Speaker 1: Exact field cutsdown Miami Run. What is up Dolphins? And
Speaker 1: welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins official podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: each and every day. How's it going everybody? It is Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and I am here
Speaker 1: to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we flipped the schedule a little
Speaker 1: bit this week and going forward, it is now preview day.
Speaker 1: On the Wednesday edition of Drivetime, we'll dive into the
Speaker 1: Dolphins and Chargers matchup with the key schematics, personnel usage,
Speaker 1: and the matchups that can go a long way and
Speaker 1: decide the outcome of the game. On Sunday, Plus, we'll
Speaker 1: hear from Coach Flora's and some Dolphins players on their
Speaker 1: Wednesday media availabilities. All of that and more on this Wednesday,
Speaker 1: November the an edition of the Drivetime podcast. The Drive
Speaker 1: Time is brought to you by Auto Nation, where Dolphins
Speaker 1: fans can sell their vehicle for cash now visit auto
Speaker 1: nation dot com. Let's go ahead and kick off. Brian
Speaker 1: Flores is Wednesday media Availability with a special shout out
Speaker 1: to all the veterans out there, as all of us
Speaker 1: here at the Miami Dolphins, wish you a happy Veteran's Day.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start by today's Veteran's Day. So I just
Speaker 1: wanted to shout out Adam with chances on our strength
Speaker 1: and condition and staff. He's a veteran, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to thank him for his service and all the veterans
Speaker 1: for this service. So there is Flora's his opening message
Speaker 1: at his Wednesday morning media availability. Up next, he was
Speaker 1: asked about the offensive line. We heard coach Flora's speak
Speaker 1: earlier in the week about how they have six guys
Speaker 1: that really they feel great about they could put out
Speaker 1: there in a moment's notice. Here's coach talking about the
Speaker 1: offensive line, the weekly competition and different combinations they have. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's always an open competition. We've got you
Speaker 1: a number of guys we feel very it about. There's
Speaker 1: a few different combinations you can go with. Jesse's Jesse
Speaker 1: Davis is someone who's played multiple positions and played him
Speaker 1: at a good at a good level. Also working in
Speaker 1: the young guys Hunt, Tom and Austin. You know, we
Speaker 1: feel good about all of them. We'll see how practice
Speaker 1: goes this week and we'll see the group that's south
Speaker 1: there on Sunday. And we did see seven offensive lineman
Speaker 1: play in the game on Sunday against the Cardinals. Solomon
Speaker 1: Kiley had fifteen snaps, Julian Davenport played one snap in
Speaker 1: the game. Then you had Austin Jackson get in for
Speaker 1: I think it was forty three snaps in the game
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Then the other three guys played every snap
Speaker 1: offensively for Miami. So plenty of options, plenty of combinations.
Speaker 1: You heard him mention Jesse Davis's versatility. Guy worked at tackle,
Speaker 1: guy works at guard. He even talked about playing some
Speaker 1: center in the offseason this training camp, So plenty of combinations,
Speaker 1: plenty of options for the Dolphins with good offensive lineman
Speaker 1: both in the top five and on the bench for Sunday.
Speaker 1: And by now on this Wednesday, I'm sure you've seen
Speaker 1: NFL at work, ESPN, major major sports outlets talking a
Speaker 1: lot about the Miami Dolphins in recent days, in recent weeks,
Speaker 1: and they've been one of the one of the headline
Speaker 1: stories so far. And coach was asked about managing the
Speaker 1: hype of the outside noise and and lot letting them
Speaker 1: outside noise, get inside the building. Here's coach Flora's on
Speaker 1: dealing with the hype and outside noise. I think the
Speaker 1: focus is and we all understand. I understand that it's
Speaker 1: there um that that you know, we're being talked about.
Speaker 1: But really the only thing that matters is what's going
Speaker 1: on in our building. I'm not sure how much, um,
Speaker 1: anyone outside of our building really actually knows what's going
Speaker 1: on inside the building. So the way we practice, the
Speaker 1: way we prepare, how we walk through, UM, the only
Speaker 1: people who can really tell them the truth about you know,
Speaker 1: how they played in a game, or how they played
Speaker 1: in practice, or you know how they did in a
Speaker 1: meeting is the people that are here. So that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of my message. You know, I'm going to tell
Speaker 1: them the truth. I mean, I'm not gonna blow smoke
Speaker 1: up anyone's behind. I think they know that. And look,
Speaker 1: we've got a whole half of the season left, so
Speaker 1: I think we need to focus on that. And you
Speaker 1: know even more than that this week. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: good team that we're playing this week and the Chargers,
Speaker 1: and you know, putting our energy anywhere else or listening
Speaker 1: to anything else in a lot of ways is less
Speaker 1: energy on a good opponent with a lot of good players,
Speaker 1: a lot of good coaches, and maybe they're gonna wish
Speaker 1: they were Maybe hopefully it doesn't get to the point
Speaker 1: where they spent too much time on something else and
Speaker 1: not en not for on the Chargers, and they would
Speaker 1: feel the effects of that on Sunday. So that's my
Speaker 1: message and up next for coach Flora's On this Wednesday
Speaker 1: morning media availability, he was asked to talk about the
Speaker 1: progress of two a tongue of Baloa and what's impressed
Speaker 1: him most as far as how far he's come through
Speaker 1: the first half of his first season. It's the same
Speaker 1: thing that but he did earlier in the year, and
Speaker 1: his preparation is focused is one of his assets. The
Speaker 1: way he asked questions, I wanted to learn, so m
Speaker 1: you know, all that you know leads into I think
Speaker 1: to me, in my opinion, gives you an opportunity to
Speaker 1: a success on the field. So I think if he
Speaker 1: just continues to prepare the way he has and even
Speaker 1: taken up a notch, because as a rookie, you know,
Speaker 1: you don't know what you don't know. So in a
Speaker 1: lot of in a lot of way a lot of instances,
Speaker 1: he's learning how to prepare and how to prepare better.
