Top Extended Quotes From Dolphins 5th Training Camp Practice
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins completed the 5th practice of their 2015 training camp on Tuesday at the team's practice facility in Davie.
The Dolphins will have two more practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday before the annual intra-squad scrimmage that will take place on Friday at FIU Stadium.
To read a recap of Tuesday's practice session, click here.
After every practice some of the players stop and speak with the media before heading inside. Here are some of the best Dolphins quotes from Tuesday's practice.
Head Coach Joe Philbin- On WR Rishard Matthews getting more reps due to Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker being sidelined with injuries. "He catches the ball with his hands and I think that's the number one thing. Again, I know that sometimes sounds simplistic, but you guys have seen a lot football practices in your day and some guys are body catchers and some guys can really pluck the ball out of the air and I think that's one of the things that he does best is he catches the ball with his hands. He's big, he's physical and he's strong."
"I think he's had a very good camp. As I said earlier, I like the way he catches the football, I really do. I think he catches the ball well and he has confidence, I've said that before, he believes in himself, which is a good trait to have as a player. I think he's tough. The roles are going to be defined as he continues to compete out here with the other guys for playing time. Obviously, he wouldn't have been here for as long if we didn't think he had some really good traits."
Speaking of Parker, Philbin was asked about the possibility of the rookie receiver playing in the preseason. "It's hard to say. We're not sure exactly when he's going to get back there. I don't know if he's going to practice, how much he's going to practice, if he's going to play in the preseason, so those are all kind of hypotheticals."
One final quote from Philbin, as he was asked about how Ndamukong Suh will be rotated in and out of games once the regular season begins. "We'll see. His play time has been very very high for a defensive linemen. I think it's been above 80 most of his entire career. We haven't really gotten to that stage, that far. But certainly he's shown the ability to be durable and play a lot of snaps in a game."
Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor- After being asked about running back Lamar Miller, Lazor explained how his comfort level has changed and what he has improved on from last season. "One thing about Lamar, when I first got here, the guy rarely talked to me. I don't know how he is with all of you, but he communicates so much better with me now. I don't know, maybe I used to make him nervous. I've heard rumors that guys were intimidated by me. Lamar's doing great. He knows what he's doing. He knows what issues we asked him to deal with from last and we've seen those things get better. The guy all year got more and more decisive in the way he ran the football. He played fast from the backfield. I expect nothing but it to keep going and I enjoy having conversations with him every once in a while now."
Lazor was then asked about Miller's ability to run between the tackles. "Well, from the very beginning last year, we talked about short yardage situations and from I can think of the first drive of the year in the Patriots game, we got the ball in the red zone early and he put his shoulder down and we had a really tough front on a third-and-one or third-and-two and he just pushed that thing in there and got the first down. I thought he played with that mindset all year. So to me those third-and-one situations, he understood it. He knew that it was a challenge and rose to the occasion. The biggest thing to me for a running back is you've got to play decisive. We can't stutter our feet in the backfield. And part of it is knowing who am I reading. It's going to happen lightning fast, right. Some guys just run to daylight all the time but you're going to get to the right spot more often if you at least know where to start. I thought he's done a great job of becoming a student of the game from the backfield and I really feel like when you watch the cut ups it shows in how he played."
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh- On dealing with the heat and humidity in South Florida in August. "It's a lot different than OTAs and minicamp, for sure. It's a different type of heat, but I think back in my childhood when I used to go visit my sister in Mississippi [on] those hot southern days. You get through these, you'll be fine in December and January, and February hopefully."
Suh was asked about what he has seen in the Dolphins offensive guards, and his answer was probably the quote of the day. "Billy [Turner] and Dallas [Thomas] have obviously, they've been playing, they are young guys, they understand what they need to get done there. They're athletic, they can move, they challenge me as I hope I challenge them every single day in practice. At the end of the day, like I said, we want to push each other on both sides of the ball. I want to dominate Dallas, I want to dominate Billy at the end of the day. That's my job. That's what I was brought here for and that's my goal. Hopefully, I can get them better and they can make me better by pushing me as well, just like I expect [Mike] Pouncey to do the same thing."
Running Back Lamar Miller- On how camp is going so far- "Everything's coming along pretty good. We're out here competing and getting each other better and we just come out here every day trying to work."
On his ability as a pass catcher out of the backfield- "I'm just working on it every day, just trying to get better. I'm just trying to be that guy that they can depend on and just try to help this team win."
On what he wants to improve on after his first couple of years- "I'm trying to improve on everything, not something in particular. Every day I'm just trying to get out here and work hard, whether it's running the ball, pass protecting or catching the ball out of the backfield, I'm just trying to do anything to help this team."
On the Dolphins group of running backs- "I think we have a pretty good group. We're a very young group. I think every guy out here is just working hard, competing for a job and it pushes everyone even harder."
On if he has any specific goals heading into the season after rushing for over 1,000 yards in 2014- "I really didn't have any personal goals. The only goal that I have is just to be great and just help this team out in any way that's possible."
How it feels to be in the 1,000-yard club- "It's good. It's not that easy to get 1,000 yards in this league. I'm just trying to get better every year. This is my second year going into this offense. I'm comfortable with the blocking scheme, the route concepts and all that so it should be a pretty good year."
Wide Receiver Rishard Matthews- On how he feels he has grown since last season- "I believe my growth has come from all around, being able to do everything and contribute anywhere they need me."
On how difficult it is to learn all three receiver positions- "My first year it was pretty difficult but as I got more comfortable and realized I can play wherever they want me to play. It's just training yourself to learn the playbook a different way and after my second year it wasn't really difficult at all."
On his mindset heading into this season, the final year of his rookie contract- "Just grind. I've got a son on the way so it's not just about me anymore. Just grind and try to put food on the table for your family to eat that's really what the mindset is."
On when his son is due- "My son, he'll be here in like three more weeks."
On taking advantage to the extra reps due to DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills being out with injuries- "I believe I've done a good job taking advantage of it. Today I had a few drops that I wish I could take back but overall I'm just trying to show the coaches that I'm here to compete and I want to be out on the field on gameday and I believe I'm doing a good job of that so far."
On his chemistry with Ryan Tannehill- "I believe me and Ryan's chemistry is good. I got drafted with him, I know how he plays, where he likes to put the ball, all that good stuff. Now it's just me grinding to get the confidence from the coaches that they can put me on the field.
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