Miami Dolphins Training Camp: Top Quotes From Wednesday's Practice
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – Week two of the Miami Dolphins 2015 Training Camp is in full swing as the team completed their 6th practice on Wednesday.
The team will have one more day of practice before the annual intra-squad scrimmage which takes place on Friday night at FIU Stadium.
To read a recap of Wednesday's practice session, click here.
Following every practice some of the players and coaches stop and speak with the media before heading inside the training facility. Here are some of the best Dolphins quotes from Wednesday's practice.
Head Coach Joe Philbin- On Jarvis Landry being more of a deep threat this season- "I think he's got a chance to do that. He's lined up in a variety of spots. He's done some things outside. I think his natural home base is still inside, but he certainly has shown the ability, he's a real quality route runner. He can run different routes that you want on the outside. The beauty of him is he doesn't slow down when he's coming out of cuts. So if he can get on top of the DB, he doesn't waste any time whatsoever. That's really, to me, is what makes him effective."
On when he'd like to have the players' roles set- "I'd love to go into the third preseason game, that week we're going to simulate a game week, how we're going to prepare for the Redskins and Jacksonville and everybody else. I'd love to have everything lined up by then. That might not be realistic. Some guys may be practicing a lot, we might get a freak injury here and that might slow things down. So there's a lot of factors, but if you had to say in a perfect world, I think that would be great, but if it's not, it's not."
On the difference between last year and this year with Terrence Fede- "He's just a lot more confident I think in everything that he's doing. I think the adjustment that he had to make coming from what I used call 1-AA football to the NFL is significant. He handled it well then too, but I just think he's stronger, he's more confident in the scheme, in the system that we're running and the techniques that we're using. I think he's just well ahead of where he was."
"We have [Fede] on some things with special teams as well. He can do a lot of different things. He's a good athlete, he moves well, he's got good size and strength. Yeah, he's doing some good things. Obviously, we'll learn more when we get into the games."
On what he's going to be looking for during Friday's scrimmage- "The big thing that I look at is how quickly we can, simple things… like how fast we can get lined up, what kind of communication do we have in our back end in the secondary, can the young guys get thrown into a situation, in the two-minute drill, and function as a team. So I look mostly at that kind of stuff, teamwork kind of things. Are we getting the plays in on time, are we getting to the line of scrimmage at times, are shifts and motions crisp, are we making the right adjustments in coverage checks. And then we're going to do some tackling, I want to see our guys. I'm mostly concerned about the stuff in space, can we get guys in space down on the ground. Those are what I'm really looking forward to."
Defensive Coordinator Kevin Coyle- On if he feels pressure to make sure the defense is better this season than last season- "I feel personal pressure every day that we work with these guys because our job is to put them in position to win and to do everything we possibly can to make sure we're utilizing their abilities to their best and to the team's best. Each and every year, pressure, as I think I've said before to you guys, is self-imposed and as a coach you always put pressure on yourself. You have high expectations, no one has higher expectations of this group than I do. I expect us to go out and have a great season, I expect us to be a dominant defense and I believe we have the pieces that can do that."
On having three Pro Bowl defensive players (Brent Grimes, Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh) on the same side of the field- "It doesn't hurt to have three Pro Bowlers lined up on one side. However, certain defenses and certain matchups could change that. Depending upon coverages, Grimes could be moving around matching certain receivers. We want to be able to match all of our personnel and do a better job of taking advantage of mismatches in the front as well as the back. That might mean Cam moving around a little bit, that might mean certainly Suh or as we like to call him right now, his new name right is 'Chief' around here so you know that, he's the big chief kind of like Robert Parrish was back with the Celtics back in the day. And he's a guy that is the leader of the tribe and we're real fortunate to have him. He doesn't say a whole lot all of the time, but when he does, you listen. Having those guys working together, I really like the way Cam and Ndamukong are working together when we do our pass drills and things like that. I think they're going to give people problems that way."
On if Koa Misi is still the middle linebacker or if it's an open competition- "I think it's still up in the air. Again, I don't see that as a problem. I see that as a good situation. I feel confident. If we played today and we put Koa in the middle, he'd be much improved over last year and yet last year he was progressing at a pretty quick pace. Kelvin Sheppard has been one of the most impressive guys in training camp as far as I'm concerned in his ability to communicate, to take charge. I think the group looks at Kelvin as a leader, as a veteran. He is as hungry as any player out here on the field, wanting to play, wanting to perform. So that's a good thing. I think we've got some young linebackers in that rookie class that are impressive as well. You know, Zach Vigil's done a nice job, Jeff Luc at the Mike-backer. That's what I meant earlier when I said I think we're developing depth."
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill- On if he feels he's been throwing accurately during training camp- "Definitely. Last year at this time, I was learning the offense still, getting comfortable with the route combinations and the reads. Going into our second year in the offense, I feel a lot more comfortable, making quicker decisions, knowing exactly where to put the ball versus certain looks in these newer routes, that were new last year. Our receivers are making plays, that's a big part of it as well. When you have receivers out there that are adjusting with the tough catches in traffic, it definitely increases your completion percentage."
"It all starts with footwork. When you work on it, it's pretty consistent in your footwork. Obviously, you're not always going to have a clean pocket and you're going to have to make off-balance throws, tough angle throws and you just have to find a window. But as a starting point, you want to be able to be consistent with your footwork and make accurate throws."
On if he feels comfortable with the protection from the guards on the offensive line- "Yeah, I feel safe. They're competing, I'm not sure who's going to end up being in that spot, but those guys are competing and they're facing one of the best, if not the best d-tackle in the league. It's not always going to be pretty no matter who's up there. You could have an All-Pro guy out there coming against [Ndamukong] Suh and it's going to be a battle. I don't expect those guys to be able to lock Suh down each and every play, but they're competing and they're getting better and that's what you want to see."
On his thoughts about Friday's scrimmage- "It's always fun to be able to step out in front of the fans on a different setting than this field. I'd like to be at Sun Life [Stadium], but obviously that's not the case. It's always an exciting time to be able to play under the lights at night. It's more of a game-like atmosphere than you're ever going to get on this field. It's something that we look forward to as a team each and every year and that's no different this year."
Special Teams Coach Darren Rizzi- On what Andrew Franks has shown so far during camp- "Andrew Franks has an NFL leg. I think everybody's probably seen that that's watched him kick. The thing about Andrew is, going to a division-three school he kinda coached himself for four years, literally. When I say literally I mean literally. He did kickoff, he did field goals, he did punts. He never got great at one of them but he was good at all of them. And now we're trying to limit him obviously to field goal and kickoff.
"He's got a big leg. As long as his consistency stays, he had a great day the other day. You see when he hits the ball, I think he hit a 52-yarder that almost went into the street. He's got that big leg. It's gonna be with him, being able to go out and do it time after time."
On if the kicker job is Caleb Sturgis' to lose or if it's an open competition- "This is the general statement. I've always look at that as a disservice to anybody that's in camp. I think anybody that's in camp has a chance to win the job. It's an open competition for everybody"
"Andrew Franks, he's coming out here every day and working and he's gonna get opportunities in games and we're gonna look at a whole body of work here at the end of camp and make a decision.
On what Sturgis has to do to keep his job as the Dolphins kicker- "I think the biggest thing with Sturgis right now is consistency. He's back healthy, we've gotta keep him healthy number one and he's gotta stay healthy. And then obviously his consistency. As I mentioned before, with the kicker position it's much more tangible than every other position. You've gotta put it through those yellow posts and do it consistently and that's gotta be his two things. Health and consistency, by far.
Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry- On how it feels to be in his second NFL training camp compared to last year- "It's a good feeling. It's a good feeling knowing that you have the opportunity to feed off what you did last year and come back this year and try to raise that bar a little bit more and change that standard level. That's what we're trying to do as an offense collectively. Continue to keep on knowing each other, growing with each other and making plays together."
Cornerback Bobby McCain- On how he's feeling so far during training camp- "Feeling pretty good. Learning the defense really well. Some of the older guys such as Brent Grimes, Jamar [Taylor], Lou Delmas, they're just helping me out in the meeting rooms and just trying to get ready to play."
On his scuffle with Jarvis Landry during Wednesday's practice- "You know, just competition. It wasn't anything serious, we were just in the heat of the competition, just boys playing football. Men play football and you know it's a tough sport."
On being put out there against the first-team offense- "You wanna get the ball any time you're on the field. You wanna win, you wanna compete each and every play and when it's against Jarvis Landry and [Ryan] Tannehill and those guys on the other side of the ball it's even more of a 'let's get right and let's go get this ball.'"
On how good the secondary can be- "We can do really well. We've got some great tools. As long as we just come in and put the work in, personally just come in and every day just learn something new and make sure I'm doing my technique right and learning from the older guys and everybody just being on pace, the sky's the limit."
Linebacker Chris McCain- On having fun and being goofy with his teammates- "I don't know, it's just fun. Before I got here I'd see all the older guys do it so I just thought I'd mess around a little bit."
On how excited he is to get out on the field during some real games- "I'm really excited. It's more opportunities for us as a team, more opportunities for myself. I'm really excited. I'm just thankful that the coaches are finally putting their faith in me and believing in me and thinking I can make plays for them so they're throwing me in there a little bit more. I'm still getting equal amounts of snaps at defensive end and linebacker and I'm loving it, whatever I can do to help."
Wide Receiver Michael Preston- On his ability to consistently make plays every practice- "They want a high-energy team guy, a guy who can make plays and give a lot of effort and that's what I'm trying to do one day at a time. That's the key, one day at a time, come out here and keep giving them what they ask for and let everything else fall where it may."
On how it feels better to catch a deep ball- "Any catch is a good catch, there's no such thing as a small play. Every play is a big play. When you get a big chunk of yards though, that's a game changer. It motivates the team, a big chunk to get a new first down and just keep the offense rolling and a nice possession going. I just wanna keep making those things happen when they put the ball up in the air to me."
"I wanna attack the ball, that's my main thing. Nothing bad can happen when you're attacking the ball. You can either make a big play or you can make a big play, that's the two things going through my head. Keep on doing that, don't let up at any point in time and keep making these big plays happen."
On the 'deep ball frustrations' the Dolphins had a season ago- "I don't know what's going on in the past but I'm not too worried about that and I'm sure none of my teammates or the organization isn't either. We're looking towards the future, to what we're building in 2015 and we're gonna make a lot of big plays in a deep ball offense this year. We're gonna keep those things going."
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