Q. Is that about as complete as it can be? Turnovers and special teams, offense was pretty good. Defense shut them out.
SEAN McDERMOTT: It was good. We definitely did some good things as far as completeness.
Q. I was listening to the guys a second ago, Micah and Jordan, and they talked about how prepared they felt, that they knew -- obviously, it was aggressive, get after the quarterback type football, like from the get go you got immediate results, and they felt like they were fully prepared for this game. Can you maybe speak to that, the design of the game plan and this execution?
SEAN McDERMOTT: I thought Leslie and Brian and Heath did a good job during the week getting them ready. Divisional opponents, they know us, we know them. Really with our situation, we have a little bit more continuity with Josh than they do with Tua leading into this game. Obviously, we were trying to figure out a little bit more who they were.
But, yeah, I thought our offensive line, defensive line did a really good job. Our offense got going in the second half there with good halftime adjustments. Defensively, they held us in the game early and made some big fourth down stops.
I think we got stops after the turnovers as well, the two turnovers we had. I thought the drive after the half was big by our offense.
Q. Forcing turnovers this week, I know the guys were really upset they weren't able to force in last week against the Steelers. They said, look, we'll put on emphasis on that during practice this week. Obviously, the results were there today.
SEAN McDERMOTT: Yeah. That's an important part of the game, winning the turnover battle. We still put the ball on the ground too many times, and that's going to come back to haunt us if we don't get that corrected fast.
Q. Sean, you said a couple weeks ago, we've done our stories about the pass rush, now it's time for them to show up. What did you think of that unit today?
SEAN McDERMOTT: What did we have, six? Six sacks. Looked like, when given the opportunity, they were affecting the quarterback early. I like that, just in terms of what they were doing. I thought Leslie called an aggressive game and did a nice job letting those guys go, too, with the four-man rush once in a while.
As I always say, the rush and the coverage have to work together. I thought the back end was doing their part also.
Q. Especially the offense, up 14-0 at the half and could have been up more than that. You said, made some adjustments, kind of found its groove. Talk about that process and how the game played out.
SEAN McDERMOTT: Yeah, I thought there was good communication leading into halftime and then at halftime by our offensive staff. Came out and got into a better rhythm in the second half there. I thought Brian did a really good job there, and Josh seemed to find his rhythm as well.
I didn't think we were really into a rhythm the first half even though we scored 14, so it was good to see that in the second half.
Q. In the first half, especially your receivers, didn't see that they were winning on routes. Josh had nowhere to go. That was part of the problem. What were you seeing from the sideline?
SEAN McDERMOTT: Well, there's going to be times when that happens. They've got two really good corners that play outside. In particular, I think they're the highest paid corner tandem in the league, in fact, so they're really good players. We're going to win some of those, we're going to lose some. I thought the second half, we came out with a different type of mindset and won some of those.
Q. For Zack Moss to rebound the way he did in the second half after losing a pretty tough fumble at first, those were impressive runs down near the goal line. What did that say about him, and what can he take away from that?
SEAN McDERMOTT: I thought it was important he was able to reset and mentally tough and come back. He made some tough runs, particularly on the last one at the end on the touchdown.
That's a great message to everyone and anyone on our football team, you're going to make some mistakes, and you've got to be able to come back and get your game back. That's what your teammates need from you.
Q. I tried to ask Jordan about Taron Johnson, he cut me off. Two tackles, forced fumble, a sack. How good was he today?
SEAN McDERMOTT: Just very active, very active. He's really growing in our system. It's fun to watch him kind of understand the intricacies of the game. How he prepares himself during the week. It's really a credit to him, what Jimmy Salgado, our nickels coach, does with him and him getting ready to go.
Q. Talk about responding to diversity. Week 1, to lose the home opener, what does it say about this team to answer back like this on the road in a division game?
SEAN McDERMOTT: This is how the NFL works, right? We understand that. That's why we have to stay humble. I saw a hunger in our football team this week. We've got plenty to work on though. That's what we've got to get back to. We'll start on the plane as coaches, start watching the film, and try to improve every week. That's the goal.
Q. Greg Rousseau hasn't put together a game like this before in the NFL. What stood out about him?
SEAN McDERMOTT: He had two, Rousseau? Yeah, again active. Sometimes they come in bunches, right? Like turnovers. Again, it's got to work together. The coverage has to help the rush, and they have to work together. I thought we did that. I thought we did a good job of just rolling fresh bodies in there also, when we were get them in some passing situations.
I thought any time you can get to a quarterback like they did today and get six, that's a good sign.
Q. Obviously, it's a long game, but what's it like for you after a tough loss in the season opener to see the guys come out here. Not only the defense gets two sacks on the first series, but then Singletary takes it to the house.
SEAN McDERMOTT: I've been around those before, where it's a long game. So that's the approach and the mentality you have to have as a coach and a player and a team collectively.
I did like the start. Like I said, I could feel them in pregame. I could feel they were ready and give credit to our guys. They put in a really good week of work. More importantly, the focus and the mindset. That's what we've got to take that humble and hungry approach as we always talk about around here.
Q. Talk about knowing the Dolphins and them knowing you, but this series has been really lopsided. You've won six in a row against them now. What has worked for you guys and this team?
SEAN McDERMOTT: I'll just focus on this game. They had their quarterback go down, so hope he's all right. We came in with guys that were focused. We came in ready to go. That's what you've got to do. You've got to respond. It doesn't mean we're perfect. It doesn't mean we're where we need to be. Our job as coaches is to get them the adjustments they need moving forward after this week because we didn't play a perfect game.
Q. Is it one thing for a coach to say you've got a lot of things to work on, which you do, but you won 35-0. That's got to be a good position to be in as a coach and a team, isn't it?
SEAN McDERMOTT: Yeah, I'll take the win. I'll take the win. Happy for that. I'm blessed to be sitting here with you guys and coaching these guys. I don't want to jump over it like it doesn't matter. It does matter.
But it's a journey too. It's about how you grow every week, how you get better every week and your mindset and focus every week. That's why the NFL is the way it is.
Q. In the passing game is kind of the team's fastball, how important is winning this way kind of relying on the off-speed stuff?
SEAN McDERMOTT: I'm not really a baseball guy (Laughter). I'm confused up here what pitch you're throwing.
Yeah, look, you have to be able to do that. You've got to be able to make in-flight adjustments. You've got to be able to win left-handed at times or play left-handed at times or be good enough and execute at a high enough level where you have something else.
I saw some of that today, but again, that's one of the areas that we have to -- we have to be aware of making sure that we continue to grow as an offense but also in all three phases.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports