HEAD COACH BRUCE ARIANS
(On the health status of the secondary)
"Hopefully, Jamel Dean will be back. We'll see what he can do today. Richard [Sherman] will have another week under his belt, Pierre [Desir and] everybody else, Mike [Edwards] and Jordan [Whitehead] will start at safety if Antoine [Winfield] can't come back. We'll just see how the week plays out, but we have enough guys. We'll be more than ready."
(On CB Carlton Davis III's injury)
"It's a quad injury – pulled muscle."
(On if he knows how long Davis might be out)
"No, not really."
(On the possibility of adding CB Stephon Gilmore to the team after it was announced that he was parting ways with the Patriots)
"I have been in meetings all day. I would have to talk to Jason [Licht] about that. We kick the tires of everybody that's available, so we'll see. If it's a fit, it's a fit, but if it's not, it's not."
(On possibly needing to add more cornerbacks due to injuries)
"The two that are Sean [Murphy-Bunting] and Carlton [Davis III], I don't see either one of them coming back anytime soon. I'm fine with the other guys we have."
(On if injuries tend to affect one group or the entire roster)
"It's always different. You never know. We've had it where we lost all of our tackles. We've had it where we lost all of our tight ends, so it comes and it goes. It's the next man up and that's why we have a roster and you build that roster with depth. You know injuries are going to happen. Last year was a very lucky year that we lost three or four guys in different positions, but hopefully we'll get some of them back as we continue to get through the season."
(On how he would compare this year's depth to last year's depth at cornerback)
"I think this year's now is a little bit deeper with the addition of Rashard [Robinson] and Pierre [Desir] and 'Sherm' (Richard Sherman). Dee [Delaney] has come on and done a good job. So, yeah, I think we're a little bit deeper than we were last year."
(On how close OLB Jason Pierre-Paul is to returning)
"He tried it. He wasn't really close, but he tried it because it's JPP. Like I said, we'll see more today and tomorrow."
(On when TE Rob Gronkowski might return)
"He's riding the bike, so we'll see how it goes."
(On what they learned from the Patriots defensive gameplan that they can use against the Dolphins)
"It's very similar. I think this secondary is a lot better than the one we just played. They spent a lot of money in the secondary. I think Coach [Brian] Flores has done a heck of job with that defense and it's a very similar defense. We have to play a hell of a lot better inside the 30-yard line than we did last week, and then we'll be fine."
(On the defense being able to make a stand on the final drive of the Week 4 game and force a long field goal despite the injuries the team is dealing with)
"I thought it was outstanding. I thought the defense was really good all night – creating turnovers and forcing field goals. So yeah, I think we're just going to get better and better as the guys back there get more experience and know the system. I think our coaching staff did a hell of a job with those guys and they really showed up."
(On LB Lavonte David's late-game pass defense that changed the course of the game last Sunday)
"Oh, there's no doubt. That's a game-winning play. That's a game-changing play. That's what you expect from your best players."
(On a better performance from the pass rush in Week 4 and how they can build off that)
"Very similar. I think they're going to come out with some two-back sets also. But they're a great screen team. We have to watch it. I think the front four did a good job. We also blitzed and had different pressures. I think we'll continue to do that no doubt. I think Joe [Tryon-Shoyinka] is getting better and better. Vita [Vea] has been playing outstanding and Will [Gholston] had a couple of sacks two weeks in a row. That is the whole group getting a little bit better."
(On the benefit of having a backup like OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to fill in for OLB Jason Pierre-Paul while he is out due to injury)
"It's fantastic. That's the depth of the roster. That's what you're trying to build for at every position so that there's not a big drop off. When a guy gets an opportunity, make the best of it."
(On if there are any new injuries)
"Not right off the top of my head. Not that I can think of."
(On what are some things he wants the team to focus on and get better at in Week 5)
"The number one thing would be mental errors. Communication errors, which shouldn't be hard because we're at home. Receivers hearing audibles and things like that that we messed up on the road this week. But we eliminated the pre-snap penalties. We had one that really wasn't a penalty. That was a major emphasis last week. Protect the football and take it away – we did all those things last week. Just continue to grow in that area and again eliminate mental errors."
(On what needs to be done to eliminate pre-snap penalties)
"Pre-snap penalties, that's just concentration. Like I said, it's an effort by the players to eliminate it because coaches talk about it all the time. September football you find out what your football team is all about. We talked a lot about it Saturday night, about what we were as a September football team and what we need to be better at in October."
(On who would step in at the nickel position if not CB Ross Cockrell)
"Mike [Edwards], probably."
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS COACH LARRY FOOTE
(On how pleased he is with OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka)
"I'm pleased with him. Starting with in the classroom, he's learning it. We ask him to learn different packages, play a lot of different roles for us and he's a bright kid. I'm definitely impressed that I trust him from that standpoint that we can throw him out there. For the most part, he's understanding."
(On the improvement of the pass rush)
"Just winning. I just challenge those guys. I don't really look at the sack numbers because sometimes the quarterbacks just got the ball off or we get chips. I like to see their energy no matter what. If we have to beat two guys, the quarterback needs to feel our presence every game. I think in the Rams game, the Rams really didn't feel it that much. But they got back on track this past week."
(On how Tryon-Shoyinka has grown in the run game)
"He came from that soft PAC-12 league they really don't play the run that much. I'm just joking. But that's the standard in that room. If you watch JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) and Shaq [Barrett], those guys take a lot of pride in stopping the run. In the last couple of years, we were number one in the league so that's our standard and he jumped right in with both feet. We expect that of him, and he's taken on that challenge."
(On what he's seen from OLB Shaquil Barrett)
"He's playing good ball for us. I even complimented him on the Cowboys game. You guys might not see it in the stats – I think he had one sack – but he had a lot of wins. When you judge those guys, you want to see if they can beat those tackles is what it comes down to. He's starting the season off as he should."
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER SHAQUIL BARRETT
(On how impressed he was with CB Richard Sherman playing on Sunday)
"I know from recent history from watching 'Sherm' that he's a ball player. So, him being out there instantly makes our team better. And for him to come out there and play 58 out of 59 snaps is crazy and the way he held it down was amazing. I'm glad that he's on our team."
(On how to avoid an emotional letdown this week)
"We prepare every week for an NFL team to come in. They have players on their team that can make plays and who can beat us on any given night and we want to become one of the best teams that we can possibly be. Coming out there and just showing them what we can do [on a] night in and night out basis is what will help us get there. We're not worried about the public view of it of not being a good team. We don't sleep on anybody. We think everybody is a good team and everybody has players that could beat us and give us a run for our money if we don't come correct."
(On what he sees from Dolphins QB Jacoby Brissett)
"He can make the reads, make all the plays, he's hard to get down for sacks and he's elusive in the pocket, so it's going to be a little bit harder to get to him in that phase. But I think he's a great quarterback. He throws it to the tight ends a lot. He gets the tight ends involved a lot, so it probably helps us focus on our gameplan a little bit more to the tight ends. I think he could make all the plays that need to be made so we have to be on our A game."
(On the improvement of the pass rush)
"It felt good to get out there and play the way we're supposed to be playing the whole time. Just getting that footage out there on tape that we can pass rush and that we're not gone. I'm disappointed still in the last few weeks before this past week, but I'm glad we're on the right page now because we do have some injuries on the backend and getting pressure will help them out a lot. We want to continue to do that from this week on and for the rest of the season."
WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS GODWIN
(On the challenges that the Dolphins present)
"They've been playing really good defense lately, specifically for our side of the ball. They've got two really good corners, they've got a nice pass rush, a lot of experienced guys and they've got a good scheme. I think some of the stuff they do presents some challenges for us, so it's going to really be up to us to go to work and really nail down and make sure our gameplan is solid, so that we can go in there and execute."
(On if he is close with Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki from their time together at Penn State)
"We came in together. Yeah, we're cool. That's my dog. I love watching Mike play. He's a very athletic guy, very talented. I think over the last two years, I think people are really starting to see what he's able to do – go up and make those big-time contested catches. I know their quarterbacks like to lean on him a little bit so I'm excited to see what he does. I think our defense has a big challenge ahead of them, but they're more than ready."
