 Good. I guess I guess kind of what's maybe the week been like for you. I guess I little bit of a whirlwind. Uh, so obviously came in Monday made the corrections and moving forward. Uh, you know, we had a really good meetings, practice yesterday, more of a walkthrough so we could install and we're excited to get on the grass and work with some speed north or pads on us. We've worked on our tech techniques and fundamentals. Tom, the Colts talked after the game saying that they had seen some things on tape. Has there been any self scouting to me? We self scout every week and, you know, we look at all six different, you know, units to make sure that, you know, we're looking at ourselves first before we look at the next opponent. How are things going to continue to go now like with yourself and Coach Levine and some of the other teams? We're moving forward as a two man team. We work well together. Obviously, you know, a little bit more work where we were used to doing it with three. Now we're doing with two. So we've got big shoulders to get the job done. How much has it changed? Obviously, Stonehouse was such a weapon able to take 50 and 60 yard punts. How much does it change the coverage with a new punter who may not have that strong? It changes the angles a little bit because it's not as far down the field. Um, but you know, Ryan Stonehouse, he's tremendous because I come in off the street. He doesn't know me and I really don't know him and he led the league in gross punting last year and he was so coachable and so teachable and wanted to get better. So I really, you know, respect the heck out of him for that. Feel bad for what happened to him, but he's got great spirits and he's looking to move forward. So your philosophy is coaching special teams and will there be any changes you can make? Now me and Levine were pretty similar come from, you know, kind of cut from the same cloth. We like to keep things simple so we can play fast and physical. So again, that's it in a nutshell right there. Monday made some corrections. Well, no, we do that every Monday, you know, you come in, you look at the tape and what you did well, what you need to improve on and we move forward. So coming off the last week, what things did you guys have to do? We were to get better in our punt protection with our techniques and fundamentals. How important is that extra day playing on Monday to kind of get guys adjusted in new roles like a new punter, a new holder and obviously changing things. Yeah, you know, we got some work yesterday with the holds and we'll get some work with the drops yesterday then we'll work on the whole operation today and we'll get the punt operation. So it'll be a good transition for him. What options do you have and protect you and why they can't go? We'll roll some different guys in there. Jonathan Ward could be a guy and that's good thing like a lot of guys are going to get some opportunities. So what they do with them is up to them. So we're excited about that. We've been really pleased with the progress of the young guys, you know, the Colton Dows, Anthony Kendall's, they've really made some good strides. So we're looking for some other guys to step up and help us. You know, we've got Jojo Domenin and he's done that role before. So those are the two options we're looking at right now. What's the right amount for emergency situation work like Tannehill working as a holder? We try and do that, you know, once a week, once every couple weeks and sometimes it changes based on what the roster is. You know, who your backup snapper is, backup returners and all that. So you... Sorry, why would once every couple weeks be sufficient when something could be so important like Tannehill's? Well, it's something, you know, snapping, we snap every day with emergency snappers. Sometimes with a holder, we get them once a week. We just try and mix it in. Nick has so many kicks in his leg. So again, we try and protect him with that. So it's not like he can just kick, you know, another four or five, six balls. What have you seen from Ty coming in? And does it help to kind of already have that stable veteran presence with Morgan Cox? That helps with Morgan, yeah, because he's a voice of reason. He's seen it and done it. You know, I took a look at Ty coming out of college when I worked him out at Kansas State. And so he's athletic. So again, going forward, I think that would really help him having Morgan back there. And it also helps having Nick, you know, help him with the holes as well. On the holder side of things, how do you determine whether now it's going to be Tannehill or if it's going to be Ty? It's going to be Ty. We're comfortable with Ty. Is there anything you have to do coaching-wise to help develop that chemistry in Morgan and Ty? Or is that kind of you trust them to do it? Well, we get enough reps so they feel comfortable. But there's a lot of chemistry that is built throughout the off season and the season. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. All right, thank you guys. Thank you. Out of the game or did you report issues or how did that go on Sunday when you went to the medical tent and then to the locker room and and then didn't get to return to the game? Yeah, I guess they've seen something that they felt like I couldn't return. I felt fine. This took a helmet to helmet hit and I guess they've seen enough where I couldn't go back in. I wanted to go back in. It was hard to watch, but you know, I just got to respect their decision. You make a play at that point and try to fight? Get back in or there's no such thing? No, I'm just watching the game. I can't fight it. I mean, it's their decision. It's their call. You know, it sucked. But you know, you got to respect it. You know, I wanted to go out there and continue to play and help them win. But you know, they they said different. So you feel anything even at the moment? Say it again. Did you feel anything at the moment, even from the head or not? No, I feel good. You just got hit in the head and you know, it's a bell rung a little bit. Get back up, shake it off and try to go back in. But you know, they didn't let that happen. So you got a good week there. It felt good all the way through. Yeah, I feel good. Were you diagnosed with a concussion or anything specific or did they just say? No, no, I wasn't. But I think the league is trying to be precautious on, you know, head injuries and guys who stumble, which I respect. You know, it's all about player safety. And those things are serious. And in the past years, you know, guys had injuries and you know, it's, you know, it's kind of linked a little bit. So I respect that one will argue it. It is what it is. The season hadn't gone the way you guys wanted it obviously. But you guys still get, you guys still get fired up and circle of a prime time game this late in the year, even if you're not in contention. Yeah, I mean, every game is fun. You know, you still get opportunity to go out there and play and showcase what you work for individually and as a team. And that's all that's all you can do. You know, football is still fun. You know, lose a win. Obviously we want to win. But it's still about having fun and enjoying this game and enjoying this time because, you know, we're blessed with opportunity. You know, you got to be grateful for it. The last time you guys went to Miami, it was that, what, seven plus hours? Oh lord, yeah, I remember that. What did you do during that break? How did you keep yourself ready? Say that again? During that delay, it was three hours at one point. What did you do to keep yourself ready and just able to go back out there? Walk around, joke with everybody in the locker room, keep my legs warm. Probably had a hot dog. I think, I mean, it was so long ago. It was, that was a long game. But yeah, just sitting in the locker room, waiting to go back out, trying to say one best possible. And, you know, everybody got out of the crazy game. When you went back out, did you have to do anything different like to get ready quicker? Because I think it was, they told you like in 10 minutes you guys had to get back out and some guys were still eating. Yeah, yeah. There were issues there. And I was straight. I think I just did a little warm-up and was ready to go. I think I actually had a touch and I got called back. So I felt, I felt, I felt pretty good. How good is the Dolphins obviously good on offense? What do you see from them defensively? An aggressive defense, penetrating linebackers, obviously experience secondary. I think they're solid all the way around. They get to the ball, they play, they play fast, they're physical. You know, secondary is really good. Took a Hail Mary back 90 something yards. So, you know, they got playmakers all over the field. So he's got to be locked in this week, like every week and definitely pay attention to the little things and be included on the fundamentals and everything we need to do just so we can execute it and give ourselves a chance. You've gotten to over the years of basketball. No, not, not really. But I've seen them when we speak every now and then, but I don't really know them that much. Were you encouraged by the success you had in the run game before having to leave or in the fourth quarter? That's something you feel like you need to build on this week to try to keep the ball away from them? Let's just say it's a little better than the week before. A lot of good things to build off of. Thought the line did a great job. Everybody blocking did a great job and, you know, I just had to go out there and do my job and it definitely made it a little easier. Last Sunday, even though we didn't come up to win, but I thought it did a great job. What did you think of Ty J after you were out? He stepped in. I mean, I had no question that he wouldn't go out there and do his job and be effective as he's been all season. Thought he did good. You're a couple you've seen will continue to grow as a leader over the last several weeks? I thought he's been growing every day. That's all you want. You know, as a rookie coming in and taking over the starting job is continuing to grow, continue to get better and progress as time goes on. I don't want him to jump, you know, for first downs every now and then, but, you know, he's been playing his butt off and all he can do is continue to grow as a player. What does it do for you when you see him running down after that ball's knocked out of his hands and he helps recover it? Yeah, I was saying get down, get down. But then, you know, when he did that, that just shows his will and doing whatever he can for the team for us to win. I thought it was a pretty cool play to show his effort. So How much you're looking forward to seeing David Long? Oh, yeah, I haven't seen David Long in a while. I'm sure he'd be shooting gaps, trying to stop us in the run game. So, you know, definitely familiar with David for the last 10 years he's been here and how he's going to play the run and how he plays. He's supposed to be a good player, so he's going to be out there wanting to make plays. He's going to be amped up for sure. You always walk out with Jeffrey down the tunnel and I know how different that going to be and what do you say to him? I was like, I ain't going to have you when we go out for a free game, but you know, he's working hard to get back. It'll be a little different. I'm about to use the Nico Aziz to replace him, but yeah, we definitely going to miss him. It was five years ago yesterday, the anniversary of 99 yards in Jacksonville and start here against Jacksonville. But since then you are leaps and bounds over every other running back in yards and touchdowns in the league. How do you explain the crazy run that this has been for five years now? Yeah, I mean, God is good. We get all the glory to God. Very thankful to be where I'm at today, not knowing what was going to happen during that time and in that game kind of streaming for a little bit. Just thankful man and blessed as a kid. It's everything that I ever wanted to have a chance to play this long and have this success out success. I've had the people who've contributed to my success. It's been thankful for this whole journey and you know, just want to keep it going and be able to play as long as I can. Darren, how much with Coach Saban, maybe in the off season or do you at all? Because I feel like he's such a motivator still in a lot of your guys' lives that are in NFL. I mean, he usually reaches out at the end of the season. Just check on guys. See how everybody's doing when he has a chance. He's a busy guy. He's on Pat McAfee and traveling, doing all these different things and all these different shows. But he usually checks in whenever he has some free time. I usually know it's him as a private number. Nobody else calls it from private but him. So it's usually him. That mindset is the wins haven't been coming as easily or is it still kind of come naturally to their respective? No, I mean I'm eight years in this league. Win or loss. You still got to go get up and go to work and change to improve and continue to get better. And if you love playing this game, you love getting better, you love competing, then you're going to continue to do that. Win or loss, keep that hungry mindset and that's how I've always been. So I'm still going to attack today, attack every practice and do my job the best I can. Yeah, the world just want to be better, want to improve, taking the meetings to practice and then letting translate to the game. And I feel like they're doing their best their best job to try to do that. It ain't going to be perfect like we all say to each other. Just try to do the best you can. Some plays you know they're going to get us and then some plays we'll win. But as long as you just keep working and stay locked in, then everything will happen what we wanted to. You had one play or one game from your time here that you'd say was your favorite moment? What would you do? I can say that for the end of the year, end of the season. I don't know right now, but at the end of the year I have an answer for you. So just remember that question and ask them again. Who was it that started the tradition of maybe putting a crown on your head after you scored? Do you remember who did that for the first time? I don't know if it was Corey or Taj J? One of them too. They started or maybe AJ I don't know. But it's been going on for a while and hopefully you keep it going this week too so. All right. What did you think of the work Taj did after he came in? Yeah, he did he did a really good job. You know being able to go and you know we didn't have to alter any of our calls or the way that we were planning on attacking them. He was able to go out and execute and did so at a high level and kind of you know for the first time he the next the don't want to speak for him, but I bet the next day he kind of felt a little bit differently after having a little bit heavier usage rate. So he did a really good job for us being able to step in when we needed him to. Tim the offense was productive on so many drives on Sunday and then hit that low. Yeah, yeah. What are there's the same issues that are popping up in those lulls that when the offense is struggled at times this year? You know we had a missed opportunity on a third down. You know where we're had an opportunity and just didn't see him. You know try to take a little bit of a chunk on first down on one of them. Corner fell off. I mean a good play. The ball to Hopkins on their sideline. So it was kind of more of just a inability to make a play and inability to me to get him a better play call. It didn't off the top my head. You know there they didn't seem like there were the you know self inflicted wounds that we had talked about previously. That that wasn't something that was glaring in those particular drives. So you know there we just got to do a good job. I got to do a better job of getting us into a rhythm with a different play call and then being able to go ahead and take advantage of those opportunities when when and if they do arrive. I don't you know that was a unique situation obviously going in for half time and then there was a long drive and I think that was probably the first time wills had to deal with that in terms of really you know in real time it was probably you know plus a 30 minutes since he since he had thrown a pass. So you know he's I've got to do a better job like I said getting him into a rhythm sooner as opposed to waiting and maybe being a little bit overly aggressive there was some of the some of the calls that I made. How did Jalen do in his second game as it started? Yeah you know saw areas of improvement you know did a better job playing into a line of scrimmage obviously there's there's just like every game for every player right there's going to be things that he did well and things that he needs to improve on so you know Haas has been clear with him as far as you know what those areas are and you know looking forward to him getting an opportunity to be able to go out there and work on that here in a in a few minutes. Who saw last week I think it was the first play Deidre Hopkins he forgot to ball to him how do you balance that whole process of getting your guys involved early versus scheming to what the defense is doing and especially with a guy like Trayla Thurms Yeah and it's you know you're you're trying to find out different ways to get get those guys the ball obviously you have an idea as to what what you're expecting to see coverage wise you know front wise obviously with Derek it's easy you can just turn around and hand it to him but with some of these other guys you know trying to trying to be able to get a feel for you know what what the coverage is is going to be what's a favorable matchup and really trying to figure out where the ball should go now does it always go there now but you know there's obviously plays that that we have designed you know that we have star and dotted whatever for certain players where we think like hey there's a good chance that you know if we get if we get the coverage we think we're going to get so and so should get the ball so you know there's a number of different guys that that have you know those those different types of plays in in trails one of those guys so again not now that he's going to be a back out here with a full week of prep and all that it's going to be good to see you know what he can do here Monday night why is that that have been always seen that happened often where you go into a week like hey I have to get so and so the football early to get him established um yeah I think you're always trying to get your playmakers the ball you know and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't you know I think just thinking back to the to the Chargers game we had a plan to try to get hop the ball early and I don't think you caught one until late in the second quarter which is third down and it was you know it wasn't one of those players where it's like hey we think this is you know the one that he's going to get so there's always a an intent to try and get those players the ball it's just you know how the game shakes out and and if the ball finds them at the right time what does it always seem so hard to get trailing? yeah I don't I don't necessarily see it that way you know when when you have a you know hop you have Derek yeah you have Tajie you have Chig there's a there's a number of different guys that you're trying to get the football too and and and like I said you know was it best laid plans of mice and men is that the that the saying hopefully I didn't screw that up um you can go in there at the with with all the intent to the world of of having a play designed to get to somebody and unless there's only one option like it's it's it's really not up to us so again some of its luck some of its it's you know being able to find a way to make the play when it finds you and then some of it's you know going to fall on the design so I don't necessarily think that it's difficult to try and do that I just don't know if it's worked out the way that we've wanted it to right now how are like kind of call through I guess the decision for Kyle to be inactive and mainly in regard to special teams what do you tell him to kind of keep plugging in and how has he kind of done yeah I mean he's handled like a professional obviously again don't want to speak for him but he's come out here and you wouldn't be able to tell by his demeanor the way that he's attacked practice you know we tell our guys just like you know everybody on the roster you got to do a great job of preparing as if you're a starter because you never know when when we're going to need you to be ready to go out there and play so Kyle's done a good job coming in here not missing a beat and in preparing as if you know he's going to be a starter for us How early in the week do you get an indication that a guy like in Kyle's situation who's been up and playing and kind of developed a rapport with Will that he might not be inactive on Sunday yeah it varies Is there anything more that he can do to get active like do you need to see some more from there is it just kind of how the chips fall there's a lot that goes into it he's just got to keep coming out here and really control the things that he can control coming out here and being reliable doing a good job in the meeting room preparing and you know making sure that when he's out here and the ball finds him he continues to make the play how much of it is also a offense go ahead he's kind of to do this year specifically that pass rush what do you see from that for any what makes sense or difficult yeah they are they're a physical group they're attacking you know they can attack you from from you know every position obviously Chum probably gets all the hype 94 is a good player he's disruptive on the inside you know they're they are they're playing fast they're playing physical and and they're playing hard and when you get a front that can consistently do that you know they they typically have success so I would say that those guys out front for them are doing a good job playing with that type of mindset so they got like something related sometimes with the defense what was I didn't hear this I didn't hear the start of it sorry well they got like how does it match up related sometimes like in a given week yeah sure sure I think there's you know obviously it's a there's a lot of factors that go into it. Ultimately it's going to be who's going to be able to give us the best chance to win a game so you know it's not just offensive production obviously that from my standpoint from my standpoint that plays a role in it but it's it's what combination of guys is going to give us the best chance to go out there and win. Yeah he's we've got to do a good job being able to go out there and execute our game plan you know he's not going to take one snap against Tua against anybody against Tyreek any of those guys on offense he needs to be focused on on the defense that we're getting ready to go play and he needs to go out there and execute the game plan and if he does that right he's going to give us a chance to go out there and have a good night. Feels like last week was his worst games at Titan. Mike didn't necessarily see it that way I kind of wonder where you fall in line. Yeah yeah I mean similar to what we're talking about with Jalen right if there's there's always going to be be plays where you know you're going to want to have some back and you're always going to be excited about some of the things that you saw like sweating out the touchdown past the hop right and he they was zero they're bringing pressure he's got to wait to see how that thing's shaking out he's getting a little bit of pressure there from the left side and he's able to deliver a strike and you know that was something that it was good to see because he made development from Friday to Sunday during the game. You know there's an opportunity and and whether it was over time or late in the fourth where you know he had a chance and he just didn't see him. So I wouldn't say that it was his worst game but as always there's going to be stuff that we're going to let the build on and stuff that we're going to look to improve on. Right now I'm worried about the dolphins so that's all I'm seeing. Thank you guys. When you look at them on tape I mean what a lot of things obviously might jump out at you I guess the speed probably number one and what's the best way to contain it. Yeah definitely the speed I mean they got it at every position. You're going to have to do a good job making sure they don't get behind us obviously a better job than what we did on Sunday. Backs are really fast explosive. I think they lead the league in yards per rush. If you give them space they're going to Cretia. Got the ability to hit the home run running the ball as well. Just a unique scheme a challenging scheme the full backs in play the two backstuffs in play and then obviously with the playmakers on the outside there's a lot to defend. Shane you made some good in the red zone but this my every dolphins team this tops in the red zone like 75 percent. Yeah. What makes them different and so much more difficult Yeah. I mean I I think it's a little bit of the scheme that shows up. They do a really good job scheming plays up finding ways to attack defenses and then they got playmakers who can run away from guys who's been able to make plays. I see the ball getting thrown and they make go up and make plays on it. You know so it's going to be a big challenge for us. We just got to make sure we're fundamentally sound our eyes are great always that's out in the field as well with all the stuff they show you. It is different. I mean you don't see a full back all the time in the league anymore. So that element as an element there's just so much going on pre snap and they do it out of all personnel groups. It's really tough to get a gauge based on what personnel what they're going to do. What picture they're going to show you and it's always going to be changing right. So it is it's challenging just the diversity of everything that they're doing and the skill sets allow them to do a lot of different things especially at running back those guys are out wide they're doing different things they're motioning so I think the skill sets allow them a lot of versatility. What are some of the adjustments you have to make to face a left-handed quarterback? Yeah I think the biggest thing is just understanding how the ball is being released being able to match the hand like we preach all the time make sure we're trying to get our left hand up because more times than that's where the ball is coming over our head at. So up front being able to adjust that get our right hand up really other than that maybe just in terms of the RPO game where the what side the ball is coming out at at a quicker quicker pace than what it would with a right-handed quarterback. Do you challenge guys even more with Jeffrey being out or they just know that everybody's gonna preach better? Yeah I mean it's kind of the nature of the league Jim like we've we've been here we've gone through it here these past few years and I mean they all got jobs to do right and they might have to do a little bit more they they might be counting on a little bit more of play times going to increase with some guys but ultimately they got a job to do we got to go out there and do it and hopefully we're doing it all 11 guys doing it together like it's not just on one guy two guys and make up for that type of production it's going to take the whole unit and just making sure these guys don't try to do too much just go out there and do your job don't try to do too much. What did you see from Kavon Wallace that is he earning more snaps in the defense now that he's kind of got his feet under yeah I've been pleased with Kavon I think he's progressed here these past few weeks just his understanding what we're doing schematically you see the speed out there you see some physicality from him which we could refrain from the tonning penalty obviously but he's progressed well I think his understanding is getting to the level where some of these other guys are starting to trust him and the communication and all that goes with it like it's always been been a big thing for us in the back end is the communication aspect of it and I think he's taken tries that Why can't you refrain from the tonning penalty? I mean I think it's an emotional game I think sometimes in the heat of the battle those things happen we coach it we Graves shows them all the time in squad meetings we harp on it hopefully it's a learning experience for everybody else later in the game you see a Z's with a big time third and one stop and he stands up and he's looking over there and Christian Fulton runs right in front of him to celebrate with him right so it's just continuing to heart man celebrate celebrate with your teammates like they're going to call it everything if you direct that opponent make sure you're celebrate with your teammates you can do whatever you want you can cuff them you can point at them whatever you want if you're doing it to a teammate You look at Wilders and even Edmonds you know they came over from other teams the hand signals and stuff like how do you go about deprogramming them and reprogramming what you guys use? Yeah with with all these guys that come from other teams it's always terminology right like terminology is always the thing because everybody kind of does the same stuff for the most part I know there's some unique schemes out there but it's you play man you play cover three you play quarters you play cover two everybody's got the same basic scheme fundamentals in their systems it's really just the terminology aspect and then get into the point where they understand what terms go with what signals and I think that's just through repetition breaking some of those old habits you look at you know Tyreek Hill obviously teams are planning to try to slow him down or stop him yet he's running wide open in the secondary every week is that just because he's faster than everybody or is it because of what Mike McDaniel is scheming to get him open I think it's both I do I think it's both they're finding ways to get him one on one down the field to his putting the ball in the right spot he's got an unbelievable knack for locating the ball in the air you saw that Washington play I'm sure he's over one shoulder turns back over the other catches it for for a touchdown I think the catch and run ability right they catch him in stride to his accurate on those inside routes they catch him in stride and he's see you later right have been against the Raiders so they're finding unique ways to get him the ball that I think kind of bring his skill set to life even more than what it's been at times