Dolphins 24, Jets 0
Q. Brian, this is the Dolphins' first shutout since 2014. What was the key to shutting down the Jets today?
BRIAN FLORES: I think we had a good week of practice. I think Josh called a great game, did a good job getting those guys ready to play, and then the players played well. We got contributions from a lot of different guys. A lot of guys made plays, and they played for 60 minutes. I'm proud of that effort. That's the focus we need really throughout the week, and then you've got to execute and play well in the game, which I thought they did.
But our defensive staff, Campanile, Hobby, those guys, I know I'm leaving a couple guys out, but those guys do a great job and they really worked at it this week, and it showed up on the field.
Q. I just want to know, that sack by Ogbah to take the Jets out of field goal range there in the fourth quarter, just could you explain how excited the sideline was for that, knowing that it had been such a long time, and since you guys have had a shutout, how exciting it is to go out there and get a shutout?
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah, I think there's a lot of -- these guys like playing together, so when other guys make plays, whether it's offense, defense, special teams, you see a lot of excitement, a lot of energy. Guys were excited for Ogbah to make a play. Guys were excited were the situation and getting the stop and getting them out of field goal range, and they were excited about the potential to get a shutout.
I mean, that's what I like to see, guys enjoying kind of the process of working through the week, prep and preparing, walk throughs, meeting, practice, and then going out and executing on a Sunday afternoon. I think they're just happy for each other and kind of reaping some of the fruits of their labor.
Q. I know last week we talked to you about getting Tua in the game and obviously you did this game. What sort of went into that decision, and what did you see out of him in his two minutes of garbage time?
BRIAN FLORES: Well, you can take credit for that. You had a great idea, so I listened to you. But I think he went in and had a run play, threw a couple passes, got some -- just got some playing time in a situation where we could do it. I guess I listened to you, so you can take credit for that one.
Q. Back to the defense, when Xavien Howard is on top of his game, how much more complete does he make the secondary and also just the entire defense?
BRIAN FLORES: I mean, I thought it was a really good team defensive effort. X played well, Byron played well, Needham played well, Sieler, Elandon Roberts, so it's a team effort. X had the big play there with the interception, but it was a good rush, it was good coverage, but it's never just one guy. It's a lot of things coming together, good calls by Josh and then good execution and good play by X in that situation, but good play by a lot of other guys in a lot of other situations. We need everybody to play well. We got a fair amount of that today, from X as well as a lot of other guys, and that's what you need in this league against the caliber of players we see on a weekly basis.
Q. You're going into the bye now at .500; if you could take stock of where this team is now, what would you say?
BRIAN FLORES: You know, we'll use the bye week and kind of self-reflect on the first six weeks of the season. I don't think right now -- I'd rather do that with all the information than going through that, and really take us through the end of the week, how we're doing offensively, run game, play action, 3rd down, two-minute, red zone, same thing defensively, same thing in the kicking game, evaluate the roster. But I think we happened to win today, happened to play well today. That's kind of -- as far as taking stock, that's kind of where my thoughts are. Some things we could have done better, but we're excited about getting a win against a division opponent.
Q. I think when people remember that moment that Tua ran on the field, they're also going to remember Fitzy's reaction to that moment and he was just hyping up the crowd, hyping up Tua. What does that say about their relationship and kind of them as people?
BRIAN FLORES: I didn't know that, but that doesn't surprise me. The two -- those guys have a great relationship. They root for each other. Those are some of the relationships that are building really throughout the team. You like to see that. Hopefully when you watch them play, people see that. It's nice to hear that. I didn't actually see it, but I know there was some excitement once he went in, and I'm happy for Tua. But I like hearing that.
Q. I wanted to ask you about Myles Gaskin. Obviously this week the flirtation with Le'Veon Bell, do you think that got his attention, the reason why he contributed 126 yards or was just the run game finally got going?
BRIAN FLORES: I think he's been playing well really these first six weeks. Look, most guys are -- I know of the guys on our team, they're motivated to play, period, so I don't think we need any extra motivation. Myles is a motivated kid. That's important to him. I wouldn't take much stock in that. But I thought he played well. I thought we ran the ball effectively at times. But like everything else, we can improve in a lot of areas, and we'll work towards that. But miles is tough, he's competitive, and he's been productive. Hopefully we keep going on that, keep building.
Q. We saw some contributions from Sam Eguavoen today, your linebackers. Just wanted to get your thoughts on him stepping up into a role and we saw Grugier-Hill and Van Ginkel leave the game. Talk about the performance of the linebacking corps.
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah, we had a couple guys get nicked up in the game. Sam is a guy who obviously was here last year, can play multiple positions, plays in the kicking game, very smart, tackles well, can set an edge, hasn't gotten as many opportunities as maybe he did a year ago, but his number was called today and he was ready to go and made some plays for us early and got a lot of snaps. That's what we need. Some guys get nicked up and we need the next guy to step up and be effective. Our level of play can't go down because we have an injury because injuries happen in this league, and we talk about that. We talk about guys having to be ready. Sam did a really good job of that today. But I've got to go back and watch the film. I'm sure there were some things that could have been better, but just my recollection of the game right now is that he went in there and played pretty effectively.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports