Speaker 1: This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2: What is up, Dolphins, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 2: many campus here are breaking all the action down on
Speaker 2: the field behind the microphone and much much more. I've
Speaker 2: got practice notes, I've got audio from McDaniel, tua, alec Ingold,
Speaker 2: and Ashton Davis. I've got storylines to attach it all
Speaker 2: together as we give you the story from the day
Speaker 2: that was here at Dolphins Camp from the Baptist Health
Speaker 2: Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the
Speaker 2: Drive Time Podcast. Oftentimes I use the open of the
Speaker 2: show to sort of explain how the sausage gets made
Speaker 2: here on Drive Time, and in doing I don't know
Speaker 2: one hundred episodes of either Camp or Ota Report podcasts.
Speaker 2: I think the best ones happen when the story naturally
Speaker 2: comes together in terms of what I saw on the
Speaker 2: field and what the themes were of the day, and
Speaker 2: what the players and coaches spoke about before and after
Speaker 2: practice and Brother, today was just one of those days
Speaker 2: where it all kind of came together. We're going to
Speaker 2: tether it all together through soundbites from the aforementioned players
Speaker 2: and the head coach and funnel through the lens of
Speaker 2: culture team football. The concept of the sum of the
Speaker 2: parts being greater than the whole, or however that's saying,
Speaker 2: goes the contributing variables that add up to make the
Speaker 2: final product spring football, and the developmental nature of it,
Speaker 2: and so much more so. Let's go ahead and jump
Speaker 2: right in. And the first rule of radio or in
Speaker 2: this case, podcasting is to play the hits, lead the
Speaker 2: show with the biggest story. What are you gonna get
Speaker 2: the fans in with? And that's a tough choice for
Speaker 2: me today. But if the late nineties taught me anything
Speaker 2: at all, it's that chick dig the long ball, right
Speaker 2: And if that campaign is too old for you, go
Speaker 2: ahead and google it. It was a home run of
Speaker 2: a marketing idea back in the late nineties when baseball's
Speaker 2: were flying over fences with the greatest frequency the league
Speaker 2: has ever seen. And of course the long ball does
Speaker 2: apply on the football field as well, So I wanted
Speaker 2: to start with this. There's been a ton of debate
Speaker 2: recently about the quarterback his production, what those stats actually mean,
Speaker 2: as the great Warren Sharp has kind of detailed to
Speaker 2: his place among you know, some of the best quarterbacks
Speaker 2: in the league in terms of the raw numbers and
Speaker 2: the advanced metrics, and how he winds up there and
Speaker 2: the debate that follows that, and you know what's next
Speaker 2: and the extension of this offense and what is you know,
Speaker 2: what is productive? How do you get that production and
Speaker 2: the contributing factors to all of that.
Speaker 3: Are you guys still with me? So you've heard me,
Speaker 3: for lack of a.
Speaker 2: Better term, well, let's try and keep it family friendly here. Complain,
Speaker 2: you know, not the other word you could say there
Speaker 2: about the narratives as to why the explosive plays reduced
Speaker 2: pretty significantly from twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: The running game in the second half of the season,
Speaker 2: and particularly on early downs, and the negative run that
Speaker 2: came from that creating a certain down and distance, a
Speaker 2: situation that generates a certain type of look from the defense.
Speaker 2: They're going to play off, they're not going to respect
Speaker 2: the run, They're not going to expect the run on
Speaker 2: second to thirteen. And then when you're unsuccessful in creating
Speaker 2: those advantageous down in distances, defenses don't have to respect it.
Speaker 2: If you can't threaten them with it right, And there's
Speaker 2: variables off that variable with the interior offensive line off
Speaker 2: the edge, the running backs, the receivers, the quarterback, and
Speaker 2: how he manages everything. Everybody has a say in all
Speaker 2: of that. So coach was asked about this on Tuesday morning,
Speaker 2: So was Tua. Let's go ahead and start with the
Speaker 2: head coach of your Miami Dolphins. How do you get
Speaker 2: back to more explosive plays on the offense in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five?
Speaker 4: How much is the defense off what's the pass rush?
Speaker 4: Are we?
Speaker 5: Things will be more even when the whole entirety of
Speaker 5: the offense is even when our ground game is where
Speaker 5: we want it and our line of scrimmage plays where
Speaker 5: we want it. The pre snap depth of defenders and
Speaker 5: what they're defending at the very beginning of snap and
Speaker 5: post snap, that changes as well.
Speaker 4: To me, the I'm just not trying to throw.
Speaker 5: Throw, I'm not trying to tell to or to throw
Speaker 5: the ball to defensive players. Turnovers are are are a
Speaker 5: huge part of the game, or get sacks. So you
Speaker 5: have to earn those explosive opportunities. To answer your question,
Speaker 5: the hope is that there will be more based upon
Speaker 5: the defensive presentations that we earn. But the one thing
Speaker 5: last year showed us is that we have to earn
Speaker 5: everything based upon previous things we've done, and that if
Speaker 5: you they will simply take away explosive pass game by
Speaker 5: pre snap depth unless you can and make them pay
Speaker 5: in the ground game and make them exposed for their overplay,
Speaker 5: And that I think is a bigger reflection of where
Speaker 5: those yards per attempt will be. Do we have people
Speaker 5: defending closer to the line of scrimmage earlier and you
Speaker 5: do that by threatening them by earning it?
Speaker 3: QB One was that's the exact same thing after practice.
Speaker 6: I think the key to that is continuing to stay
Speaker 6: within the play of this offense, but you know, really
Speaker 6: really honing in on when we get opportunities, not falling
Speaker 6: asleep on all. Right, you know this is how we've
Speaker 6: been doing it, and we're going to stay consistent with
Speaker 6: taking what they give us. But it's you got to
Speaker 6: also have that shift to mind that when we get
Speaker 6: a play where you have an opportunity to take a
Speaker 6: shot and it allows for you to take a shot,
Speaker 6: you can't miss that opportunity.
Speaker 2: And I set it all up this way to tell
Speaker 2: you the long balls kept on coming here on Tuesday,
Speaker 2: and not even explosives through the deep passes in terms
Speaker 2: of number of air yards, which is a fixation that
Speaker 2: some folks have that I don't understand. But yay, I
Speaker 2: guess more on that in just a moment, because practice
Speaker 2: ended with a shot that Tua could not have handed
Speaker 2: on a silver platter to Malik Washington any better than
Speaker 2: he did from about thirty five yards away. I mean,
Speaker 2: the corner was imperfectly tight coverage. Some of us saw
Speaker 2: twenty three and they were there at practice. Some of
Speaker 2: us saw it was thirty three. It's Jason Marshall already Burns.
Speaker 2: I thought it was Burns, but it's not worth splitting
Speaker 2: hairs in the podcast. But whoever it was was in
Speaker 2: great shape and coverage. And these are the kind of
Speaker 2: plays that you like when you're watching your own team
Speaker 2: play against your own team, because coverage was good, but
Speaker 2: the throat was just a little bit better, right, And
Speaker 2: Malik makes this tough concentration catch in traffic on a
Speaker 2: ball that was just hand delivered from FedEx from DHL
Speaker 2: for going back that far from ups right in his hands,
Speaker 2: and I'm guessing you'll see that on our social channels
Speaker 2: at some point today or sometime this week, because I
Speaker 2: think that was probably the play of the day and
Speaker 2: the other explosive in team period. A lot of red
Speaker 2: zone work today, but this wasn't a team period that
Speaker 2: was not down in the red zone. It was a
Speaker 2: forty yard touchdown to Waddle coming across the formation or
Speaker 2: across the field rather. And this is the part where
Speaker 2: I point back to the commentary from McDaniel last week
Speaker 2: on TUA and the further expansion of his skills as
Speaker 2: the commander of the ship here the franchise quarterback and
Speaker 2: being on top of every single detail from that position.
Speaker 2: I think this is where it's important to provide as
Speaker 2: much possible context as I can for y'all because you're
Speaker 2: going to read about it most likely. And this is
Speaker 2: where one of my favorite lines from one of my
Speaker 2: favorite movies comes into play.
Speaker 5: Flyball Card.
Speaker 3: It still gets me. That's the major league part where
Speaker 3: Bob Buker goes.
Speaker 2: Into the tank and he calls upon his other commentator
Speaker 2: in the booth and he's never called a game before,
Speaker 2: and they hit a screaming line drive into the outfield
Speaker 2: and the outfilder makes a diving catch and that was
Speaker 2: his call flyball count.
Speaker 3: So I think you might get a little bit of.
Speaker 2: That in terms of Wattle caught a forty yard touchdown
Speaker 2: pass from Tua today. But here's what I saw. I
Speaker 2: saw Waddle as a non primary read in the progression
Speaker 2: and Tua working through the progression. And I'm not going
Speaker 2: to pull up this audio, but McDaniel talked about the
Speaker 2: importance of this in the quick game last season. I
Speaker 2: forget what game, it was probably Buffalo when he found
Speaker 2: you know, a chan for that quick hitter on the
Speaker 2: game tying drive late in the fourth quarter. About how
Speaker 2: the quick elimination of the downfield throws and the ability
Speaker 2: to process that early and how it can you know,
Speaker 2: based upon the coverage tails and processing through them and
Speaker 2: getting eyes on all of those particular you know indicators
Speaker 2: and you know players. You have to influence how that
Speaker 2: can widen and manipulate those defenders to maximize the space
Speaker 2: your target has in the short area to turn that
Speaker 2: short throw and extend it into a big play. And here,
Speaker 2: you know, perhaps Wattle was the first read. I could
Speaker 2: be wrong about that. I don't know the play call.
Speaker 2: I'm just guessing based upon my vantage point. But I
Speaker 2: saw Tua work through these progressions and pull this zone
Speaker 2: defender out of his coverage area because of the direction
Speaker 2: or attention. Rather, he gave to a particular route on
Speaker 2: the play and just does this little shoulder roll pump
Speaker 2: Russell Wilson needs to do that all the time, where
Speaker 2: you would kind of shoulder roll and it would convey
Speaker 2: to the defender that you're thinking about throwing the ball
Speaker 2: that way, much in the way a pump fake would.
Speaker 2: And the ball then replaces that displaced defender and it
Speaker 2: hits Wattle right and stride, and what looks like this
Speaker 2: easy ten yard throw on the surface becomes a long
Speaker 2: touchdown because you just gave a four to two athlete
Speaker 2: all this space to operate with, and what does he
Speaker 2: do but outrun everybody for six On the backside. He
Speaker 2: and Wattle two of that is have just been again
Speaker 2: again fins for the win again. Right to quote j
Speaker 2: dub Here's what Tua said about their budding chemistry this
Speaker 2: spring and into the summer.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're continuing to grow our chemistry with one another.
Speaker 6: You know, for the past year, for the past two years,
Speaker 6: it's really been me and Rick kind of getting on
Speaker 6: that same page. But you know, if we can get waddle,
Speaker 6: me and Wattle can get together and continue to make
Speaker 6: shrides throughout you know, these last few days of mini camp,
Speaker 6: I think it's gonna lead into some.
