Dolphins - 19, Bengals - 7
Q. The injury, it looked like you fell on the football when you got hit and taken to the ground. Did you get the wind knocked out of you, I guess, first of all? And is there anything else that's bothering you, secondly?
BRANDON ALLEN: Yeah, it was just my wind. And I knew what it was. I've had it done before. I was kind of trying to get the words out that I was fine, but just wasn't really able to get my breath back for a while there. So couldn't really spit out those words.
Q. Right. Did the Dolphins do anything differently in the second half? The first half you guys were doing a pretty good job with your screens, your receiver screen, your tight end screen, and getting the ball out quickly to the perimeter. Did they make any changes defensively that kind of took that away from you?
BRANDON ALLEN: Yeah, I thought they did a good job making adjustments in the second half. Obviously we schemed them up good. We were ready for their zero pressure and a lot of, like you said, quick screens in the run game and stuff. They did a good job in the second half. They were playing it differently, doing some double coverage on certain guys.
And we weren't able to execute through some of that press man they were showing us. And, like I said, we've just got to be better. Obviously when they make adjustments, we make adjustments. And we just got out-executed.
Q. You looked more comfortable in the first half this week than you were the last week. Was that the case? And how was the loss of Tyler Boyd, how did that affect you offensively?
BRANDON ALLEN: Obviously losing Tyler was big for us, but I thought guys were stepping up. It happens in football. Obviously not the way it happened today but you do lose guys. And people behind them gotta step up and be able to make plays. And when he went down, it was tough for us, but I think we were really trying to bounce back. We did some things offensively, moved some guys around and did the best we could to get our playmakers the ball.
Q. Did you feel more comfortable this week at quarterback than you did last week?
BRANDON ALLEN: Yeah, you know, I think I was. Obviously anytime you get more time in practice with reps and being in the huddle with those guys and executing plays with those guys you get more comfortable. I think it just comes with, like I said, it just comes with getting all those accumulated reps. And I think the more and more we do it the more and more comfortable I'll be.
Q. Seemed to be a different kind of edge to the game after Tyler and Xavien Howard both got ejected. How much did it affect the mood of the team throughout the rest of the contest?
BRANDON ALLEN: You know, you try not to let those things affect you too much. Obviously it was a big ordeal going on there. And I'm not going to say much about it. But it is what it is. And both guys got ejected. You have to bounce, like I say, you've got to bounce back after that and guys have to step up.
Q. How tough is it to get back in the flow after the officials take a half an hour to sort out who is going to be ejected, who is going to be penalized? I mean, that whole thing was ridiculous. That wasn't the National Football League. I'm sure the league is not going to be happy.
BRANDON ALLEN: I'm not going to say it's impossible but it was tough. It took easily 20 minutes to get it all figured out. And it is tough to come back and get back into a rhythm. But those are the cards that everyone was dealt. So there's no excuses for not picking right back up where we were and getting it going.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports