Speaker 1: Practice, rows Patrick drawing touchdown. What a win for this
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphin team. Wow? What is up, Dolphans? And welcome
Speaker 1: to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: official podcast network, covering your Miami Dolphins each and every day.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? How was your weekend? Happy Monday?
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and I am here
Speaker 1: as always to bring you your daily dose of Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins football. And on today's show, we continue our roster
Speaker 1: preview series taking a look at the running backs. Some
Speaker 1: new names joined the fold as we break down coach
Speaker 1: Eric Studsville's room, Plus we heard from three veterans over
Speaker 1: the weekend. We'll get you caught up on the highlights
Speaker 1: from Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jesse Davis, and Bobby McCain's media availability,
Speaker 1: and get you the latest Miami Dolphins news. All of
Speaker 1: that and more on this Monday, August the third edition
Speaker 1: of the Drive Time Podcast. And just real quick before
Speaker 1: we dive into the meat of the episode, a couple
Speaker 1: of roster updates for you guys, and the COVID slash
Speaker 1: reserve list. For this season, we added Jerome Baker, the
Speaker 1: linebacker and defensive lineman Zach Seeler over the weekend. Eric
Speaker 1: Flowers as well has joined that list, and Blake Ferguson
Speaker 1: is the second Dolphins to come off the COVID slash
Speaker 1: reserve list. Benito Jones did the exact same move earlier
Speaker 1: last week and Ferguson. While we turned to camp with
Speaker 1: some competition for the long snapping job, as the Dolphins
Speaker 1: signed Rex Sunahara over the weekend, and like Ferguson, the
Speaker 1: West Virginia product, Sunahara was a Patrick Mannelli Award finalist
Speaker 1: for the best long snapper in all of college football.
Speaker 1: Ferguson won that award from l s U back in
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. All right, let's go ahead and turn
Speaker 1: the page here and jump right back in to our
Speaker 1: training camp roster preview series taking a look at the
Speaker 1: running backs on today's episode of the Drive Time podcast.
Speaker 1: And as we have done on the show, here going
Speaker 1: in order of the players jersey numbers, and so we
Speaker 1: start with a player that has a kind of non
Speaker 1: running back number, and Malcolm Perry, the rookie out of Navy.
Speaker 1: He wears the number ten. He's gonna be twenty three
Speaker 1: years old when this season kicks off. Next month. We
Speaker 1: are just one month away from the start of the
Speaker 1: National Football League and the Army Navy Game has been
Speaker 1: played an annual tradition, one of the best really aesthetics
Speaker 1: and the best scenes, the best, the best really of
Speaker 1: everything about football in that Army Navy Game and over
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty years of its illustrious history. The
Speaker 1: record for single game rushing yards was broken last year
Speaker 1: by none other than New Dolphin Malcolm Perry, who ran
Speaker 1: for three hundred and four yards in that game. And
Speaker 1: it wasn't just the Army Game where Malcolm Perry went
Speaker 1: crazy on opposing defenses. He piled up two thousand seventeen
Speaker 1: rushing yards in nineteen that was the second most in
Speaker 1: college football. He's an explosive runner. He jumps off the
Speaker 1: tape with twitch, speed and vision. He carried the football
Speaker 1: two hundred and nine five times last year and twenty
Speaker 1: nine team and of those runs, sixty five of those
Speaker 1: runs in total exceeded ten yards, So two percent of
Speaker 1: the time he's ripping off runs that are gonna be
Speaker 1: good to move the chains on a normal first and
Speaker 1: ten situation. Ken Nia Matallo, the head coach at Navy,
Speaker 1: we talked to him on the Drivetime podcast a while back,
Speaker 1: and he said that Perry's running instincts are as good
Speaker 1: as he has ever seen. Perry participated in the East
Speaker 1: West Shrine Game back in January, and he carried the
Speaker 1: football one time in that Senior All Star game and
Speaker 1: he took it to the house fifty two yards for
Speaker 1: a touchdown to give his team a fourth quarter lead. Now,
Speaker 1: he played quarterback, slot back, and receiver over his four
Speaker 1: year career there at the Naval Academy. But he will
Speaker 1: be on the Dolphins roster, listed officially as a running
Speaker 1: back up next number twenty in the Miami Dolphins backfield.
Speaker 1: Another newcomer, he's been in the league for three years,
Speaker 1: entering his very first here in Miami, Georgia. Southern product,
Speaker 1: twenty five years old. Matt Brita, and this guy can
Speaker 1: flat go. Brita, that Cheetah. He has the fastest registered
Speaker 1: top speed in the NFL each of the last two
Speaker 1: years at twenty two point three and twenty two point
Speaker 1: nine miles per hour. He really can cook when he
Speaker 1: gets the football in his hands. And that rhyming nickname,
Speaker 1: Matt Brita the Cheetah, It just all goes in line.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins sent a fifth round draft pick to the
Speaker 1: forty niners on draft Day to acquire this speedster. He
Speaker 1: has a five point oh yards per carry average on
Speaker 1: three hundred and eighty one career carries, and the old
Speaker 1: adage tells us that speed never slumps, right, and that's
Speaker 1: true of all sports, Baseball, basketball, football, you name it,
Speaker 1: and by any standards, Matt Brita can run a four
Speaker 1: three eight forty yard dash. At his college pro day
Speaker 1: a few years back, he also jumped forty two and
Speaker 1: a half inches in the vertical, so you get a
Speaker 1: sense for how this guy is built athletically and how
Speaker 1: he maneuvers that way. He also has the production to
Speaker 1: go along with the five yards per carry. He's a
Speaker 1: conversion machine of his runs. Over the course of his career.
Speaker 1: Move the chains. He's converted one hundred ten of his
Speaker 1: four hundred forty eight career touches into first down and
Speaker 1: that includes six out of seven carries on third or
Speaker 1: fourth and short with just two yards or less for
Speaker 1: a first down. So I sure bet to pick up
Speaker 1: the first down. Move those chains, and according to Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus, last year, Matt Brita lined up in the
Speaker 1: backfield on two forty six snaps. He was in the
Speaker 1: slot for six plays and flexed out wide on sixteen occasions,
Speaker 1: so moving around the offense a little bit. Played eighty
Speaker 1: five snaps on special teams. He has sixty seven catches
Speaker 1: and that was good for a seventy five point three
Speaker 1: percent catch ray on eighty nine targets and average of
Speaker 1: eight point four yards per reception. Kyle Shanahan praised him
Speaker 1: last year in training camp, and I wrote about it
Speaker 1: in the article when Brita was first trade to Miami,
Speaker 1: taking a look at some of his work and how
Speaker 1: Matt Brito worked hard to get himself into that fold,
Speaker 1: into that deep backfield out there in San Francisco, and
Speaker 1: head coach Brian Flores feels the same way. He had
Speaker 1: this to say about Brita after they traded for the
Speaker 1: running back back on draft Day. As far as Matt
Speaker 1: breed to the player, this is a very explosive young
Speaker 1: running back with good vision and he can create a
Speaker 1: lot of big plays, Flora said. But he's also tough,
Speaker 1: he's also smart. He also has a lot of the
Speaker 1: qualities we are looking for in our players. It was
Speaker 1: an exciting phone call to have with him, and we
Speaker 1: can't wait to get him out here. Of course, that
Speaker 1: was back in April and Brita. You know, Flores talks
Speaker 1: about the toughness in that little blurb there. It's not
Speaker 1: just a speed guy that we're dealing with here. This
Speaker 1: guy he has some tough runs, some tough physical yards.
Speaker 1: You go back and watch some of the games where
Speaker 1: he had some of his biggest production totals this past season,
Speaker 1: like the Saints game, for instance. The Niners try to
Speaker 1: be balanced in that game, going with the run, the pass,
Speaker 1: getting up and down the field against Drew Brees and
Speaker 1: the explosive offense. He had some really tough between the
Speaker 1: tackles runs. So he is not just a speedback, and
Speaker 1: that's that's kind of a misnomer I think about his game.
Speaker 1: He can do a little bit of everything for you
Speaker 1: in the offense. Up next on our list here two
Speaker 1: years in the NFL, entering his third with Miami. Caitlin
Speaker 1: balage number twenty seven out of Arizona State, gonna be
Speaker 1: twenty four years old on opening Day, And like Matt Brita,
Speaker 1: he also had his name near the top of one
Speaker 1: of these fastest game day speed charts in On his
Speaker 1: seventy five yard touchdown on against the Vikings, he topped
Speaker 1: out at twenty one point eight seven miles per hour,
Speaker 1: that was seventh fastest in the league that year. And
Speaker 1: as he did in college, Belage served as a Dolphins
Speaker 1: primary trigger man in wildcat packages last season. He's a
Speaker 1: downhill runner, a big dude that can drop his pads
Speaker 1: and get behind that six ft twirty seven pound frame
Speaker 1: to give the Dolphins a viable short yardage option in
Speaker 1: the ground game. He converted seven to eight first downs
Speaker 1: on runs where he had to get one yard to
Speaker 1: gain the first down, and all three of us touchdowns
Speaker 1: came on such plays. And running backs coach Eric Studsville
Speaker 1: had this to say about Kalen Blage last year. Quote
Speaker 1: the guy is passionate about the game and he brings
Speaker 1: professionalism and everything he does on the football field end quote.
Speaker 1: Up next, another newcomer in the Dolphins backfield, number thirty four.
Speaker 1: He's been in the NFL for four years, his first
Speaker 1: here in Miami. Jordan Howard out of Indiana gonna be
Speaker 1: twenty five years old when the Dolphins kick it off
Speaker 1: in September against the New England Patriots. He was a
Speaker 1: fifth round draft pick back in and few backs have
Speaker 1: produced like this guy since he came in the league
Speaker 1: in sixteen. He has the third most rushing yards over
Speaker 1: that time three thousand, eight hundred and ninety five yards
Speaker 1: and the seventh most rushing touchdowns with thirty in the
Speaker 1: NFL over that time. He's one of five backs to
Speaker 1: rush for at least six touchdowns each of the last
Speaker 1: five seasons. He's a complete back. He utilizes a rare
Speaker 1: blend of vision and power to create poor angles and
Speaker 1: slip arm tackles of defenders. Because of that, he really
Speaker 1: finds a way to get skinny in the whole and
Speaker 1: does so well to make good decisions. There's a great
Speaker 1: video up on YouTube by one of my favorite analysts.
Speaker 1: We've referred to him on the podcast all the time,
Speaker 1: Brett Coleman, talking about his rookie season back in twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: but really he's still the same back. He's still the
Speaker 1: same type of guy and the way he reads the
Speaker 1: blocks and it led to that really explosive breakout rookie
Speaker 1: year there for Jordan Howard. And he also mentions the
Speaker 1: past protection which really comes valuable to the passing game
Speaker 1: two fifty five career pass blocking reps according to PFF,
Speaker 1: and of those two fifty five, he's allowed nine quarterback pressures.
Speaker 1: In the four year career, he has an eighty six
Speaker 1: point three pass blocking grade on ninety two reps back
Speaker 1: in his last full season of full health, and that
Speaker 1: was the best in the NFL among all backs with
Speaker 1: at least thirty two pass blocking reps. On the season,
Speaker 1: he has one hundred and ten runs of ten yards
Speaker 1: or more an averages two point seven seven yards after
Speaker 1: initial contact, including a career high mark in that former
Speaker 1: stat last year at two point nine three yards after contact.
Speaker 1: Howard has run for two hundred and fifteen career first downs.
Speaker 1: The average is four point three yards per rush, and
Speaker 1: on fifty carries on third or fourth and short, which
Speaker 1: is two yards or less, he has converted thirty seven
Speaker 1: of those runs into first downs. It's a seventy four
Speaker 1: percent conversion rate. A reliable guy back there when you
Speaker 1: need a couple of tough yards when the defense knows
Speaker 1: the run it's coming. And after signing that two year
Speaker 1: deal in the off season with Miami, Howard had this
Speaker 1: to say, I just thought it was a good opportunity
Speaker 1: for me to come to Miami. I feel like this
Speaker 1: is an up and coming team, and that's what Jordan
Speaker 1: Howard's talking about. The youth on this team, A team
Speaker 1: that really is building for the future right now as
Speaker 1: they have signed a bunch of young players, drafted a
Speaker 1: bunch of first and set get year players here in
Speaker 1: the Miami A team that's really building towards something in
Speaker 1: the near future. Up next on the list here Miles Gaskin.
Speaker 1: He had a first year last year in Miami, entering
Speaker 1: his second with the Dolphins. He wears number thirty seven
Speaker 1: out of Washington. You dub he's gonna be twenty three
Speaker 1: years old on opening day and he had really abbreviated
Speaker 1: work last year in Miami. But his production in college
Speaker 1: was really off the charts rushing yards each of his
Speaker 1: four years there with the Purple and Gold, and he
Speaker 1: earned his way onto the Dolphins roster last year as
Speaker 1: a seventh round draft pick. He played one hundred and
Speaker 1: forty three snaps, one twenty five of those coming on offense.
Speaker 1: He led all Dolphins backs with three point to eight
Speaker 1: yards after contact. He had three point seven yards per carry,
Speaker 1: which was the most of any back to finish the
Speaker 1: year on the roster and had the longest rush at
Speaker 1: twenty seven yards. And his college production was not exclusive
Speaker 1: to the running game either. He was a big time
Speaker 1: producer in the passing game. There for you, dub and
Speaker 1: he caught last year ten of seven targets for fifty
Speaker 1: one yards, and forty seven of those fifty one yards
Speaker 1: came after the catch for Miles gas Kim. He spent
Speaker 1: time last year after practice every day in training camp
Speaker 1: getting extra work with fellow rookie back Patrick Laird out
Speaker 1: of the pack twelve from cal There and his incremental
Speaker 1: improvement throughout the season on the practice field caught the
Speaker 1: eye of coach Flores, who said, quote, this is a
Speaker 1: kid who's really improved over the course of the season
Speaker 1: from a preparation standpoint, from a process standpoint, and he's
Speaker 1: gotten a lot better. And where he was as a
Speaker 1: rookie and mini camp to where he was this last
Speaker 1: week talking about training camp. He's made a lot of progress. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: he got injured last week that was after the Bengals game.
Speaker 1: But he's a guy who will bounce back and get
Speaker 1: himself healthy quickly as possible and hopefully build on some
Speaker 1: of the improvements he's made over the course of the season.
Speaker 1: We've got two more to get to here. One a fullback,
Speaker 1: one a running back. Will start with Chandler Cox, the
Speaker 1: first year player last year out of Auburn, entering his
Speaker 1: second with Miami. Number thirty eight gonna be twenty four
Speaker 1: on opening day, and you hear some of the biggest
Speaker 1: collisions down there. Whether it's training camp, whether it's on
Speaker 1: the game day field at hard Rock Stadium, You're probably
Speaker 1: gonna look up and see number thirty eight Chandler Cox,
Speaker 1: because this dude don's that classic neck role, and he
Speaker 1: makes thirty eight looked good as a full back back
Speaker 1: there and really gives the Dolphins some options from more
Speaker 1: one personnel packages. That's two running backs, one tight end
Speaker 1: with two receivers on the field. Here's a quote here
Speaker 1: from coach Eric Studsville. The one thing about Chandler Chandler
Speaker 1: will go and attack. That's part of the job description
Speaker 1: of the position, which is why there's not very many
Speaker 1: guys like that that like that job description. I think
Speaker 1: it's the same thing. Guys aren't always finished products. Depending
Speaker 1: on from week to week what we're doing game plan wise,
Speaker 1: Chandler has been ready to go every week. He's prepared,
Speaker 1: he's excited, he brings a great energy to it, and
Speaker 1: he's going to go in and do the best of
Speaker 1: his ability everything that we're going to ask him to do.
Speaker 1: And quote so Cox played sixty six snap last year
Speaker 1: as a rookie. He allowed one quarterback pressure on ten
Speaker 1: pass blocking snaps, didn't catch any passes, but he did
Speaker 1: at Auburn when he was there in college. He caught
Speaker 1: twenty six balls for two and thirty seven yards and
Speaker 1: a touchdown in his college career. Up next last on
Speaker 1: the list here, number forty two Patrick Lair first year
Speaker 1: last year in Miami, undrafted free agent enters year, number
Speaker 1: two out of cow. He's gonna be twenty four years old.
Speaker 1: And the great joke last year from Ryan Fitzpatrick was
Speaker 1: calling Patrick Laird the intern. But he quickly proved himself
Speaker 1: that he was much more than the intern. He was
Speaker 1: a good football player for this Dolphins team. The U
Speaker 1: d f A really played a multitude of capacities for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins last season, five hundred forty six snaps and
Speaker 1: that included two hundred twenty one on special teams. A
Speaker 1: factor both in the running game, the passing game. He
Speaker 1: gained three hundred seventy two yards from scrimmage rushing, two
Speaker 1: oh four receiving, and forty seven of his two nine
Speaker 1: two offensive snaps came aligned as either a slot receiver
Speaker 1: or out on the perimeter, and even one as the
Speaker 1: wildcat trigger man. So he really plays all over the
Speaker 1: formation for you. That versatility was not new for Laird.
Speaker 1: He was a prominent pass catcher in college down Lair
Speaker 1: at Cal caught ninety nine balls and including fifty one
Speaker 1: catches for two d eighty eight yards and four touchdowns
Speaker 1: in his senior season there at Cal. Special teams coach
Speaker 1: Danny Crossman was impressed with Laird's contributions on his coverage
Speaker 1: and returned units last season, saying this, He's getting better
Speaker 1: every week. He's conscientious, he worked hard, he studies hard.
Speaker 1: We really like where he's going, along with a lot
Speaker 1: of the other guys, trending in the right direction. End
Speaker 1: quote's way deeper backfield this year. Plenty of opportunities for
Speaker 1: guys like Matt Brita, Jordan Howard, the guys who talked
Speaker 1: about here with Laird and Gas going to get some
Speaker 1: work on special teams on offense. Gonna be a fun
Speaker 1: battle to watch this year among the Dolphins running backs
Speaker 1: in training camp. All right, let's go ahead and cover
Speaker 1: the three veterans that spoke on Saturday at Dolphins media availability.
Speaker 1: I apologize for not getting it out to you guys sooner,
Speaker 1: but we had a busy, busy weekend. The first of
Speaker 1: the month is when me and my wife moved in
Speaker 1: to the new apartment. We put together a desk, a
Speaker 1: computer chair, a dresser and entertainment center, a bedframe. It's
Speaker 1: been a long, long weekend getting this podcast recorded late
Speaker 1: on a Sunday for Monday publishing. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: first start with quarterback Brian Fitzpatrick, who was asked about
Speaker 1: putting himself on an offseason pitch count to help rest
Speaker 1: his arm in preparation for the new season. Um, that started.
Speaker 1: It started probably eight or nine years ago. Lot of it.
Speaker 1: I mean it's physically, mentally and emotionally, just kind of
Speaker 1: getting away for a little bit. And I think you
Speaker 1: pour so much into every season. Uh, I do like
Speaker 1: to just take a step back. But the throwing part
Speaker 1: of it for me, just preservation and longevity and um,
Speaker 1: you know, I probably have ramped it up here for
Speaker 1: the last two and a half or three weeks and
Speaker 1: trying to get ready. But I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: wish we would have had O t A s and
Speaker 1: been able to do all the offseason stuff. But the
Speaker 1: silver lining for me is not having to make all
Speaker 1: those throws and coming in with a real fresh arm
Speaker 1: for the season up next. Fits was asked about his
Speaker 1: relationship with Chan Gailey and what the new Dolphins offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator brings to Miami and this Dolphins offense. Uh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Chan and I have worked together for five years in
Speaker 1: two different places in Buffalo and New York. And first off,
Speaker 1: as a man, UH amazing guy, very humble, Uh loves football,
Speaker 1: loves family, and so there's a lot of characteristics in
Speaker 1: that regard that we share. Uh. Guys love playing for
Speaker 1: him because one of the biggest things with him is
Speaker 1: he wants you to be yourself. He wants I'll never
Speaker 1: forget Stevie Johnson and Buffalo was a guy that didn't
Speaker 1: really play a whole lot, and as soon as he
Speaker 1: got with Chan, and Chan gave him the freedom to
Speaker 1: be creative on some of his routes and do some
Speaker 1: things that were a little unorthodox that really catapulted his career.
Speaker 1: So players love playing for him because, uh, he gives
Speaker 1: them freedom, a certain amount of freedom, not a whole lot. Uh.
Speaker 1: And he's a guy that you know, he does care
Speaker 1: about the details, but he really cares about the end result,
Speaker 1: not necessarily how you got there. And so everywhere that
Speaker 1: I've been with him, with all the different receivers and personnel,
Speaker 1: it really enjoyed his offense and the freedom that comes
Speaker 1: with it. I really found that answer interesting regarding the
Speaker 1: freedom and the routes because Joachim Grant mentioned something similar
Speaker 1: in the podcast last week when we talked to him
Speaker 1: about what chance offense does for the wide receivers. There
Speaker 1: so some some consistency there on that message between Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: and Jachine Grant. About chan Gailey, this next question was
Speaker 1: asked to fits about how he balances both that mentorship
Speaker 1: role but also a guy that's really the quarterback right
Speaker 1: now at the top of the depth chart, getting ready
Speaker 1: to go into the training camp as the number one
Speaker 1: guy entering camp as the expected starter. It's not it's
Speaker 1: not all that difficult for me. I mean, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go out there and compete every single day. As I
Speaker 1: know the younger guys are. But in the meeting rooms,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna keep anything to myself either. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make someone tell me to shut up, because
Speaker 1: I'm gonna talk as much as I can and share
Speaker 1: as much as I can with you know, the intimate
Speaker 1: knowledge I have of this offense, being in it for
Speaker 1: five years and really just experience since I've been in
Speaker 1: the league, and I know that you know, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know how much time it'll be before two
Speaker 1: is in the lineup. I know that I am the placeholder,
Speaker 1: and we've already had that conversation. I told him, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do the best I can to uh lead
Speaker 1: this team and you know, to win football games when
Speaker 1: I'm out there, and uh, whenever it is that too
Speaker 1: A gets his chance, whether it's early or later or
Speaker 1: whenever it is, I'm going to be his biggest cheerleader.
Speaker 1: And that's what I said earlier. But um, I think
Speaker 1: I have a unique perspective just from the career that
Speaker 1: I've had, and I'm really I was excited that they
Speaker 1: drafted him, and since you know, meeting him in person
Speaker 1: finally the other day, I'm really excited. Uh, I think
Speaker 1: we've really hit it off. And you've though I'm an
Speaker 1: old g easier to him. Uh, you know, he's we've
Speaker 1: messed personality wise, and I'm excited to work with him.
Speaker 1: He's a really interesting guy. He's got a lot of
Speaker 1: energy to him. Um, and you can even you can
Speaker 1: just tell that guys are gonna gravitate to him. There's
Speaker 1: just a there's something about him that, uh, it's just
Speaker 1: very likable. And you know, I can already tell that
Speaker 1: he's gonna be one of those guys that gets along
Speaker 1: with everybody that guys are gonna want to follow. Um.
Speaker 1: He just has that kind of air about him. And
Speaker 1: and part of it is probably the way that he
Speaker 1: played in college and uh just kind of the name
Speaker 1: that in the reputation that he's built for himself. But uh,
Speaker 1: there's there's not a whole lot of ego involved, and
Speaker 1: he's very likable, so uh, I don't know, just the
Speaker 1: the general conversations, whether about football or life, it's been
Speaker 1: really fun so far. And you hear fits there say,
Speaker 1: the meshing of the personalities and then getting along so well,
Speaker 1: That's why I always thought that two have made a
Speaker 1: lot of sense for the Dolphins based upon the criteria
Speaker 1: that Brian Floras and Chris Career laid out for the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that they want, and what Ryan Fitzpatrick exhibits, and
Speaker 1: how Tongue Boa has some of those similar traits and
Speaker 1: characteristics and likability and leadership that Fits talks about there.
Speaker 1: He would also go on to talk about the challenges
Speaker 1: of the abbreviated offseason. I really think there was a
Speaker 1: big time takeaway there in terms of how he speaks
Speaker 1: and how Brian Flora speaks. My big takeaway from that
Speaker 1: comment there from Fits is we talk all the time
Speaker 1: about the relationship and the quarterback being the extension of
Speaker 1: the head coach on the football field. You just hear
Speaker 1: a lot of similar verbiage and similar approaches to the
Speaker 1: game and approaches to leadership from Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian
Speaker 1: Flores talking about the urgency of these reps and how
Speaker 1: all these days are going to be more important and
Speaker 1: everything is magnified right now because of the lack of
Speaker 1: time they had back in April, May and June. So
Speaker 1: not making excuses for anybody, but just being aware and
Speaker 1: hyper where all of this stuff is going to matter
Speaker 1: tenfold right now and you better be on top of it.
Speaker 1: And the next question for Royan Fitzpatrick came from yours truly.
Speaker 1: Hey fitz welcome back into your sixteen. I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you about working with new quarterbacks coach Robbie Brown.
Speaker 1: He's got a really wide variety of job titles on
Speaker 1: his resume, and I was kind of curious to get
Speaker 1: your take on how that diversity benefits the room and
Speaker 1: just how that relationship has been between he and each
Speaker 1: of the quarterbacks in that QB room. I got a
Speaker 1: chance when I was in New York to work with
Speaker 1: Robbie a little bit, and so we had we we
Speaker 1: knew each other from there, had really work as closely
Speaker 1: as we will probably this year. But uh, he brings
Speaker 1: a wealth of knowledge, and it's nice because he's he's
Speaker 1: versed in Chan's offense and knows it really well. But
Speaker 1: he's got some experience, especially in the college and of
Speaker 1: different things that he has seen. So Robbie is always
Speaker 1: a good guy, good voice in the room to bounce
Speaker 1: things off. And you know, he he can't really coach
Speaker 1: me the same way that he's going to coach two
Speaker 1: or the same way that he's going to coach Josh.
Speaker 1: There's just there's a difference there, and he's got a
Speaker 1: good feel and understanding for that. Um. So you know,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting room with two young guys and one
Speaker 1: really old guy. But he's done a great job so
Speaker 1: far of uh, you know, being able to really reach
Speaker 1: us all in different ways. So Fits always a very
Speaker 1: good interview, always very very profound, and always very kind
Speaker 1: of measuring the way he approaches things. And it's just
Speaker 1: fun to talk to him because you always get genuine,
Speaker 1: honest answers out of Fits, but also answers that give
Speaker 1: you good detail and good insight into the game, into
Speaker 1: the team, and kind of into the inner workings of
Speaker 1: the mind of an NFL quarterback. And up next, we
Speaker 1: got Dolphins safety Bobby McCain on the media availability talking
Speaker 1: about a variety of topics and this first one we're
Speaker 1: gonna roll for you here, I thought was a really
Speaker 1: cool answer from Bobby because once again you talk about
Speaker 1: this no excuses and try to build on every single
Speaker 1: day and really take the one day at a time
Speaker 1: approach to the game. Everyone says it, but it's a
Speaker 1: lot harder to do than it actually is to just
Speaker 1: say Bobby really kind of pushes that message to the
Speaker 1: rest of the locker room, to the rest of the defense.
Speaker 1: He's another guy that really perpetrates Brian Floores message. Here's
Speaker 1: what he had to say about getting ready in this
Speaker 1: weird off season. You know, just with a lot of
Speaker 1: the guys coming in, even even though the veterans they
Speaker 1: still haven't they still haven't reported to do the uh
Speaker 1: all the things they had, the physicals a day. Just
Speaker 1: everybody's trying to learn the playbook one day at a time.
Speaker 1: Man Um, whether you're old guy, young guy, veteran, Ricky,
Speaker 1: it really doesn't matter. You know, it's a new season,
Speaker 1: new starts, so you gotta kind of learn, uh, learn
Speaker 1: to playbook as you go and uh, just keep getting
Speaker 1: better each and every day. So like you know, we
Speaker 1: wish to we wished I only wish the best for
Speaker 1: my teammates. You know, we can't wait to have those
Speaker 1: guys back and and uh but you know it's it's
Speaker 1: um that they'll be that'll we find as soon as
Speaker 1: they pick it, they can pick up right where they
Speaker 1: left off. Up next was a question from again yours
Speaker 1: truly talk about Gerald Alexander new Dolphins defensive backs coach. Hey, Bobby,
Speaker 1: welcome back in Man. Good to see you again. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to ask you about your new defensive backs coach,
Speaker 1: Gerald Alexander, if you could just talk about the type
Speaker 1: of energy and leadership and coaching he offers and how
Speaker 1: he's teaching so far in the DB's room, we're all
Speaker 1: learned pretty well. Main is really good coach, is a
Speaker 1: really good coach. He um, you know, Um, he's coming
Speaker 1: from University of cal but he's still he's still a
Speaker 1: really really good coach. And we're all learned. We're all
Speaker 1: learning the defense as we go. Um, whether you're old guy,
Speaker 1: young guy, new coach, old coach, everybody can be better
Speaker 1: each and every day. And uh, that's that's what we're
Speaker 1: starting for. Up next, Bobby talks a little bit about
Speaker 1: his relationship with Eric Rowe and how they worked together
Speaker 1: on the back end of the Dolphins defense. Just trying
Speaker 1: to make sure man that we because everybody wants to
Speaker 1: win at the end of the day. Everybody wants to win.
Speaker 1: So you know, with with chemistry, man is hard with
Speaker 1: everybody not being able to be in the building and
Speaker 1: the way we normally would be. But just coming along
Speaker 1: training this offseason with role and uh, you know, just
Speaker 1: uh we're seeing the way he works and us working
Speaker 1: together and understanding that it's gonna take everybody in the
Speaker 1: back end. You know that that's gonna be real big
Speaker 1: for it. So you know, just uh, the way the
Speaker 1: way we can click in any kind of way because
Speaker 1: because the backup mass of family, so you gotta you
Speaker 1: gotta make sure you take care of your family and
Speaker 1: we take care of one another. And staying in the secondary.
Speaker 1: Bobby was asked about first round draft pick Noah Eggbanogny
Speaker 1: and about some positions he may play. Well. Bobby, as
Speaker 1: you'll hear, didn't talk about the positions because that's up
Speaker 1: for the coaches to decide. But you do see the
Speaker 1: great athletic ability, the Eggbanogny features, the sprinter speed, the
Speaker 1: two years playing cornerback in college compared to playing receiver
Speaker 1: before that, the competitiveness. Here's what Bobby had to say
Speaker 1: about Dolphins new cornerback Noah Egg. No Noah works his
Speaker 1: tail off the tray, and he trained with me in
Speaker 1: the offseason a little bit as well. He works his
Speaker 1: he works his butt off, and you know he's a
Speaker 1: smart kid. He's a good player. He's gonna be a
Speaker 1: good player, you know, But like I said, everybody's learning
Speaker 1: each and every day. Everybody's can't getting opportunity to compete.
Speaker 1: Everybody's can get an opportunity to play football, And uh,
Speaker 1: that's all you can ask for. The um, you know,
Speaker 1: him playing corner and playing nickel, that's out of out that,
Speaker 1: that's out of that's not for me to speak on.
Speaker 1: But I know he's gonna be a good player in
Speaker 1: this league. And uh, you know, each and every day
Speaker 1: he's getting better and he's learning, and that's all you
Speaker 1: can ask for. Up next, we had the pleasure of
Speaker 1: speaking to Dolphins offensive lineman Jesse Davis, who really just
Speaker 1: gives you some nice, profound answers. All three of these
Speaker 1: guys had such good interviews and such insight into the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: into the program they want to build here in Miami,
Speaker 1: and they all really conveyed the message in the right
Speaker 1: way too. So let's go ahead and hear from Jesse Davis,
Speaker 1: who was first asked about his versatility and where he
Speaker 1: might play on the offensive line. You know, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I played every position side saying like you mentioned, but
Speaker 1: you know, moving forward. It's always what what we can
Speaker 1: put the best position of me to move this ball
Speaker 1: club forward and get wins and have success. And you
Speaker 1: can certainly tell by Jesse's tone and his words, they're
Speaker 1: how important leadership is and how seriously he takes it
Speaker 1: and trying to convey the same message again the team
Speaker 1: wants to get out to the rest of the players
Speaker 1: here who talks about the leadership role that's been kind
Speaker 1: of thrust upon him and how he's responded to being
Speaker 1: a leader of this team. Yeah, you know, it's it's funny.
Speaker 1: You know, we wake up one day and then you know,
Speaker 1: after creatency or whatever, and you're like, wow, I am
Speaker 1: the oldest guy on there, the most experienced I guess
Speaker 1: in the room. And then you know, you kind of
Speaker 1: have to put yourself in that mindset of you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be the leader. I want to be the leader.
Speaker 1: You know, I want to have my guys. I want
Speaker 1: to have somebody they can lean on when things are harder,
Speaker 1: you know, advice with anything. Um but I you know,
Speaker 1: I embrace it, and you know I don't. I wasn't
Speaker 1: appointed or anything like, Hey, Jesse, you gotta do this.
Speaker 1: It's more so, you know, this is what I want
Speaker 1: to do. You know, I started reading a lot of
Speaker 1: leadership books to try to figure it out, and more importantly,
Speaker 1: kind of like a Navy seal book. You know, they're
Speaker 1: all about teamwork, how they can build each other up
Speaker 1: and they can rely on each other. So those things
Speaker 1: I kind of did this offseason with all the time
Speaker 1: I had on my hands and kind of just give
Speaker 1: me a different perspective on how to lead. And of
Speaker 1: course everybody wants to know what positions people are playing
Speaker 1: this time of year. So Jesse was asked about what
Speaker 1: spot he's playing. Here's his answer about which spots along
Speaker 1: the offensive line he can and we'll play for the Dolphins. No,
Speaker 1: they just primarily that, they said right guard or right tackle. Um,
Speaker 1: they said, we probably works some left that way, you
Speaker 1: still have it. But right now, I mean, everything's kind
Speaker 1: of up in there. We never know who's gonna be up,
Speaker 1: who's gonna be down, you know. And and primarily I
Speaker 1: played more on the right side, so I guess I
Speaker 1: would probably say something on the right side. But the
Speaker 1: end of the day, it really doesn't matter. I can
Speaker 1: adjust to it. Jesse. I guess whether your conversations with
Speaker 1: guys this offseason over the phone or in the facility.
Speaker 1: What do you feels like the level of fear you
Speaker 1: know general coming back and playing like do you do
Speaker 1: you see guys are just saying, hey, this is my
Speaker 1: job and do a regardless or is there a higher
Speaker 1: level of fear you know that you may see, you
Speaker 1: know between guys. Um, I think the fear comes out
Speaker 1: when we start talking about it more. I think once
Speaker 1: we're in the building and around each other and back
Speaker 1: to normal. Obviously we all wear masks in the building, um,
Speaker 1: and if you want to on the field you can
Speaker 1: as well. But there hasn't been like somebody going like, hey,
Speaker 1: make sure you stay away from me. It's more so
Speaker 1: you have your own respect for the guy next to you,
Speaker 1: like you make sure you're already six ft away or
Speaker 1: a further distance and that. But we all so were
Speaker 1: these contact tracers too, So it kind of tells you
Speaker 1: it starts peeping or like the flashing on your wrist
Speaker 1: um if you're too close to somebody. So I mean
Speaker 1: that's a good reminder as well. So, I mean the
Speaker 1: fear is there, but it's not I guess it's not
Speaker 1: very like shown on somebody's face or somebody's body language.
Speaker 1: So I think right now, I think, I mean, they've
Speaker 1: done such a good job, like that's the primary um,
Speaker 1: you know, mindset for for a guy. It's like they
Speaker 1: feel safe in that building and that that's the way
Speaker 1: it should be. And it's nice. And we'll go ahead
Speaker 1: and close up this edition the Drivetime Podcast with my
Speaker 1: question for Jesse Davis about the coach the new coaches
Speaker 1: rather in the offensive line room, and he talks about
Speaker 1: Steve Marshall and Lemuel John Pierre, the assistant offensive line coach.
Speaker 1: I'll hear him talk about here in his answer to me, Jess.
Speaker 1: Good to see again, man, I just wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you about your new offensive line coach. Steve Marshall has
Speaker 1: got over forty years experience coach in football. How does
Speaker 1: that experience benefits such a young offensive line room, and
Speaker 1: just talk about what he offers as a coach, a
Speaker 1: teacher and a leader. Yeah. I was with coach Marshall
Speaker 1: with the Jets when I did a short time their
Speaker 1: training camp and then I think a week of preseason
Speaker 1: or are we could practice squad? But he offers, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, tons of knowledge Um, you know he's seen
Speaker 1: it every probably every technique he can get from. You know,
Speaker 1: different players too, different styles of played and you know,
Speaker 1: any question you have, you know he answers it on
Speaker 1: the fly and it's you know, it's been great and
Speaker 1: especially with our assistant coach, lim Um. You know he's
Speaker 1: played the game. Might played with him in Seattle actually,
Speaker 1: so I knew him from a short stand as well.
Speaker 1: But he offers a great a great way to look
Speaker 1: at the game too, on how a player looks at
Speaker 1: it instead of a coach. And I think them too
Speaker 1: together is a good marriage forever. Yeah, you heard him
Speaker 1: call him lem there. I thought that was kind of
Speaker 1: a cool perspective that Jesse offered about how he played
Speaker 1: with Lemuel Jean Pierre in Seattle on the offensive line there,
Speaker 1: and now he's coaching with him. So you have the
Speaker 1: old grizzled vet, the old grizzled coach, but you also
Speaker 1: have the young fresh blood there to kind of understand
Speaker 1: the player's perspective. Really helped balance that room, helped develop
Speaker 1: that room, give him the old tricks of the trade,
Speaker 1: maybe some new things. They're a good balance, like Jesse
Speaker 1: mess mentions there in the offensive Line Room. All right,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be our time here on the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 1: We have a new morning article coming out daily up
Speaker 1: on Miami Dolphins dot com. It's going to be called
Speaker 1: Today from Dolphins Headquarters, just getting you guys everything you
Speaker 1: need to know for the day about the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: football team heading in a training camp, heading into the
Speaker 1: season here as we are getting closer and closer to
Speaker 1: the start of the two thousand twenty NFL season, So
Speaker 1: check that out. We have plenty of content all over
Speaker 1: for you guys, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Miami Dolphins dot com,
Speaker 1: other podcast We are everywhere you can find that also,
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me
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Speaker 1: The Fish Tank and the Audible Podcast. We have a
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Speaker 1: and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time
Speaker 1: finds up