Speaker 1: You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. This is
Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to a
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Speaker 1: It's waddle, It's six touchdown past day. Drive Time with
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check your pulse if
Speaker 1: none of what is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the
Speaker 1: Drivetime podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network covering
Speaker 1: your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I
Speaker 1: am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it
Speaker 1: is a football Friday, maybe the last one of the year.
Speaker 1: We'll see We'll hear from Jersey and the perspective on
Speaker 1: the New York Jets. Will answer your questions via the
Speaker 1: Twitter mailbag, and here from Dolphins assistant coaching staff, and
Speaker 1: a heck of a lot more from the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the drive.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and get to my guest today. You know him.
Speaker 1: He's been on the podcast several times before, Antoine Staley
Speaker 1: and joining me now is a calumnist for the New
Speaker 1: York Daily News. We somehow seem to wind up in
Speaker 1: the same regions of the country, but at different times.
Speaker 1: He's worked in Eugene covering the Organ Ducks, and you
Speaker 1: all likely recall him from his time down here covering
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. Antoine Staley Antoine, second time on the
Speaker 1: pod this season, now working on the Jets beat. How
Speaker 1: are you, my friend? I'm good. How are you doing?
Speaker 1: I'm doing good? Man, Like I told you before we
Speaker 1: got in the air. Well, I'll have a better answer
Speaker 1: for you right around four thirty on Sunday afternoon. Um,
Speaker 1: but I know you'll be down here before then. It's
Speaker 1: a place that you love to come visit when you're
Speaker 1: when you're not working here, but you are working with
Speaker 1: a little bit of you know, leisure time this weekend.
Speaker 1: So what's on the agenda? Man? Like, I know you've
Speaker 1: got usual spots you want to hit up. What are
Speaker 1: you going to when you get in town this weekend? Uh? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean I've had a good two weeks. I was
Speaker 1: actually your deck of the woods like in the home
Speaker 1: Seattle last week, so that was a lot of and
Speaker 1: uh probably do so like so Cubans, like get a
Speaker 1: Cuban sandwich somewhere, probably hit downtown Fort Lautadale a little bit,
Speaker 1: and then just kind of relax and you know, get
Speaker 1: some beech stuff too, like some waves. So yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: definitely looking forward to there. There is a cold front
Speaker 1: coming in this weekend, but as you know, cold fronts
Speaker 1: in South Florida usually mean right around sixties seven you degree,
Speaker 1: so you could get to the beach. But I am curious, Antoine,
Speaker 1: you can't say that without me asking the follow up,
Speaker 1: what was your favorite part about visiting Seattle. I mean,
Speaker 1: I love the city, like I'm this might like my
Speaker 1: third time being there. I mean obviously a lot of
Speaker 1: people go to Pike Place and you know, kind of
Speaker 1: the tourist stuff there. I I just personally just like
Speaker 1: this food. I think it's all a bit foodie. So
Speaker 1: I think not only just fish, but you know, other
Speaker 1: food that you can try. And Seattle and I love
Speaker 1: the downtown area I think is really you know, not
Speaker 1: just the tourist stuff, but also some of the stuff
Speaker 1: that locals get into as well. So yeah, I think
Speaker 1: it's one of my favorite cities in the country. And
Speaker 1: so I always love the business when I do get
Speaker 1: when I am able to go. Oh man, you're buttering
Speaker 1: me up. Yeah, the Seattle region. I would put their
Speaker 1: Japanese up against anywhere else in the country. Yaki they
Speaker 1: have who boy, there's there's a place called I love
Speaker 1: Tarayaki that I when I go there, I try to
Speaker 1: make sure I get it at least a couple of
Speaker 1: times every single time I do. But enough about where
Speaker 1: we come from and our food and all that fun stuff.
Speaker 1: It's a fun conversation. But we have a big game
Speaker 1: coming up on Sunday, at least for you know, I
Speaker 1: would say probably a big game for both teams. I'm
Speaker 1: sure the Jets want to get a victory here and
Speaker 1: that's where we kind of start. And I think people
Speaker 1: probably circle this game at least, you know, back when
Speaker 1: eight and three and seven and four were the two
Speaker 1: records of these teams as a potential play in game
Speaker 1: or at the very least having playoff implications for both sides.
Speaker 1: That's not the case. But I did want to ask you,
Speaker 1: I think you even asked the question at your press
Speaker 1: conference with Robert Sala. What is the Jets mindset coming
Speaker 1: into this one? Well, I mean I asked them, did
Speaker 1: what they are okay? Playing spoiler and then he said yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean in the back of her mind, if I'd
Speaker 1: asked other players to like, yeah, they understand what the
Speaker 1: situation is. To understand the Dolphins have a still I
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to get into the postseason. And you know,
Speaker 1: they you know, Misery Lights Company. So you know, if
Speaker 1: they they're not in the playoffs, then you know why,
Speaker 1: you know, should they get into the playoffs. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's been a you know, down month for both teams.
Speaker 1: Both teams have lost five straight games, and both teams
Speaker 1: were also in the playoff position. To the Dolphins, still
Speaker 1: are the Jets obviously got eliminated with Seattle, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I think their mindset just get a win and just
Speaker 1: in the season on a positive note, try to end
Speaker 1: this five game losing street. And they're going in there
Speaker 1: with going to the off season with some type of
Speaker 1: confidence there as opposed to, you know, just lose it
Speaker 1: straight as I mean, that's hard to you know, fathom
Speaker 1: and come back from. And then you have to answer
Speaker 1: all these questions that they all season. So one of
Speaker 1: these teams are gonna lose sit straight going into the year.
Speaker 1: Who that is, Well, we'll find out on Sunday, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely unshotted territories for both teams. Is actually considering
Speaker 1: how to year is going forth? Yeah, tell a coach that,
Speaker 1: you know, coach McDaniel can join with the pool in
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks. You don't gotta be the right away.
Speaker 1: We got we got some time here before and get
Speaker 1: to the fool side and get the vacations going here
Speaker 1: and get the golf game and all that stuff going,
Speaker 1: and you know, you know, you talk about the losing
Speaker 1: streaks here, Antoine, I'm not sure two teams in the
Speaker 1: NFL have experienced more just general angst about the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: but for very different reasons obviously, But bottom line, playing
Speaker 1: three or in the Jets case when Chris Traveler came
Speaker 1: into the game a couple weeks ago, four quarterbacks is
Speaker 1: obviously less than ideal. Mike White seems to be the
Speaker 1: one that has emerged a little bit from that group,
Speaker 1: and I'd be curious to hear if you agree with that.
Speaker 1: But what I also want to know, Antoine, is what
Speaker 1: was White doing well before the injury and then what
Speaker 1: did you think of his performance on Sunday in Seattle.
Speaker 1: As to me, he continues to prove to be one
Speaker 1: of the toughest guys in the lead. Because that ribbon
Speaker 1: jury against the Bills, that was no joke. Man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think before the ribb injury, I think what he
Speaker 1: was doing, he was a stound decision maker. He was
Speaker 1: throwing the ball just where anticipation. I think something that
Speaker 1: I thought he did a really good job off you
Speaker 1: look at it games against Minnesota or Chicago or Buffalo.
Speaker 1: I thought he did a good job hitting his receivers
Speaker 1: in stride and just finding the open man. And that's
Speaker 1: something that the Jets to struggle with at times, whether
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco started or a year when Zack Wilson was hurt,
Speaker 1: and then obviously when Zach was there, Zack Castle ups
Speaker 1: and downs there he had obviously started, you know, the
Speaker 1: last game against the Dolphins. But I thought Mike White
Speaker 1: did a great job to starticipate the receivers and was
Speaker 1: able to hit the open man and just the command
Speaker 1: of the offense. I felt like Mike White had a
Speaker 1: better you know, grasped of it than uh the other
Speaker 1: quarterbacks too. And the last week was you know, you
Speaker 1: could tell he was still bothered by the rib injury.
Speaker 1: He was good enough where he was cleared, but that
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean he's a hundred percent of healthy. And
Speaker 1: I definitely think you saw that where you know, he
Speaker 1: was missing some of those open receivers and did not
Speaker 1: look like the same guy that he was prior to
Speaker 1: the Buffalo game when he you know, took a lot
Speaker 1: of many shots in that game swistly, you know, the
Speaker 1: one other thing a lot of people resident with the
Speaker 1: mat Mulatto hits ended up putting him out the game
Speaker 1: before we end up coming back in there. So we'll
Speaker 1: see if hey're able to get him some type of
Speaker 1: better appretation this week. But he clearly wasn't the same
Speaker 1: quarterback that he was prior to the in That's why
Speaker 1: you commend us toughness so much. We just heard from
Speaker 1: Dolphins running backs coach Eric Studisville about alec Ingold playing
Speaker 1: with the cast and six days after he got pins
Speaker 1: putting us thumb, he came to coach and said, you're
Speaker 1: not playing this game without me. I just I think
Speaker 1: it's so cool that you have guys in the league
Speaker 1: that that play that way and have that approach in
Speaker 1: that style, and obviously Mike White's one of them. And
Speaker 1: you know, Antoina know you're well versed in the world
Speaker 1: of social media. I've seen you go through some some
Speaker 1: battles and some some arguments on there is a lot
Speaker 1: of people have and and the individual factions of you know,
Speaker 1: team fan bases, and you're you're well versed in Dolphins
Speaker 1: Twitter and and perusing Jets Twitter as well. To me,
Speaker 1: I've seen the most angst about the quarterback position and
Speaker 1: the offensive line in my week kind of review here,
Speaker 1: and I think that's got more to do with the
Speaker 1: injuries and anything. How would you assess the Jets offensive
Speaker 1: line from a health standpoint? From production standpoint? You kind
Speaker 1: of allude to it. They're talking about better protection this week.
Speaker 1: What's been going on the offensive line? You know, the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks over this losing streak, I mean
Speaker 1: just the all year has been like eleven different lineups
Speaker 1: City office line and it's hard to it's hard to
Speaker 1: win that way in the league where you're having so
Speaker 1: much transition between the officer a line. Dwayne Brown was
Speaker 1: hurt earlier this year, he came back, you know, he's
Speaker 1: been dealing with the shoulder injury. All year, George Fan
Speaker 1: was injured stuff for the knee injury. He's you know, playing,
Speaker 1: but necessarily he's not healthy. And I think you can
Speaker 1: definitely tell that to the loves of hair Tucker, who
Speaker 1: I felt like, what's their best officive linement. He ended
Speaker 1: up getting to try to tour and Tricksel's ended up
Speaker 1: being out for the season. So I just think it's
Speaker 1: the lack of continuity with this offensive line. It always
Speaker 1: seems like somebody is hurt, like it's something particular time
Speaker 1: every single week, you know, whether it be at the
Speaker 1: guard position or the tackle. Uh cottomic Govern is probably
Speaker 1: the only consistent player that's been there like all year
Speaker 1: long for the Jets. Outside of that, everything is really
Speaker 1: changed around him. So I just think it's uh the
Speaker 1: fact that they just had a ton of injuries and
Speaker 1: just hadn't been able to get on track and and
Speaker 1: it's hard and you know, and you notice too, like
Speaker 1: just playing you know, on the offense, you need chemistry.
Speaker 1: Everybody needs to know like does everybody's tend to season,
Speaker 1: you know what they do well and what they don't do.
Speaker 1: And then when you don't have that, when you're not
Speaker 1: playing together regularly, uh, and have a bunch of injuries
Speaker 1: and a lot of people coming in and out. It's
Speaker 1: kind of hard to you know, get that going, especially
Speaker 1: so late the season. So I think that's probably their
Speaker 1: biggest issue and probably one of the reasons why, you know,
Speaker 1: the lack of potention that's been a problem, especially in
Speaker 1: this offense. You know, both these offenses come off the
Speaker 1: Shannonhantry with that wide zone principle, so that's very important
Speaker 1: to have that chemistry and continuity up front. Just real quick,
Speaker 1: antoine for my own curiosity here, and this is aside
Speaker 1: from the game this week. Do you think Elija Vera
Speaker 1: Tucker long term is a guard or a tackle for
Speaker 1: the Jets. I would put him at right tackle like
Speaker 1: of person, and you know, we'll see how they, you know,
Speaker 1: deal it with left tackle. But I think he's the tackle.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you already played well to be
Speaker 1: a tackle, um and plus you want that premium money
Speaker 1: if you so, yeah, I think, you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's easier to find a guard and then it is
Speaker 1: a tackle. You you have your outside guys and then
Speaker 1: you fill in the rest of the middle. So I
Speaker 1: think it would be got to serve for them to
Speaker 1: put him at tackle and then just kind of go
Speaker 1: find some guards in the all season and Joe, I'm
Speaker 1: sure Joe Douglas would say, hey, I found a tackle
Speaker 1: in the draft, because you know, picking a guard in
Speaker 1: the mid part of the first round sometimes it doesn't
Speaker 1: happen that often, but when all of a sudden you
Speaker 1: get a you know, a franchise level tackle in that
Speaker 1: part of the draft, it's like, Wow, how do they
Speaker 1: find that guy that late? So it's a it's definitely
Speaker 1: a big difference in those two positions, but he's good
Speaker 1: at either one of them, and he's a He's a
Speaker 1: crazy talented player. I was just curious because, you know,
Speaker 1: a player of that caliber, I'm curious to here his
Speaker 1: long term prognosis with our biggest rival here and on
Speaker 1: the other side of the football. You know, this is
Speaker 1: a top flight defense, Antoine, You've covered it all year long,
Speaker 1: and I find it intriguing that they had fifteen takeaways
Speaker 1: through the first eleven games of the season, but only
Speaker 1: one since. What's changed there in your estimation? Well, I
Speaker 1: think one thing is they're not throwing the souls. Gardner too,
Speaker 1: I think I think he would have more than two
Speaker 1: interceptions if that was the case. But you know, teams
Speaker 1: are decided. I remember, you know, the Lions and they
Speaker 1: didn't throw him at all, like whatsoever. So I think
Speaker 1: teams are giving him that respect, like, you know, he's
Speaker 1: one of the already one of the best corners in football.
Speaker 1: Let's just not throw his way. And then there are
Speaker 1: other guys on the Jet defense that they feel like
Speaker 1: they're able to exploit their whether it be their second
Speaker 1: they whether safety positions are also you know Michael Carter,
Speaker 1: I mean, Michael Carter is a nice Nickels cornerback, but
Speaker 1: you know, nearly not on the same level as uh
Speaker 1: Souf Grner. Dj Rees played really well too, like I
Speaker 1: think he's played at a near Pro Bowl level as well.
Speaker 1: But you know, you'd rather challenge him than the challenge
Speaker 1: somebody that sits foot three and you know, two hundred
Speaker 1: ten panels and his lanky and you know, such a
Speaker 1: great cover corner as a rookie and sous Gardner. So
Speaker 1: I think that's part of it. I think another part
Speaker 1: of it that they just happen to able to, you know,
Speaker 1: get on fumbles. They've had opportunities to get turnovers, but
Speaker 1: they haven't been able to just secure the ball. So
Speaker 1: I think that's think those are probably two reasons why
Speaker 1: they haven't been able to create those turning and then
Speaker 1: I think that's why the defense has kind of struggled
Speaker 1: a little bit as well. They've kind of slipped a
Speaker 1: little bit. I think they're still a top ten defense,
Speaker 1: but nearly they hadn't played as well as they should have.
Speaker 1: And I think you kind of saw that with the
Speaker 1: Seattle game last week where they end up giving up
Speaker 1: an yards Russian especially to play at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the game, which I feel like really was a turning
Speaker 1: point they really like set the tone for the whole
Speaker 1: game against Seattle. Yeah, I'm with you. I think this
Speaker 1: game comes down to you know, turnover is ultimately from
Speaker 1: Miami and the Jets this week. So you know, normally
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the entire podcast, I would
Speaker 1: go position by position and ask you about the pressing
Speaker 1: stories each each spot, but I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: myself and my my audience here on the podcast were
Speaker 1: joined by Antoine's Daily of the New York Daily News,
Speaker 1: uh there as well versed on the Jets as anybody
Speaker 1: besides the Dolphins, like we know this team, right, and
Speaker 1: so I want to take it in this direction. Actually,
Speaker 1: it's kind of twofold. Let's start with this up front
Speaker 1: and then one on the back end as well. Starting
Speaker 1: up front with the stars like Quinnin is an absolute star,
Speaker 1: John Franklin, Meer, you know, Carl Lawson, Sheldon Rankin, Franklin's,
Speaker 1: Quincy Williams, c J. Mosley. It's a really good front seven.
Speaker 1: Now again, you mentioned it there in the end talking
Speaker 1: about the Seahawks going for a buck. So my question is,
Speaker 1: despite this loaded group, when teams have had success against
Speaker 1: the Jets up front, whether it's pass pro or running
Speaker 1: the game, running the ball, how do they do it? Well?
Speaker 1: I think all you kind of saw it with Seattle
Speaker 1: Ast where they're kind of like a run zone, run scheme.
Speaker 1: And you know, Kenna Walker is really good too, so
Speaker 1: I think that kind of well, uh, but you know,
Speaker 1: having running bad snake and also take advantage in the
Speaker 1: passing game, but also to run a game and just
Speaker 1: the scheme. I think they've had a lot of sussists
Speaker 1: too as well. And also I think in the passing
Speaker 1: game the Jets have had trouble covering tight ends. So
Speaker 1: you could see again this could be a game where
Speaker 1: they could feature Mike Getsecki very well, especially if they
Speaker 1: are able to get the ball to him. Uh some
Speaker 1: of the Jets, don't, you know, sex Skyler Thompson or
Speaker 1: whoever's back there a quarterback Mike Lennon. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think they've had trouble covering tight ends and backs out
Speaker 1: the bad field, and I think that's been a bit
Speaker 1: of achilles heel too, as receivers you know, can be
Speaker 1: hit or missed, especially considering the Jet secondary top two
Speaker 1: corners have been really good this year. Although I mean
Speaker 1: the Dolphins have two top light ride receivers as well,
Speaker 1: so it's always gonna make for a good matchup two
Speaker 1: as well. So yeah, I definitely think, you know, those
Speaker 1: have been really good achilles heel. With the Jets defense,
Speaker 1: they're the uh the slot cornerback position, but also the
Speaker 1: safeties as well and been attacked as well. That's exactly
Speaker 1: why this is such an intriguing game for you because,
Speaker 1: like you said it, I put my previous podcast on Thursday,
Speaker 1: Like you know, the the places besides Sauce Gardner and
Speaker 1: d J. Reid have obviously had more success than going
Speaker 1: after them, but at the same time, that's probably who
Speaker 1: Hill and Watt to go up against. So like, do
Speaker 1: you choose to go away from your best players, to
Speaker 1: go away from the It's it's fascinating. We'll see what
Speaker 1: happens on Sunday, and I take real quick to not
Speaker 1: that well. I think you might see the Dolphins moved
Speaker 1: like a typical move move either, like they're usually set
Speaker 1: in their spots too, so you might see, you know,
Speaker 1: thought it out there. I wouldn't be surprised that today.
Speaker 1: Or where to move those guys around, maybe in the slide,
Speaker 1: just to get them going and get them some you know,
Speaker 1: receptions early in the game and get some rhythm to
Speaker 1: the offense and maybe see if the Jets do want
Speaker 1: to kick somebody inside, you know, if Tyreeker or Jalen
Speaker 1: catches a few passes in a row, like, hey, we've
Speaker 1: gotta make a stop here, so maybe you force the
Speaker 1: Jets out of what they do best. That's why it's
Speaker 1: still fascinating. Man. It's a good matchup and and hopefully
Speaker 1: these teams are matched up this way for years to come.
Speaker 1: And it's it's for more, you know, uh, for big
Speaker 1: stakes in the A f c has been looking forward
Speaker 1: to that for a long time here, So Antoni finish
Speaker 1: up with this question with everybody here on the Friday Podcast.
Speaker 1: The Jets will win if and then it's your Flora take,
Speaker 1: sir well. I think they just have to get pressure
Speaker 1: on the quarterback. That's first and foremost. If they can
Speaker 1: get pressed and consistently. Quinn Williams has been playing at
Speaker 1: an all pro level all year, especially inside the vents
Speaker 1: of tackle. If he can get going and the way
Speaker 1: that he can and it forced turnover is kind of
Speaker 1: like what we alluded to there, I think there will
Speaker 1: be in good shape to win. And then they got
Speaker 1: to run the ball. I think, you know, I know,
Speaker 1: Mike White is still you know, not there, but they
Speaker 1: have to be able to run the ball. This team
Speaker 1: drives on running the football everything you know, we saw
Speaker 1: with the first matchup against the Dolphins too. If they're
Speaker 1: able to run the football, then I think there were
Speaker 1: chances that then we're gonna increase exponentially. But if they're
Speaker 1: not able to run the football and you got Mike
Speaker 1: White throwing the ball forty times a game, then I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be tougher than to pull out the
Speaker 1: victory the New York Daily News. He's at Antoine's Daily
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Antoine, thank you against so much, my friend,
Speaker 1: and enjoy your time at the Elbow Room this weekend
Speaker 1: if you find your way down there on A one A.
Speaker 1: But also let's let's meet up in the press box
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Sound good, yeah, man, anytime, man. I enjoy
Speaker 1: doing it. And there he goes. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: take our first break right here and come back on
Speaker 1: the other side and get to the Dolphins assistant coaches
Speaker 1: media from Thursday. That's next Drivetime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: kick off assistant coaches media from Thursday ahead of the
Speaker 1: week eighteen matchup against the New York Jets, and we
Speaker 1: start with Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, who was asked,
Speaker 1: where did you think the Dolphins the defense Dolphins defense
Speaker 1: could have been better or where did you expect it
Speaker 1: to be better this season coming into the year. Here's
Speaker 1: coach getting off the fill and third downs. But here
Speaker 1: he is talking about that more extensively from a week
Speaker 1: the week thing. Usually when we we don't have success,
Speaker 1: the first place, you start is usually on third down
Speaker 1: because the third down is like it gives you an
Speaker 1: opportunity to get off field, get the ball back to
Speaker 1: the offense and then, um, you know a lot of
Speaker 1: times in the red area we're getting them to third
Speaker 1: down and those those become four point plays. So if
Speaker 1: you get off the field, you know, statistically you're given
Speaker 1: the three points on the field goal that's over make
Speaker 1: when you're talking about call it the you know, fifteen
Speaker 1: and end and we've gotten the third down those situations
Speaker 1: and um, you know, um obviously if you stop them there,
Speaker 1: like I said, that's a four point place. So those
Speaker 1: are the areas that you know that that's a stress
Speaker 1: point for us each week. And usually when we're successful there,
Speaker 1: then good things happen. And then when you're not, you know,
Speaker 1: drives extend and they could become scoring drives. And you
Speaker 1: know a lot of times, uh, you know, we we've
Speaker 1: made offenses go the hard way. Um, you know we've
Speaker 1: been competitive play after play. But you know, when we
Speaker 1: have opportunities got field, we need to do that. When
Speaker 1: we have opportunities to eliminate points in the red area,
Speaker 1: you know, we we sure need to do that. And
Speaker 1: Obviously we're working hard on that and we do each week.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of how I see that really thought
Speaker 1: provoking stuff there from coach Boyer. And speaking of thought provoking,
Speaker 1: coach Frank Smith tends to give us the same things
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the football. Let's hear from
Speaker 1: him in regards to the philosophy, philosophical shift I should
Speaker 1: say about running the ball, throwing the ball, and where
Speaker 1: he comes down about the plan whether they have the
Speaker 1: quarterback in to run in or not. Here's Coach Smith
Speaker 1: think more of it was the defense and what we
Speaker 1: saw on tape as far as what we're trying to
Speaker 1: attack and establish, so um our goal and obviously throughout
Speaker 1: the game we want to make sure we stay ALUs
Speaker 1: to run. We saw opportunities that we wanted to try
Speaker 1: and maximize that. Um. You know, we're a block here,
Speaker 1: We're close on somethings from really getting what we want
Speaker 1: in that capacity. So UM, I think ultimately not really
Speaker 1: thinking of it overall is like, hey, we wanted to
Speaker 1: shift philosophy as far as that we're really trying to
Speaker 1: make sure that for us we'reunning the football is obviously priority.
Speaker 1: We thought we could establish some concepts that would really
Speaker 1: help set up other plays. So I think it's always
Speaker 1: we're trying to look at it as far as attacking
Speaker 1: the defense, what is presented, trying to put stress on
Speaker 1: him through different schemes of different systems. Let's go back
Speaker 1: to coach Frank Smith for two more questions here about
Speaker 1: the quarterback possession. At first, he was asked, what gives
Speaker 1: you confidence in Skyler Thompson if he isn't in fact
Speaker 1: your quarterback on Sunday in this pivotal game. Physical and
Speaker 1: mental toughness, his ability to play within the timing of
Speaker 1: the plays, fundamentals, arm strength, I mean, a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff you've seen when he's in there. Uh, we just
Speaker 1: think that, Um, for rookie quarterback, he's displayed so many
Speaker 1: great traits that we feel very confident about and uh,
Speaker 1: we're excited to uh if he has to play playing
Speaker 1: him and then obviously with all everyone in the situations
Speaker 1: there are, you know, we feel confident with the group.
Speaker 1: And finishing up here with coach Smith, he was asked
Speaker 1: about how tough it is to make in game quarterback changes,
Speaker 1: as they have had to do all year long in
Speaker 1: the games without one starting, somebody else had to finish
Speaker 1: it every single time. Here's coach on the challenges of
Speaker 1: just that. It's it's probably more challenging just the nature
Speaker 1: of their controlling cadences. They're controlling rhythms of the ball
Speaker 1: being snapped. The communication in the huddle is a little
Speaker 1: different from all of them, so there's a little minor
Speaker 1: things that go that you're just getting used to in
Speaker 1: UM in the course of the game. But I mean,
Speaker 1: to your point, Chris, it's like we're professionals everyone us coaches, uh,
Speaker 1: players and just trying to make sure that um if
Speaker 1: there are in game adjustments at that with personnel alright,
Speaker 1: making sure that we do in our preparation, trying to
Speaker 1: get guys enough work, timing all right hours together. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think and that's I think it comes with the
Speaker 1: communication that we have to have before we go into
Speaker 1: a game to make sure contingencies or when guys are
Speaker 1: giving look look reps for just making sure that we're
Speaker 1: all connected and making sure those coaches were monitoring things
Speaker 1: so we can try and seamlessly moved the players in
Speaker 1: between if that was necessary to have to happen. Let's
Speaker 1: do one from running backs coach Eric Studisville and one
Speaker 1: from cornerbacks coach Sam Madison. First coach Studisville. I asked
Speaker 1: him about alec Ingold going out there with a club
Speaker 1: on his hand and playing a position that's pretty much
Speaker 1: all hands with blocking and catching the football. Here's coach
Speaker 1: on alec Ingold, this Dolphins foldback that has just kind
Speaker 1: of one all of us over down here in South Florida.
Speaker 1: I think for the fact that six days post surgery
Speaker 1: with pins in his thumb, for this guy to tell
Speaker 1: me on Tuesday, you're playing without me this weekend, I
Speaker 1: think speaks volumes to how much character he has, the
Speaker 1: toughness that he has, the mentality that he has. And
Speaker 1: I think it also speaks volumes as to how invested
Speaker 1: he is in this team and that he doesn't He
Speaker 1: wants to be out there with his teammates contributing whatever
Speaker 1: way he can. And who better to ask about Dolphins
Speaker 1: and Jets than Dolphins cornerback coach Pat Pattin. Sam Madison
Speaker 1: had asked both of them about that about how important
Speaker 1: this finale is against the Jets and their role as
Speaker 1: a spoiler. Here's coach on Dolphins and Jets always want
Speaker 1: to do that and then you know they want to
Speaker 1: come in and play spoilers same you know, if it
Speaker 1: was us going anywhere else. And that's just the way
Speaker 1: that this division is built. I mean, none of us
Speaker 1: like each other very much. And we know that they
Speaker 1: know it, the fans know it, so it'll be a
Speaker 1: lot going on in the stands. But it's been cut
Speaker 1: back a little bit. But you know, just ready and
Speaker 1: incited for these guys to go out here and put
Speaker 1: it on the line, you know, just being able to
Speaker 1: talk them through the things that that myself, pat this
Speaker 1: organization been through with this with these franchises over the
Speaker 1: course that we've been here and just want to get
Speaker 1: this game done and um in over wit but UM,
Speaker 1: you know the guys will locked in, they're ready to go.
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep them focused and you know, we know
Speaker 1: what the end result is and and they know as well,
Speaker 1: so you know it's going to be a dog fight.
Speaker 1: And um, and I think our guys are ready and
Speaker 1: prepared for it all right there, way go. You can
Speaker 1: find the entirety of these press conferences up on the
Speaker 1: team YouTube channel. In the meantime that we're gonna take
Speaker 1: our last break and come back and answer your questions
Speaker 1: one more time here in the regular season on the
Speaker 1: Twitter mailbag. That's next Drift Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: finish up here on this Friday for week eight, team
Speaker 1: with your questions via Twitter mail bag, and we start
Speaker 1: here with at Eli jts. Do you expect to see
Speaker 1: a similar scheme and game plan is last week with
Speaker 1: a heavy run more conservative or are we looking at
Speaker 1: more design plays with instruction to Skyler that if the
Speaker 1: first read is not there, the play is over. Well
Speaker 1: you really never know, do you. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the run game is key, not just for the production
Speaker 1: but what it allows the rest of the offense to
Speaker 1: get to. It's part of the horizontal vertical stretch this
Speaker 1: offense is kind of based upon, and we hear Frank
Speaker 1: Smith talk each week about how the run game working
Speaker 1: frees up more concepts in the passing game. So it's
Speaker 1: always a priority. And when the Jets have been vulnerable
Speaker 1: on defense this year, it's when they are a not
Speaker 1: generating takeaways and be the run game is working well
Speaker 1: against them. And fortunately, if you're doing BE successfully, it
Speaker 1: probably means a is a lot more challenging for the
Speaker 1: defense to accomplish. I would point back to the Thursday podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you heard it already if you're listening and
Speaker 1: writing into questions for Friday, But I went really in
Speaker 1: depth on that on the preview podcast. It's a great question,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see what happens, Like I
Speaker 1: always do these previews, and it's like, I'm I'm basically
Speaker 1: kind of guessing what will happen, and it's fun for
Speaker 1: me to kind of measure what happens versus what I
Speaker 1: think will happen. So yeah, I think so. But we'll
Speaker 1: see you on Sunday at Monster Underscore MHK. On a
Speaker 1: scale of one the ten, how big of a failure
Speaker 1: was this season? And the whole quote unquote rebuild off
Speaker 1: the top, I would say, it's tough to call a
Speaker 1: season of disappointment when it's not finished and you're still alive.
Speaker 1: So let's first, like, what if they win and win
Speaker 1: again and win again? Not really a failure then, so
Speaker 1: let's wait a week on that. But even if not,
Speaker 1: I just loathe the idea of like no excuses, you know,
Speaker 1: which is a very popular term to say on social media,
Speaker 1: which just means I don't want to hear any context
Speaker 1: or know any reasons why things are the way they are.
Speaker 1: I just accept the results as they are. I guess which.
Speaker 1: More power to you if you can live that way,
Speaker 1: because there's so many variables in this sport. We heard
Speaker 1: coach Embry on Thursday, I say, there's twelve or thirteen
Speaker 1: games every year that you play are gonna come down
Speaker 1: to one score, a two minute drill or a field
Speaker 1: goal or whatever it might be. I think when you
Speaker 1: rush to rash decisions based upon results without taking into
Speaker 1: account context, that's how you wind up making mega mistakes,
Speaker 1: like you know what if you you know, like two
Speaker 1: of this year, for instance, proved he is pretty damn good, right,
Speaker 1: a lot of the stats top of the league, and
Speaker 1: played really well and distributed the football, and we see
Speaker 1: the drop off when you don't have them out there.
Speaker 1: And I certainly can tell you're from the tape standpoint,
Speaker 1: big difference. You don't have two tug of Byla out there.
Speaker 1: You're gonna make a decision based upon like what one
Speaker 1: or two things you didn't like because the other ten
Speaker 1: things to like. It's just I think it's a bad
Speaker 1: process when you say, like didn't make the playoffs, get
Speaker 1: rid of everybody, Like no, I think you trust your
Speaker 1: process and trust your eyes and recognize this is a
Speaker 1: really talented football team that has good schemes and belief
Speaker 1: in one another. And look, I'm gonna be as bummed
Speaker 1: out as anybody if the season ends on Sunday. But
Speaker 1: I also realized the attrition and unique circumstances this team
Speaker 1: has gone through, Like look at you know, you've got
Speaker 1: to find a way to overcome those things, and that's
Speaker 1: certainly part of the evaluation. But my goodness, like you know,
Speaker 1: Josh Boyer wouldn't do it on his press conference, ball
Speaker 1: do it for them without your QB one for four
Speaker 1: games and each of those games, the star doesn't even
Speaker 1: finish the game. That's pure insanity. Quarterback position. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody anticipated Byron Jones being out all year,
Speaker 1: True Williams getting hurt in training camp, McKenzie Alexander coming
Speaker 1: in for replacement, and he could hurt in the first
Speaker 1: couple of days that he's here. Who else I'm missing
Speaker 1: Nick Needham, Brand Jones, Like they're down to, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen levels of secondary play in terms of who's
Speaker 1: available to them. So it's it's tough to overcome all
Speaker 1: that stuff. And you mentioned the rebuild, Like, if you
Speaker 1: want to talk about where they've come, just look at
Speaker 1: the roster in twenty nineteen or even teen before they
Speaker 1: reset things here, like that roster was atrocious. It's night
Speaker 1: and day now, and I think you should be very
Speaker 1: confident in this team heading forward, even if the last
Speaker 1: month was you know, one challenging game after another, because
Speaker 1: remember they're right in all of those games, Like what
Speaker 1: if the Christmas Day thing, the fumble doesn't happen, that
Speaker 1: the you know two situation doesn't happen, it's probably a
Speaker 1: different outcome. I know it's if butts and candies and nuts,
Speaker 1: but like, man, I don't know. Context tells me that
Speaker 1: this team is, you know, better than what their record
Speaker 1: was this year at Jimbo Sanda for Travis, will you
Speaker 1: continue to bring a positive outlook for this team that
Speaker 1: you always bring. Thank you for what you do. Salute
Speaker 1: to the man with a lemon tree from making lemonade.
Speaker 1: Great job of Travis. I love that good good stuff. Uh,
Speaker 1: and first all, thank you. Second yeah, I'm a positive
Speaker 1: person by nature and I've mentioned this, you know, it
Speaker 1: seems like every year now, I don't watch sports or
Speaker 1: football to add something to my plate that's like negative,
Speaker 1: Like it's fun, right, If you're not having fun with it,
Speaker 1: then what are you doing here? I just don't understand
Speaker 1: that if you don't get your desired outcome, then like
Speaker 1: go touch some grass. And for me, that's playing with
Speaker 1: my kids. It's an easy solution. It works of the time.
Speaker 1: As for the coverage, you know, my and I'm using
Speaker 1: very just like distinct air quotes here. Popularity And I
Speaker 1: hate using that term because it just sounds so up
Speaker 1: my own ass, but I don't know how else to
Speaker 1: say it. My popularity rose in nineteen when I made
Speaker 1: a baseline clan that I wasn't going to harp on
Speaker 1: negatives because this was a roster in transition and it
Speaker 1: would have been a boring podcast to me to sit
Speaker 1: there and be like, hey, here's the eight six player
Speaker 1: we've used this year. We signed him off of the
Speaker 1: A A F and he let's go ahead and just
Speaker 1: dunk on him for twenty minutes on a podcast that
Speaker 1: didn't That wasn't productive for anybody, So I just tried
Speaker 1: to uncover positives and give you ideas about which pieces
Speaker 1: could be a part of the core going forward, like
Speaker 1: telling you Christian Wilkins has everything in the toolbag to
Speaker 1: be a great player. Kind of right there, but now
Speaker 1: fast forward two and again, still consider myself a very
Speaker 1: positive person. I haven't really been the knee jerk like
Speaker 1: fire everybody type of observer observer for a long time.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure I ever was, maybe my twenties when
Speaker 1: I didn't, you know, have full brain capacity like you know,
Speaker 1: which is the case. I just don't think that's productive.
Speaker 1: So I will always try to see the good. But
Speaker 1: I hope I bring balance any level analysis of this team,
Speaker 1: which I think I have done pretty well this year.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I guess that's for you guys to
Speaker 1: decide good questions this week. Let's go ahead and get
Speaker 1: out of here, though we'll have more on the written
Speaker 1: mail back. If you didn't hear your question, answer you
Speaker 1: here in the podcast. In the meantime, you all please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Spotify,
Speaker 1: where every year podcast leave us a rating, leave us
Speaker 1: a review that helps us more than you could possibly know.
Speaker 1: Have a couple of new ones in there, this week.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for doing that. Also, go ahead
Speaker 1: and follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the
Speaker 1: team at Miami Dolphins, Fish Tank, Spaces, postgame Show, International Podcast,
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff. Also the team YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: Dolphins Today, Media availabilities, and last but not least, Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot com. Until next time, Caroline and Camera and
Speaker 1: Daddy's Coming Home and I hope Sunday's podcast as a
Speaker 1: playoff celebration. Come on, Dolphins,