McDaniel November 22 Media Session Highlights
Head coach Mike McDaniel spoke to reporters at the Baptist Health Training Complex on Wednesday.
Here were the highlights of that media session:
-- Regarding injuries on the offensive line, McDaniel says he's very optimistic that Austin Jackson and Lester Cotton will play and he's optimistic that Robert Hunt will dress — as a reminder, there was one game where Connor Williams was active after his groin injury but did not play. McDaniel emphasizes there's a lot of gray area.
-- De'Von Achane was listed as questionable on the injury report Tuesday that was based on an estimation because the team held a walk-through, and McDaniel says the question will be whether he can play a full game.
-- From a medical standpoint, McDaniel says there's no additional danger of making Achane's injury worse if he does play.
-- The issue of the "hip-drop" tackle is a hot one around the NFL and it's how Achane got injured in the first place, but McDaniel says he doesn't spend a lot of time worrying about the issue. Basically says it boils down to finding the right balance between maintaining the integrity of the game while ensuring player safety. It's a difficult dilemma indeed.
-- Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips have been really impressive for the Dolphins defense lately, but McDaniel says they've had to battle the issue of internal pressure in wanting to be elite for their team and themselves. The coach says they've grown tremendously in pushing themselves and understanding their place.
-- McDaniel says he did not watch the debut episode of the "Hard Knocks" series on the Dolphins because he was asleep at the time.
-- Regarding Anthony Campanile's speech — you've got to check it out — McDaniel says it's a "New Jersey thing."
-- Continuing about "Hard Knocks," McDaniel says he dislikes the idea of being the star of a show. Truth is it was Anthony Campanile and also Tyreek Hill who were the stars of the show.
-- Jalen Ramsey has made a remarkable recovery from his camp knee injury and has been an impactful player in his return, and McDaniel repeats that he's never seen an injured player as involved in a team as he did with Ramsey. Brings up "Rudy" as a comparison for Ramsey's dedication, but also combined with Ramsey's elite skill set.
-- The final question deals with Jeff Wilson Jr. and why he was inactive against the Raiders, and McDaniel said it had nothing to do with his performance. McDaniel addressed that Monday when he said that Salvon Ahmed's contributions on special teams led to the choice to have him up instead of Wilson.
