 You guys, this will be five times the rows that you've played against them, played against that defense. What are maybe some of the characteristics they have that you see on film from carry over? Yeah, fast, physical, disruptive, it's always tough going against them. Like you said, it'll be 50 or straight going against these guys. So we know each other very well, so it's gonna be a physical game. And then we know it's always gonna be tougher than trenches. That's pretty good performances against them in the past. You relish the challenge of going up against one of the better defenses in the league like that? Yeah, you always look forward to a big challenge, especially a defense like that. They've been good and consistent with the same guys for how long we've been playing them. And it's always good to go against a great defense like them, and it'll be a challenge come Monday. Derek Vaughn Miller had some fun stuff to say. He said, first of all, I can't believe I'm almost as big as this guy is. We're about the same size. He said, I might be able to run faster. His vertical is better, but just up against a guy like that who's been in the league so many years, what a challenge does he always pose? He's a Hall of Fame player. He's disruptive, he can take over a game at any point of the game. So you gotta make sure we take account of him on each and every play, each and every snap. Since the type of player he is, that's how it's been since he's been in the league. And we actually train at the same training facility. So I see him often in the offseason, but there's gonna be a challenge going up against him. A lot of backs put up some big numbers last weekend. You sense the running game is getting a little more fashionable in the NFL again all of a sudden? It's good to have a running game guys making big plays. I didn't, but it's good to see the guys getting yards and making big plays and helping their teams out. And hopefully it keeps going because we don't get much love, but hopefully that stops sometime soon. Will you say you didn't have a good game? What didn't you like about your game? Well, I feel like I could have played better. A lot of plays you want back and you just gotta get over it and work on those things and work to improve during the week and just not let it happen again. Just grow it and let it help you and kill you for the next game. You've always been. As you're in the middle of a game, yourself and the offensive line starting to take control and gain momentum in a game? Or is that just big plays happening? That's what it is. Yeah, anytime you're able to control a lot of scrimmage and keep pushing piles forward and keep gaining yards and having efficiency in the ring game, you all can feel it and you know that everything's working, we're clicking. So yeah, when that happens, it's a great feeling. Coach Redboy said that looking back on the Giants game, there was a lot of meat left on the bone. When you hear that, how do you process that and what's your response to it? What does that mean to you? No, he was right. It was a lot left on the bone, a lot of plays that could have got more out of. I could have got more out of and taking heavy emphasis on that this week. Just so when that time comes to take advantage of those plays when they're there, you got to make those plays because in this league, it can be there, then actually it closes. So just take advantage of those plays and get the most out of the play as well. What do you say that you could have gotten more out of them personally? Yeah. Is there an example or what do you mean by that? Like on the Wildcat play when I just looked the ball in and get vertical. And there's one run I had that I could have stayed vertical and tried to set up a block. But I'll just get up on that safety more quicker and try to make a home run. I know there are ebbs and flows in any game. When you guys go flat like you did at the beginning of the second half. What's your process there? Do you say something to the guys? Just looking to stay the course. Is there any acknowledgement that like, hey, things have changed for us and we need to change it back? Yeah, just as an office, you just got to get something going. And my mind said I got to make something happen. Trying to be a playmaker for this team. That's what I always think anytime we're not going the way we need to. Try to make sure everybody stays in it and then do my part by making a play. Derek, it's only week two, but do you guys as a team go into this week saying our backs are against the wall, we can't go into anything like that? We're not getting too overwhelmed about week one. All we can do is control, we control and come out here until Monday comes and get better as the week goes on and go out there and try to win a game on Monday. This week one, in this game you get no opportunity and that's all you can go for. You've always been a real self-critical guy, Derek. Do you think coming back for the first game this season, any chance that maybe you'll kind of let expectations get to yourself at home? Maybe you were a little bit more impatient than you usually are? Yeah, I'm my worst critic, if anything. So yeah, I always felt like I could have been better and just let the game come to me instead of just trying to