Miami Dolphins Media Conference

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Miami, Florida, USA

Carson Wentz

Visitors Postgame Presser


Q. It's been a long time since you had a win in The Horseshoe. What does it mean?

CARSON WENTZ: It feels great. I feel like I got the monkey off my back a little bit, for me and the team. Huge plays going down and executing well. Made some plays on the field. Got some breaks with turnovers and penalties that kept some drives alive, but huge win for us.

Q. Frank was telling us about that play he was joking about, I think it was that third down when you ran outside. What did he tell you? I don't know, were you supposed to throw it?

CARSON WENTZ: He said take a short sack other than throw it away. I said, I made the guy miss and I got a first down instead. So we chuckled about it, that's for sure.

Q. Do you feel like your comfort is kind of just coming slowly with this team? We forget how much time you missed during camp and now you're playing with an injured ankle. Does it feel like you're just slowly easing into it?

CARSON WENTZ: Yeah, I feel like every week -- I mentioned it last week, but every week we're learning together, and I'm learning the guys, they're learning me and playing styles and coaches and everything. So it's just been fun every week to see us get a little bit better and do some good things.

Huge for us to come out here and get a win today. Lots of things really each week that we keep building on. Today obviously was a win.

Q. What did you tell Big Mo after this?

CARSON WENTZ: He's a big man. He's a big man, and he played big. He's a nice target in those situations when it's one-on-one. They're not going to give us any easy throws. You can give him a shot like that. For him to come down with it, that was huge for us.

Q. Carson, do you pay attention to things happening individually? Like did you know it will be a year tomorrow since you last won a game?

CARSON WENTZ: I had no idea. It's not a great feeling, to be honest. No, it's huge. A big win for us as a team. Honestly, I had no idea. Hopefully, we'll never have to deal with that stretch again.

Q. It seemed like the way you played today, you took what the defense gave you. There were a couple times you asked Frank about the play to Zach, shook it off. Player was coming off the edge, but you kind of took what the defense gave you instead of not trying to do too much. Did it seem like that, in your eyes?

CARSON WENTZ: For sure. Part of that was just the way we called the game. We called it to be man coverage, and a lot of time they'd bluff man and go to cover two or cover three or whatever. Sometimes that's just the way a game goes.

Yeah, I'm never trying to force anything, trying to make a big play when it's there. But otherwise, play smart and keep moving the chains.

Q. Are you happy with the aspects of your play the first four weeks? (Indiscernible) the way you protect the football?

CARSON WENTZ: That's huge. We talked about it all week. Myself, the running back, any ball carrier, we talk about protect the football. We want to end the drive with a kick. All of us on offense have been doing a pretty good job of protecting the football and making the plays when they're there. Keeping the ball and ending drives with a kick, that's a big thing.

Q. You had a little more mobility today, obviously. How does that change your game when you can rely on your legs a little bit?

CARSON WENTZ: It helps. If it's something I never want to rely on or have to go to, but when I have to move in the pocket or extend a play, the one run first down that was not supposed to be a run, but the guy slipping across got hit. I was like I've got to get moving. I felt like I was in quicksand there.

That wasn't a designed route, but it was definitely better today. As the game went, I definitely felt a little bit more comfortable throughout.

Q. Later on, I want to say there was a play when you threw it to Pittman, I think, down the field. Those plays can't happen if you're in the situation you were last week.

CARSON WENTZ: For sure.

Q. Does it open up things for you?

CARSON WENTZ: I know. That will continue to get better. It will continue as an offense. We talked about doing those things but were limited offensively. Those things will keep coming and keep being part of what we do.

Q. You say offensive linemen. Your line hasn't even played together. You've had your issues. Have we not seen what this offense is supposed to look like yet?

CARSON WENTZ: I don't think we've seen it. I think we have a lot of ability to be an explosive offense. I think we've seen glimpses of it, and we go back to the film and we just have to fix this one little thing or this one little thing.

For us, it's about keep getting better. Scratch off the wins early and keep getting better throughout the season. I think we'll be an explosive offense when it's all said and done.

Q. Same thing last week. It seemed like you missed that throw. I wonder how much of what's going on down here with your footwork and your ankles is getting in the way of the fundamentals maybe. I mean, you're just kind of playing with a hand tied behind your back or something like that?

CARSON WENTZ: I don't think it was as bad today. I wouldn't think so. I'll go watch the film. Some of those fundamentals are things where I've got to be consistent whether I've got good ankles or not. There's always things in the game that you want to be clean up and better with. So I'll go back and watch it.

Q. Can we get a percentage on your ankle? It will continue to be a question every single week until it looks like you're 100 percent.

CARSON WENTZ: I don't know percentage. Definitely much better than last week. Not quite 100 percent, but getting there for sure.

Q. Did you tweak it at all during the game?

CARSON WENTZ: No.

Q. I know last week you felt like you tweaked it during the game?

CARSON WENTZ: This week it came out relatively scot-free.

Q. Two Mondays ago, you were like there's no way I'm playing, but you haven't missed a snap.

CARSON WENTZ: Pretty thankful for that, I'm sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
113064-1-1182 2021-10-03 21:34:00 GMT

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