Top Extended Dolphins Quotes From Day One Of Training Camp
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins took the practice field on Thursday for their first on-field workout of training camp.
Afterwards, several players stopped and spoke to the media about several topics surrounding the team as they head towards the 2015 NFL season. Here are some of the best Dolphins quotes from day one of camp.
Mike Pouncey- On what Stephen Ross said to the team during practice. "That he's gonna be around a lot more. He's happy with the direction this football team is heading in and just glad that he's in the building today."
"He wants us to win. That's his only expectation is to win football games. It's what he bought this team for."
Branden Albert- On the process of recovering from his injury and finally making it back to the football field. "All the little things I couldn't do, I was praying that…I just wanted to walk again. I told people I didn't think I could play football again but now the time [to play football] is here and I'm just happy to be here."
On if he expects to play during the preseason. "I don't know yet. It's one day at a time, taking my time and we'll see."
On if he still has any pain in his knee. "No pain at all. I have no pain. I'm barely into rehab and [I have] all strength and am transitioning into football, which is a good thing."
"I'd say I'm on track [to start Week 1]."
Ndamukong Suh- "Coming into this group, I've got a great d-line. Cam [Wake], OV [Olivier Vernon], [Derrick] Shelby, all the guys have brought me in and just showed me the ropes and it's been a good situation, especially since OTAs and Minicamps started so it was just like picking up from that time when we started camp today."
Ryan Tannehill- On if Stephen Ross told the team 'just win baby' like the late Al Davis would say to his teams. "It wasn't verbatim but that's his expectation and that's our expectation. That's why we're here. That's why we've been here and that's what we've been working to do. Obviously we haven't got it done the past few years but we're not here for that, we're here for this year and what we can do this year."
"I feel like we have every piece that we could need and it's a matter of how we can come together as a team. How we can perform during crunch time and that's what we're working at here and for the next however many weeks it is until the Super Bowl."
"There's always excitement on day 1 [of training camp]. There's always excitement to get on the field and be together but you feel it in the locker room, you feel it out on the field."
"Just a good group of guys. Good people. And we wanna win, we wanna win a championship. We're all here for the same reason and I feel like we have a selfless team, guys are here for the right reasons and it's gonna take us a long way."
On which offensive weapon he's most looking forward to playing with. "It's tough to pick one because we have so many. We really have a stacked group all the way around. From our backfield to our tight ends, the receiver group…everywhere you look we have weapons. It's gonna be fun for me to be able to spread the ball around."
On if he agrees with Joe Philbin that this group of receivers is better suited to his skills. "Yeah, I feel like they're good receivers and they can run this offense the way we want it to be run. The fact of [the receivers having] body control, being able to use different styles of receivers that we have. You have… DeVante [Parker]'s hurt right now but [he has a] big body, strong hands. You have Kenny [Stills], a smooth fast guy. Jarvis [Landry] can do it all for us. Greg [Jennings], savvy veteran, great route runner. So you look at those guys, Rishard [Matthews] big strong body as well, those guys have all the weapons that we need. As a coaching staff and an offense, we've put those guys in positions to succeed and be able to get them the ball."
"I feel like [today] was a good start for us. We didn't complete every ball and there were mistakes out there but if you take a look at where we started last year at this time, we're light years ahead."
"I'm excited about this year and everything that we can do."
On if there's any doubt in his mind that this is a playoff team. "No, no doubt. I'm superbly confident in this team and what we can do. We have a lot of work to do until we get there but I'm really excited about what we have and what we can do."
"I think our mindset from the spring to yesterday in team meetings has been 'no excuses', we're finding a way to get it done and being confident about it. I think that's a little different than at times in the past, starting with the head man, coach Philbin, Mr. Ross…just the confidence that this organization has. We're doing everything we can to find an edge and win. No expense has been spared, we have a brand new cafeteria, added a bunch of people to the staff in the building as far as sports science, performance coaches and we're really doing everything we can as an organization. That shows Mr. Ross's commitment and I think the guys are really buying in and its gonna pay off throughout the entire season."
On Philbin's message to the team that there are three championships out there that they are striving for; the AFC East, the AFC and the Super Bowl. "That's what you want to hear from your head coach is confidence that we're here to win a championship. We're not here just to win a few games, we're here to win a championship and that's what we're here to do. I feel like if you ask each and every man on this team they'll tell you the same thing, we're here to win a championship and we're not wasting our time out here each and every day sweating and losing ten pounds at practice to not be playing in January and February."
On Philbin being vocal this year about championships being the goal. "I don't know why [he's being so vocal] but I like it. I don't know the specific reason behind it but I love it. I love the confidence, I love the mindset that it instills in the entire team and it's contagious. It starts with him. If he's confident, he's outspoken about what we're gonna do, what we expect to do, then it's contagious throughout the entire team."
Cameron Wake- On the relationship between he and Ndamukong Suh. "Literally the day he got here we actually sat down and talked and went out to dinner and the relationship's been building ever since. He's obviously a tremendous football player, a tremendous asset to this defense and this team. I really couldn't say anything more good about him but he's definitely going to be a big part of our success this season and we're starting to put all the pieces together. It's a bond that you build over the times like now during training camp when it starts getting tough and things start getting a little hectic but you can look to one another. I'm looking for him obviously to have big things that help us this season and I'm gonna have big expectations for myself as well."
On if the beginning of training camp holds the same meaning now, entering his 7th season, as it always did in the past. "I think probably more. Every year it's more special because it is rare. I look around this locker room and I'm looking at guys, I start telling my stories and maybe making a joke or two about things that happened before [in past years] and I look around and nobody knows what I'm talking about because they weren't here. It's more special now because it's rare and I think every year you're having more importance put on winning because you've done a lot of different things individually, you've done things that you mark off for your career but there's some things that I still haven't been able to accomplish."
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