Speaker 1: And I think that's that's been the case relieving and
Speaker 1: with a couple of weeks so e fectly he's a sponge.
Speaker 1: I mean that I like and he's open to learning
Speaker 1: different things and I'm learning from different views, whether it's
Speaker 1: a defensive coach or offensive coach or something to kicking game,
Speaker 1: he's doing well. We'll go ahead and follow up on
Speaker 1: the to a tongue of volow a note there as
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, offensive coordinator Chan Guilly talked about the difference
Speaker 1: as far as athletic ability and physical nature of his
Speaker 1: game from to US College tape to what he saw
Speaker 1: this last Sunday against the Cardinals, and coach was asked
Speaker 1: the same question about the things that Chan had seen.
Speaker 1: Here's what coach has to say about two is physical
Speaker 1: or physical nature of his game and the athletic ability
Speaker 1: he displayed on Sunday. I think he looks good. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, I hadn't seen a dead leg from from
Speaker 1: in college. I thought that was a nice movie made
Speaker 1: the other day. So he's uh, I think he you know, physically,
Speaker 1: he looks good. I mean, we just got to continue
Speaker 1: to take care of himself. I mean that's part of
Speaker 1: being professional. Um. From a nutritional standpoint, from a weightlifting standpoint, again, obviously,
Speaker 1: from a preparation standpoint, all those things are important, you know.
Speaker 1: Is there a difference. I don't know. I guess I'm
Speaker 1: not really thinking of it about it in those terms. Um,
Speaker 1: I just think he's he looks like he's healthy, you know,
Speaker 1: doing a good jobs preparation and leading the offense. And
Speaker 1: it looks he looks healthy to me. And on the
Speaker 1: topic of health, we'll go ahead and finish out. Coach
Speaker 1: flores is Wednesday morning media availability with some talk about
Speaker 1: Preston Williams, next man up, mentality, the skill positions on
Speaker 1: offensive the Dolphins. First, here's coaches update on Preston Williams.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, we ran some tests. Preston is gonna
Speaker 1: go to ir UM, so it's a little bit more
Speaker 1: significant than we initially thought. Coach was then asked to
Speaker 1: follow up about players that can step in and fulfill
Speaker 1: the role left in the vacancy of Preston Williams and
Speaker 1: the magnitude of his loss at wide receiver. It's a
Speaker 1: big loss. I mean, Prestons, you know, made a lot
Speaker 1: of plays for us um were the first half of
Speaker 1: the season. Um, but you know we got you know,
Speaker 1: guys who will step in. Jokim stepped in for him
Speaker 1: last week. Mc hans stepped in. And then you know,
Speaker 1: I had a big play. You know, Kirk Merritt was
Speaker 1: up last week, played well in the kitting game, played
Speaker 1: a little bit offensively. So um, and you mentioned Lynn
Speaker 1: and so yeah, these guys, you know, I think we
Speaker 1: u I think it's kind of how we have to
Speaker 1: approach this. You know, someone could be down for COVID,
Speaker 1: someone gonna be down due to injury. You know, we
Speaker 1: need the next person to step in, player, coach, you know, whatever,
Speaker 1: whatever it may be. So that's kinda as a team,
Speaker 1: you know, So take that approach, and I think those
Speaker 1: guys will step in and get him coached up, put
Speaker 1: him in positions to have some success. And so this
Speaker 1: obviously one of the bigger stories of the day around
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins, and we cover this in the top
Speaker 1: news story up on Miami Dolphins dot com. And I
Speaker 1: went back and looked at some of the some of
Speaker 1: the stuff Coach talked about there with players stepping up
Speaker 1: and fulfilling the role there of Preston Williams. I went
Speaker 1: back to last season and actually this announcement, this injury
Speaker 1: comes at the exact juncture last season when Williams went
Speaker 1: down with the a c L. Obviously, coach mentioned the
Speaker 1: gravity of the injury. He wouldn't go any further into
Speaker 1: it than what it is, just at Preston's on injury reserve,
Speaker 1: which of course he can come back for him he's
Speaker 1: eligible to come back from in three weeks. But in
Speaker 1: that rookie season, Williams was tied for the Rookie league
Speaker 1: with thirty two receptions. He was third among rookies and
Speaker 1: receiving yards with four and twenty eight. The catches was
Speaker 1: thirty two, and he also was tied for third with
Speaker 1: four touchdown catches at the time of his Week nine injury.
Speaker 1: This season, also in eight games, Williams had eighteen catches,
Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty eight yards and four touchdown receptions.
Speaker 1: So coach Flora says, it's a big loss Preston mates
Speaker 1: and big plays. Over the first half of the season,
Speaker 1: we saw some of the vertical passes from both fits
Speaker 1: and to Ah going up top to Preston trusting him
Speaker 1: to make those big plays, and he came down with
Speaker 1: the football and losing a player of Williams caliber and
Speaker 1: production is never going to be easy, obviously, but Miami's
Speaker 1: next man up mentality has served this team well under
Speaker 1: coach Flora's You just heard him talk about that the
Speaker 1: team played the fourth quarter without the services of running
Speaker 1: backs Miles Gascon and Matt Brita. Tight end Durham Smith
Speaker 1: was out. Receivers Williams and Lynn Boone Jr. Were not
Speaker 1: available at that point of the game, Bode missing the
Speaker 1: game entirely, Williams injured in game, and that group of
Speaker 1: skill players accounts for nine hundred and sixty one offensive
Speaker 1: snaps through the first half of the season, and still
Speaker 1: Miami mounted ten fourth quarter points to go down there
Speaker 1: and win that football game. You heard coach talk about
Speaker 1: some of the players that can step up and fulfill
Speaker 1: that role and replace those reps of Preston Williams. He
Speaker 1: talked about the depth not just on your roster, but
Speaker 1: obviously you're coaching staff throughout the course. This last week
Speaker 1: with the COVID restrictions and protocols and being forced to
Speaker 1: play in that game, down a few coaches and obviously
Speaker 1: down a few players as well, but the Dolphins provided
Speaker 1: an early example in this game for the strength of
Speaker 1: the roster from top to bottom. After Williams exited the game,
Speaker 1: Miami had five possessions that produced one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: six yards and thirteen points, not including the final drive,
Speaker 1: the kneeled down victory formation drive, and that thirteen points
Speaker 1: on five possessions. That's good for two point six points
Speaker 1: per drive. That's point one points better than Miami season
Speaker 1: average this year at two point five points per drive.
Speaker 1: So they fulfilled the next man up mentality and produced
Speaker 1: when they had to with what they had available, and
Speaker 1: several players picked up their performances in William's absence. Davante
Speaker 1: Parker pulled in five of his six receptions in that
Speaker 1: game for sixty one yards after press and left. He
Speaker 1: also had a twenty one yard pass interference call against
Speaker 1: him after Press and left, So really eighty two yards
Speaker 1: of production and basically a half of football without Preston
Speaker 1: Williams out there. And recall last year, Parker really took
Speaker 1: off in thee and half of the season as well.
Speaker 1: When Williams was lost for the season, so he has
Speaker 1: a way of elevating his game when the team needs
Speaker 1: him that way. All four of Jechem grants receptions for
Speaker 1: thirty five yards occurred after Williams had to exit, and
Speaker 1: you heard coach talk about mac Hollands making the big play.
Speaker 1: The first reception of his Dolphin's career is a game
Speaker 1: tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Malcolm Perry Lynn Bowden
Speaker 1: also factor into that equation as you hear Coach answer
Speaker 1: the questions about those guys. Perry made his NFL debut
Speaker 1: two weeks ago against the Rams. He's played thirty offensive
Speaker 1: snaps and fellow rookie Bowden Jr. Has twenty three snaps
Speaker 1: on offense of playing time after coming over from Las
Speaker 1: Vegas in that trade back in September. Go back to
Speaker 1: what Shan Gailey said on October twenty about Lynn Bowden,
Speaker 1: he kind of broke his game down a little bit.
Speaker 1: He said. Bowden has some natural route running ability, he
Speaker 1: has some natural athletic talent. He's still just in the
Speaker 1: process of learning everything the nuances of playing at this level.
Speaker 1: It's not the athletic talent, it's just learning the nuances
Speaker 1: and being of being able to compete and quote, and
Speaker 1: I go back to a quote here from Josh grizz Hard,
Speaker 1: Dolphins receivers coach on Malcolm Perry saying, quote, he's just
Speaker 1: worked so hard since he's gotten here, and he's kept
Speaker 1: his head down and just keeps improving from week to week.
Speaker 1: You can tell that he's committed to the details. End quote.
Speaker 1: And it's not just wide receivers that step in to
Speaker 1: fill that void left by Williams after his foot injury.
Speaker 1: Flora's also talked on Wednesday about the usage of Perry
Speaker 1: and Boden, but how Miami can get creative in their groupings,
Speaker 1: whether it's receivers, tight ends, or backs to help fill
Speaker 1: out those reps. I think it's, you know, nothing changes
Speaker 1: on our end from that standpoint. I don't think you
Speaker 1: can just you know, hey, somebody went down, so you
Speaker 1: go from playing ten places to plaint in sixty and
Speaker 1: that I think that's how it goes. I think we'll
Speaker 1: try to split the reps in some form of fashion.
Speaker 1: I think some of the guys have already been up
Speaker 1: and practice in some of those roles. You know, like
Speaker 1: I mentioned a Keen mc collins um. You know, Malcolm
Speaker 1: Perry's been in there a little bit. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: to mix those with those other young guys. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a few different ways we we can do this.
Speaker 1: You don't have to only just put one grouping in there.
Speaker 1: We've got some tight ends who can play, got some
Speaker 1: backs who can play, so you can only play eleven
Speaker 1: at a time, so it doesn't have to be three
Speaker 1: and full wide receivers. I think everyone expects it to
Speaker 1: show up that way, but doesn't necessarily have to be
Speaker 1: that way. So I think we can we can handle that,
Speaker 1: um with the rest of the team. Again, it's a
Speaker 1: team game. We need, you know, the tight ends, the backs,
Speaker 1: the receivers, and like I said, I it's it's it's
Speaker 1: a it's a it's a different year. It's the year
Speaker 1: of COVID. So we've had some other teams who have
Speaker 1: been down, you know, multiple people at positions, and you
Speaker 1: don't not play just so well just if we need to,
Speaker 1: and look, no one is down playing the loss of
Speaker 1: Preston Williams obviously a big time playmaker for this Dolphins offense.
Speaker 1: But you heard coach talk about the ways they can
Speaker 1: find find ways to fill out those reps. Talking about
Speaker 1: how no one's gonna go from ten snaps to sixty snaps.
Speaker 1: They're gonna find different creative ways to get different personnel
Speaker 1: groupings on of the field. Like, for instance, let's say
Speaker 1: you go twelve personnel. You've got two tight ends on
Speaker 1: the field, which means you only need two receivers. If
Speaker 1: you would have had Preston and Parker out there, you're
Speaker 1: kind of bigger body guys. Maybe mac hollins can fill
Speaker 1: that role in that big body roll of the two
Speaker 1: receiver sets. Maybe you go more speed looks like we've
Speaker 1: seen recently with Malcolm Perry and jakeem Grant on the field.
Speaker 1: In those twelve personnel packages, they have different groupings, different
Speaker 1: body types, different prototypes for those specific packages, but they
Speaker 1: also have multiple packages they can go to, Like, for instance,
Speaker 1: the Dolphins have called exactly zero plays out of O, O, one,
Speaker 1: oh two or ten personnel. Those are all your five
Speaker 1: and four receiver sets. Zero play calls out of those
Speaker 1: looks this season. Eleven personnel, which is your three receiver look,
Speaker 1: you're one tight end, your one back, your three receivers.
Speaker 1: Miami has two two plays out of that package. That's
Speaker 1: the second fewest in the National Football League ahead of
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings and just a few snaps below the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, which Kevin Stefanci coming from that Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: twelve personnel heavy package. So we talked about twelve personnel, right,
Speaker 1: Dolphins every a hundred and seven team plays out of
Speaker 1: twelve personnel, and that is tied for eleventh most in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. With your two tight end personnel,
Speaker 1: Dolphins have also ran ten plays out of thirteen personnel.
Speaker 1: That's tied for eighteenth in the NFL. Not the most, however,
Speaker 1: Miami's twenty personnel package, which is two backs, no tight
Speaker 1: ends on the field, they've run that grouping twenty eight times.
Speaker 1: That leads the National Football League. They've gone to twenty
Speaker 1: one personnel, two backs, one tight end. They've ran that
Speaker 1: one sixty one times. That is the sixth most frequent
Speaker 1: calling of twenty one personnel in the NFL. And finally,
Speaker 1: twenty two personnel, two backs, two tight ends, I mean,
Speaker 1: just one receiver on the field. The Dolphins have gone
Speaker 1: to that twenty four times. That's the eleventh most in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. They've also called twenty three personnel,
Speaker 1: two backs, three tight ends. That's no receivers on the field,
Speaker 1: and they've also gone on some heavy personnel as well,
Speaker 1: with extra offensive lineman on the field. So Miami has
Speaker 1: different offensive packaging and grouping and player types and positions
Speaker 1: in general that they can use to replace those reps
Speaker 1: from Preston Williams. That's what Coach Flores is talking about
Speaker 1: there by saying it's not just plug and play receiver
Speaker 1: and keep the same package and same offense going. We
Speaker 1: have different ways in different contingencies to replace guys in
Speaker 1: the event this happens. That's building depth, that's building a
Speaker 1: next man up mentality. That's your Miami Dolphins here in
Speaker 1: So there you go. Coach Flora's as Wednesday morning media availability,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and jump now into the week ten preview.
Speaker 1: Dolphins will host the Chargers at hard Rock Stadium on Sunday,
Speaker 1: November the fifteen. It's a four oh five kickoff at
Speaker 1: Miami Gardens, eighty three degrees mostly sunny. Might get our
Speaker 1: our best sunshine game of the season this year. Sevent
Speaker 1: humidity and twelve mile prior wins for the five and
Speaker 1: three Dolphins hosting the two and six Chargers, and you
Speaker 1: know last week was a really heart pounding game that
Speaker 1: maybe took a couple of years off your life. As
Speaker 1: Dolphins fans, We've been there before as football fans in general.
Speaker 1: That's what this league does to you, these tight wire,
Speaker 1: high stress games. They're fun when you come out victorious,
Speaker 1: but man, they are stressful when you're going through it.
Speaker 1: And the Dolphins will welcome another tough test to hard
Speaker 1: Rock on Sunday as rookie quarterback Justin Herbert and that
Speaker 1: high powered Chargers offense comes to town. And like Miami,
Speaker 1: the Charger spent a top ten pick in this past
Speaker 1: April's draft on a quarterback and they're enjoying the fruits
Speaker 1: of that selection. So far, Herbert has been on fire
Speaker 1: to this point in his career. That offense is putting
Speaker 1: up yards and points on the scoreboard, which creates tight
Speaker 1: games down the stretch. But victory has found a way
Speaker 1: to elude this team this season and last year in
Speaker 1: the strangest ways imaginable. You saw the game last week
Speaker 1: with the fade into the back of the end zone.
Speaker 1: Looked like the tight end came down with the catch,
Speaker 1: the ball hits the ground, they wave it off and
Speaker 1: listen to the Move the Sticks podcast this week. That
Speaker 1: was the third time this year Matt money Smith, the
Speaker 1: Chargers play by play man, had claimed victory and had
Speaker 1: to go back and correct it because the change, the
Speaker 1: call was changed by the officials, or something happened where
Speaker 1: the play just didn't work out in their favor. They
Speaker 1: are seemingly an impossible three and four team over the
Speaker 1: last two seasons in these one score games, but it
Speaker 1: tells you about the quality of this team and how
Speaker 1: they can compete with pretty much any team in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They're just working on finding a way to close out
Speaker 1: those games. So for Flores and the Dolphins, playing for
Speaker 1: sixty minutes and finishing will once again be the message
Speaker 1: for this team for this game. The Dolphins have won
Speaker 1: four straight now, with the latest win coming down to
Speaker 1: the wire, but they are going to be focused on
Speaker 1: the task to hand. Nothing has been accomplished yet. As
Speaker 1: Byron Jones had earlier this week, We've still got eight
Speaker 1: more games against a bunch of really good opponents. So
Speaker 1: the challenge for us is, yes, we've won a couple
Speaker 1: of games in a row. It feels nice, but how
Speaker 1: we got here was through hard work, and we're going
Speaker 1: to continue to do that end quote and the season
Speaker 1: lined up. Miami schedule to see both a f C
Speaker 1: and NFC West divisions this season, which means lots to
Speaker 1: travel from Miami, but also lots of travel for the
Speaker 1: opposition coming from west to east. The Chargers are one
Speaker 1: and two this season playing in the Eastern time zone
Speaker 1: and three and three over the last two seasons combined,
Speaker 1: whereas the Dolphins are one and two at hard Rock
Speaker 1: Stadium over the last two seasons playing against teams at
Speaker 1: home from the Pacific time zone. That's a stat for
Speaker 1: you there, the good old he's batting two three off
Speaker 1: left handed pictures and dome stadiums in the month of
Speaker 1: September fund inside Baseball type of stat for you there.
Speaker 1: The matchup highlights in this game. First, I put shoring
Speaker 1: up the edge because this Charger's pass rush can get
Speaker 1: after you. Nobody in the NFL Blitz is less than
Speaker 1: the Chargers under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, and he came
Speaker 1: up in that Peat Carol system. We talked about it
Speaker 1: in the Jacksonville game back in week three. We talked
Speaker 1: about it in the Seattle game in Week four. Obviously there,
Speaker 1: but it's a heavy emphasis on zone looks, lots of
Speaker 1: Cover three where you have three deep defenders taking one
Speaker 1: third of the field each. However, Bradley has shown his
Speaker 1: flexibility to his personnel in the past. With the ability
Speaker 1: to adapt to his personnel. You go back to a
Speaker 1: f C Wild Card round against the Baltimore Ravens. He
Speaker 1: shows you plenty of dime defense on that day and
Speaker 1: puts pressure on Lamar Jackson relentlessly and stopped to Baltimore
Speaker 1: offense in that game that hadn't been stopped previously under
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson. But the one constant for Bradley is getting
Speaker 1: pressure with the four and pass rush. He did it
Speaker 1: in Seattle, he did it in Jacksonville. He's doing it
Speaker 1: here with the Los Angeles Chargers. And making matters easier
Speaker 1: for his rush scheme are the presence of Joey Bosa
Speaker 1: and Melvin Ingram to edge rushers that just wreak havoc
Speaker 1: on opposing offensive lines with a physical brand of football
Speaker 1: paired with a crafty rush. Arsenal Bosa is one of
Speaker 1: five edge defenders with more quarterback pressures thirty seven than
Speaker 1: the Dolphins defensive end Emmanuel Ogba. His thirty four. Ingram
Speaker 1: also has twenty three pressures, despite the fact that he
Speaker 1: missed three games this season. The Dolphins played seven offensive
Speaker 1: lineman on Sunday in Arizona, with Jesse Davis and Austin
Speaker 1: Jackson and Robert Hunt all getting work at tackle. Perhaps
Speaker 1: one of the best ways to help shore up the
Speaker 1: edge with the tackle position is through strong play on
Speaker 1: the interior. Guard Eric Flowers and center Ted Carriss have
Speaker 1: played a combined six four snaps this season in pass
Speaker 1: protection and have allowed just fifteen quarterback pressures. Really good
Speaker 1: work up the middle from Miami's offensive line. Maybe you
Speaker 1: can help the tackles with tight ends and backs and
Speaker 1: chips that way. Because of that stout performance inside for Miami,
Speaker 1: the key matchup number two is limit the Chargers offensive lightning.
Speaker 1: A little bit of word play there for you guys,
Speaker 1: Bolts lightning, get it. Despite playing one game fewer than
Speaker 1: all of his his competition in this category, Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: is sixth in the NFL with five hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: seven passing yards on throws twenty or more yards down field.
Speaker 1: His nine touchdown passes on such throws ranks second behind
Speaker 1: only Russell Wilson. Of Seattle and for Miami. Coming into
Speaker 1: that game against the Cardinals, the Dolphins three previous opponents
Speaker 1: were over fourteen on passes twenty or more yards downfield.
Speaker 1: But we saw Christian Kurt get downfield a couple of
Speaker 1: times for some big play. So that'll be a fun
Speaker 1: matchup to watch as the Dolphins try to match the
Speaker 1: Chargers deep threats and they come in varying forms. Man
Speaker 1: Mike Williams has that kind of Davante Parker gene about
Speaker 1: him where he's gonna go upen and rebound those fifty
Speaker 1: balls and really make them more like balls. He's thirteenth
Speaker 1: in the NFL with two hundred and thirteen receiving yards
Speaker 1: on throws twenty or more yards down field, and fourteenth
Speaker 1: in the league. Right behind Mike Williams is Jalen Guiton.
Speaker 1: He has two five receiving yards on balls twenty or
Speaker 1: more yards down the field. More than half of Guyden's
Speaker 1: receiving production this year, fifty two point nine percent has
Speaker 1: come from deep passes. He's the only player in the
Speaker 1: top forty five of deep ball receivers per Pro Football
Speaker 1: Focus with better than fifty of his yards coming on
Speaker 1: deep shots. Down the field. Forcing the Chargers to drive
Speaker 1: the field and execute in the red zone could be
Speaker 1: a winning recipe because for all the big players, they
Speaker 1: make Los Angeles three in the red zone right now
Speaker 1: with a fifty seven point one conversion rate down in
Speaker 1: the red area. This is a defense that bends but
Speaker 1: doesn't break, says Byron Jones. Usually we don't like to
Speaker 1: have a team sport something like thirty points in the game,
Speaker 1: but it's good that we found a way to win
Speaker 1: that game in that circumstance. End quote, talking about a
Speaker 1: ben but don't break defense. The third and final point here,
Speaker 1: heat up Herbert Man. The best way to limit a
Speaker 1: vertical passing game is to make that quarterback uncomfortable with
Speaker 1: constant pressure. And Herbert comes equipped with an absolute howitzer
Speaker 1: attached to his right shoulder and enough athletic ability to
Speaker 1: make plays outside the pocket. So it's easier said than done.
Speaker 1: But the Chargers offensive line has allowed a hundred and
Speaker 1: eleven pressures this year, while Miami have created one and
Speaker 1: fifty one pressures of their own from sixteen different players.
Speaker 1: Different guys come, different guys get pressure. It's a team
Speaker 1: effort up front, and when kept clean Herbert is completing
Speaker 1: of his passes for eight point one yards per throw
Speaker 1: and ten touchdowns and just three interceptions under pressure. Though
Speaker 1: still very productive, there's a slight drop off there. He's
Speaker 1: completing fifty of those passes under pressure for seven point
Speaker 1: seven yards per pass, seven touchdowns and two picks. Still
Speaker 1: pretty good, but you get the sense that pressure is
Speaker 1: a way to limit his production at least a little bit.
Speaker 1: And right tackle Brian Bulaga has been a steadying force
Speaker 1: for those Chargers offense. He's allowed only four quarterback pressures
Speaker 1: this this season, far and away the fewest among l
Speaker 1: A offensive lineman. If ag Ball can draw Bolaga, that's
Speaker 1: a name matchup nightmare right there, and get some extra
Speaker 1: attention that way, it will be come imperative for Shack
Speaker 1: Lawson and company to get after the quarterback with other
Speaker 1: one on one matchups and some more Chargers personnel. For
Speaker 1: you here, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen's name. He is so dependable and that short to
Speaker 1: intermediate option area when the vertical game is not there.
Speaker 1: Arguably the best route runner in the NFL. For my money,
Speaker 1: he is the best route runner. He's second this year
Speaker 1: in receptions with sixty two and eleventh in receiving yards
Speaker 1: with six hundred and fifty one, and the Charger's edge
Speaker 1: rush is more than just Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa.
Speaker 1: Defensive tackle Jerry Tillery is second on the team with
Speaker 1: quarterback pressures. He's on the interior to Chenna no Wos,
Speaker 1: who comes off the edge with more depth there. He
Speaker 1: has twenty one quarterback pressures this year, and Lynval Joseph
Speaker 1: back inside kind of completes that powdered blue wall as
Speaker 1: I've called it here. He has sixteen quarterback pressures and
Speaker 1: fourteen run stops this season. Linebacker Denzel Perriman at the
Speaker 1: second level, is PFF's highest graded Chargers defender. He's a big, hitting,
Speaker 1: aggressive off ball linebacker who contributes both in the running
Speaker 1: and passing game and staying on that defensive in the
Speaker 1: back end. The top two corners for Los Angeles have
Speaker 1: both been on the field for more than of the
Speaker 1: defensive snaps this year. In the absence of veteran Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl cornerback injured Chris Harris Jr. Michael Davis and Casey
Speaker 1: Heyward have combined to allow just fifty catches on eighty
Speaker 1: seven targets. That's fifty seven point five percent for six
Speaker 1: hundred eighty five yards. That's seven point eight yards per pass,
Speaker 1: five touchdowns, and one pick on those two primary cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: The Charger scheme offensively, they rank seventeen in the NFL
Speaker 1: with twenty five point six points per game, but second
Speaker 1: in total offense at four hundred and twenty yards per game.
Speaker 1: The rushing offense is eight with one hundred and thirties
Speaker 1: five point six yards per game, and they are fifth
Speaker 1: and passing at two eight four point four yards through
Speaker 1: the air per game. And most teams run eleven personnel
Speaker 1: primarily that's one running back, one tight end, three receivers.
Speaker 1: Only four teams run eleven personnel more than the Chargers,
Speaker 1: who have called that package one of their offensive snaps.
Speaker 1: The most frequently called package for them as twelve personnel
Speaker 1: that's one running back, two tight ends, and two receivers.
Speaker 1: They've run eighty four plays from that look and also
Speaker 1: utilize two running back sets more than the NFL meme
Speaker 1: with sixty four snaps with two backs on the field.
Speaker 1: We heard Josh Boyer on his Tuesday press conference say
Speaker 1: it didn't really matter who the Chargers running back is.
Speaker 1: They get production out of all their guys there from
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, and the Chargers defense utilizes Nickel defense with
Speaker 1: nearly the same frequency of the eleven personnel tech. Kind
Speaker 1: of a match up there, you go eleven personnel, you
Speaker 1: go nickel on defense and kind of match out three receivers,
Speaker 1: three cornerbacks. They call on five defensive backs seventy point
Speaker 1: eight percent of the time and half of the league
Speaker 1: calls dime defense less than ten percent of the time
Speaker 1: sixteen teams. The Chargers are right at the medium there
Speaker 1: at nine point one percent of their snaps coming with
Speaker 1: six defensive backs and nobody blitzes at the lower rate
Speaker 1: and the Chargers once again, they bring the extra rusher
Speaker 1: on just eleven point nine percent of their snaps per
Speaker 1: Pro Football Reference. They showcase their strength in the front
Speaker 1: four with a twenty two point nine percent pressure rate,
Speaker 1: eleventh best in the NFL. So good coverage with a
Speaker 1: good pass there. The defense allows twenty seven points per game,
Speaker 1: that's twenty one in the NFL, their fourteenth and total
Speaker 1: defense with three hundred fifty eight point five yards surrendered
Speaker 1: per game. The rushing defense is sixteenth, and so is
Speaker 1: the passing defense, rushing one eight teen point three yards
Speaker 1: per game and through the air two hundred and forty
Speaker 1: point three yards per game on this Chargers defense. And
Speaker 1: to finish out this preview piece, a couple of notes
Speaker 1: for a couple of players who can hit some landmarks
Speaker 1: in their career. First, the Dolphins lead the all time
Speaker 1: series with the Chargers eight teen to sixteen. That includes
Speaker 1: a two and two mark in the postseason. And on
Speaker 1: Friday's flashback podcast with kim Bo Camper, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about the nineteen eighty one and nineteen eighty two Divisional
Speaker 1: Round playoff games against these Chargers. Those games were split
Speaker 1: one apiece up to twenty. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins needs
Speaker 1: thirty four tackles to reach one hundred and eighteen in
Speaker 1: his career. That would be the most tackles in the
Speaker 1: first two seasons of an NFL defensive tackles career since
Speaker 1: at least two thousand ten. Linebacker Jerome Baker needs just
Speaker 1: four tackles, so probably get there this game, if not
Speaker 1: the following game, to become the first Dolphins player since
Speaker 1: at least two thousand to total at least two hundred
Speaker 1: and sixties seven tackles in the first three seasons of
Speaker 1: his career, and the next start for guard slash tackle
Speaker 1: Jesse Davis will be the fiftie in his career so far,
Speaker 1: and as we always do, we'll have postgame coverage for
Speaker 1: you guys up on Miami Dolphins dot Com with the
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Spotlight, the recap story, the written version of
Speaker 1: that on Miami Dolphins dot Com, as well as the
Speaker 1: five Takeaways John Conjemmy individual performances, and audio from coach
Speaker 1: and players after the game on the Drivetime Podcast with
Speaker 1: yours truly Travis Wingfield. Let's go ahead and finish up
Speaker 1: this podcast with player media availability from Wednesday, and we
Speaker 1: will go ahead and start with wide receiver Davante Parker,
Speaker 1: who was asked about the injury to Preston Williams and
Speaker 1: how the Dolphins will overcome that injury. I would say,
Speaker 1: you know is this next man up is the town
Speaker 1: that we have to have. Man, you never know your
Speaker 1: name will be calling. You gotta be ready at all
Speaker 1: times and we'll hear from quarterback to a tongue of
Speaker 1: Valo in just one second, how did Davante feel about
Speaker 1: watching to a run in open space as a scrambling
Speaker 1: quarterback on Sunday. That was great to see. You. I
Speaker 1: know he had it in them, but he put on
Speaker 1: good moves against them, and I know, like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm happy for him, and you know, we just gotta
Speaker 1: continue to keep getting better. And next we got to
Speaker 1: hear from Austin Jackson again for the first time since
Speaker 1: before his injury. Up. First, Austin was asked about playing
Speaker 1: guys like Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa and what those
Speaker 1: two guys do best. Oh, you know, Inger's real shippy guy. Um,
Speaker 1: great at reading leverage. I know, that's when he's really
Speaker 1: good at. And then I would say both on the
Speaker 1: other side the same thing. Um, both very technicals, both
Speaker 1: very technique sound defensive ends. So that means like, you know,
Speaker 1: they're gonna read like shorter leverage and all that stuff. So, uh,
Speaker 1: I think that's what they do best, or that's what
Speaker 1: they do one of the things they do best, and
Speaker 1: not much of us that up you did for this one.
Speaker 1: Austin was asked how he felt he played in his
Speaker 1: first game back off the injury. So, I think I
Speaker 1: think I played. I think I played well. Um, there's
Speaker 1: definitely always things, um, you can work on. For example,
Speaker 1: I got I got chripped up by my sack. I
Speaker 1: think it was the only second I gave a little
Speaker 1: I got chripped up. But um, that's just stuff. You know,
Speaker 1: learning the spatial having that spatial awareness that you kind
Speaker 1: of getting a sense of, you know, where you're moving
Speaker 1: in the pocket and stuff like that for an offensive
Speaker 1: lineman is big. So getting my first game back and
Speaker 1: getting back used to that was it was a challenge. Um,
Speaker 1: But for the most part, you know, I felt like I,
Speaker 1: you know, prepared myself to go in there and not
Speaker 1: leave a drop off of the team. So I think
Speaker 1: I knew pretty well. And the next one here from
Speaker 1: Austin the final one. I was really curious to hear
Speaker 1: from him because we heard Byron Jones earlier in the
Speaker 1: season talk about really missing games for the first time
Speaker 1: in his NFL career and the preparation of game week
Speaker 1: when you know you're not gonna play. He talked about
Speaker 1: getting more mental reps. Here's Austin Jackson on that same category.
Speaker 1: And then I would say when I was out, you know,
Speaker 1: not being able to practice with the team, I got,
Speaker 1: you know, more chance to look at the film to
Speaker 1: really study and memorize and learn a bunch of new things.
Speaker 1: You know, just studying NFL defensive to really um learning
Speaker 1: defensive movement's, defensive assignments. You know, stuff like that helped
Speaker 1: me a lot. And I studied that a lot. And
Speaker 1: you know, extra extra extra hours in the weight room
Speaker 1: and in the training room. Uh two, those those helps
Speaker 1: as well. While I was out, let's slip it over
Speaker 1: to the guys that try to rush on players like
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson and talk to Shack Lawson, who of course
Speaker 1: had his first scoop and scores first touchdown of his
Speaker 1: NFL career on Sunday and the win over the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: Shack was asked to kick off his media availability. What's
Speaker 1: the latest fastest forty time he's ran? Um, My last
Speaker 1: for the time was like a folk six eight when
Speaker 1: I ran at the combine something like that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what I had in my mind, Like, man, that's
Speaker 1: how I was thinking about. I cannot get caught, Like
Speaker 1: it's my first opportunity. I can't get caught. Shack was
Speaker 1: also asked about if he had visions of DK Metcalf
Speaker 1: coming in from behind to get that tackle on him. See,
Speaker 1: I was thinking about that. Then I was like a man,
Speaker 1: they don't got nobody like DK that fast. And then
Speaker 1: how far I was in front of a lot of
Speaker 1: people like they had like at least big team or yards.
