Miami Dolphins’ Joe Philbin post-game comments
By Brian Miller
The energy was high in the Miami Dolphins locker room following Sunday’s win in Washington. You can watch a video of the post-game locker room by going here. Following the game, several players and of course the coach talked with the media and the Miami Dolphins have been kind enough to provide us with the transcripts of those interviews.
More from Dolphins News
- 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
- Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
- 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
- Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
- The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft
Here are the comments of Joe Philbin following Sunday’s game.
On the team’s performance:
“I thought it was a hard fought game. I told the team at halftime that a lot of these NFL games come down to the second half and whatever team plays better in the second half usually wins the game. I thought our guys made enough plays in the second half to win. It was a great way to start our 50th season as an organization. It’s a season opener and we’re going to play better next week.”
On the first half:
“They did a great job. We couldn’t get them in long-yard situations. They were moving the chains well and converting on third down a little bit as well. They certainly controlled the tempo on in the first half without a doubt.”
On QB Ryan Tannehill in the first half:
“I think the big thing was that drive before the first half. We really hadn’t done anything on offense in the first 27 or 28 minutes of the first half. I thought he really had good composure and made some throws on that two-minute drive.”
On the interceptions by cornerbacks Brent Grimes and Brice McCain:
“[They] were big plays. Defensively we’ve been talking about takeaways forever and emphasizing them, and those were huge plays. Those were not easy plays. [There was] good anticipation by those guys – good competitiveness. [I’m] really pleased today. It was big for us.”
On WR Jarvis Landry’s punt return:
“It looked like we did a good job on the hold up. It looked like our jammers did a good job as well. I remember when he caught the ball there seemed to be a lot of space when he first caught the football, which is an indication that our guys did a good job. He’s good in the open field – he’s a tough guy to get on the ground.”
On LB Zach Vigil’s performance and the run defense during the game:
“That was our plan with Zach, we rotated him in there with [LB] Kelvin [Sheppard]. We like what Kelvin’s done, we like what Zach’s done. You’ve seen Zach make a lot of tackles in the preseason. He’s a sharp guy and I felt like he deserved play opportunities. Washington had a good scheme, they executed well and kind of controlled the line of scrimmage. [They] didn’t have a ton of huge, long runs luckily but they were ripping off four [yards] here, six here, eight here – and it kept us off-balance, so they did a good job. The big thing [is] we didn’t give up any points in the second half. Again, there [are] things we want to work on, things we want to do better. But when you hold a team to 10 points in an NFL game – that’s a good place to start. ”
On DT Ndamukong Suh’s performance:
“It looked like he had a good game. We’ll take a closer look at the tape.”
On TE Jordan Cameron:
“Some of it was the number of snaps, you know, that we had in the preseason. Sometimes we are emphasizes different things in the preseason. Not spending a lot of time studying match-ups and isolating players on certain defenders. So that’s part of it. It was great to see him contribute like he did.”
On the red zone offense:
“We have to do a better job. We just have to do a better job.”
On the fumble and defensive stop during the second half:
“Yeah, I mean again that’s one thing, knock on wood, we did a good job at that last year in sudden change situations, our defense stepping up and making plays. As you mentioned, that was a huge sequence in the game. Looked like we were going to go in and at the least tie the game if not go ahead. We had just kind of scored right before the half. Felt like the momentum was about to swing in our favor and they made a big play.”
On the 4th-and-1:
“I knew right before we talked about it in our meeting as a staff on Friday that we were going to be aggressive on fourth down. I told [Offensive Coordinator] Bill [Lazor] if it was less than one, let me know. I told [Quarterbacks Coach] Zac [Taylor] up in the box if it is less than one, let me know. If it were one or more, we would kick a field goal. It was inside of one so we kind of talked about it during the week and felt like it was the right call at the right time it just didn’t prove to be.”
On WR Jarvis Landry returning punts:
“It was just one of those game plan decisions.”
On the AFC East:
“Yeah, there are good football teams in the division without a doubt. There’s a lot of good teams, good players, so it is Week 1 and a good start.”
On the Redskins’ game plan against DT Ndamukong Suh:
“It was a mixture of things. We saw some double teams. They were trying to cut him a little bit. They were trying to run away from him. There are always going to be some different things. There wasn’t a lot of trapping. I’m thinking they only did one or two throughout the course of the game. I think it was a variety of schemes.”
On the defensive line:
“Well, I mean we’ve been together since April 21st. We had the same amount of time as everybody else, same amount of practices. There are rules on when you can start practices. Again, it’s the first game, it’s not perfect but overall we played well and we’ll take a closer look and make the corrections we need to make.”
On rookie DT Jordan Phillips’ sack:
“Yeah, it was a good explosive play on his part. So, yeah, good play.”
On rookie K Andrew Franks and P Matt Darr:
“I thought they both did well. I really like the way the ball came off of their foot. It looked good. They were good on the sideline. I thought their demeanor was excellent. So I thought it was good.”