Speaker 4: Pretty good things preparing us for training camp.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I just love hearing that and him saying, if we
Speaker 2: can continue to get more on the same page or whatever.
Speaker 2: It was like, y'all connected five or six, seven, eight
Speaker 2: times every practice we watch here, and it's it's nice
Speaker 2: to watch because the minute Wattle comes out of the break,
Speaker 2: the football is just there and he expects it to
Speaker 2: be there. To me, it looks like they're in mid
Speaker 2: season form, which in June is obviously a great thing
Speaker 2: to a great position to be in. So that's kind
Speaker 2: of the entire Tua assessment.
Speaker 3: Today.
Speaker 2: He was throwing strikes down the field. He did miss
Speaker 2: a chan on a deep shot where Devon had a
Speaker 2: step on the defender, and Tua reacted afterwards like you
Speaker 2: could tell he felt he just missed it, and he did.
Speaker 2: It was a little bit long out of the reach
Speaker 2: of Devon and more on the Dolphins star running back
Speaker 2: here in just a moment. But Tua fits tight windows
Speaker 2: in the red zone, particularly that to Nick westbrook A
Speaker 2: Kine who he found for a couple of touchdowns. I
Speaker 2: had nw I with three on the day from various quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: mostly going above the rim and pool and the football
Speaker 2: down And after seeing Tua get to waddle to westbrook
Speaker 2: A Kine to get to his backs and his tight
Speaker 2: ends to a chen on deep balls, I thought this
Speaker 2: comment was really good, a really good thing to hear
Speaker 2: from Tua about kind of the focus of the offseason
Speaker 2: and how this offense can become the best version of
Speaker 2: itself through ball distribution.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'd like to spend more time with a few
Speaker 6: guys on the field, that's for sure, so that we
Speaker 6: can get our game right to where we.
Speaker 4: Need it to be.
Speaker 6: And it the distribution of the ball becomes more evident
Speaker 6: in games, and you know, we get a lot more
Speaker 6: guys involved, and I get a good feel in trusting
Speaker 6: that if this guy's not open, that I trust this
Speaker 6: guy and this guy and this guy.
Speaker 2: I saw a great quote from Chris Hogan today seven
Speaker 2: to eleven, former Dolphins hard knock star talking about acting
Speaker 2: with Tom Brady and how he would if you weren't
Speaker 2: looking out of your break he would throw the ball
Speaker 2: past your head to kind of get your attention and
Speaker 2: be like, hey, next time, make sure you look too,
Speaker 2: because I could come to you with the football. Like
Speaker 2: that's the kind of ownership I see to tak taking
Speaker 2: strides toward towards being right, Like get on my page
Speaker 2: and get on my level so I can trust you
Speaker 2: and we can go to you in games. I think
Speaker 2: that's the kind of accountability that you need from your quarterback.
Speaker 2: And we'll get back to more of that here in
Speaker 2: just one second. And please don't get this messaging twisted
Speaker 2: that I'm trying to convey this idea that I think
Speaker 2: that star pass catchers are somehow a bad thing.
Speaker 3: They're not. You have to have them in this league
Speaker 3: to win.
Speaker 2: And we saw Tua have his best years with star
Speaker 2: pass catchers, right, But we've also seen him conduct successful
Speaker 2: offenses with you know a complement of Miles Gaskin who
Speaker 2: came up from a you know, running back two or
Speaker 2: three after injuries to being the starting running back in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, or Adam Shaheen or Isaiah Ford, guys
Speaker 2: that were practice squad call ups or you know, late
Speaker 2: summer acquisitions for late round draft picks and just play this,
Speaker 2: hit the open guy type of offense, because that, to
Speaker 2: me is what Tua's superpower has always been, the process
Speaker 2: and manipulate defenders to take advantage of the space that
Speaker 2: they create from that manipulation. And now instead of an
Speaker 2: offense where you know that was in the early stages
Speaker 2: of a rebuild back in twenty twenty one, you've got
Speaker 2: a Chan You've got Reek, you've got Waddle, You've got
Speaker 2: these big time playmakers at every position. If you can
Speaker 2: distribute the football around enough, you'll eventually break the levy
Speaker 2: and those guys can take those eight yard completions and
Speaker 2: turn them into long touchdowns. I think it's a great
Speaker 2: thing for this offense to have. Tua also talked about
Speaker 2: his off season plans. It's gonna be one week off
Speaker 2: for QB one, then back to working out and throwing
Speaker 2: with the guys. So a really nice day from Tua
Speaker 2: on the field and to hear from him. We're gonna
Speaker 2: hear plenty of more from him and as well as
Speaker 2: on some different daily themes and stories here and we'll
Speaker 2: come back to this from coach and Tua on the
Speaker 2: other side after a short break on the Draft Time
Speaker 2: podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. On top of
Speaker 2: the deep passes and long touchdowns and big explosive plays,
Speaker 2: one of the themes of the day was the emphasis
Speaker 2: on the culture and the locker room. And before we
Speaker 2: go to TUA, we're gonna go ahead and bring coach
Speaker 2: McDaniel back in, who was asked this morning about what's
Speaker 2: more important from this time of year, breaking camp with
Speaker 2: minimal injuries or growth from your roster. I thought this
Speaker 2: answer was well worth getting in the podcast.
Speaker 5: And in the seven weeks I've seen guys come together
Speaker 5: to I can see a vision of a team. Remember
Speaker 5: the whole league's dealing with the same thing where you're
Speaker 5: getting fifty five percent.
Speaker 4: Or forty five percent turnover, right, So being able.
Speaker 5: To feel a team in seven weeks, I've gotten to
Speaker 5: that point where I have an idea of a team,
Speaker 5: not exactly what it's going to look like. They'll define
Speaker 5: that by their daily work, but the elements of a
Speaker 5: team that you can only really create through blood, sweat, tears,
Speaker 5: hard work and mutual sacrifice.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: Well, this week, uh, you know, I think taking uh
Speaker 5: you know, the semblance of the team that I think
Speaker 5: that the entire team does feel Let's see how how
Speaker 5: good we can get the ball, how how much we
Speaker 5: can challenge each other, and the every play is a
Speaker 5: productive play, it's a success. If it's a success on
Speaker 5: one side, it should be earned. And in that process
Speaker 5: in playing football, football is one hundred injury sport. You
Speaker 5: play football, you will get injured. It is a cost
Speaker 5: of doing business. I do feel good about how we
Speaker 5: practice and how we protect each other. So most importantly
Speaker 5: is we are trying to go after how good can
Speaker 5: we get this team in the spring.
Speaker 2: I eventually want to ask a question about the value
Speaker 2: of the continuity at the center position with Aaron Brewer,
Speaker 2: who missed most of camp last year, and he's talked
Speaker 2: a couple of times at media availabilities about coming back
Speaker 2: and playing the same position for the second straight year
Speaker 2: for the first time since he was in college. And
Speaker 2: that's kind of the theme across the board, that and
Speaker 2: the competition and just kind of trying to fuel guys
Speaker 2: in a certain way.
Speaker 3: And I think there's value to all of that.
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead, though, and pivot next back to Tua,
Speaker 2: who talked a little bit here about the shift in
Speaker 2: terms of the culture and the way things have gone
Speaker 2: so far this offseason.
Speaker 3: We've heard about it all off season.
Speaker 2: Now let's hear from the guy that's lived it and
Speaker 2: experience it and get an update on where things stand
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 6: There is a culture shift, and I know it. I
Speaker 6: mean I feel it just as much as everyone that's
Speaker 6: been here. Since I've gotten into the league. We always
Speaker 6: hear about, man, yeah, oh, culture shift. You guys have
Speaker 6: a change of this. You guys are doing this always optimistic,
Speaker 6: but I really do feel in my heart that this
Speaker 6: is a change of scenery for our guys in the
Speaker 6: locker room, and then it also transitions to our coaches
Speaker 6: as well, because we get opportunities to lead and it's
Speaker 6: not as much the coaches as it is the players.
Speaker 3: I would say this year one more time from tow
Speaker 3: on the topic of culture.
Speaker 6: Well, I think I think first you you got to
Speaker 6: have the right guys to be able to do that
Speaker 6: with right and uh, I think we I think we
Speaker 6: have the right guys with within the room, within the
Speaker 6: locker room, within the offense. And I know those guys
Speaker 6: on the defense, you know, feel like they have their
Speaker 6: guys as well. But for me, I think it what's
Speaker 6: most important is like, you know, I've been here for
Speaker 6: five years going on six, Like are you not tired
Speaker 6: of what we've done these past five years? Like if
Speaker 6: you are, then why aren't we doing anything about it?
Speaker 6: Like you know, what do we have to change? What
Speaker 6: do we have to do to correct the the navigation
Speaker 6: of where we want to go?
Speaker 4: So I would say that's what it is.
Speaker 6: And you create that standard in the locker room, the
Speaker 6: guys follow, and you got to uphold it. And so
Speaker 6: you come into work knowing that they're looking to you
Speaker 6: to uphold that standard. And if you don't, you got
Speaker 6: to have brought enough guys to hoold you to that
Speaker 6: standard as well.
Speaker 2: Man, That's that's a really cool thing to hear from
Speaker 2: a leader because like if you're not on your p's
Speaker 2: and q's as a leader, you then have to fall
Speaker 2: back on the leadership of the guys you brought along
Speaker 2: with you as a leader. So it's like it all
Speaker 2: kind of comes back to you, Right. I love that
Speaker 2: idea and that thinking and to and a quarterback should
Speaker 2: be the one that kind of you know, after the game,
Speaker 2: he's the one that takes blame for the loss and
Speaker 2: he's the one that gives credit when they lose or
Speaker 2: when they win. Had that backwards there for a second.
Speaker 2: And this concept of competition, I mean, we heard about
Speaker 2: it really at every stage this offseason, but the one
Speaker 2: that really sticks out in my mind is back at
Speaker 2: the owners meetings when coach talked about building your culture
Speaker 2: through the draft and the young hungry athlete who's ready
Speaker 2: to kind of, you know, earn that second contract and
Speaker 2: earn a job, and the hunger that comes from those
Speaker 2: players reverberates throughout your entire roster. And I just love
Speaker 2: this because it seems like there's a real intentionality about
Speaker 2: what this time of year is and a trust not
Speaker 2: just among the players, but from the player to the
Speaker 2: coaching staff. And I apologize for going back to this
Speaker 2: well again, but get used to it, because I'm going
Speaker 2: to make it about golf. When you're making a swing change,
Speaker 2: focusing on the fundamentals of the swing, you have to
Speaker 2: be okay with crappy results. If I'm hitting a bad slice,
Speaker 2: I need to hit a bad snap hook, draw the
Speaker 2: other direction to kind of correct it, and find my
Speaker 2: club path on the opposite side to even it out
Speaker 2: back in the middle to get that result that I want.