get too overwhelmed, trying to make that big play. Each and every play and just go out there and play and do what I do. So when it comes to Monday's spotlight on you guys, anything different in the air than all the other Sunday games? I'm just ready to play. I mean it's been a long week, week's still going on so, and the game's at night. So I'm just ready to play and be excited when the time comes. What do you think this big corn might add to the middle of their line there? Yeah, big corn, he's a penetrator, a big stout dude. So it'll be fun to go against him, I haven't gone against him since he's been away so. I guess keys, you don't want to be too predictable on offense, especially on first downs, but first down is usually a time that you can take a chance, maybe catch a defense off guard with an explosive play down the field. How do you balance or try to balance the safe four to five yards you might get with Derrick on first down versus taking a shot? Yeah, we do a good job within the course of the game trying to keep track of where we're at from a percentage standpoint, a run pass ratio standpoint. Also, you go into a game like that with a team that has a history of exotic pressures on third down and so on. And so you kind of have an intentionality of trying to stay in third and manageable. That way you're not putting yourself back there waiting for long routes to develop on third down. And so I think it would be a game by game situation. Certainly in that game, early in the game, we were running the ball four or five yards a pop on first down. It kind of helped us stay into a rhythm, stay in some of those third and shorters. Obviously, we didn't do a good enough job of converting the third and shorts, but that all plays into the process. And then it also set up some play passes on first down later in the game that we had some success. Is third and manageable straight out the goal or is there an allowance for first down on first down or second down? Absolutely. I mean, third manageable is the preference if you're not taking those shots on first and second down. And so there's a give and take there. Ultimately, the goal is to get first downs, whether it's on first, second, or third down to continue drives. But you go into a game like that and you certainly want to try to limit the exposure on third next along. I've talked about running the play to the shape that you guys have on third down. Been a lot of talk about that. What needed to happen better for that play to succeed? A better play call. That was a bad call. I take full responsibility for that call. Played a percentage off of what we had seen from that defense in short yardage. Obviously, had a little miscue earlier in the game on short yardage and got a little too aggressive with that call. Should have got something downhill and that's on me. Coach Rayboy has said something to the extent of you guys don't take the philosophy, excuse me, philosophy of, we have to get this guy going. But when you have playmakers like Burks, like Woods, don't you think that's something that you want to do? Hey, let me get them a while, get them checked in early. So that way we have them full go for the game. Yeah, we do a quite extensive kind of evaluation of the game plan as a staff to make sure that we have some things for you guys, particularly early in the game. And I think you saw some different guys getting touches early in the game. One of the things that I think we did well is we started faster. That was a point of emphasis. And we were able to get a touchdown on the opening drive by getting the ball to a couple of different guys, including Traylin and some other people. So there's certainly an element of that to try to get guys going. You want to balance that without trying to force anything. And that's always part of the ebb and flow of the game. But yeah, I think there's some validity to trying to get guys going early. Todd, generally speaking, when you guys have an offensive philosophy that everyone knows and that won't change kind of regardless of the personnel you guys have on the field, what do you have to do kind of on a week to week basis to make sure that you're keeping the defense on its toes? Yeah, we got to look for those counter punches, you know? And that's something that helped us generate some of those play pass productions. We had a couple of explosives in the play pass off of common run formations, things like that. And then also you have to have some interchangeable parts. You have to have guys that can go in there and do the job of maybe somebody who gets most of those reps early in the season. And you got to kind of do it out of a different personnel grouping. So, you know, first game, you develop a couple of tendencies, and then you got to try to find those counter punches to those tendencies. Super O-Line as far as the protection standpoint and weak point. And maybe what's the challenge here in week two against the team ahead? Seven sides. Well, thank you for asking, Jim. I thought we protected well. I thought we did a nice job of setting a firm pocket for Ryan inside. He was able to step up in the pocket and get through a couple of progressions. You know, we ended up with the one statistical sack that was on a keeper that Ryan scrambled. But, you know, that was the only blemish on otherwise. Pretty good protection day. Yeah, however, were you by Ryan Tannehill in that season opener? Yeah, I thought he saw the game well. You know, we were talking on the sideline and he was diagnosed in defense as well. And particularly for a defensive scheme like that and the unknowns of the opener, you know, he was seeing things and indicators well. And so that process was good. Again, we just need to convert more on third down so we can keep those drives alive and give more opportunities for those first down play passes or, you know, the counter punches that we talked about. And that's, you know, that's obviously the goal this week. How much bigger is the challenge from a protected standpoint against Buffalo based on what you saw for them last week? Yeah, that's the fun of the NFL, right? Every week's a different challenge. Last week is a little bit more scheme and figuring out how you're going to block things up. And this week it's about matchups and knowing our opponent. So we've got to dive into understanding who we're blocking, right? And having, you know, a protection plan for some of those edge rushers and then, you know, make sure we're doing everything we can to help those guys in one-on-one situations. We talked about getting guys going at all. Woods and Westbrook each caught a ball early and then kind of disappeared from the pass game. And then Hooper was targeted really late in the game. What do you have to do to kind of spread things around or you're just trying to play the hot hand and whoever's open there? Yeah, you know, I think that there's a little bit of misnomer to the number of targets just because they weren't targeted early. Doesn't mean they weren't first in the progression early. And so there are a couple of plays where we might have those guys highlighted at different points in the game. And then a couple of those penalties, you know, on who he was the primary target in the two-minute drive, you know, with those holding calls where if he wasn't held, he probably gets a target. So, you know, there's a little bit of that to it as well. But I do think there's a balance between trying to get everybody going and spreading it out and, you know, sticking with what's working, so to speak, you know, and obviously we got Don Trell going a little bit in the red zone and situationally, which may have taken away a couple of targets from those other guys. Getting the defensive holdings and that sort of. Is there a knack or a trick for guys to be able to get more of those calls, whether it's a defensive hold or a pass interference call? Do some guys have that ability to do that more than others? I think so, yeah, it's just contact, you know, strength through contact and play speed. You know, hoop does a great job of setting up defenders and getting on an edge. And sometimes when they hook them or grab them, you know, he's able to show that he's being restricted and that kind of movement, you know, lets the official know that there's been some grab in there. So I do think there's some savviness to that and some football IQ of understanding, hey, I got a guy on a certain leverage. Let's take advantage of it and put him in a tough spot. On the predictability front, last year, second down, if you got sacked or threw incomplete on first down, you ran 64% of the time. Is that a we're going to run no matter what and we're going to make you stop us thing or is that a stubbornness where you're not using everything that's available to you? Yeah, maybe a little bit of both. You know, certainly trying to get ourselves, you know, into a little bit better third down situation on those second and longs. And I have a lot of confidence in our run game to be able to be efficient in those situations. You know, I wouldn't necessarily categorize 64, 36 as like, you know, stubbornness and just flat out tilting the scales. It's leaning one way, but you're a couple runs, couple passes here and there from balancing that out. So, you know, hopefully I'm not too predictable this season. Couple runs from balancing a couple passes from balancing it out, but you choose not to take those couple passes. Yeah, and again, that can be all game situation, you know, and a lot of factors play into that. You did a good job, like getting him matched up against linebackers, as a play caller and schemer, how do you balance, okay, I have a guy who I just know is going to beat the opposition as opposed to, okay, I got to scheme these guys to get open from week to week. Yeah, sometimes it's two in the same, right? If you're able to create a matchup, you know, with a linebacker and you can consistently get that guy isolated, you know, you kind of kill two birds with one stone there. And then sometimes it's about familiarity and given the quarterback of progression that he's seen a lot of times and then just moving some of the pieces around to build those schemes. So, you know, I think that Don Trell adds a piece there for us that has been fun to watch, you know, throughout training camp, kind of grow in that role. You know, we're always stressing our guys, you know, to run off the football and to be the tip of the spear in the run game from a tight end standpoint. And, you know, I think that that's an ever-growing kind of challenge for those guys, right? Is how much can they give to the pass game and can they equal it in the run game? So we don't want anybody to be one-dimensional and we'll continue to challenge everyone to step up, you know, in both phases. Great. With the yards you guys gave up in the run game last week, are those correctable things when you watched them unfilm? Yeah, I think so. I mean, it was a combination, man. I think a couple of tough calls, put the guys in some tough situations on a couple of those things. I think the tackling showed up a little bit. You face an elite back. I mean, you're going to have some, but they were able to break some and get some significant yardage on them. And then a few fit things where an elite back finds it, right, like if you don't fit up against the ones that are elite, they make you pay for it. So in combination of things, it's got to be better. We got to do a better job setting the edge, building a wall and swarming. But I mean, there was a few different things that factored into that. Was Zach aggressive enough in this game? Yeah, I felt like he was going. There were some good clips of him knocking guys around and they were doing some unique things, bringing the tight end up on them pretty early in the down, in the play. And again, with all these guys, they got a decision to make. At some point in the block, it's either I can go under, I can go over, I can go through. And a lot of that depends on where the ball's at, right? So, I mean, there's a time and place for making those decisions and they got to have good instincts and good feel for when they can. But we will see. I think all of us across the board knows it has to be better. Challenge, I guess, going up to the quarterback like Buffalo's got with a strong arm and also a willingness to run it. Yeah, he's a special player. We got a big challenge ahead of us. He makes that thing go up there. He can make the throws on schedule, all the throws, wherever it is. He can scramble around and buy time and make all the throws. He can scramble around and run and stiff arm 250 pound dudes to the ground. He's a unique player with a special skill set with a lot of things that you have to be able to defend with him. The tackling problems have kind of been well documented with starters playing little to none in the preseason and obviously not taking guys to the ground in practice at all. Is some of that rust? And do you have to maybe rethink your approach to the preseason in terms of getting guys on the field to tackle? I think, I mean, we try to rep it. A lot of the fundamentals of tackling, I think you can get across without contact. Like we're out here throughout the season, it's the same thing. Like, I mean, you talk about tackling and there might be maybe five to six tackles per guy, per game on average, you would say. But I think that the technique and the fundamentals of being able to stay on my feet and not get too wide with my base where I can step to contact. I'm not hop in and I'm closing the distance. All those things that really enable you to be a good tackler have nothing to do with the end result of the contact if that makes sense. Like there's a lot of little things leading up to the junction point where I'm wrapping and collision and that ultimately lead to whether you make or miss. So, I mean, does it factor maybe a little bit? I'm not gonna say yes or no either way, but I do think there's a lot of things we can do without the contact that can improve our tackle. With Farley only playing 15 snaps against the Giants, like how has he responded? Obviously he wants to play more, but how has he responded to that? Yeah, he's been good. He's competitive. All these guys are. They all want to be out there every snap. Unless they're tired, of course, and they're begging to get out. But he's responded well. I think he's been ready to go this week. He's excited for the challenge that they present and what's gonna be asked of him. So, I mean, he's been good. I've felt no negativeness from him this week. What's kind of your talking point with Christian on the big touchdown play there? And I guess how important is that, especially with guys like Diggs? Yeah, I mean, on the back end, ultimately do your job, right? And that's all 11 guys, they got a job to do. On a run play, on a pass play, they all have a job to do. It's our job on those plays to rush and be able to get home to affect the quarterback. And you're not always going to. I mean, Jeff is close, but those guys got to do their job. They can't get lazy. They can't fall asleep on things. And if you've got a job to cover the man, worry about covering the man and not what's going on with the other 10 guys, because that's your job on that play. Just kind of maybe got caught looking in the back. Yeah, I got caught peeking. I think he got a little lazy with his technique. And then I started to wonder. Officer, then, did you like with the Roger McCurry's game? Yeah, I thought he did a good job. I thought he, I thought he did a really good job for the first game going out there and competing and different things that he's been doing for us. Like, thought he went out there and challenge wasn't at all scared, you know? So I'm encouraged with him. And hopefully it keeps progressing. Shane, everybody talks about, obviously, Allen and his receivers. What do you see from their running backs on film? How good are they? Yeah, they're all different, right? They're all different. Singletary Moss, I think they both run the ball really hard. I think they've done a good job of introducing some different schemes to kind of help those guys a little bit, a little bit different schematically than what they were last year in the run game. But they do, they run the ball hard. They're fighting for yards. No different than the quarterback fighting for yards. Again, it's going to be a game where we're going to have to be able to set the edge on them. And hopefully we can build a wall where they can't get that steam going downhill on us. What did you guys lose in David and A&E from the practice squad? And maybe also, have you got any impressions on Tusca so far? Yeah, I think David did a great job for us in the preseason. The rushability, he was progressing. He was improving every day. I think we saw that from training camp on through. And Tusca's been good. He's been bought in. He's learning as we go. Just like all these guys, they're trying to carve out a role for himself. And he's done a good job of everything. We've asked them up to this point. What is the challenge when they use, I think, three different backs on Thursday night? I mean, I guess to Josh, you kind of knew you see a lot of bark. It was a challenge when you got so many guys rotating in. Yeah, I think you got to know their skill sets. They're all a little bit different. Singletary to Moss, to Cook, right? They're all different in how potentially they could use them because of those skill sets. And just like anything else, we talked a little bit about the DB receiver deal. Like, knowing who you're lined up against and what they're trying to do and how they run their routes, it's no different with running backs, right? How patient are they? How impatient are they? How hard are they hitting it? Like, there's all these, are they more quick than fast? There's a bunch of different skill sets that come into play, can they catch out the backfield? All those things, we've got to have a good understanding of who each guy is. Not one play in particular, but do you feel like with the way the first half went that you guys maybe took your foot off the gas a little there in the second half? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say that. I think the X plays killed us, and it led them back in the game. That's the thing. Like, if we don't give them the X plays, we've got to make them earn it and who knows what happens. But when you get those X plays and they're right back in the game and the momentum starts to swing, it just gets hard. And I think those two plays kind of demoralized us a little bit more so than us truly just letting our foot off the gas. But again, we battled. Like, after those two plays, we battled. We found some stops. And then, unfortunately, we weren't able to get it done on that last drive there. Yeah, I think he was in a good position. They tried to run some spot pick deal and rub them, and he was able to play over the top of it. He was in a good spot to where he was able to get his eyes back. If we talk about a man coverage a lot, we're not really looking for interceptions. We're looking for PBU's and playing through the hands and making sure our eyes are on our man, right? So we're not losing them. But he was in a good spot. I think he was able to get over the top. And he was kind of in phase with Seyquan, and he was able to take a peek. And then that's when he saw the ball and was able to make it. Yep. You bet some adjustments that Randy had made coming into this year. Did you see anything on the one kick that stood out, or is it just kind of, you know? Yeah, you know, we went over it with Randy. I think he just swung through it a little bit too much. We're trying to tell him to be aggressive when he goes and kicks the ball. And it's just unfortunate, one of those things that we didn't come up and make the kick. But beforehand, we just have a lot of confidence in Randy, whether it's anywhere out on the field right now. He's had a great training camp. And you know, just he's been doing really well. And so we're going to have a lot of confidence in him to make all these kicks. So when the next time this happens, we expect the ball to go through. There's a big emphasis at the end of the game there to make sure he got on the right hash using the timeout and all of that stuff. Is that preferable to being right down the middle? So yeah, Randy doesn't care where he kicks the ball. He likes to have it on one of the hashes. And going through our data just over training camp and things like that, the right hash has been more of a better kick for him. So we felt also with the wind going from a right to left, going that direction of the tunnel, that that hash would be the best thing for him. So yeah, we're going to look at all the data and see where the winds at each and every week. And it might change from game to game. But we just felt the right hash was going to be a better spot for him on that kick. Does the data say a closer field goal? Sure. Is it a higher percentage than a hash mark? Definitely. I mean, obviously