Miami Dolphins Media Conference

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Miami, Florida, USA

Jaylinn Hawkins

Falcons Postgame Presser


Q. What did you see on your interception there in the end zone?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: It was a formation set we studied the whole week as a group. I seen that they were empty. Tight end was at two. Running back was at one. So I knew they were on that seven route combination with the slide. I just read the quarterback's eyes, trusted my instinct. Linebackers and everybody got good drops. Corner got a good drop. Put some air on the ball, and I just jumped the route, and I made the play for the squad.

Q. Are you almost excited to see what Kyle is doing on a weekly basis?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: He works hard. He works hard in practice. You practice hard and do the little things right, it plays out in the game.

He's a great player. Happy to have him as a teammate. Good dude, just got everything, man. I'm proud of what he's doing. It's dope. It's dope to see.

Q. Was there a point when you were in training camp or OTAs that you sat there and thought this guy might be a little bit different?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: When he first came in, of course. The dude is a freak. You know what I'm saying? Long, tall, fast, can run. You know what I'm saying? Just a good player, man. Just making tough catches up the middle. I'm like, damn, he's like that. He's a good player, man.

We just, as a team, got a win. There's a little sloppy stuff, but we've just got to get back to the drawing board and keep working hard.

Q. What is it like to defend him in practice?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: Good competition. What? I feel like there's great competition. It gets me better. Hope to get him better. It's iron sharpening iron. It's fun. I learn different things and different techniques. So, yeah, it's dope.

Q. The defensive end with the big play, Foye, what did you think when he got his interception and took off on the run?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: Foye, when he got that pass, I was running with him, and I was so excited because I'm like he's gone. Once you see somebody gone like that, you just let up because you don't want to get no block in the back penalties. So he was just running full speed, and I was like yeah, he's through. I was just excited for him. He played well as well.

Q. As a unit overall, how did you all feel when you had some guys down, people had to play again, guys that got hurt again and had to play. How does that bode for the unit moving forward?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: We just got to practice hard. Keep practicing hard, everybody, because you just never know what can happen. For example, like what he's talking about.

We've just got to continue to get better. We got a solid win, but there's a lot of things we've got to clean up to play cleaner ball and go 1-0 each week. That's the biggest thing.

Q. Did anything change from what you were doing defensively those last two drives?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: No, no, nothing changed. We just play the calls. They did a little tempo. I wouldn't say anything changed. We just played the calls that we got dealt with. They made some plays. We've got to clean up some things.

Q. Are there tight ends just something that you all struggle with? That was even an issue back in August during practice season.

JAYLINN HAWKINS: They're a good group. Good group of tight ends. You've got Gesicki, got everybody moving around, got A.D. It's a good group, so it's good competition. They're a good group.

Q. A lot of time left this year, but is there anything symbolic, kind of emotional to get the record back to .500 and be able to build going forward?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: Win today, 1-0 each week. We've just got to continue this growth, man, and keep getting better and keep being more detailed and keep playing -- we've got to play cleaner ball. A good win today, but the main thing is go back in the office tomorrow, learn from our mistakes, and win the day, and make those days count and play clean ball and clean up everything.

Q. From a personal standpoint, is there a sense of gratification that you feel that now you have these chances, more chances than you had your rookie year now in your second year? Is there a sense of gratification, from an individual standpoint, that you're going up and making the plays when your number is called?

JAYLINN HAWKINS: Just doing it for my squad. That's it. You know what I'm saying? I want to win. We don't want to lose. When I'm out there, I just do it for my squad. For the back end, the linebackers, for the D-linemen, for the squad. That's it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
114063-1-1182 2021-10-24 21:42:00 GMT

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