Speaker 1: To us fires touch style by waddle stuck into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami boyd tight froll, tight window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What is up, doll Fans and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield And on today's show, one last time on
Speaker 1: the grass before training camp, our last day at the
Speaker 1: off season program. Here we'll play the hits from the
Speaker 1: day of practice, tell you who'sted out and who shined.
Speaker 1: Here from Mike McDaniel and another very insightful educational press conference.
Speaker 1: Plus we'll talk to some of the guys as well.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from Javon Holland, Brandon Jones, Ray Kwon Davis,
Speaker 1: and Brennan Scarlett from the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcast. So
Speaker 1: we heard from coach Mike McDaniel before practice on this Tuesday,
Speaker 1: and once again he just continues to teach us things
Speaker 1: about the game of football and really inspire as a
Speaker 1: speaker goes in terms of being at the podium for
Speaker 1: these press conferences, but before he talked about actual football,
Speaker 1: and that was great. He gave us some great nuggets.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you saw my quote on Twitter about sushi
Speaker 1: is a medium for wasabi, and as something of a
Speaker 1: sushi connoisseur myself, I can't agree with that because I
Speaker 1: just love almost everything about sushi. When we go out,
Speaker 1: I let my wife pick the roles because I just
Speaker 1: don't care. Put it in front of me and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna eat it. But as someone that lives by the
Speaker 1: credo that French fries are merely a shovel for catchup,
Speaker 1: I feel where you're coming from on the medium to
Speaker 1: consume a better food that you prefer more than the
Speaker 1: other one. So good food talk there with Coach. He
Speaker 1: also talked about trying sushi for the first time in
Speaker 1: his twenties, how he doesn't eat fish outside of sushi,
Speaker 1: which makes no sense. He acknowledged that himself, and then
Speaker 1: we finally got into some football questions with Coach. That's
Speaker 1: where I love going with this coach because he can
Speaker 1: explain so many things in so much detail, and you
Speaker 1: guys know, I love the educational aspect of this podcast
Speaker 1: and and coach certainly helps us out in that regard
Speaker 1: a lot. And the first thing he was asked about
Speaker 1: was the U d f A class and if anybody
Speaker 1: in particular had had flashed in his eyes, and he
Speaker 1: took the opportunity to kind of talk about what the
Speaker 1: experience for a U d f A is and the
Speaker 1: challenges that they have to undertake when they get to
Speaker 1: the NFL and all that comes with that. Just just
Speaker 1: really think about it for for a second. How difficult.
Speaker 1: I just say it to the rookies all the time,
Speaker 1: like the undertaken they have where there there transitioning from
Speaker 1: a different game and these are grown men that have
Speaker 1: been earning a paycheck and you're trying to get reps
Speaker 1: from them and and perform at a high level. Um.
Speaker 1: So certain positions I think are more akin to go
Speaker 1: fast and furious um typically Uh, you know there's a
Speaker 1: running backs. You get a little more opportunity because it's
Speaker 1: um more natural to a little more natural to what
Speaker 1: you've what you've done in the past. Hey, don't get tackled.
Speaker 1: Um and Uh. I've been very impressed with I call
Speaker 1: him Dr White um and uh. But there's there's plenty
Speaker 1: there's plenty of guys. I know my NFL experience has
Speaker 1: afforded me to know this much. Do not make to
Speaker 1: um early of a judgment. And what you're what you're
Speaker 1: trying to do is really establish are these should these guys?
Speaker 1: Should they have a ticket to the party? Are they?
Speaker 1: And and really a whole lot of drafted class. Um,
Speaker 1: there's there's not anybody that that stands out, whether that's
Speaker 1: from an athletic perspective or just what it takes to
Speaker 1: be a professional football player. That's the credit to Chris
Speaker 1: and his entire staff. Um were they brought some young
Speaker 1: men that are hungry and and um meet meet the
Speaker 1: bar from an athletic standpoint. So it will be an
Speaker 1: exciting um uh late summer early fall tons to unpack there,
Speaker 1: as there usually is with coach's answers. Right, But I
Speaker 1: was really intrigued by Number one is the Quadrian weispan
Speaker 1: in the notes a lot here during O t A.
Speaker 1: So that's cool to to hear him talk about that
Speaker 1: as well. But also the part about not coming away
Speaker 1: with too harsh of a judgment positive or negative, either direction,
Speaker 1: too early on these guys. And you heard him talk
Speaker 1: about you want to find out if this guy has
Speaker 1: a ticket to the dance, and you know that kind
Speaker 1: of it's you see the way a guy moves either way,
Speaker 1: the guy matches up, the way a guy maybe clicks
Speaker 1: right away, and you can say, yeah, there's something there
Speaker 1: that we can cultivate, that we can work with. But
Speaker 1: the idea of giving everyone a full shake, a full
Speaker 1: chance of fair shake to prove their worth over the
Speaker 1: course of a long period of time. And I thought
Speaker 1: that was really cool, really balanced approach there from coach McDaniel. Next,
Speaker 1: he was asked about the message that he wants to
Speaker 1: leave the team heading into the off off season. We're
Speaker 1: a technically in the off season right now, but the
Speaker 1: summer break, as I call it, the months between now
Speaker 1: and training camp. Here's coach, uh, this, this is a cool,
Speaker 1: cool opportunity that's uncharted UM thus far. And you know,
Speaker 1: I talk to these guys a lot. UM put a
Speaker 1: lot of thought into this. We've had an offseason that
Speaker 1: we've been fully committed, We've we've learned a lot, we've
Speaker 1: gotten better. UM. I think that the coaches have done
Speaker 1: a great job and the players have really attacked this offseason,
Speaker 1: which I guess I would equate to the first quarter
Speaker 1: of a game. UM. I'm comfortable to say the way
Speaker 1: they've worked, I feel like we have a lead in
Speaker 1: the first quarter. What does that mean nothing? You know,
Speaker 1: there's how many how many games are you winning in
Speaker 1: the first quarter that you lose and vice versa. UM.
Speaker 1: So we've positioned ourselves UM to compete, compete at a
Speaker 1: standard UM that we We've said from the beginning that
Speaker 1: that that we want to compete at UM. The biggest
Speaker 1: message is the obligation UM and accountability that they have
Speaker 1: to have UM to their teammates while they're gone. Because
Speaker 1: the one thing that UM is has stood the test
Speaker 1: of time is if you don't come back in not
Speaker 1: shape training camp shape at the beginning of training camp,
Speaker 1: you make yourself very vulnerable to soft tissue injuries, which
Speaker 1: puts it puts you to three weeks behind UM, and
Speaker 1: more often than not, UH, when it's all said and done,
Speaker 1: players never catch up because that's how tight of a
Speaker 1: race it is. So the you know, spending time with
Speaker 1: your family, getting away, recharging, but also understanding this moment
Speaker 1: and it your teammates are counting on you UH to
Speaker 1: come back, and the Miami Dolphins organizations counting on you
Speaker 1: to come back in full um, in full shape form
Speaker 1: and desires so that, uh, the cream of our team
Speaker 1: rises to the top. And whoever the best person is
Speaker 1: at every position, Um, they're giving us the best chance
Speaker 1: to win. Yeah, I mean, once again, we're it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a Mike McDaniel heavy episode here because I just
Speaker 1: love this press conference so so much. But talking about
Speaker 1: attacking the offseason, how thrilled he is about just the
Speaker 1: approach this team has had this offseason. They talking about
Speaker 1: the lead that he believes they've taken into the first
Speaker 1: quarter as it were, in regards to this particular point
Speaker 1: on the calendar. Really interesting stuff there, but also the
Speaker 1: talking about the accountability you have to your teammates into
Speaker 1: the team to come back in football shape, ready to go.
Speaker 1: So that's things like the vulnerability to soft tissue issue,
Speaker 1: soft tissue issues that rhymes doesn't arise when you get
Speaker 1: here and then you went up in a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks of practice and to put you behind the eight ball,
Speaker 1: and you hear coach talk about never actually catching up.
Speaker 1: Very interesting approach and you know, seeing so many guys
Speaker 1: out here at O T A. S. And going through
Speaker 1: it and having a good time and being in condition
Speaker 1: and the extra lapse after practice, you have to feel
Speaker 1: pretty good about where they are right there. Up next,
Speaker 1: coach talked a little bit about being a positive coach
Speaker 1: and uplifting coach with some of the players speaking about that.
Speaker 1: Here's Coach talking about his approach in that regard. I'd
Speaker 1: say I'm just a positive person only because there's uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm I'm the way I see the world
Speaker 1: as you're about uh the things that you can affect
Speaker 1: moving forward and about being present, um it. I wouldn't
Speaker 1: say that I was really approaching it like, hey, I
Speaker 1: want to be the positive coach because I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: think that I am. I know that's what how people
Speaker 1: um take it from from Afar, But really I just
Speaker 1: want I want players sole focus to be getting better
Speaker 1: at the craft and being the best player they can be.
Speaker 1: So I feel as though if you're able to be yourself,
Speaker 1: that's one less thing you're thinking about that's not getting
Speaker 1: better and um perfecting your craft. So that opportunity cost
Speaker 1: is something that's important to me. So I want people
Speaker 1: to want players to feel like they can be themselves. Um.
Speaker 1: I also think that UH concerted effort in a group
Speaker 1: forum hence team sports, UM just that collective venture is fun.
Speaker 1: The grind is fun, although in the present sometimes it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it is so. But but more than
Speaker 1: any of that, UM, I know, I think the players
Speaker 1: would attest the most important thing is that they feel
Speaker 1: like they have an honest coach, because I can't help
Speaker 1: them if I can't give them honest critiques. And and
Speaker 1: that don't get it twisted. There's plenty of times that
Speaker 1: UM uh in in my own way that I'm very
Speaker 1: very direct, because that's what players are depending on. But
Speaker 1: it's not really about the positive. It's more about UM
Speaker 1: whatever the elixir is to try to maximize um a
Speaker 1: given players ability to perform, which is a coach's job.
Speaker 1: I mean, we've all had jobs before where things maybe
Speaker 1: weigh on your mind or that you weren't thinking about
Speaker 1: the job itself and it distracted you from the job itself, right,
Speaker 1: So I thought that answer was just really kind of
Speaker 1: high level in terms of thinking about how to approach
Speaker 1: this from a mental aspect and and being on that
Speaker 1: kind of psychological level. Really interesting stuff there from coach.
Speaker 1: As you can tell, he thinks about all this stuff
Speaker 1: and and how to approach it, how to address certain
Speaker 1: players and certain you know, facets of the football team,
Speaker 1: just really really interesting stuff. Coach was also asked about
Speaker 1: which coach do you pattern yourself after. We talked to
Speaker 1: players all the time, right about whose game do you
Speaker 1: model yourself after? And they'll give you an answer and
Speaker 1: tell you why they think that they model the game
Speaker 1: after that player. And Coach said that not really anybody,
Speaker 1: but genuine self. And he talked about growing up to
Speaker 1: a single mom as an only child and not having
Speaker 1: an example to kind of go off of and forging
Speaker 1: his own way. And I want to play this last
Speaker 1: audio clip from that answer again. If you guys want
Speaker 1: to see the entirety of this interview or the press conference,
Speaker 1: I should say, go to the team YouTube channel, the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins YouTube channel and check it out for yourself.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to play this clip because I just
Speaker 1: loved it so much about letting the players set the
Speaker 1: team culture themselves. I think that you create a culture
Speaker 1: not because this guy acts a certain way, but because
Speaker 1: you're uh really a group of people, and and the
Speaker 1: people that you employ and the people that you work
Speaker 1: with if allowed, they dictate the terms of what the
Speaker 1: culture is and that and that's what I think you're seeing,
Speaker 1: UM on a day and day basis. I'm not like, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: have fun. It's more like, hey, this is your guys team.
Speaker 1: Understand that. Now own it, UM and how far do
Speaker 1: you want to take it? And the results are a
Speaker 1: collection of young, hungary individuals that Um, it's June, so
Speaker 1: we haven't played a game, UM, but for we're at
Speaker 1: right now and the way they're coming together, I'm very pleased,
Speaker 1: UM at this part of the process. How does the
Speaker 1: saying go that you are what you eat and kind
Speaker 1: of the same idea here that the football team that
Speaker 1: you are is the player you acquire, the players you draft,
Speaker 1: the players you signed, the players you trade for ultimately
Speaker 1: become the team and culture and products that you are, right,
Speaker 1: And that's what we've seen with this team. You know,
Speaker 1: we know you talk about the young, hungry individuals that
Speaker 1: coach mentions there and we've known that for a few
Speaker 1: years now. Right the way this team has acquired players
Speaker 1: in the draft or in free agency and the acumen
Speaker 1: they show, Like I go back to the Byron Jones
Speaker 1: signing and I talked about this every single year in
Speaker 1: training camp. I can't wait to watch it again this
Speaker 1: coming August. With the way he prepares and the way
Speaker 1: he's out there getting ready before or practice to get
Speaker 1: himself loose, and the way he's going through ball skilled drills,
Speaker 1: you know when their special teams are going and he's
Speaker 1: not part of you know, whatever that particular drill is
Speaker 1: at that time, like he's always working. So whether it's
Speaker 1: a veteran or a rookie or anything in between, those
Speaker 1: types of players established the culture and the type of
Speaker 1: team that you are, right and so to look at,
Speaker 1: for example, two young guys like Brandon Jones and Javon
Speaker 1: halland two guys we're gonna hear from here in just
Speaker 1: one second, and we've heard so much from coaches and
Speaker 1: players and their teammates alike, how those guys put themselves
Speaker 1: in position to succeed based upon the way they prepare
Speaker 1: and the way they you know, everything that happens before
Speaker 1: the snap, they're sharp with that it helps him to
Speaker 1: execute after the snap. So I thought that was really
Speaker 1: cool to hear. And you have that balance of young
Speaker 1: and older players or veteran players, I should say, where
Speaker 1: you know Tyreek Hill, a new acquisition, a guy in
Speaker 1: his his middle to late twenties who is out there
Speaker 1: leading the receiver's room all over the field and they
Speaker 1: follow his direction or to Ron Armstead. All the coaching
Speaker 1: clinic videos I know you guys have seen because I
Speaker 1: tweeted them out about just how how studious and how
Speaker 1: smart he is, probably one of the smartest players in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Or you know a Melvin Ingram,
Speaker 1: not even dressed for practice a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 1: or last week, and he's out there helping guys and
Speaker 1: the individual drills, kind of pointing some things out, taking
Speaker 1: his turn as a possible like we have five hand
Speaker 1: and need a six guy to go one on one here,
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and do that and you can get
Speaker 1: your hand placement on me. So all this stuff comes
Speaker 1: together for what coach talks about their collection of young,
Speaker 1: hungry individuals. Let's go ahead and take our first break
Speaker 1: here and come back and pick it back up with
Speaker 1: coach McDaniel and I really really thought provoking question and
Speaker 1: answer here about the individuality of this sport and of
Speaker 1: this league and of the modern athlete and a team sport.
Speaker 1: Great stuff here from from coach. That's next Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: Back here on the Drivetime Podcast, picking it right back
Speaker 1: up with Mike McDaniels Tuesday, June the seventh, media availability,
Speaker 1: the last time we'll hear from coach until training camp,
Speaker 1: last time on the field for practice to They will
Speaker 1: have those practice notes here in just a second. And
Speaker 1: some player media availabilities as well. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: go back to coach on this topic of the individual
Speaker 1: and a team sport. And you know, I've always thought
Speaker 1: players telling their stories and the modern athlete having you know,
Speaker 1: production companies or their Twitter timelines, even things that can
Speaker 1: help them really get their voice out there and tell
Speaker 1: their story themselves. I think it's awesome. And I thought
Speaker 1: this question an answer from from the reporter and from
Speaker 1: from coach McDaniel really exhibited his understanding of two and
Speaker 1: where we are, you know, even from just ten years ago,
Speaker 1: but especially years ago with athletes. Here's coach talking about
Speaker 1: individuality within a team sport. Phenomenal stuff here from I
Speaker 1: think individual individuality is more celebrated as a culture um
Speaker 1: in general. UM and and I think people are uh
Speaker 1: more recepted to that. UM. But don't get it twisted.
Speaker 1: The number one rule that we have on our team
Speaker 1: is protect the team. There's there's nothing greater in that.
Speaker 1: But I think you're some UM the whole total parts
Speaker 1: of what you become is an accumulation of the individual
Speaker 1: pieces and those pieces, UM, you're just trying to maxim
Speaker 1: maximize what you can contribute to the team. And you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's a certain degree of liberty, UM
Speaker 1: and investment and for lack of better terms, there's your
Speaker 1: you're taking that opportunity cost of thinking about how does
Speaker 1: someone want me to act and applying it to what
Speaker 1: is my job? And you have to stay within the
Speaker 1: you know, what's what's in best in the best interests
Speaker 1: of the team. But you know there's people UH shouldn't
Speaker 1: have to UH if they have honest intent, if they're
Speaker 1: if they're accountable and you can count on them, UM,
Speaker 1: and they're they're purpose and drive is correct and UH
Speaker 1: of high esteem, then you know, I'm who am I
Speaker 1: to say you should act one way or the other? UM?
Speaker 1: If I was policed that way, I don't think it'd
Speaker 1: be hanging out here standing at this podium waiting for
Speaker 1: questions about condiments to service. I mean, the brilliant answer
Speaker 1: and then the call back to the condiments question, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, he did tell us after the presser
Speaker 1: that barbecue sauce is his go to condiment even on
Speaker 1: French fries. Interesting, and I told you as a catch
Speaker 1: up guy earlier, a little bit of competing ideals. They're
Speaker 1: about preferred dipping sauces for your French fries. But I mean,
Speaker 1: how good is that? I just I love that answer.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and move on to the next here
Speaker 1: talking about tah in the red zone. But first he
Speaker 1: was asked about the health situations and not wanting to
Speaker 1: push guys back, and I thought he it was cool
Speaker 1: that he mentioned, you know, with regards to raheem most
Speaker 1: dirt alec ingolds some guys that are coming off a
Speaker 1: c L injuries a season ago, working to get back
Speaker 1: on the field this year this training camp, and talking
Speaker 1: about how great of a job the medical staff does,
Speaker 1: and talking about how all those guys want to play
Speaker 1: way worse than they actually want them to play, and
Speaker 1: just the drive behind getting back and getting healthy and
Speaker 1: on the football field with those guys and anybody else
Speaker 1: that is coming back from injury this offseason. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and get to that red zone question with coach
Speaker 1: talking about to AH and what's the key to red
Speaker 1: zone success fitting tight windows? Coach likes the way to
Speaker 1: it does that. Here's McDaniel from a football standpoint, the UH.
Speaker 1: We we've spent a considerable amount of time UM emphasizing
Speaker 1: the first and second down portion of of our game
Speaker 1: UM for multitude of reasons. UM, one of the being
Speaker 1: that there aren't pads on UM. But as far I
Speaker 1: don't necessarily see like as far as his game, I
Speaker 1: think his skill set UM it it tighter areas only
Speaker 1: enhances his ability. You know, he's he's an accurate quarterback
Speaker 1: that UM that really knows how to place the ball
Speaker 1: where he wants it to be placed. And all all
Speaker 1: the red zone is to me is the defense is
Speaker 1: defending less amount of the field, so you're compressed, UM,
Speaker 1: and we're still trying to move the ball forward and
Speaker 1: get in the end zone. So those windows become tighter,
Speaker 1: the decisions have to be quicker UM. So the work
Speaker 1: we have done, I've been very pleased UM with it.
Speaker 1: But it I see it unless you are a UM,
Speaker 1: I would say the one outlaw liar for red zone
Speaker 1: quarterback play is UM one of the extremes and mobility.
Speaker 1: You have a super ex extream ability to um uh
Speaker 1: extend the play and win with your feet. The typically
Speaker 1: those guys are ranked pretty high, or you have decisive
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that UM nowhere to go with the ball UM
Speaker 1: and and both of those situations you just take advantage
Speaker 1: of space and UM. You can either create it with
Speaker 1: your quarterback and buy time, or you can create that
Speaker 1: space with timing and execution of concepts UM, which is
Speaker 1: something that two has been very good at UM his
Speaker 1: whole career. So I found that part about the decision
Speaker 1: making paired with the ability to make plays with your
Speaker 1: feet very intriguing because when it comes to two, his
Speaker 1: statistics in that particular area of the field or I
Speaker 1: should just say, if you go back to pressure evade percentage,
Speaker 1: two has been top five in the NFL each of
Speaker 1: his first two seasons in the NFL, and that's you know.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Josh Allen have also been on
Speaker 1: that list, and Derek Carr was the other guy this year.
Speaker 1: I think the year prior to that, I think it
Speaker 1: was kirk Cousins, but those the top five guys the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. And then looking at these Warren
Speaker 1: Sharp stats to a tongue of Voloa last season based
Speaker 1: upon e p A was number one in the red
Speaker 1: zone one and if you remove the rushing concept of that,
Speaker 1: he was number two, behind only Tom Brady and Brady
Speaker 1: of course without the rushing his fourth and with the
Speaker 1: rushing his fourth, without it his first. To give an
Speaker 1: idea about how that kind of moves around based upon
Speaker 1: just the passing element of the position, that the smarts,
Speaker 1: the accuracy, the on time element of the position, and
Speaker 1: then also the ability to expand and extend and make
Speaker 1: plays off script. So that's where he ranks there to
Speaker 1: also you talk about tight window percentage, which he was
Speaker 1: number two in the NFL last year at nineteen point
Speaker 1: three percent. Tight window throws a defender within one yard
Speaker 1: of the intended target at the time of the catchpoint
Speaker 1: was number two, only behind Joe Burrow and so. And
Speaker 1: he also had the fifth highest completion percentage in the
Speaker 1: NFL a year ago, which tells you about his ability
Speaker 1: to fit tight windows. And then finally in the red zone,
Speaker 1: the second highest completion percentage of all quarterbacks last year
Speaker 1: to a tuggle by lowis, that's a good area to
Speaker 1: excel in. Two has been good in that area. We've
Speaker 1: talked about that quite a bit. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: finish up here with coach on what stage of the
Speaker 1: offensive install are you at versus? How would you gauge
Speaker 1: the offense without pads? Was the question. And let's just
Speaker 1: go ahead and here from coach because once again, no surprise,
Speaker 1: he killed it. So this being the six different team
Speaker 1: that you know, I've been in the same offense UM
Speaker 1: my whole career and we've just evolved it. This has
Speaker 1: been the sixth different um. Uh stop the you gain
Speaker 1: a little wisdom in that, and there's compounding variables that
Speaker 1: um you tried to weigh. Well, how good is the
Speaker 1: existing defense? Are they as everyone starting from the same
Speaker 1: starting point? Um? Are they taking uh calculus courses while
Speaker 1: we're learning algebra? Uh? This this was an extreme case
Speaker 1: relative to the other stops UM in my career because
Speaker 1: the defense was very, very productive and returning a lot
Speaker 1: of talented players. UM. We also had an ornamental amount
Speaker 1: of additions. So it was a bunch of people learning
Speaker 1: to play together with all those circumstances that really, um,
Speaker 1: you know that my career has afforded me. UM. I
Speaker 1: feel extremely, extremely happy and confident where we're at. We
Speaker 1: have just enough taste of uh, what we're good at
Speaker 1: and what we need to work on. We have a
Speaker 1: lot of deliberate pros um that you know, when guys
Speaker 1: are all on it and are thinking about it over
Speaker 1: their break and and and spending the summer um, you know,
Speaker 1: getting away and recharging, but at the same time, UM,
Speaker 1: revisiting all the stuff that they've learned. There's a huge
Speaker 1: um leap you know in those first couple of days
Speaker 1: of O t A. So UM. Realistically, I go play
Speaker 1: by play, player by player, uh and within you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not really looking for touchdowns or how many negative
Speaker 1: I'm looking at how people are progressing and getting better
Speaker 1: each each day against a defense that's refining their skills.
Speaker 1: And I'm I'm very, um, very happy with where we're
Speaker 1: at right now, which means absolutely nothing, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: but like that, I couldn't you know. There's a couple
Speaker 1: of plays that I wish we'd make here there, but
Speaker 1: overall is an offense. I'm very comfortable and confident going
Speaker 1: into the summer um with what we've had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to do and who we're going against, which um is
Speaker 1: a tremendous challenge, and on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: I think we've we've gotten better this offseason because guys
Speaker 1: come to work and challenge each other, are talented, high expectations,
Speaker 1: competitive and try to win the day. And yet another
Speaker 1: call back there from coach talking about not getting too
Speaker 1: high on the high. It's not getting too low on
Speaker 1: the lows, but just having a general confidence with where
Speaker 1: the team is at. I love the calculus versus algebra comparison.
Speaker 1: It's it's perfectly fitting there. And we'll go ahead and
Speaker 1: d right there again. You can find this entire interview
Speaker 1: or I should say media availability. I keep calling an
Speaker 1: interview on the Miami Dolphins YouTube channel. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get some practice notes here before our last break,
Speaker 1: and then we'll go ahead and get some more media here.
Speaker 1: Might push some off to the next episode, we'll see,
Speaker 1: but just some practice notes for you guys. It was quick,
Speaker 1: it was brief, and we'll start at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, uh, and yes, there was a pick six
Speaker 1: in this practice. Duke Riley stepped in front of the
Speaker 1: past and took it back the other direction. Lots of
Speaker 1: celebrations for the defense there, and yes there were some
Speaker 1: long balls. Yes there were some wins and some losses
Speaker 1: for the offense. But I thought this practice, more than
Speaker 1: any of the other recent ones, saw the most consistent
Speaker 1: chunk gains in the passing game, your yard gains, and
Speaker 1: two of was aces with a few of those passes.
Speaker 1: We talked about the tight window throws that McDaniel mentioned
Speaker 1: in that media availability. There were two in particular I
Speaker 1: thought really stood out in this practice. Number one, Savan
Speaker 1: Akhmed catches a ball on the sideline with tight coverage
Speaker 1: and the ball goes right over the coverage or the
Speaker 1: finger of the cover guy on that particular play, and
Speaker 1: then it was a race to pay dirt. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if he was gonna score, not just depends on
Speaker 1: how the speed plays out the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: But a really nice ball into a tight window coverage
Speaker 1: within one yard, that's a completion. Baby. Then there was
Speaker 1: a whole shot to Jalen Waddle, and this is between
Speaker 1: two defenders and Waddles route and the football met directly
Speaker 1: between the two defenders. At the same time in that
Speaker 1: soft spot and obviously there's no hitting, but the location,
Speaker 1: like you want to practice for when there is hitting,
Speaker 1: The location is exactly what you want. Low away from danger.
Speaker 1: Don't put your receiver up in the air, which gives
Speaker 1: the defense more time to tee off. On that number
Speaker 1: seventeen on the jersey, he slides in there, secures the catch.
Speaker 1: Nice pick up right around seventeen eighteen yards or so.
Speaker 1: The long ball to Cody Core was behind the defense.
Speaker 1: Nice pitch and catch. Don't miss those throws and you
Speaker 1: get them the pick six again, Duke Riley steps in front,
Speaker 1: undercuts it, makes a nice play and you can see
Speaker 1: two was upset with himself. He and coach McDaniel hash
Speaker 1: it out afterwards, had a little conversation. I'm sure that
Speaker 1: was a good teaching moment for him and the other quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: And then more on the defense here in just a moment.
Speaker 1: But first, Cody Core was the name you heard twice
Speaker 1: on my timeline today, first on the long ball from twa,
Speaker 1: then another long ball from Teddy Bridgewater, a really nice
Speaker 1: ball that caught him and Stride. A big day for
Speaker 1: Cody Core. Same with fight Fight fight for Washington State
Speaker 1: River Craycraft had a big day uncoverable early, catching three
Speaker 1: passes in the early team session, including a couple of
Speaker 1: nice intermediate strikes one from two oh one from Teddy
Speaker 1: where I thought Cracraft really showed off. The thing that
Speaker 1: made him stand out at Washington State the route running
Speaker 1: and timing of those routes in the passing game. Speaking
Speaker 1: of that, Trent Sherfield stands out with that sharp cuts,
Speaker 1: makes his routes like the exact same every time, bus
Speaker 1: his butt and every single element of the practice. Love
Speaker 1: to watch him out here. So Quandre White, the rookie
Speaker 1: running back we talked about with coach McDaniel earlier, had
Speaker 1: a nice run where he stayed on balance, cuts back
Speaker 1: and explodes into the second level on the defensive side.
Speaker 1: Ray Kwon Davis had the orange jersey. Marcel Louis Jock
Speaker 1: from ESPN had the playlist. I recognized the fifty cent
Speaker 1: jam Leonard skinnered. Uh. There was some Alicia Keys on
Speaker 1: their al Green, James Brown and lots of country, but
Speaker 1: I couldn't tell you who they were. Jalen Phillips had
Speaker 1: another would be sack today. Kind of a broken record
Speaker 1: with him on that he gets in the backfield often,
Speaker 1: and early linebackers in general in this practice made some place.
Speaker 1: Channing tin Dall had a pass break up where he
Speaker 1: showed you the acceleration, the speed, the twitchiness, all of that.
Speaker 1: And then also Brandon Scarlett had himself a batted down pass.
Speaker 1: More on that in just a moment, and we finish
Speaker 1: up in the secondary. Javarus Davis had a really nice
Speaker 1: play where he peeled off his coverage and planted himself
Speaker 1: right in the area of another receiver. The pass was caught,
Speaker 1: but from my vantage point, that's because Davis pulled up
Speaker 1: to not initiate the contact. You never know how it
Speaker 1: goes on practice. Let's go ahead and get to some
Speaker 1: more player media here. We'll start with Brandon Jones first.
Speaker 1: After the break here on the Drivetime podcast, your host
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Back here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime Podcast. It's a rap on the off
Speaker 1: season program. Let's go ahead and get to Brandon Jones here,
Speaker 1: who spoke to the media after practice and he was
Speaker 1: asked about the connection that he and Javon Holland have
Speaker 1: and how that kind of got clicking right away last
Speaker 1: year upon Javon's arrival. Yeah, me and Javon kind of
Speaker 1: it's strange because when he first got here, we just
Speaker 1: kind of connected. It's kind of weird, but just from
Speaker 1: we always sit in the back, We're always communicating, We're
Speaker 1: always aware of kind of what happens, what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: If this guy moves what we got to get in
Speaker 1: and out of and showing different schemes and different He's down.
Speaker 1: I'm down just being able to be multiple and do
Speaker 1: a lot of different things. Um, I don't know that
Speaker 1: in that relationship that we kind of made early on
Speaker 1: has definitely showed itself off the field, and we've become
Speaker 1: really good friends obviously, and just that trust factor in
Speaker 1: each other. He also talked about how his goal to
Speaker 1: get better is to get better everything he does every
Speaker 1: offseason and that's no different this offseason obviously, And so
Speaker 1: I followed up with him on that and just said,
Speaker 1: how does Javon's versatility and all that he does on
Speaker 1: the field help you and your game better? Make your
Speaker 1: game better? Words Travis words man, I would the biggest
Speaker 1: example for me is just any instances where I'm in
Speaker 1: man coverage. I think knowing he can go from literally
Speaker 1: red line to redline just his speed, just his ball skills. Um,
Speaker 1: I know he's always going to be there, you know,
Speaker 1: whenever he's needed to be somewhere, if he's the middle
Speaker 1: of the field safety, if he's a you know, the
Speaker 1: cover cover three safety, the half safety, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: he's always gonna be there. And I think having that
Speaker 1: confidence in knowing and having that trust in him, you know,
Speaker 1: gives the ability for a lot of people to be
Speaker 1: able to play fast. And you heard him talk about
Speaker 1: red line to redline. Those are on the practice field.
Speaker 1: Every single NFL practice field you've ever seen has the
Speaker 1: redline to demonstrate the fit and that's a portion of
Speaker 1: the field that kind of condenses it from basically the
Speaker 1: numbers to the sideline. And you talk about Javan's range
Speaker 1: being that that deep, he can go anywhere on the
Speaker 1: football field to help out with that. And obviously these
Speaker 1: guys in their ability to help diskies and all that
Speaker 1: fun stuff that you like to do on defenses is paramount.
Speaker 1: Also wanted to ask him about having Stephen Gregory at
Speaker 1: his coach now at safety. Here's Brandon always been great
Speaker 1: and just having that knowledge and experience is always huge.
Speaker 1: I've always found that, you know, having coaches that have
Speaker 1: been in your shoes before, have played in as a
Speaker 1: similar system as you know, Steve playing with the Patriots
Speaker 1: and and all that stuff. Just having that, I think
Speaker 1: goes a long way, and you're easily can can take
Speaker 1: what he says and know that he was in your
Speaker 1: shoes at one point. It's easy to relate to. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and finish up with javan here. I know
Speaker 1: we talked about getting to Scarlett and Ray Kwan earlier
Speaker 1: on the show, but we're just going a little bit
Speaker 1: long here. We'll get to them later in the week
Speaker 1: on the Friday podcast. Let's go ahead and go to
Speaker 1: Brandon's position mate and Javon Holland, who first was asked
Speaker 1: about his experience of playing with coach McDaniel. Good answer
Speaker 1: here from the Dolphins second year safety coaches. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's just a good person, Like you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: not hard to be um like all in for a
Speaker 1: coach when they're a good person. And I think that's
Speaker 1: like the baseline as low as it goes, like, he's
Speaker 1: just a super cool dude, you know, a great family
Speaker 1: man and you can tell he's honest, so people just
Speaker 1: buy into what he says and it's on the same
Speaker 1: paces him, like mentally, everybody's everybody's you know, one mind.
Speaker 1: It's hard to not come away impressed from Javon Holland.
Speaker 1: And this next one here does a lot more of
Speaker 1: that because we know when he was a rookie, we
Speaker 1: asked him these questions about the training regiment he was
Speaker 1: on as a kid, the Hunter push ups he would
Speaker 1: do every day, you know, junior high into high school,
Speaker 1: and the workouts he had to do, with the chores
Speaker 1: he had to do before he go out and and
Speaker 1: you know, have go play or whatever the case, maybe
Speaker 1: play video games, whatever it might have been. And just
Speaker 1: the professional approach that he took under his father, a
Speaker 1: former CFL standout. And you're gonna hear him talk here
Speaker 1: about his professionalism for a twenty two year old kid
Speaker 1: who was already pretty damn good in that regard. Here's
Speaker 1: Javon Holland on the one area he wanted to work
Speaker 1: on this offseason heading into I think it was just
Speaker 1: my overall development as a professional really was. Um. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, things will come and practice and as things
Speaker 1: start to speed up, you know, tackling, um, you know,
Speaker 1: angles to the ball, things like that, But me and
Speaker 1: conducting myself as more of a professional was probably most
Speaker 1: of the thing. And that was really me honestly, Like, um,
Speaker 1: they've they've supported me and to just push me in
Speaker 1: that direct ship rather regardless of what it is. But
Speaker 1: it's mostly just me, you know, focusing that push into
Speaker 1: a specific area. And speaking of leadership, last one here
Speaker 1: for Javon Holland asked about his style of leadership. Here
Speaker 1: you go to the Dolphins second year safety, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel real comfortable. Um. I feel like I tried to
Speaker 1: earn a lot of my teammates respect through through my
Speaker 1: play first. Um, and then you know, so they know
Speaker 1: that when I do, if something happens and I do
Speaker 1: say something, it's comes from a place of love because
Speaker 1: I want them to get better and I would want
Speaker 1: them to push me the same way. It's not necessarily
Speaker 1: me just like yelling at him. So that's kind of
Speaker 1: how I see leading. Uh. You know, anybody can be
Speaker 1: a leader, you can anybody can say something. So um.
Speaker 1: But now that I'm like a year end and it's
Speaker 1: the same group and they know what I can do,
Speaker 1: I feel comfortable being able to um, you know, correct
Speaker 1: him if this situation that I know that I can
Speaker 1: help them with. All right, let's go ahead and call
Speaker 1: a podcast right there again. We'll get Brennan Scarlett, Rae
Speaker 1: Kwon Davis, we had Robert Hunt, and I know I'm
Speaker 1: forgetting one more, but we'll get to the rest of
Speaker 1: the METI availabilities on Friday, while still a comprehensive recap
Speaker 1: of O. T A S ten things that I thought
Speaker 1: stood out over the course of the last couple of
Speaker 1: months in the offseason program. And to just go ahead
Speaker 1: and finish up on the callback theme of this podcast
Speaker 1: with coach McDaniel in the players here, like talked about
Speaker 1: you are what you eat. You are the football team
Speaker 1: that you, you you know, build yourself to be. Man these interviews,
Speaker 1: these these players that talk to us, it's just it's
Speaker 1: great information. It's delivered in a really you know, articulate way,
Speaker 1: and I just really appreciate that about this team because
Speaker 1: it's so easy to get good stuff from these guys
Speaker 1: and to talk to them and they're respectful. It makes
Speaker 1: our job a lot easier. So I really really appreciate
Speaker 1: that aspect of this team. In so many ways. Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and call it a podcast right there, and
Speaker 1: go ahead and call an off season program. You all
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast,
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins across all social media platforms. Check out
Speaker 1: the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice Oh, James McDuffie,
Speaker 1: and of course our Wednesday Twitter Spaces show that we
Speaker 1: do right now. It's weekly, probably gonna take some time
Speaker 1: off in the summer, but once we come back to
Speaker 1: training camp will be weekly every Wednesday at eight o'clock
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network Twitter Spaces show. Also check
Speaker 1: out our YouTube channel for these media availabilities Dolphins Today,
Speaker 1: all the drivetime interviews up there as well, and last
Speaker 1: but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time
Speaker 1: finds up Caroline, Daddy is coming home.