Speaker 2: But you have to do that through trust in the
Speaker 2: process and hitting bad golf shots. So if I'm trying
Speaker 2: to learn a t step as a cornerback, or I'm
Speaker 2: trying to take a snap from under center and get
Speaker 2: my footwork right from that from a quarterback position where
Speaker 2: I want to press a gap as a running back,
Speaker 2: I have to trust the process and not be obsessed
Speaker 2: with the result of the first couple of reps of
Speaker 2: doing that, as bad as it might look. And then
Speaker 2: the idea is you come out the other side, you know,
Speaker 2: Andy frame style, through five hundred feet of filth, and
Speaker 2: you come out the other side clean. Like that's the
Speaker 2: idea of kind of stripping down the fundamentals and building
Speaker 2: them back up to be the best version of yourself.
Speaker 2: And I love that there is this trust for the
Speaker 2: guys to really trust the coaching staff to work on
Speaker 2: the development and not be concerned about possibly putting bad
Speaker 2: results on tape and making yourself into the best version
Speaker 2: of yourself. So here's coach on two other topics that
Speaker 2: I thought tied back into this. He was asked about
Speaker 2: the cornerback room and the availability of those jobs. We'll
Speaker 2: go ahead and play that sound here first.
Speaker 5: I think the biggest thing is what we've captured this
Speaker 5: offseason that you know I prioritize over over everything is
Speaker 5: really like a competitive get something out of the day
Speaker 5: develop mindset, all right, So we are going to If
Speaker 5: I'm asking players to develop their game, I can't right
Speaker 5: in the middle of it expect them to really go
Speaker 5: after it and say, hey, you're accountable for the result.
Speaker 1: There's a a day in, day out challenge that really
Speaker 1: I start meetings challenging the line of scrimmage, particularly with
Speaker 1: wide receiver versus dbs, and then you watch how they
Speaker 1: own they they play with confidence, but more so defensive
Speaker 1: back is about the next play after you get beat.
Speaker 5: It's not if, but when. So we are getting major
Speaker 5: evaluation stuff That a guy might have a good day
Speaker 5: for two days. To me, that's a setup at this stage,
Speaker 5: and the evaluation for me, I'm waiting, okay, two good days.
Speaker 5: This is fantastic. I can't wait until he gets beat
Speaker 5: because now we got action. Now we're seeing who we're
Speaker 5: dealing with. Because the one thing that I can't coach
Speaker 5: is that that mental fortitude to bounce back an inherent
Speaker 5: feature in the game, and that's what we're looking for
Speaker 5: and that's that's how you're starting to hear you talk
Speaker 5: to other players across the ball and you feel that
Speaker 5: they're not trying to pick who the best corner is
Speaker 5: because every day you have to come to work and
Speaker 5: deliver your best stuff, or whoever's guarding you will be
Speaker 5: the best corner for the day. Challenge accepted, competitive mindset
Speaker 5: to develop, not to figure out the depth chart today.
Speaker 2: I just love that comment about high stakes reps in practice.
Speaker 3: I've talked about it on the podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna pull the old quote, but you can
Speaker 2: go back and find me talking about how when you
Speaker 2: put these high intensity reps on the practice field, you're
Speaker 2: creating situations that prepare guys for that critical third down
Speaker 2: on Sundays, right, And it's through earning a job, Like
Speaker 2: you don't get to Sunday if you don't earn the
Speaker 2: job out here on a Wednesday. So I think there's
Speaker 2: tons and tons of value to that. And because of
Speaker 2: that competition, I think you can expect to be a
Speaker 2: better version of your football team from week one opposed
Speaker 2: to a slow start where you know, last year I
Speaker 2: talked in the summer about how this team starts fast
Speaker 2: every year, and then it wasn't the same offensively, and
Speaker 2: Tua gets hurt in week two, which kind of changed
Speaker 2: the trajectory of that. But when he came back in
Speaker 2: week eight against the Cardinals, they kind of picked it
Speaker 2: up from there, right, and that's when the kind of
Speaker 2: offense looked like we were used to in the past.
Speaker 3: So that fastart to a season.
Speaker 2: I think there's something to that with the idea of
Speaker 2: competition and the working training camp. And then this answer
Speaker 2: about Ashton Davis is kind of the same thing about,
Speaker 2: you know, being committed to the process through the coaching
Speaker 2: staff's message and points of emphasis. Here's why he's such
Speaker 2: a fan so far of working with Ashton Davis.
Speaker 5: You know, both he and we agree that he is
Speaker 5: of that caliber and he's going to get the opportunity
Speaker 5: to earn that role that he covets.
Speaker 4: But how does he do that?
Speaker 5: Well, he's the exemplified out the gate being supremely coachable
Speaker 5: in a and not just a surface level. Hey, this
Speaker 5: guy listens, it's all right, let me find I'm going
Speaker 5: to take the points of emphasis keyword emphasis, and I'm
Speaker 5: going to apply that every rep for this practice. So
Speaker 5: you're you're a guy that is talented has the desire,
Speaker 5: but is also coupling, you know, the residuals of deliberate practice.
Speaker 4: Stacked on top of each other.
Speaker 5: So what I need is to see no regression from
Speaker 5: that development, and A being a technician of sorts thus
Speaker 5: farign camp to make sure that growth stays linear or
Speaker 5: even exponential, particularly after more defense gets in and the
Speaker 5: inevitable safeties had the same situation.
Speaker 4: Corners do same as every player. So much of this
Speaker 4: is forcing it.
Speaker 5: Or creating a competitive environment, making the stakes high, and
Speaker 5: then seeing how people respond. Failure is the key, because
Speaker 5: too many people are avoiding failure in life and in football.
Speaker 5: It's not about avoiding the failure. It's about taking those
Speaker 5: lessons and utilizing it to build. Because you're either getting
Speaker 5: better or getting worse. There's nowhere in between.
Speaker 2: Speaking of that culture and guys leading by example, we
Speaker 2: did a whole segment last week on how much Jalen
Speaker 2: Phillips and Bradley Chubb help you not just in your
Speaker 2: pass rush but also your run defense. But how about this,
Speaker 2: It goes beyond just what happens in terms of their production.
Speaker 2: Here's coach on the early returns of JP and Bechub
Speaker 2: being back on that field together.
Speaker 5: You know one thing, you know, I really thought that
Speaker 5: we could get a tremendous amount of gains in in
Speaker 5: the off season as we attack it and develop who
Speaker 5: we are is through competition and having.
Speaker 4: The having.
Speaker 5: The most talented players be the hardest working players, and
Speaker 5: players that you can feel their love for football every
Speaker 5: time they're on the grass gigantically beneficial.
Speaker 4: It's a tone setter in and of itself.
Speaker 5: I think having you know, both Bradley and Jalen back
Speaker 5: is something.
Speaker 4: That I don't.
Speaker 5: They were on the team doing their absolute, above and
Speaker 5: beyond best that they could do to impact the team
Speaker 5: while while coming back from injury. But it's just it's
Speaker 5: a different presence that I think I think has been
Speaker 5: understated and has been you know, gigantic.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 5: You talk about the work for the tackles, you talk
Speaker 5: about the work for the quarterbacks. They every time they
Speaker 5: bring their best to practice, that's who's getting better along
Speaker 5: with them, influencing the defense. You have, the best way
Speaker 5: to teach a quarterback how to play on time is
Speaker 5: to have edge rusher production and practice. Because you're like,
Speaker 5: see you're dead here, would you like not to be dead.
Speaker 5: All right, let's let's play with timing. Those types of
Speaker 5: things hugely impactful. And you know, anytime that you have
Speaker 5: a you have some living testaments of uh like real reality,
Speaker 5: which is the game. This this beautiful game that I
Speaker 5: coach you guys cover they play. Your existence within it
Speaker 5: is finite. So truly appreciating the little.
Speaker 4: Points.
Speaker 5: You're hard pressed to roll your eyes and be like, ah,
Speaker 5: another practice when you go past Bradley Chubb, what I
Speaker 5: worked a year and a half for this practice. So
Speaker 5: the answer your question you kind of got me fired up.
Speaker 2: I just thought that was really great stuff there and
Speaker 2: Chubb to get back to the practice notes had a
Speaker 2: pressure that shut a play down today and just watching
Speaker 2: him celebrate. I had a chance to chat with Bradley
Speaker 2: for an interview you'll hear in a week or two
Speaker 2: or three. Just his mindset, his focus, and his love
Speaker 2: of the game. You're not going to find anybody besides
Speaker 2: maybe his close family who's rooting harder for Bradley Chubb
Speaker 2: this season than I am. What a gem of a
Speaker 2: human and I have full faith that he's going to
Speaker 2: bounce back in a big, big way. Speaking of pressure,
Speaker 2: let's go ahead and sprinkle on some more practice notes here.
Speaker 2: I had a great battle ensuing between Patrick, Paul and
Speaker 2: Grace and Murphy. Murphy, as he has done basically every
Speaker 2: day since last August, had a sack. But I also
Speaker 2: had a couple of reps where Paul locked him out
Speaker 2: and really kind of took it to him in terms
Speaker 2: of keeping him off the quarterback and moving in the
Speaker 2: running game. So some iron sharpening iron that way. And
Speaker 2: Matthew Dickerson had a really nice day as well, some
Speaker 2: line of scrimmage resetting. He had a really strong long
Speaker 2: arm move on Austin Jackson. At one point, I had
Speaker 2: Chop Robinson with a pure speed rush sack. Gosh, he
Speaker 2: is so dang fast. I had kJ Britt springing a
Speaker 2: leak up the middle with an immediate sack on Zach Wilson.
Speaker 3: And that's it for now.
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and get back to the storytelling aspect
Speaker 2: of the podcast. And this was something that was attached
Speaker 2: to the long ball stuff. To bring it back full circle,
Speaker 2: was this idea of alec Ingold and his impact in
Speaker 2: the running game. Let's go ahead and start with this
Speaker 2: here from coach McDaniel.
Speaker 5: What people don't understand is so alec Ingold makes a
Speaker 5: block well when he comes from the backfield and goes
Speaker 5: into the line of scriptage and blocks whomever. Half the
Speaker 5: team adjacent to him has better angles at their blocks.
Speaker 5: So a fullback allows you to every play not only
Speaker 5: is he executing his block, but he's he's made the
Speaker 5: angle better for the center on his target, which helpes
Speaker 5: helps him execute his box.
Speaker 4: So that's the trickle down.
Speaker 5: The the physicality at the point of attack, the known
Speaker 5: matchups going into a game where hey, this dude is
Speaker 5: a physical thumper that can presses force. All right, well,
Speaker 5: hey Alec, we're gonna need a tone set at the
Speaker 5: beginning of the game.
Speaker 4: Those things are in football. That's that's the end.
Speaker 5: All so accountable teammate that not only is he executing
Speaker 5: and getting better and better at the point of attack,
Speaker 5: but simply put a fullback in the run game for
Speaker 5: offenses is the ultimate point guard for the offensive line,
Speaker 5: helping their angles and their leverage and their to block
Speaker 5: talented athletes.
Speaker 2: And man the red zone running game was rolling today.
Speaker 2: I had Jalen Wright, Alex Madison, and Olie Gordon with
Speaker 2: rushing touchdowns and that kind of six to eight yard
Speaker 2: range mid red zone, and then they would call they
Speaker 2: would all go on to catch touchdown passes in that
Speaker 2: same area of the field. The quarterbacks during their individual
Speaker 2: drills were really drilling on different drops from different platforms, shotgun,
Speaker 2: under center, all that stuff and those throws to the
Speaker 2: running backs carried over from that indie drill into the
Speaker 2: team period, and I just thought it was fitting that
Speaker 2: an hour or so after coach tells us about all
Speaker 2: the variables that go into the long ball game, we
Speaker 2: see the run game get some room and then the
Speaker 2: play pass game open up and low red zone expanding
Speaker 2: that for them, and then it would go on to
Speaker 2: lead to the long ball. But I asked alec Ingold
Speaker 2: about the relationship between the running game clicking, the running
Speaker 2: backs catching passes, and how the play pass can open
Speaker 2: up from all of that.
Speaker 3: Here's the Dolphins fullback.
Speaker 7: The running backs are playmakers, and I think when the
Speaker 7: pass game can be an extension of the run game
Speaker 7: and vice versa, I think that's where you really get
Speaker 7: the skill sets. So devine to really embrace that last
Speaker 7: year and for Jalen.
Speaker 4: Right to watch that happen and unfold.
Speaker 7: I think both of those guys being able to see
Speaker 7: the run in the pass playing off each other. That's
Speaker 7: what I'm most excited for this year, as well as Alex.
Speaker 2: And you'll notice a omission there of Devon ah Chan
Speaker 2: by myself that was intentional because he just made plays
Speaker 2: in several ways. He kind of passed from Zach Wilson
Speaker 2: where he got on top of Willie Gay and coverage
Speaker 2: in the back of the end zone, but was out
Speaker 2: of space. So he elevates and adjusts to it in
Speaker 2: the air and makes a play on the football in
Speaker 2: the air the way a wide receiver would. And later
Speaker 2: I see him make a catch on our route twenty
Speaker 2: yards down the field. I saw him with a little
Speaker 2: shake on Tyrel Dodson to get you know, in the
Speaker 2: aforementioned misconnection down the field with Tua Chan just looks
Speaker 2: like a further evolution of the player we've seen the
Speaker 2: last two years, and with the depth we have at
Speaker 2: running back, I think there's opportunities to further explore all
Speaker 2: the options that he affords.
Speaker 3: You.
Speaker 2: Let's go back to Alec one more time for this
Speaker 2: on Devon chen and it.
Speaker 7: Looks so smooth, yeah, right, Like I remember his rookie
Speaker 7: year where all tell him to run like run, man, run,
Speaker 7: because it never looks like he's hitting that twenty two
Speaker 7: miles an hour that he actually is. So dude plays
Speaker 7: football at a smooth level. Man, it's really cool to see.
Speaker 2: Two segments down, we are about thirty four minutes into
Speaker 2: the show. I have one more to go, including more
Speaker 2: practice notes. We're gonna hear from Ashton Davis and talk
Speaker 2: about the aggressive natures of these of these cornerbacks and
Speaker 2: how that all ties together. That's next Draft Time podcast,
Speaker 2: brought to you by AutoNation. So as I sit here
Speaker 2: and tell you about all the plays the offense made,
Speaker 2: it's worth noting that Elijah Campbell, Dante Trader Junior, and
Speaker 2: Isaiah Johnson all had picks, and Jordan Colbert would have
Speaker 2: had a fourth, which would have been the first of
Speaker 2: Tua the spring that the media has been around to see.
Speaker 2: And Ethan Bonner also had a drop pick. Bonners would
Speaker 2: have been a ninety eight yard pick six had he
Speaker 2: squeeze an off Zack Wilson. So it was three picks,
Speaker 2: two drops, one of the drops off off Tua, one
Speaker 2: of the drops off Zach, two of the picks off
Speaker 2: Zach and one off Quinn. Viewers, and I want to
Speaker 2: play the audio here because again result in these practices,
Speaker 2: you want to see quarterbacks challenge windows and try stuff
Speaker 2: can get away with like Quinn. Ewers's pick, for instance,
Speaker 2: wasn't at all his fault. It hit the receiver in
Speaker 2: the hands and bounced off. One of Zach's picks was
Speaker 2: a fifty to fifty ball he took a chance on
Speaker 2: and Isaiah Johnson just made the play. Let's go ahead
Speaker 2: and hear from Tua on this concept of results evaluation
Speaker 2: this time of year.
Speaker 6: I hate that, you know, for certain practices, you guys
Speaker 6: aren't allowed to see the development that he's made and
Speaker 6: the shrids that he's made as a player. I would
Speaker 6: say the same for Quinn as well, that the results
Speaker 6: out there is not an epitome of what they've done
Speaker 6: this entire offseason within OTAs and in this first day
Speaker 6: of mini camp. You know they've been working really hard
Speaker 6: and they've been making really really big jumps.
Speaker 2: But that brings me back to this that these cornerbacks
Speaker 2: are playing so aggressive, like they're not going to go
Speaker 2: down looking, they're going to take their swings. They're getting
Speaker 2: hands on guys and the safeties fly to the football.
Speaker 2: It's a theme they preach in that back end. I
Speaker 2: mentioned that Patrick mcmoor story last week, how he chased
Speaker 2: that football down that was just rolling around harmlessly after incompletion,
Speaker 2: run to the football.
Speaker 3: You can create things when you do that.
Speaker 2: And the way you capitalize on tip balls that can
Speaker 2: be a product of that tight coverage that forces quarterbacks
Speaker 2: and receivers to be on their p's and ques. You
Speaker 2: run to the football, you get rewarded. So no surprise there.
Speaker 2: But I asked Ashton Davis about this and here's what
Speaker 2: he said about how much those aggressive cornerbacks can help
Speaker 2: the safeties do their jobs on the back end.
Speaker 8: It makes it a lot easier, especially you know, whether
Speaker 8: you're a man covered two whatever, they can get hands
Speaker 8: on and I mean, shoot, you saw it today. We
Speaker 8: had a few tips and yeah, we can get our
Speaker 8: hands on all those and more and more physical. The
Speaker 8: corners are the better for us. But the communication over
Speaker 8: Osmond great.
Speaker 2: Speaking of those corners, I thought Cater and Duck were
Speaker 2: excellent today. Isaiah Johnson plays this way too, Ardie Burns,
Speaker 2: I thought I had some good reps. There was a
Speaker 2: play where he had really good feel in the corner
Speaker 2: of the end zone and left the man in the
Speaker 2: back of the end zone and closed down on the
Speaker 2: short throw and was there to arrive at the catchpoint
Speaker 2: to make a big stick on the receiver. And I
Speaker 2: saw a play where bj Adams pressed and re routed
Speaker 2: the Owiese Junior, stayed in phase and then completely pinned
Speaker 2: him to the sideline for an incomplete pass. And with
Speaker 2: a good pass rush that style of play, with fast,
Speaker 2: hungry safeties who fly around, you can generate more takeaways.
Speaker 2: And that's something Weavers talked about. If we get six
Speaker 2: more takeaways last year, and you give the offense six
Speaker 2: more possessions, that can swing some games and swing your season,
Speaker 2: and you can maximize your skills through the concept of
Speaker 2: team football. He talked about that as well cohesiveness and
Speaker 2: a total trust in the scheme. There are a lot
Speaker 2: of teams that execute this every year, especially teams that
Speaker 2: get banged up like the Buffalo Bills last year. You
Speaker 2: don't have to look any further than your own division.
Speaker 2: From a team that's playing cornerbacks threes, four and five
Speaker 2: and goes and gets Russell Douglas midseason. Two years ago
Speaker 2: and gets him playing to a high level in that defense.
Speaker 2: Like it's all about playing connected coverage on that back end.
Speaker 2: So I think that's the mindset and we'll see what
Speaker 2: the finished product looks like come September. But I thought
Speaker 2: you could really see the vision out there today. Let's
Speaker 2: close with a mixed bag here two more soundbites from
Speaker 2: Tua and some practice notes. Tua talked about what he
Speaker 2: can do to help himself stay available for all seventeen
Speaker 2: games this season.
Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure, doing everything I can to stay available
Speaker 6: for the guys. Like I said before in the past,
Speaker 6: nothing changes with that.
Speaker 4: It's knowing when when is.
Speaker 6: The time to give up on a play, and uh,
Speaker 6: you know, I would say the longevity for me to
Speaker 6: be on the field with with my guys is more
Speaker 6: important than whatever that one play is. You know, you
Speaker 6: have you have more quarters than than there there would
Speaker 6: be with within just that one play that I'm trying to,
Speaker 6: you know, show the guys that you know, I'm competitive
Speaker 6: and whatnot. And I know they know that, but it's
Speaker 6: just a you know, a nature It's it's a nature thing,
Speaker 6: you know, it just comes natural to me, uh to
Speaker 6: compete in that sense and that that's just the thing
Speaker 6: I fight with every time.
Speaker 3: Last one.
Speaker 2: How he can practice that and put it into practice.
Speaker 2: For lack of a bird term, Well.
Speaker 6: I think that's that's why you have practice, and it
Speaker 6: starts in practice. I gotta sort of shift my mindset
Speaker 6: of this isn't just practice where guys can't hit me.
Speaker 6: You got to take it into a sense where like,
Speaker 6: if this guy's here, get the ball out, and if
Speaker 6: I'm scrambling and this guy's getting close, not to just
Speaker 6: hold on to it, you know, knowing they they can
Speaker 6: hit me. If it was real football, you know, just
Speaker 6: throw it away or run and then just stop to
Speaker 6: signify it to slide if you will. But I think
Speaker 6: it's the transition and focus of bringing that game like
Speaker 6: feel into practice.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: Final practice notes here. I had Jordan Brooks with a
Speaker 2: couple of reaction instinct plays that just pop off the
Speaker 2: field when you watch him. Storm Duck had a bunch
Speaker 2: of good reps day, but a PBu on a coverage
Speaker 2: snap against Tanner Connor really jumped out Connor and the
Speaker 2: Orange Jersey today. By the way, I thought Larry Boram
Speaker 2: and Braden Daniels had excellent days. I thought Ted Kushi,
Speaker 2: the UDFAO lineman, had a block that sprung and all
Speaker 2: a Gordon touchdown run that was impressive.
Speaker 3: And I guess that's it long podcast.
Speaker 2: Today, But we heard from the head coach, from the quarterback,
Speaker 2: and you've got, you know, one more week of football
Speaker 2: practices before we go away for you know, six or
Speaker 2: seven weeks here on the show. So I wanted to
Speaker 2: bringing you guys plenty of content today. I hope you
Speaker 2: enjoyed it. We'll be back again to do it all tomorrow.
Speaker 2: In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe, rate,
Speaker 2: review the show, follow me on social at linkfold NFL.
Speaker 2: The team at Miami Dolphins check out the YouTube channel
Speaker 2: for Dolphins HQ, drivetime content, media availabilities, and so much more,
Speaker 2: and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until
Speaker 2: next time, Vinza, Caroline Cameron, Daddy, He's coming, hope,