Anthony Weaver meets with the media | Miami Dolphins

Anthony Weaver meets with the media | Miami Dolphins

We’ve been uh certain people I should say um me included are are very high on the front seven thinking that they could be a playmaking gamechanging unit. What do you see from them and what are you expecting from them? I see all the same things and and I think the sky’s is the limit and it all starts right the bar is set to me by the leadership of those guys and and in that front seven we have we have leaders on every level. Start with Zach Caler up front with the Dline. I got to give credit to Bonito Jones, too, who probably doesn’t get mentioned a lot as a leader, but the growth I’ve seen in him in two years has been tremendous. He’s trying to help some of these young bucks come along with their technique and fundamentals and strain and things of that nature. Outside back, we have a ton of them, right? You talk Bradley Chub, Jaylen Phillips, Chop Robinson coming into year two. All those guys are not not just leaders by example, just in terms of how they work and their approach to to work every day and just just knowing that there’s there’s no governor on them, but they’re also trying to influence some of these guys like Quinn Bell who’s who yeah is an older player but is still trying to refine his game and find his way. Mo Kamara, Cam Good, they’ve been tremendous influences on them. And then when you talk about our inside attackers with Terrell Datson, uh Jordan Brooks, the leadership strides they’ve made coming into year two have been outstanding and they’re all like flag bearers for what we’re trying to do from a culture standpoint. So the expectations we have for that front seven, yeah, they’re high and rightfully so, but that standard has been set daily by those guys and that’s why we have those expectations. What kind of a message is sent to the players when a guy like Zack Cer gets rewarded? I mean, so let me go back. Adelius Thomas has been here with our Bill Walsh minority internship and to me their paths are very similar, right? Adelius was a sixth round pick, right? Was fighting to to stay on a roster that ended up winning a Super Bowl. But every accolade he achieved was earned. Zach Cer has done the same thing. He deserved this seat at the table. He deserved the reward that has come from it. And I think it it’s a testament to just the the importance of just hard work, right? And just not being denied. Just knowing that if you keep trying to do the right thing daily, you’ll be rewarded for it. So hopefully there’s residuals throughout the organization because of that. Want to ask you about everybody’s favorite topic, which is Yeah. We we see the unit out there. They’re holding their own. Obviously, you’re you’re you’re leaning a lot on on the front seven, but can you hold up for an entire season playing zone with the talent that you have there? Yeah, absolutely. I have a tremendous amount of faith in in who we have playing out there right now, uh, in our coaches and in our front seven ability to help them. But the one thing I know about that group, Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner, Kendall Sheffield, I I can go on and on, is that they come out here every day and compete, which is all we ask for. And we know that because of that, right, you talk about iron sharp and iron, they’re not going to they’re going to face better receivers than the guys that we have. So through that competition, both individually and collectively as a whole, that group is getting better. And when you have that mindset going into the day, right, like you can’t you can’t help but respond to just what we’re trying to do as a defense, right? So, as as as we play better up front, those guys those guys gain confidence both in their technique and fundamentals, and you’re seeing that come to life. So, while we may not have some of the names that you’re used to around here in the secondary, no, I take that because we do have Ma Fitzpatrick. Let’s not act like we’re just right. Hey, we don’t have any names out there, but those guys are fighting to make a name for themselves, and I think you’re going to see that once the regular season starts. We piggybacking off that question, when you evaluate your young corners, what quality above all others stands out as most important to you. Competitiveness, right? You got to have a short memory at that position because you’re going to give up plays. The great ones do, but just being able to respond and play the next snap. And the thing about all those guys is they’ve had that, right? Okay. Now, some of that there’s been some some growth where where you had to talk to them like, “Hey, put that snap behind you. Let’s ride. Trust your technique and fundamentals. Trust your ability.” And we just kind of we chip away at some of the outer layers knowing that there’s greatness. There’s there’s a sculpture in there that we’re all going to love. And we’re just trying to chip some of those pieces off to make sure we get there. But, but all those guys, man, I love them all to a tea. And I know that whatever they’re supposed to be, they’ll be and it’ll be good enough for for us to go out there and play great defense. I want to ask you, how much help those youngers and with Jaylen Ramsey no longer here is he now their ultimate chess piece Mink is a stud I’m so happy that he’s here not just because of who he is as a player but obviously for the intangibles he brings off the field I can see us doing some things with him and I’ll have to wait for the opponents to try to figure that out come regular season but we have plans for sure how does his ability to come down for the slot finals position but also ify’s college experiences how does those two guys such good coverage backgrounds kind of ease the stress of the entire second. Oh man, you got him, Iffy, Ashton Davis, Elijah Campbell has played nickel here in the past and and we we’ve yet to see what exactly what the Dante Trader kid can bring too. So those guys in the safety position that have that multiple skill set that can do a bunch of jobs, uh that’s going to create some angst in the offense because they’re not going to know who’s in who’s doing what, right? Particularly when you have three of them on the field at the same time. So, uh, that that my my brain starts immediately spinning about all the all the angst and hesitation you can cause in offense because they don’t know what they’re going to do and their ability to play, man. I think you guys see when we go one-on- ones every day, Minka starts, he guards Tyreek every day, which haven’t had a lot of safeties that can do that. So, man, it’s just fun. And yes, I think that group collectively can be chess pieces. It’s not just Minka. I think we can do a lot with the skill sets they have. Speaking of different skill sets, obviously you got edge rushers, rush pass, you got a the lineman rush pass, but yesterday we saw Mike Hilton put a hit stick on safety. So when you see play like that, I mean, what kind of kind of gear start shifting in your brain know you have a DB? Yeah, I I think if anybody knows Mike Hilton, they know that he can blitz. So I I’m going to I’m going to take advantage of that skill set for sure. Uh, and the thing I love about Mike is he’s he’s a pros pro, right? He he’s out there attacking the field every day, both on and off, trying to make sure he gets the playbook and schematic things right. And then he’s a he’s a great example for some of these younger guys because he’s been I think this is his third team now. Uh, has been a high level player in this league for a long time and they can see the path and the things it takes to be able to do that. So, I love the fact that he’s here. You talked about your two for Chop. What’s maybe an overlooked attriute he has and what can you say about taking on these two challenges. The thing I love most about Chop is that regardless of the success he’s had both in college being a first round pick and obviously how he finished the year a year ago with all the successes is he is incredibly humble and incredibly hungry. And usually when you have that combination of two and you have his skill set um successes on the horizon so I think it’s it’s just his his humility and his hunger to be great. I feel I might be misremembering exactly who was there, but Mike told us that he had a conversation with Jack Jones when he first got here 6 a.m. chat about seizing your opportunities, being in control of your own destiny. Part of that conversation? I was not. I was not. But I go ahead. for for somebody like like Jack who obviously is so talented but hasn’t been able to stay out of trouble off the field like what kind of messaging do you give him considering his opportunity on the field? Yeah, I I love Jack Jones and my only message to him was be yourself and go out there and be a great teammate and if you do that the rest of the rest of things take care of themselves. Now in being a great teammate that means you got to handle your responsibilities off the field, right? your life can’t be in chaos off of it and then expect to come in here and and be in alignment with what we’re trying to do. And everything he’s promised he would do, he’s done today. It’s undeniable that he has a skill set to go out there and compete in the National Football League. I mean, how many pick sixes does a guy have? So, the one thing I don’t want him to do is feel pressure that he needs to to change and be somebody he’s not. I think there’s just a a normal growth and evolution that we’re all going through as people, and we’re just trying to help him along that path. What would be your message for Kenneth Grant and any of the other firstear players for that joint practice at Chicago to trust their technique and fundamentals in their training? The thing that happens a lot particularly with younger players is when they get in that the fire and you’re out you’re outside of your normal where you’re practicing against the same guy every day is is they start to revert back to old habits. We’re trying to make this new training their new habits. So that to me is the biggest thing. Just making sure you don’t revert back to some of the things you’ve done in the past and you try to do what you’ve been trained to do to this point. How is Kevin looking for? Awesome. Awesome. He’s everything we thought we’d be. I think his game particularly comes to life when the pads come on, right? And you’ve seen the impact he can have both in the middle of the pocket as a run defender and as a pass rusher. and both. Yeah, they’re they’re they’re everything we’ve expected them to be. Um those guys have had the careers they’ve had for a reason. Um they have very high expectations of themselves and they practice to that. So when you have guys that have has reached the ceilings they’ve had and still come out and put the the work ethic and effort they’ve put on put forth on the practice field, there’s residuals with that with all the guys. So, I love that they’re out there competing the way they do and we’re going to be a good defense because of that. Coach, talk about the safeties. Obviously, KJ really gave three defensive tackles you guys drafted. Is it first part? Is it safe to assume that building out the defense was important to you guys this year? And if so, how was the returns on that 10 days? It’s been great. It’s been great. I think great defenses are built up the middle, right? You you got to be strong up the middle and that’s going to force the ball to edges. and and fortunately we we have we have great edges both at the at the defensive end spot and then if those backers they haven’t fill in the alley or safeties. So feel really strong about that. We’re constantly working right every day to make sure we’re we’re solid from a technique and schematic standpoint but really really thrilled with the additions we’ve made. What do you think of William? Oh man gosh dog. You guys have seen it right. All right, the guys all over the place that that linebacker room with Joe Barry and Matt O’Donnell and all the work that those guys have put in, I feel like we have multiple starters in that room, guys that can come out here and play for us. Now, it’ll be our job from a coaching standpoint to see how many of those guys we can get on the field at the same time to go out there and wreak havoc. Not to keep hammering off quarterbacks here, but Cam Smith, you know, we heard Mike say yesterday like we’re all awaiting his ability to stay on the field. How difficult is the evaluation for you in year three when Yeah. 10 days in? Yeah. And it’s you feel for Cam because you know the want to is there, the fight is there. It’s just hard to to have steady growth when you can’t be on the field. So the challenge to him ultimately is just to see if he can get healthy and be out there consistently for his team. But until that happens, obviously the the monumental gains will be difficult. All right, guys.

Anthony Weaver meets with the media.

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