Read the full transcript from Mike McDaniel's press conference on November 13, 2024.
(So you had said to ask you about OL Robert Jones and OL Isaiah Wynn today, but I'm going to add something. Are either LB Bradley Chubb or LB Cameron Goode in addition to OL Isaiah Wynn able to practice this week?) 鈥 "Isaiah Wynn's window will be opening today, and we're taking Rob (Jones) day by day, letting it cool down and getting treatment. I don't really have a timeline, but I know he'll be doing everything to get back on the field because he's playing very well."
(And LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cameron Goode, your two edge guys?) 鈥 "I see them through the glass working. We're not in a setback situation. The most I could give is I would anticipate (Cameron) Goode a little bit before Bradley (Chubb). When that is, I look forward to you asking me next week."
(Can you just detail the long road for OL Isaiah Wynn to get back this point?) 鈥 "I think first and foremost, he's been on his road to recovery for an extended period of time but hasn't lost his place amongst the team in terms of his leadership. Everybody knows how hard he's been working because you see better than you hear. Really happy that he's been able to work through the stuff, I think it's a great example of who he is as a person to diligently work for however long it's been. Excited to see him back out here and get his first rep here today and we'll see where that goes from there, but I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him more in depth with the medical portion of it in the coming weeks."
(I haven't seen a ton of Raiders football his year, but I hear they have a pretty good edge rusher. You have a question at right tackle. How do you see that matchup going?) 鈥 "It's going to take a 'Maxximum' effort 鈥 several x's (laughter). They play him various places; Maxx Crosby is probably as disruptive of a player that's in the National Football League. I think from an offensive standpoint it's not one person's job in terms of he's going to move around and the routes have to be crisp and Tua's timing has to be right, all the cylinders to execute against him because he's not only a talented player, but he's a high-effort, high-strain player. I think that's one of the better players in the entire league; he is a challenge so you have to be very mindful, and like you're faced with various challenges in the National Football League week-in, week-out, it's not one individual's job although one individual might block him more than other individuals. It's the orchestration of the offense because bottom line is you have to beat the pass rush however long it takes you to throw to actually execute a pass play. If you take long enough, they will get home regardless of who's blocking, so I think it's a collective effort and an attention to technique, fundamentals and details of plan."
(Do you anticipate that right tackle job being T Kendall Lamm's until T Patrick Paul beats him out? Is this going to be a week-to-week thing? How do you see that?) 鈥 "I think you base those decisions off of day-in, day-out work. I was happy with the way that Kendall (Lamm) played 鈥 really all the positions on the football team. I look at it like yeah, so that's his job, however my job as the head of coaching is that if somebody goes and takes that job somehow, some way or deserves an opportunity, that's when they get it. So I think diligently working week-in, week-out can help give someone their best shot. You talk about Patrick (Paul), give him his best shot at competing there, but I thought Kendall played winning football which he's done against all sorts of different opponents at left and right tackle since he's been here. He's a consummate pro and very effective."
(It's apparent that instinct has kind of taken over with QB Tua Tagovailoa in some of these collision plays, especially the poor tackling attempt and lowering his head in other instances. How do you specifically go about trying to train that out of a player and has there been more effort this week to teach him to tackle a little better?) 鈥 "He still hasn't tackled me; I've put him through it a ton. I think there is different circumstances. I think when you're carrying the ball and you think that you're protecting yourself, you also know willfully that you're trying to run somebody over, be physical. I think Tua (Tagovailoa) has a deep understanding of the ramifications of him being irresponsible with the ball in his hands. In my opinion, Tua's reaction to the tackle was probably different when he watched it on film than what he was thinking was occurring live speed. He's talked to me at length about how eye-opening specifically being away from football or being out this season and watching the effect of that on the organization; he does not take it lightly, I know that. In football, I think there's some times where you can picture something in your mind and then you evaluate it on film, 'Wow, I left myself vulnerable.' So I don't think he was disregarding his body in a stubborn manner, I think he had a situation occur where he thought he was protecting himself. I think he's visually seen how he was a little vulnerable and I expect him to make the adjustments as he's made all sorts of different adjustments in his game that aren't strictly just how he protects himself, but how he plays."
