all love.”
(Your brother is rooting for them over you?) – “It’s 50/50. I would say it’s 50/50. My brother is a die-hard Cowboys fans. The Cowboys can do no wrong in his eyes. Yes, I’m his younger brother; but it’s the Cowboys. He loves the Cowboys and he won’t let me say anything about the Cowboys, so it’s like I can’t win on that one.”
(Did you take the ticket request away from him then?) – “Yeah, I almost did. I was like, ‘If you show up to the game with a Cowboys jersey, you’re not getting a ticket.’ And he was like, ‘Come on, bro.’ (laughter) I was like, ‘No, bro. You’re supposed to be there to support me. The only reason why you’ll be going is because I’m giving you a ticket.’ He was like, ‘Alright. Alright. That’s a deal.’ He can’t wear any Cowboy stuff. He’s probably going to have Cowboy undershirt, probably. (laughter)”
(What’s your brother’s name?) – “Markeith.”
(What’s that defense he was playing with against you?) – “I don’t know the defense he was playing. He does his own playbook with Madden. He’s phenomenal at Madden. I don’t even try to play against him, honestly.”
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
DT Christian Wilkins
(Let’s face it, in college you’re not used to what’s been going on. Is it difficult for you?) – “the thing is, I just try to keep a positive mindset through all of it. The good, the bad, the ugly, I just feel like it is part of the process. Whether I have a good play, a bad play, a good game or a bad game, whether we win or we lose, it’s just all a part of the process. Just have that mindset that it’s just a part of being a pro now. I’m going to be exposed to different things I’ve never been exposed to, be a part of different things I’ve never been a part of. You just have to keep a mindset of you’re here to get better. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. This is my dream job, so just try to embrace it and have as much fun with it as possible.”
(Another big offense you guys are going to face both in the air and on the ground. When you look at their film, is there anything that’s vulnerable for them?) – “They really don’t have any weaknesses. They are a really good offense and a really good team. We’re definitely going to have our hands full. We’re just going to have to have a good week of practice and a good week of preparation, and see what we can do on Sunday.”
(How do you feel you played the first two games?) – “I’m never satisfied. Even if I played the best games of my life these first two games, I’m never satisfied and always want more. I’m always searching for that perfect game. I always can improve and always can get better.”
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
LB Sam Eguavoen
(Some players might get disheartened by two blowout loses, others get motivated by it, so it’s a mixed bag, I’m sure. How does the unit stay cohesive here and focused towards the positive? How does that happen this week?) – “I think pretty much around the whole NFL, you just have to have a short-term memory. Sunday, Monday, a little bit of Tuesday, you still kind of think about what went wrong in a game. Then you come in Wednesday, there’s practice, you’re hitting, you’ve got a new install, you’ve got a new scheme and it’s like everything is wiped away. You can’t even remember what happened in the past you’re because you’re so focused on what we’re moving forward to. I don’t think it’s really hard to get all of the guys to buy into, ‘We have to move onto the next week.’ I think practice helps a lot to get our minds shifted.”
(Was there one positive? The score was, against the Patriots, 13-0 at the half. The defense did some good things. Do you try to carry that into the next game? Because there were some good things.) – “Yeah, we’re just always building. Our motto here is to get better every day. We’re always trying to build off of what we did the day before. That Patriots game, 13-0 when you look back at it, it was just little things here and there. If we stop that, it could’ve been this, it could’ve been that. At the end of the day, it was an ugly score. We just have to improve from it. I don’t even really like talking about it that much, but there was definitely some positive in that game, especially how hard we were still fighting at the end of the game. That showed a lot with this defense.”
(What are the biggest challenges the defense will face on Sunday against Dallas do you think?) – “’Zeke’ (Ezekiel Elliot). He’s on my fantasy team. (laughter) No, I’m just playing. He’s probably the best back in the league. That’s the anchor for them. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be ready to play so that’s probably going to be the biggest challenge. They have a good defense, good linebackers over there. Us as a defense, we’re going to try and – We have to make it work. We have to do something. We have to make big plays defensively to make it a game.”
(How do you make it work against RB Ezekiel Elliot when he’s such an important thing to stop and then you’ve got everyone else?) – “You’ve got to hit him. I’ve never played running back before, but I’m pretty sure no running back just likes getting hit all day, especially when you’re that good that you rarely get hit in games. We just have to get everybody to the ball, all hats to the ball and lay some licks on him.”
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Obviously we’ve seen throughout training camp and the first two games, S Bobby McCain is a starter at one safety spot and played most of the game. With S Minkah Fitzpatrick no longer here, would you expect S Reshad Jones – once he’s healthy – to be your other primary starting safety, or do you envision a scenario where he’s competing with S Walt Aikens, S Steven Parker, etc.?) – “We’ve got a – obviously, Reshad has played a lot of football over the course of his career. (He is) kind of dealing with a couple things; but yeah, when he gets back, we expect him out there along with Walt (Aikens) and (Steven) Parker like you said. It’s a good group. We’re happy with that group. Once we get out there, communicate and practice together, I think we’ll be okay.”
(How far do you think S Reshad Jones is away? Is it mostly that ankle that’s keeping him back?) – “He’s working extremely hard to get back. He’s close. I would see him as close. Again, he’s in there. He’s in the training room, working out. He’s closing in, so I expect to see him soon. He’s working to get back as soon as he can.”
(Do you have any update on the quarterback situation? Have you made a change, or is QB Ryan Fitzpatrick your guy still?) – “Right now, ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is the guy; but again, every week both quarterbacks will get reps. That’s the case every week. You go throughout the league and you see there have been injuries at that position across the league. It’s like every position on the field. You’ve got to have a backup. Everyone – you’ve got to get them all reps during the week. It’s no different at quarterback for us.”
(Given the losing margins that you’ve had here, do you find yourself doing a little more morale building or spirit lifting than you would if say you were 2-0, or do you just treat it the same way?) – “My message is always the same. Come to work, get better, we improve, we learn from our mistakes. There are always mistakes. There are always things that we could improve and get better. That’s kind of where my focus always is. I try to stay the same. I never get too high. I never get too low. I try to stay even. It’s been something I’ve done my entire career, and I’m going to stick with that. Hopefully our team’s that way as well.”
(What have you seen from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick the first two that gives you confidence in him going forward?) – “’Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is – I think he’s got real leadership ability. He’s smart. He knows what we’re doing offensively. He can get guys in the right position. He’s a guy I have a lot of trust in. I think he’s – I like ‘Fitz’ a lot.”
(Can you talk about the specific challenges Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott poses for your defense and how much of your success on defense will be predicated on containing him?) – “They’ve got a really good offense, really across the board. You can go a few different ways. You can go to Ezekiel (Elliott), you can go to Dak Prescott, go to (Amari) Cooper, go the offensive line. They’ve got a good team. They’ve got a good offense. They’ve got a good defense. They’ve got a good special teams unit, so this will be a big test. Specific to Ezekiel, he is a downhill, physical, fast, good stiff-arm, breaks a lot of tackles, can hit the big run. This is a very explosive player. It’s going to take a total team effort to keep him contained. At the same time, this offense is a good one. If you put too much emphasis on stopping the run, Dak has done a really good in the pass game and is much, much improved. This is a really good quarterback, so he’ll sit back in the pocket, whether it’s play-action, whether it’s drop-back, whether it’s – he’s got a really good grasp of what they’re doing offensively to get those guys in the right plays. He’s been very accurate. If you focus too much on one player, they’ll get you somewhere else. They’ve got big-play receivers really across the board and then a big offensive line. It’s a good team.”
(Do you plan any changes on the offensive line?) – “Nope. We’ll go with the same five guys from last week. Obviously we’ll – again, like every position, we’ll work in backups from Shaq (Calhoun) to (Chris) Reed to (Bryan) Witzmann. We’ll work everybody but the plan is to go with the five guys from last week.”
(What went into the decision to have C/G Evan Boehm play some snaps instead of G Danny Isidora?) – “We just wanted to get him in there. You want to get guys some game reps. He’s a guy who has practiced well, so we wanted to give him an opportunity to play a little bit in a game. That was the plan there.”
(How important is it for you to have some continuity? You’re going to have five starters from one week to the next.) – “I think it’s very important. I think that’s how you grow, build and improve and get better. That’s the goal here with that. It starts in practice. We’ve had a couple of good weeks of practice. I think we were better from Week 1 to Week 2. We’ll try to just continue to get better week after week after week.”
(Over the last three weeks, you guys have moved off of a lot of players. CB Xavien Howard is one that’s still here obviously and part of your future. We saw on Twitter after the trade that he had kind of a wistful tweet about being the only one left in the room, it seemed like. Have you had conversations with him about how this has all gone and the future and his place in it?) – “My conversations with him today have been about the Cowboys – Amari Cooper, the quarterback (Dak Prescott), this run game. That’s kind of – I’ve said this before – the more effort, the more energy somewhere else is less on the Cowboys and we need to put all of our effort on this team. Those have been the conversations. I haven’t talked to him about that.”
(We’ve seen TE Mike Gesicki with a couple of receptions here. Where have you seen improvement in his game?) – “I think he’s really done a much better job in a lot of areas – blocking, catching the football, route-running. There were a couple of plays last week where he’s open and he’s getting open and we just don’t have enough time to get him the ball. He just needs to continue doing what he’s been doing. We’ll get it protected, we’ll have more time and we’ll try to find him in the pass game. He’s done a better job in the run game. I just want to – if he continues that improvement, I think that will go a long way for him.”
(Is most of the improvement that TE Mike Gesicki needs kind of mental as far as understanding how to get open and running those routes? Or is it physical and actually making that play?) – “No. I think physically, this guy is big, fast, athletic. I don’t want to say mentally, but you have to learn how to play this game at this level at that position. That takes a little bit of time. This being his second year, I think he’s showing a lot of improvement. I think we’re starting to see some of that in flashes and then obviously we always have to be more consistent.”
(It’s been a low per carry average for RB Kalen Ballage so far and I know it’s clearly not all his fault. There’s blocking and other things involved. Are you at the point where you’d like to see more of RB Mark Walton carrying the ball in a game or even RB Patrick Laird or RB Myles Gaskin? Obviously you have RB Kenyan Drake of course. Or do you just want to move forward with Kalen and see what he can do over a longer body of work?) – “I like all of our backs. I like Kalen. I like Drake, obviously. Walton, Laird – I like all of the backs. Obviously there’s one ball and you can’t get them all the amount of touches you’d like; but I think Kalen had a really good camp. I like Kalen a lot. I like Drake a lot. We’re going to try to get both guys in the game and if we get a hot hand, we’ll stay with that. That’s been expressed to both guys and I think they’re both – I really like both of them. I like all of our backs but Drake and Ballage, these are two guys who have a lot of talent, who are tough, who are physical, who love to play. I like both of these guys. I want to get them going.”