(On if he agrees with Head Coach Bruce Arians' comment that the offense hasn't reached its full potential yet)
"Yeah, I would agree with that. I think there's been a bunch of plays over the course of the season that we've left out there. As previously mentioned, we've dealt with some penalties. I think the great thing about football is it's a long season, and as you saw last year, it takes awhile to kind of build things up. Obviously, we don't want it to take that long this year. But I think with the guys we have on our team and the experience we have, I'm confident that as the year progresses, we will continue to get better, cut down on the penalties, cut down on the mental errors and just start to find our groove and figure out exactly what we want to be as an offense."
CORNERBACK RICHARD SHERMAN
(On trying to learn a new defensive scheme at a rapid pace and whether it's like learning a new language)
"It 100 percent is. T.B. (Todd Bowles) has a lot of variety in his packages and what he likes out of his corners, corners over and the movement of the disguises and things like that. It did take a second. It took a lot of hours of just going back and forth. A lot of questions that may have been dumb for other guys to ask, but I didn't know. Even throughout the process of the week, there would be checks. It's just human nature to assume [we all knew what's going on] because we're in the season. It's not like you're doing installs anymore. They'd be like, 'Oh yeah, we just make this check, this check and this check.' I'd be like, 'Hey, uh, what does that mean exactly? So, I've got him? Okay, perfect. Sorry.' It was just a lot of extra time. Shout out to Kevin Ross, the corners coach – he did a great job taking his time and explaining things. Shout out to the safeties 'Twon' (Antoine Winfield Jr.) and 'J.White' (Jordan Whitehead) and Mike [Edwards] – they made sure they signaled throughout the game and communicated. The linebackers – Devin [White] and Lavonte [David] – they did a great job of communicating. It was comfortable out there. It wasn't like you're like panicked. I felt like I could look around, meet eyes with someone and they'd be like, 'Hey, we're in this,' and we'd deal with it."
(On the secondary continuing to find success moving forward despite the injuries)
"Like I said, T.B. (Todd Bowles), he runs a great scheme. The safeties here are incredible. The safety play by 'J.White,' Antoine [Winfield Jr.] and Mike [Edwards] – they play high level football. 'J. White' – some of the plays he made last week were really All-Pro plays. He went into the backfield blowing up run plays, taking on three blockers and still making the play, etc. I think they'll be fine. I think P.D. (Pierre Desir) is a veteran who has played a lot of football and he'll be fine. We'll communicate and go over the indicators and the keys and find spots where we can find success with this offense. They're doing things a little different with [Jacoby] Brissett under center than they were with Tua [Tagovailoa]. They were running a little more RPO (run-pass option) and they still try to do some of the RPO stuff with Brissett, but not as much. It's really about just being detailed, understanding your indicators and trusting them."
(On if he has been with Tampa Bay long enough to compare the Buccaneers front seven to the ones he played behind in Seattle)
"No, I haven't. But I will say this – they're outstanding. From what I've seen they're fantastic, very dynamic and very versatile. You can't tell the position everybody is playing at some points. You get Vita [Vea] at D-end sometimes, you get [Joe Tryon-Shoyinka] at like safety sometimes. J.P.P. (Jason Pierre-Paul) hasn't been back out there since I've been here, but it's going to be really, really tough to block once everybody is back. Devin [White] is freaking relentless. He is everywhere. I've never played in a scheme that is this diverse in my career, so it's been cool to watch."
(On what he has learned from being with teams that have dealt with a lot of injuries in the past)
"You're only as strong as your weakest link. You have to make sure everybody is prepared. You have to treat everybody as important. You don't sit there and prioritize guys on your team. Everybody is important, so you don't sit there and treat the practice squad guy – who you think you're never going to need ever – like, 'Hey man, you're trash, we don't worry about you.' You treat him as just as valuable as you do the starters. You give him the same information. You give him the same indicators. You talk to him the same way. You encourage him the same way when he is taking practice squad reps as you would when your starters are out there and they're making plays. You encourage them the same ways, you coach them the same ways. I think that's what they did well there (in San Francisco) and that's what they do well here is that as a teammate you don't sit there and say, 'Hey, these practice squad guys – you don't worry about them. When they're out there you just have conversations and drink water.' No, you encourage them and tell them what you saw. 'Hey on this play, maybe check your feet on this or maybe you need to read No. 2 a little differently on this play.' If you stay in tune like that then you don't have people that feel like they're out of connection with the team."
-BUCCANEERS-