(With the win Monday, it obviously keeps a lot of your goals for the season in play, but when you're going through the losing streak was there ever a sense of desperation in the building? Or were you guys more of a trust the process kind of feel here?) 鈥 "In the National Football League, because of all the things, all the fruits that it bears, there's also consequences that I don't think people quite understand. There's a lot that goes into it, a lot of preparation, and particularly you're getting yourself prepared to try to go win a game, and when you do that and you fail and that occurs over a three-week time frame, it feels like an eternity. So I think after you lose one game, you are incredibly urgent and that urgency just continues. As a coach, you're not expecting anything. You're trying to handle the team and get them focused and give them their best chance to win the following game. But I could tell that guys had 鈥 we'd gone through the process; we'd been very clear about communicating things that were keeping us from winning football games, and I think all you can do is hold each other extremely accountable. At some point if everyone feels accountable, you can press forward and you can bear the fruits of all of those hard lessons. I don't know how to frame it necessarily, I just know there's been an urgency for us to turn our season around and we've looked at it like we are trying to turn each day around, trying to fix each day of prep, fix everything that we can learn from from the game situations and how the prep relates and how we're applying our prep to the games in the realest form, not just saying 'I want to win.' No, doing something about your job, how you can be accountable towards it and how it relates to your teammates, and I think the team really had an opportunity to come together when there's other teams I've been on in my career that might not have. I think all the guys feel that and they're ready to press forward to the next opponent."
(DT Calais Campbell has had a nice impact on this team. Where do you see the biggest evidence of his impact on and off the field?) 鈥 "I think he's such a unique individual because he's an outlier. I call him like the Tom Brady of defensive linemen 鈥 how do you play the game week-in, week-out for that long of a career and to do it in the trenches from the one to the five, literally lining up on the center all the way out to the tackle, it's supremely impressive. But at the same time, it's not only his performance, but he's the consummate team guy that knows how to thrive in tough situations. We have a lot of parallel vision on how teams need to operate and how individuals need to focus on what they control and all of those things. I know one thing, whatever it means when I say something, if he's saying the same thing with as much conviction as I have, the voice travels a lot further. I think it's been monumental; he's been a really cool person and player for the organization, and I think he's playing 鈥 he's got some fountain of youth going, he's playing as good of ball. He's playing young 30 (-year old) Calais ball, which is a testament to how he prepares and a huge part of our team."
(DeShon Elliott, the former Dolphins safety, said on a podcast this week that the majority of the team there, meaning the Dolphins last year, was not mentally tough individuals, that team was soft. Is there any validity to that? Do you believe that a change has occurred in the area of toughness and mental toughness this year?) 鈥 "I am supremely only concerned with the 2024 Dolphins, for sure. I think that every team's ability to be mentally tough in the NFL season is definitely tried, and I think case in point some of the stuff that we've been going through. I think our team played a tough fought game the last three weeks and ended up finding a way to win this past week. I think that's not the easiest thing to do and I'm just worried about this year's team. You said on a podcast? Cool podcast."
(What's been the challenge to get the ball to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle? They've had three touchdowns this year, but your offense has taken a different look of late.) 鈥 "I think professional football in particular is a steadily evolving thing, and when guys have supreme success at any position 鈥 everyone gets paid too and they're trying to not be additions to a highlight reel. Defenses change and different challenges are presented. I think where Tyreek (Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle have really grown this season is their full understanding of this offense and how defenses play, that you can see how defenses present on film and then you can see the differences when they're playing us. They understand their value is being out there and competing, and when they don't have the ball, creating stress on the defense whether that's expanding the field or blocking. I think their teammates get some very positive situations because of the attention that they get and they understand that good teams find a way to make you beat them in various ways. So when you're talking about big game football and December and January football, those types of games are always on the table. And so preparing for those, for our team to take advantage of how people are playing us and if everything is going to be based around those guys, their teammates have to take advantage of that. That's what I've really seen is some confident individuals that every single game want to be the difference maker, and they've just found different ways to do that. The headlines aren't as bold and the postgame interviews might not be as long, but I can see them within their team a real evolution and understanding that you have to continue to find ways to get them the ball and they have to continue to find ways to make plays without it. If everyone is working in that direction, the best thing for the Dolphins will occur."
(You kind of touched on this a little bit before that when things weren't going great earlier this season, you wanted to re-evaluate the amount of trust you put in some of your players on your own to do the right things. Have you changed your approach, taken maybe a firmer hand with the team throughout the course of the season, year over year?) 鈥 "I don't really have a default, 'This is what it is and this is what I am.' I think I'm always attempting to evolve based upon the needs of the team and what things work and what things don't. I think if I took a still overlay of maybe the beginning of the season or the beginning of last season or the year before, it's probably different because I'm always adjusting to the needs of the team, really. When guys respond a certain way in a positive fashion for the expected results, when guys respond to various different tactics, I look at it as kind of part of my job is to not always be X. I know there has been an evolution in just how we go about business, but I would expect that each and every year because the people change but my job doesn't; I need to get the best out of people. So when people change and situations change, I think it's very important that I adjust with them and find any sort of way, whatever the avenue is, to try to get things done, which is my job to do so."