it does. But with the time and things like that, the biggest thing is, hey, we want to feel a certain hash might be the best kick for Randy, too. But I think if you ask all kickers, too, they'll probably say more yardage. But when it comes down to us making a 40 yard field goal from a 42 to a 47, well, we got to be able to go and execute everything from our operations to our kick. With that data and knowing that the right hash is where you want to be, is that not something that you would think would be understood when that drive starts? Because apparently there was a timeout that had to be called. Yeah, and I got to continue to do a good job communicating that because it could change at any point in time, right? Whether it's the wind, whether we're at on a certain spot on the field, I got to continue to communicate everything with Todd, with the head coach. Because again, that part can change at any point in time during the course of the game. Talking about swinging through, is that more of a technique issue, where his left foot maybe is out of place, or what maybe contributes? No, it would be more of him just trusting his follow through with his kick. That's probably one of the bigger things with Randy is really getting his hip through. Whether he kicks the ball in the right or the left hash, we want to make sure that he's staying aggressive on all of his kicks. Have it still not done as a holder? I mean, we always heard how good Brett was in that regard. Has that been an adjustment for him at all? A little bit. Obviously, when you're working with a guy all last year with Brett that Randy did last year, it's always an adjustment going in. But Ryan has done a great job for us coming in here, working his butt off as far as holds, because that was a major thing with him. He didn't really hold that much, especially his last couple of years there at Colorado State. But he's worked at it. He's out here every single day on the jugs, working with Randy. So we'll continue to work with him to get our operation as perfect as we possibly can, because Morgan snaps a great ball for us. The snap at the hole, good on that basket? Yeah, I'm sure there's some things that we can always do better. But we thought the operation was pretty clean. And again, we're going to have a ton of confidence in Randy making that kick next time. Craig, what are the teaching points for Kyle Phillips in the punt return game, where he has an electrifying punt to punt return to start the game, but then also has that muffed punt there at the end of the game? Yeah, sure. I think the one thing that we try to really talk to Kyle about is communication back there. And you probably don't realize it, but there's a lot of communication that happens back there with Kyle and all returners. We want to do a really good job, especially when a punter punts the ball and gets a lot of hangtime, especially if we're backed up a little bit, where our guys, what we tell Kyle all the time is they're fighting for you. They want to have a great return. They're going to block as hard as they possibly can for you. Now we've got to do our turn of communicating. And if it's going to be a job where we have to fair catch it, we've got to get those other guys out of the way so we can clean up the pitcher for him. We don't want to have four or five guys that are going to be right beside Kyle Phillips when he catches a punt. So he's got to do his job communicating and talk really loud because those guys are doing everything that they can to have another big return. So we'll continue to heart with Kyle about that and not just saying it one time, but it's got to be three or four times to get those guys out of the way. What does it mean to you to get Joe Jones and Trent and Cannon on the active roster this week and not have to worry about those decisions going on? Yeah. One, I think they've earned that opportunity to be on the active squad. We both feel like they had really good games for us. And they've worked really hard. And I'm excited for them. I know the players are too. So we'll look each and every week for those guys to make a big contribution to our special teams. Kyle's healthy enough to play Monday. If not, maybe who are you looking at to be your son? So we got a lot of guys back there that's been catching Imani Hooker, Robert Woods, Traylon Burks. Those guys have been doing it during training camp. They'll continue to get reps at it just in case something happens to Kyle. Has a strong leg, a 50 plus yard punt is nothing for him, it seems like. But with that, are you still OK with a 12 to 15 yard return if it's a 40 net? Sure. He had a lot of big punts for us. And we also have to do our job of covering. So we just got to make sure if he's going to hit those deep balls going 66, 70 yards, that there's got to be some hang time with it. I know one of the last ones that he ended up punting, he wants that one back because it wasn't really great direction, but it was still 58 yards. We just got to get a little bit more hang time on it. So any time he's going to boom the ball like that, we've got to make sure that we get good hang time and then our coverage has to be good. And if they do get 12, 15, 16 yards and we can still net 47 yards, I still think we're doing a pretty good job.