Speaker 1: I only think I've seen was the offensive line. I've
Speaker 1: seen too offensive line. And then next day, you know,
Speaker 1: I've seen my boy Brandon come with a big block.
Speaker 1: I say, oh yeah, I needed that. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and finish up here with your starting quarterback to a
Speaker 1: Toungo by Loa, who first was asked kind of a
Speaker 1: theme of the day, how do you guys compartmentalize and
Speaker 1: block out the noise from the outside with all the
Speaker 1: outside hype and praise from major networks. Here's too, I'm
Speaker 1: blocking out the outside noise. But I think as a team,
Speaker 1: I mean, the way we go about doing things every
Speaker 1: day is is it's kind of hard to get complacent,
Speaker 1: and so the way we go by doing things, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just with what Flow says, is just
Speaker 1: you know, keeping our head down, continuing to grind. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, the feeling of winning is is good, but
Speaker 1: you know that the feeling of losses. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's the opposite, and we don't want to feel that. Um.
Speaker 1: And so we know that in order to to give
Speaker 1: us the best chance to be successful, we gotta we
Speaker 1: gotta go in, you know, and we gotta work hard
Speaker 1: in preparation, um as well as executing you know, you know,
Speaker 1: like I said, preparation for the team that we're we're
Speaker 1: up against. Let's get some evaluation here from two on
Speaker 1: the jump, from his first career start to a second
Speaker 1: career start, how he felt he progressed over those two
Speaker 1: games against the Rams and the Cardinals. Yes, start start one,
Speaker 1: um to start to I mean, I would say we
Speaker 1: were able to to to push the ball down field
Speaker 1: a lot more. We were able to get into a
Speaker 1: group offensively with the past game, um, you know, as
Speaker 1: well as the run game. UM. But I think there's
Speaker 1: just continuations of what you can improve on. That's that's
Speaker 1: the best thing, and that's that's the best way to
Speaker 1: go about it. You know, when we feel like there's
Speaker 1: nothing else you can improve on, then that's not good.
Speaker 1: And the inside the film or inside the NFL Films
Speaker 1: crew caught that moment between both two and coach Brian
Speaker 1: Floors is into the game when they were kind of
Speaker 1: given the game ball back and forth to each other,
Speaker 1: but two eventually gave it to Brian Flores. Here's two
Speaker 1: on that moment between he and coach Flores. You know,
Speaker 1: I I seen Flows Flows waiting and I had the
Speaker 1: game ball and when I when I went up to him,
Speaker 1: they're just one of those like, I don't know. For me,
Speaker 1: it was like, thank you for taking a shot on me, Um,
Speaker 1: because like I said, a year ago, I mean, who
Speaker 1: would have known. I could have had a season ending
Speaker 1: uh injury. But you know, Miami Dolphins decided to take
Speaker 1: a chance on me. And in that game, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: had to overcome some injuries and some players not available
Speaker 1: at the start of the game. Here's two on the
Speaker 1: Dolphins loss of Preston Williams going to the injury reserve
Speaker 1: and how he feels the team can respond and rebound
Speaker 1: from losing Preston Williams. Yeah, it's stuff, Um, losing someone
Speaker 1: like Preston Um who's kind of been a game changer,
Speaker 1: you know for us while he's been in there. Um,
Speaker 1: he's been targeted a lot more. I feel like this year,
Speaker 1: Um in our offense. But I mean it's next man up, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and really it's pretty much all the guys
Speaker 1: that you guys have seen, um, you know against well
Speaker 1: what when we played the partners. That's pretty much the
Speaker 1: guys that you need to step up. And then you
Speaker 1: know there's probably gonna be some other guys as well,
Speaker 1: but um, it's it's just really a daily competition for
Speaker 1: all of us um receiving cores quarterbacks. The list was
Speaker 1: on UM and so nothing really changes as far as
Speaker 1: who I'm going to target more and whatnot. It's I
Speaker 1: gotta go through my progression and you know, if that's
Speaker 1: the open person, then that's that's where are the bondings goes.
Speaker 1: And one last fun note I think Dolphins fans will
Speaker 1: love to hear. On the Drive Time podcast, I mentioned
Speaker 1: a few weeks back that I was walking from the
Speaker 1: building over to the podcast studio, far away from the
Speaker 1: practice field, but in the distance I saw Miles Gasing
Speaker 1: getting extra work on the ladder and doing some of
Speaker 1: the work that we heard Jerome Baker talk about with
Speaker 1: regards to him coming in on his off day on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: which is player's day off across the NFL this Tuesday,
Speaker 1: made the same walk far side away from the practice field.
Speaker 1: And who do I see out there besides two of
Speaker 1: walking out at nine thirty in the morning with a
Speaker 1: football in hand, getting ready to some extra work. So
Speaker 1: I thought that was cool. Thought it was a cool nugget.
Speaker 1: So there you have it. Plenty of information and detail
Speaker 1: on this Wednesday edition of the Drive Time podcast. As
Speaker 1: for my time today, that's gonna be my time. Come
Speaker 1: back with us tomorrow and check out the feature with
Speaker 1: Adam Shaheen talking about the Dolphins tight ends room. And
Speaker 1: we'll also get some more media for you guys as well,
Speaker 1: all ahead of flashback on Friday with Kimbo Camper talking
Speaker 1: about one and two playoff games against the then San
Speaker 1: Diego Chargers. Plenty more to come here this week on
Speaker 1: Drive Time, but in the meantime, you all please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review, give me a
Speaker 1: follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins. Check out the audible and the fish
Speaker 1: Tank podcast. You do not want to miss the Brandon
Speaker 1: Marshall episode of The Fish Tank and of course Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot com, the written preview up there right now
Speaker 1: on the website until next time. Fins up