Quotes From Philbin, Suh Following First Day Of Dolphins OTAs
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins held their first organized team activity (OTA) practice on Tuesday at the team's training facility in Davie.
Aside from a few injured players, who worked on the side, the entire team participated in the voluntary workout under the watchful eye of head coach Joe Philbin.
Here are some quotes from Philbin's post-practice press conference.
"We had everybody on the roster here in the building today. It was a great start to the OTA phase of the offseason program. I thought the energy on the field was good. We put in normal down and distance today. I thought it was a good start. We have a starting point as to where we are right now, day one of OTAs. We've also got to make some corrections when we come back and watch the tape tomorrow and move forward."
"Like I said, it's great to have everybody here today. I thought the energy was good. I thought [Ndamukong Suh] looked good. His quickness looked good. He seems to be in pretty good shape. He seems to be catching on to the scheme and the defense well. He looked like he got off the ball a couple of times, extremely well, which we all know, we've watched the tape of him, we've competed against him. It's good for our offensive line to go against that on a daily basis. That's the number one thing that obviously jumped out today."
"[Ryan Tannehill] got off to a good start. As we've talked a number of times, in its simplest form, not that playing quarterback in the National Football League or playing it in Miami is simple, the things we always talk about, the decision making, the accuracy, the playmaking, those are things where we want to see progress each and every time. That's the charge today and we'll take a closer look at the tape when we get done."
"We've got some new guys [at wide receiver], so we're getting them adjusted as quickly as we possibly can. They don't necessarily have preconceived notions of, I'm a this, or I'm a that. What we're really doing is, installing concepts offensively as we are on defense and special teams and we want to expose guys to different things. That's one of the major focuses that we have. We talked about, we met at length as an offensive staff last week and we talked and said okay, these guys, let's get some of these guys some reps at this position and not get locked in, so if one injury occurs we're all not of the sudden reinventing the wheel so to speak."
"[Greg Jennings] catches the ball, I know this sounds elementary, but he catches the ball with his hands very well, I think he does that well. He's a good route runner, crisp. He knows how to come in and out of his breaks well. I think he's been a quarterback friendly type of receiver throughout the course of his career. I think the quarterbacks have faith, and I think it's going to take us time here as we get rolling, but he's a guy that ends up doing the right things versus different coverages, a play gets extended, he has that good instinct and savvy."
"[Adjusting to the new extra point rules is] going to be interesting. I think it's going to take us all a little bit of time to get used to. There are going to be different scenarios. You'd think that the incident rate of two point conversions will go up a little bit. There will be a variety of factors that go into it, time in the game, score in the game, wind situations, all of those types of things. I think it's a good element and it will be interesting."
"It's going to be hard to make a complete evaluation through the OTAs because we don't have the pads on. But one of the points we made to the entire team today is the play speed, getting in and out of the huddle, getting the call, getting the assignment down, getting the stance down, getting off the ball quick, whatever position it doesn't matter, guard, wide receiver, defensive line, db. Then, functioning within the scheme as best you can in this phase. It's going to be hard to tell if we can sustain blocks real well, it's going to be difficult to assess in the OTAs. Those are the things, playing fast, playing decisive, good fundamentals, good initial aiming points, those will be the things that we really focus on."
The Dolphins' prize free agent signing, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, was on the field with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday.
There was certainly a lot of attention being paid to Suh after Miami signed him to a six-year deal worth $114 million, which made him the highest paid defensive player in league history.
His presence at Miami's OTA workouts was a welcomed sight, especially considering that he chose not to participate in the annual voluntary workouts last season when he was a member of the Detroit Lions.
Suh spoke to the media following the Dolphins first OTA workout and here are some of his quotes.
"It felt good [to be out there today]. Great first practice. A lot to learn. There are only a couple of ways you can play the three technique and shade. It's all about camaraderie and understanding who you are playing next to each other. Getting use to Earl [Mitchell], getting use to Cam [Wake] and everyone else."
"It was automatic [that I would be here today]. You never miss practice. If you watch my history and know my history, I only missed one practice because I got sick last year. I don't miss practice. No question about that."
"I am going out and playing as fast as I can. If I am going to make mistakes, I want to do it full speed, especially being in the backfield. That's what I was brought here for. That's the way I know how to play and that's the way I have been playing for the past five years. I am happy to be in a position to build off of the success that I have already had and try and get better each and every day."
"The sky is always going to be the limit for [our defensive line]. Anybody who lines up next to me and whoever I line up next to, at the end of the day, we always want to be somebody's nightmare. We always want to cause havoc no matter who is on the field. That's our job. That is what we are here to do."
"I think football at the end of the day is like riding a bike. If it wasn't, you would want to make it to where it was that. At the end of the day, you want to grow within this scheme and understand where I need to be in all places. New terminology so that's always a challenge, but I am picking up pretty quickly."
"Terminology is always different. No matter where you at. I have gone through…I have been in the league five years and I have probably gone through three or four different sets of terminology even with the same defensive coordinator. Last year, obviously, we had the new defensive coordinator in Detroit, but at the end of the day, it is something that you can pair it up with something else that you have seen in the past. Things that I remember back in the day with a three man front they called in spinner. Back there in Detroit we called it something different. Here we are going to call it something different. At the end of the day, you are going to have to find similarities to understand where you need to fit in."
"It is a good healthy relationship with me and Mike [Pouncey]. Being able to go against a Pro Bowl center every day in practice is obviously going to get me better. I hope to get him better as well. That's just the way it is. That's a good thing to have. That's not a bad thing by any means."
"Man, this front office is something special. It is a very progressive front office and I am very excited to be a part of this organization and this team. You can't ask for more than what they do. Honestly, it is good situation. Now we have to come in and put it together."
The Dolphins will be back on the practice field on Wednesday, and another eight times for OTA workouts that run through June 11th.
There will be a veteran minicamp held from June 16th through June 18th. After that, the team will get a few weeks off before returning to Davie for training camp.
Dates have yet to be released for training camp but they will tentatively begin in late-July.
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