Drive Time - Year 2 Impressions

the tape fired up. I'm ready for some All twenty two getting a look at this new England Patriots team for the next seventeen weeks at least. We're talking football every day, all week long on this show. The Dolphins are back on the field in preparation for the new England Patriots on Sunday, and we are here to get you ready. We're gonna hear from Coach Flores, Bill Belichick, a trio of Dolphins players, and break down this roster four week one. All of that and more on this Tuesday,

September the eight edition of the Drive Time Podcast. And let's go ahead and start this podcast out with a listen in to Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. He spoke to the South Florida media on a conference call on Tuesday. Let's play some of the hits here. Starting with a question for coach about the season opener going up against the Miami Dolphins, who they've had some great battles with over the years. He says, here's coach on the season opener. Yeah, I don't know. We'll just

have to wait and see. I mean, I think that the players and on the coach, we'll be excited to play the game and um, you know, get out there and compete. Um, sure to be a very competitive game. You know, Miami is a good team and we've certainly had a lot of great battles with them through the years, and you know the last year und last minute. So I want to see all that played out. And you know, there's gonna be several questions and hear about former Patriots

now on this Dolphins roster. We start with a question for Belichick about Kyle van Noy. Kyle is a good football player. He's versa all you can do a lot of things. Um, you know, he's smart, he's he's got as good size, good playing strength, he's very athletic, and cover. Um, you know as good football instant's football player. On the topic of good football players, Bill Belichick was then asked

about Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones, Byron any player? You know, he's had a great career with the with the Cowboys, Um, how they're going to use them and what his role being all that. I mean, we haven't seen any film on so we'll let wait and see you on Sunday. Just everybody else, Let's keep the player evaluation of train rolling here and talk about the running backs in Jordan Howard and Matt Brita, and also Dolphins defensive ends Shack Lawson and Emanuel Oddba. But both facts have had a

lot of production. Um, both the defensive players have had a lot of production. Again, how exactly coach floor as they used them in his system and what what their role be and what it will be against us. You know, again, we've never seen those guys play with the Dolphins. We've seen him on film. Um. You know, Howard's you know, an impressive back. I mean, he's a strong guy. It's hard to tackle. Brita's a very explosive player, you know,

maybe the fastest player in the league. Um, you know, they've had a two good pass rushers, um, you know on the edge to go with you know, a strong inside group with you know, Wilkinson got talking those guys, so you know, I'm sure that you know that they'll all help them. And there is a bit of a theme on these answers with regards to coach Belichick doesn't necessarily know how they're going to use these players in this system here in Miami, just like everybody else across

the NFL. And he was asked about the offensive line and how the Dolphins might unveil the offensive line, and it's a kind of a mystery to coach Belichick here he is talking about Miami's offensive line for this game Week one, Right, Yeah, well we'll see, you know who actually is out there. I mean I don't know, you know, I don't know who they're gonna play and who they're not gonna play, or how long they're gonna play or anything else. So, um, so that's that's up to the

offense to the side. But he's got to be ready for everybody. Um, they have a lot of new players, um on the offensive line, and you know, guys that we've seen played well before. Whether it's in the NFL or whether it's you know, from college football. You know, we respect what they can do, and you know, we'll have to be ready for however they put them out there. Um, that's that's really all we can do. We just have

to see how that goes. And you know, I still about to make some adjustments during the game as that unfold. Another new part of this Dolphins team of this Dolphins coaching staff is Josh Boyer, who of course was here coaching defensive backs last season and now he is the defensive coordinator in Miami. Belichick talks about his word coaching with the defensive backs and cornerbacks in particular up in New England for so many years. Josh here for a long time did a good job for us working with

the secondary and in the corners. You know, work his way up through our system. And it's a good football coach on a metal coach and you don't So you might have heard some chatter in the background on that call right there. Belichick and Flora's were on their media's at the same time, So we had some guys on both calls at the same time and didn't mute themselves. My apologies for that. Hopefully the audio was good enough. I think I could make it out clear enough from

my end, wouldn't have played it for you guys. Otherwise. Let's go ahead. Transition now over to Coach Flora's is Tuesday morning media availability. And you knew we were going to get depth chart questions for Flow on Tuesday morning as the Dolphin's depth chart dropped late Monday night. Here's Brian Flores on the decision to list Solomon Kindley as the starting right guard. Um, look like I said yesterday, I mean I wouldn't put too much into the depth charts.

I mean we got a really tough opponent. It's gonna be a competitive environment. Um, everyone's gonna be ready to play. That's been my message to the team. That was my message this morning. I will continue to be my message. So and I'll continue to harp on this point for Coach Flora's that you do have to have all fifty

three guys. It's not like on the flashback podcast we had with A. J. Dewey a few months back where he said if you started, you were in the game and you did not come out unless you were hurt. Eleven guys went in eleven guys came out, and that's how it was. That's the way the cookie crumbles. That's not how it is anymore. Everyone plays, everyone has a role. It's important for all fifty three guys to be ready,

like coach Flores says. Next, coach was asked about the value of playing the best player compared to playing a player who might have more experience than perhaps a player with more talent or I guess that's how the question was phrased. Here's coach talking about utilizing a combination of both experience and overall talent. That's always a combination of both, uh, you know, talent, experience, ability to communicate, and I think

all those things play a factor. And who who whoo who's in in those uh at the nickel position or the you know, any of those sub kind of packages. So um, you know, we've had a lot of conversations about, uh, who's going to be the nickel, who's going to play the dime, who's gonna play you know, defensive line in those situations. So but like you said, you know, Julian Edelman is a great player. He's in the slot, you know, primarily,

but he also plays outside. I mean they've seen him in the backfield also, so they moved him around quite a bit. We've got to be prepared for really all of it. That's what that's what this week of preparation is all about. Um. So hopefully we go out there and have a good week of practice and look, they're gonna show us things that we haven't seen. There's been no preseason games. If we can can can communicate, we can uh you know, play with good fundamentals and technique. Uh,

you know, I think we'll be okay. So there was one comment and there I want to point out from Coach Flores that I've harped on again that's the word of the week. It feels like on the podcast, I keep harping on these things that I harp on on

the podcast. But I've talked about the depth of this defense and how there was an intentional desire to go out and acquire guys that can really fulfill the role, not just on the starting lineup and the backup lineup, but guys that can do multiple things at each position, and that just keeps your flexibility completely open. So you hear Coach Flora's talked there about how they're gonna throw

things at us. We don't we haven't seen because there's no preseason, there's no film to go off from previous weeks. And it's gonna be the same case with the Dolphins going to the Patriots. We're gonna throw things with them

they have not seen. And that little bit of tidbit there, to me is encouraging because of the depths we do have on this defense and the different plans he talks about with the nickel and dime defense and who might be on the defensive line in those situations, whether it's you know, you can have different types of fronts two three to four three three, whatever it might be. The coach Flora's calls, you have different options, different body types, different guys that can rush and cover and just do

multiple things. To me, that uncertainty has to benefit a team that has a lot of depth on that defense. Up next, coach was asked about electing eight captains this year compared to four captains on last year's team. Here's Coach's response about the level of leadership that tells you this Dolphins team has. I would say there's there's quite a bit of good leadership team. It could have been there was four or five other guys who have votes as well. So that's a good thing. There's a good

amount of leadership here. We need that. You know, you need fifty three leaders on your on your team, UM, and you know that's what we're looking for. And that's that's always something I try to talk about. You need as much leadership on a football team as you can get. And you know, just because you're a captain doesn't mean, um, or you're not a captain, I should say, it doesn't mean that you don't have a leadership role in the team.

And that's I've talked to the players about that. UM, if something's wrong or we got to make a call on the field, and it doesn't have to just be the captain who makes that. Com was voted by the by the by their teammates. So you need fifty leaders on the team. Happy to have. You know, the eight guys we have, there were some you know, I would say there four or five other guys honestly who also that vote. So there were some other guys. There's some other guys who didn't get votes to I see a

leadership in as well. So I'm happy with the eight guys that were chosen and uh, you know, we'll move forward with those guys. Next, Coach was asked a kind of interesting question about the preparation of going on the road.

A previous question he had mentioned how everything is different this year, even from the tra avel they'll see on the weekend before the game on Sunday, Coach was asked about the difference and not having fans in the stands and not having a loud atmosphere on the road and if it changes the way they approached the week the way they prepare for Sunday. Here's Coach talking about that instance here in the first road game of in a strange season. Well, there will be some uh, some noise.

I'm not exactly sure. I mean, we know what the decible levels supposed to do. Does it affect our preparation. I mean, we'll go about it as if you know, well, there's a situation where we may need to go to silent counter hand sickles signals. If we need it, we'll go to it. If we don't we don't need it, we won't. Um. But yeah, well, I mean the preparation it's a little different in that in some cases, you know what there's gonna be crowd noise. You know, it's

gonna be loud, uh in this situation. Um, I think we're going into it with the assumption that it will be you know, whatever whatever decibel levels this can get up to, it will be loud enough that we have to make hand signals or or silent counter of things of that nature. So, UM, that's how we'll prepare for it. Uh. It will be different, it will be unique. I mean, I don't think any of us have been uh in

a situation like this in an NFL game. It's gonna be There's a little bit of a learning curve here as well. And we finish up here with coach floor is about a question about the nickel receiver. I think it was meant for slot receiver. Here's Coach talking about the receiving crew he has going into Sunday up in Foxborough. I think I think we've got a lot of good, good, good players in the receiver room, in the tight end

room and running back room. Um. You know, who aligns in the slot is really depending on what formation we give them. So you can see a running back in the slot, you can see it tight end in the slot because he a receiver in the slot depends on what formation we're giving them, what what matchup we're trying. We're looking for, uh, so specifics to you know, one player, Um, you know, if it's Isaiah or a King or uh

you know Breed, I mean Davante. You know, they've all been in the slot, so specific to that area of the field. Could be a number of people. UM, I think your questions about you know, maybe a couple of couple of players. Isaiah Joachim. I think you know Isaiah has had a good camp. Um, you know, he's he's He's been dependable and productive and practice. Has made a few plays in in games, particularly at the end of last year. UM. Jachim obviously is explosive. Is explosive of

players there is in the league. So UM, I think we have few options and once we get to Sunday, we'll see who's out there and who can who can help us, uh try to win the football game. You heard coach mentioned Jachim there and also Isaiah Ford. I want to take a quick note on Isaiah Ford before we get into the Sandwich portion of the podcast before player media availability on this Tuesday, September eight, here on the Drive Time Podcast. You're number four Frisaiah Ford. This

is his first opening day. Remember he got injured back his rookie season. And Isaiah and I, I guess you could say we're kind of tight little bit. We have a bit of a friendship and I know that he is very excited for opening day, for his first opening day up in New England. I'm really excited to watch him play on Sunday, and obviously the entire team as well. I mean football just it's it's here, and it couldn't

get here soon enough and it is here finally. So excited to watch these guys play on Sunday, but a little extra special for Isaiah his first opening day in his fourth year in the NFL. And as we head into this week one battle with the New England Patriots on Sunday at one o'clock Eastern at Gillette Stadium, just like old times, our annual trip to Fox Burrow out of the way week number one, and we have a line up a roster, a Dolphins fifty three man roster.

We talked about it a little bit on the podcast yesterday, but the depth chart dropped on Monday night and again to go back to what coach Flora says, and to really reiterate the relevance of the depth chart, even going back to what Belichick said in his news conference this morning, he doesn't know what the Dolphins are gonna do. No one knows what any team is going to do, because

all of it is a mystery right now. And the validity of these depth charts is really more for public facing and for the fans out there, because, like coach has mentioned, all the different personnel groupings are going to call for different players. So if you have twelve personnel, you have to have two tight ends. That means you

can only have two receivers. So if you start the game in eleven personnel with three receivers, you might have three guys or you will have rather three guys start the game receiver, but then you go two more tight ends the rest of the game. Then the two tight ends play more than the third receiver did. So it's all matchup based, it's all game based, and we know this team is going to be a week by week operation as they evolve their look, their makeup their plans

every single week heading into every single game. Let's go ahead and start here at quarterback, not much mystery or intrigue to this, but Ryan Fitzpatrick is your starter on Sunday with two A tongue of Volo of the rookie serving as his backup. We've talked about this quarterback room on this podcast at length throughout the course of the

off season. We know Ryan Fitzpatrick, thirty seven years old, going into your number sixteen, what he can do, some of the improvisational skills that he has, that he offers many many plays last season off script, making things happen when pressure arrived, when the pocket broke down, throwing the football up to his playmakers for an opportunity to make plays on the football. And we saw Davonte Parker and Mike get Sicky and Preston Williams and these guys come

down with plays time and time again. That late relationship he developed in the season with Isaiah Ford, we saw all that on display, all those guys coming back here to join Fitzpatrick and this passing game for Tongue by Loa.

The backups primary job always is to get the starting quarterback ready, whether it's helping him find tendencies on film, helping out with the third downrail, what the defense likes to do in certain situations, but also he does have to prepare himself as if he is the starter, to get ready for game day in case he does have to get put into the lineup. Because this is football, things happen, Guys get hurt, Guys leave the game. Stuff

does happen. So the quarterbacks they have their work cut out for them this week at running back, Jordan Howard, Matt Breedam, Miles Gaskin, and Patrick Laird with Chandler Cox at fullback and again to go back to the starting question here with fullback Chandler Cox. If they opened in twenty one personnel, then Chandler Cox could start at fullback. If not, he might not start, So again every week

this thing could change. But at the running back possession, you heard Belichick say that Howard is a big, physical strong back who is tough to tackle. That could provide

an early season challenge for teams. As kind of the theme of some of these media questions has been will there will there be miss tackles since you haven't had the chance to really simulate live full scrimmage against another team, live tackling in that instance, trying to keep your own guys healthy, it could come with and pay off there. We will find out on Sunday. And then Matt Brita also has the speed to burn. As you heard Belichick say, he can definitely change a game on one play. I

thought Myles Gascon was tremendous in camp. Patrick Laire was off to a good start. He missed a few days and was in the red no contact jersey for a few days as well. So that's your Dolphins backfield. At receiver, we've got Preston Williams and DeVante Parker, the two guys you know all too well. When Preston got hurt last year, he led the team in receptions and yards. And we know what Devanta Parker did down the stretch, finishing top

five in both receiving yards and touchdowns in NFL. Jachem Grant, Isaiah Ford. Look, both these guys have roles they can fulfill within certain play calls, certain packages. Grant certainly has the speed to burn to take the top off the defense, and that makes you really have to respect the vertical

aspect of the game coming from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. There, Isaiah Ford, We're gonna talk more about this on the Thursday preview podcast, But he had a big day against the Patriots last time around, and he did very well in that short area space going up against J. C. Jackson, one of the best cover corners in the entire National Football League, not just in the slot but in general,

and Ford had some good wins on that battle. The rest of the receiving crew is Mac Hollins, Malcolm Perry, and Lynn Bowden Junior, who we talked about on the podcast yesterday a little bit talking about his acquisition coming over from the Raiders. At the tight end spot, Durham Smith might get Sicky and Adam Shaheen are your three tight ends. Look all these guys six six and six seven is the size. They're all physical, big, big, strong guys.

And we heard on the podcast yesterday as chan Gailey talked about trying to get all these guys versatile until they can do things like getting Smithe more involved as a pass catcher and like getting get Sicky more involved as a blocker, because in the grand scheme of things, that's going to help you disguise what you do offensively

when your packages is out there. If you have two tight ends in the field, they both can do both things That really frees you up for your versatility and your play calling that way out of that twelve personnel package. On the offensive line, Austin Jackson, Eric Flowers, Ted Carress, Solomon Kinley, Jesse Davis, with Julian Davenport, Michael Dieter, Adam Pinky, and Robert Hunt in the mix as well. We heard coach Flora said, you could rotate some guys, we could

do different combinations up there. We'll see what that actually looks like on Sunday. Again, like Belichick and Flora said, you just don't know what you're gonna get. It's gonna be a surprise comes Sunday. As for offensive line, plenty of youth, but also plenty of leadership and experience. We know what Eric Flowers and Ted Carress have meant to previous teams and what previous coaches like Bill Callahan in Washington, what Belichick up in New England have said about Flowers

and Carress respectively. Austin Jackson just uber athletic out there so many reps and training camp where he was able to get to the edge quickly and really wall off that arc the defensive vent the pass rusher wants to run because of that fluid footwork he has. He moves very well for a guy that size. He and Shack Lawson had some great battles throughout the course of training camp. I liked Michael Dieter's camp at center, the position change

he makes inside now to a guard slash center. I thought Adam Pinky had a really good camp as well. He had a really awesome pass protection rep on the deep Josh Rosen throw in the scrimmage at hard Rock Stadium a couple of weeks ago, and Robert Hunt Solomon Kinley as well, the two rookies up there who showed an impressive work in camp. As the coaches said, some good days, some not so good days. What they are

definitely growing and improving. I do think, like Josh Bowyer said, this line will continue to develop and get chemistry and camaraderie and really kind of get its best ball going late in the season as they work up and improve every single day. On the defensive side, the defensive line is going to have Christian Wilkins, Divon god Shaw, Emmanuel Ogba, Zack Seeler, Ray Kwon Davis, and Jason Strowbridge. Pretty deep group there. You have to feel good about that rotation.

You can even go kind of like a hockey line change and bring different guys in all at once, or you can go situational base. You have many different fronts this team wants to run. We'll throw a Shack Lawson in there. Even though he's listened to as a linebacker on the depth chart, he is on the defensive line on the Dolphins official roster. So you have so much versatility and so much flexibility with what you want to

do with these guys. To run a three man front, to run a four man front, to bring linebackers down off the edge, to put your safety down in the box and really condense that box and force the Patriots to find ways to beat you vertically because you don't want to allow them to run the ball. And you fit a guy or you fill a gap with a guy on every single play, so to speak. At the linebacker spot. We mentioned Shack Lawson out there, Andrew van

Ginkl in the mix as well. It Landed Roberts, Jerome Baker, Kyle van Noy, Calvin Munson, Commu Gruge Hill, and Sam Aguavin. I look at this group and as Belichick mentioned in his Tuesday morning press conference or conference call, whatever we're gonna call that, that they have so many guys that are versatile, that can hit, that can run, that can cover.

And that's what I look at with this group. With Van Noy, he mentioned Belichick did the length, the good strength on the field, the play speed, the instincts that he has. Jerome Baker similar that way. He can certainly fly, he can rush the passer and cover that way. Land and Robert's a physical downhill type of bruiser. And then you have Combu Gruge Hill and Sam Mguavin who just can do a little bit of everything as well, especially

on special teams. And in the defensive backfield Byron Jones and xaviing Howard with Nick Needham and Noah Ignogeny and Jamal Perry as your cornerbacks, long strong, physical guys that can press, guys that can play man. They can also drop into zone too if you have to. But these guys are gonna dictate the point at the line of scrimmage and really force those guys to win the releases off the line. In the safety position, Eric Rowe, Bobby McCain,

Clayton Federalum Cavan Fraser and Brandon Jones. Again, these guys, they pretty much all have coverage experience, and if they aren't really adept at the previous cornerback history, they have been known to come down in that box and really help fit the run and get involved inside and get in that muck and really mix things up among the tree is on the offensive line there down in the front seven. So plenty of depth, plenty of good variety

for this Dolphins roster. The death charges out, But again take that with a grain of salt, because, as coach Flora says, it's all package based, it's all game plan based, it's all opponent based. In the special teams game, Jason Sanders Matt Hawk with Blake Ferguson as your long snapper, and the returners listed are jackem Grant, Noah Ignogamy, Preston Williams, and Malcolm Perry. So that's your twenty Miami Dolphins team four.

Week one could change next week. We never know. As coach Flora says, we're going to adapt each and every week. Let's go ahead and finish up this podcast with some player media availability, and we'll start with Jesse Davis and a question I had for him about preparing for players that maybe he doesn't have a whole bunch of film on in New England this week, Hey, Jesse, my questions about the Patriots and the way they're going to attack

you on Sunday. They've got plenty of guys up front, they're kind of new to whether it's the NFL or just haven't played many snaps in the NFL. How does that change your preparation for Sunday with guys that maybe you don't have as much NFL tape on. UM. I think you just kind of do your best. You try to research as much as you can who you have,

and then you you kind of go from there. I think, you know, with everything going on, you know, I mean, everybody's in the same boat, so I mean, you know, you know, they kind of know what how I play, but you know, I don't know how their rookies are gonna play. Who's gonna line up, you know, with their with their D line situation. But you know, you just go out there and you try to do your best, and then you come to the sideline and communicating and

whoever makes the best changes will probably win that game. Next, Jesse is asked about preparing the young guys for their first NFL start, and how the veterans are helping those young guys get acclimated to their first game in the NFL. Yeah, you know, we kind of you know, took him aside, you know, with with Rob or with Austin and Solomon, just kind of telling them how they're gonna play, you know, how what to expect. You know, it's early on in the week right now. We haven't really got too much

into like third down stuff or anything. This is kind of early, early down, so we've just kind of been telling them how they're gonna play us and how we know what to expect with movements too. Just and so um, I think, you know, with everybody doing a good job with Marshall, um kind of telling us what what to expect as well. But I just know from experience playing these guys, you know what to expect to And let's go ahead and hear from the guy that Jesse Davis

has paid to protect. Starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who first talks about coming back to the facility, coming back to the Dolphins after the passing of his mother and how special all this is to him and all the responsibilities he has within the organization. There's a lot of different responsibilities that I have, and you know, being a leader

on this football team is one of them. So we've we've done a great job kind of preparing with the short time that we've had, and we know that everything is so critical in terms of practices and the time that we have they're out on the field because it has been so limited with the pandemic. So, um, you know, it's finally nice today to stop practicing against our defense and getting us in New England stuff and really start

paring down what we're trying to do. This is the stuff that that I really enjoy as a quarterback, the week to week game planning, and um, I'm glad they were at this phase and we made it this far. Next, Fitz talks about going up against Afon Gilmore, his former teammate and last year's defensive player of the Year in that Patriots secondary. Well, yeah, I mean a former former teammate of mine and uh, you know, defensive player of

the year. So, um, guy that has had a ton of successmentist league and it is definitely one of the top guys, you know, defensively around the league. Um, they're very talented on defense, very talented and experience in the back end, and so for us, you know, I was trying to throw to the open guy, trying to pick the best matchups. Um. You know, they do a great job of making sure that everything is contested and challenged

on every place. So we'll have to play our best. Uh, whether you know receivers, tight ends, backs, Uh, the way that I'm throwing the ball, everything's gonna have to be on point for us to be able to move the ball versus these guys. And throughout the course of training camp and really the last year that Ryan Fitzpatrick has been here, we've heard a lot of support and praise for this guy, and especially in these last couple of

weeks after again the passing of his mother. Don't want to keep bringing that back, but it's relevant to the topic here. As he was asked about how much he's felt that love and support from the organization over the last couple of weeks, here's fits on how he feels about all the support and all the love the people gave him. Yeah, I mean, I definitely, I definitely feel the love, and I think, you know, with a with

a personal tragedy with my mom, passing away. I think you feel it extra you know, all the people and it was it was a lot of teammates and people in the building, but it was There's a lot of people have been um in contact with almost in a past life, you know, on different teams in different cities, and um, there were a lot of people that have reached out. So I've been feeling a lot of love lately in that regard because people knowing that they want to let me know that they care about me and

thinking about me and my family. And that's been good. Uh. In terms of the coaches, I'm about the same age as most of them, so we have more in common than some of the younger guys. But um, you know, I think that's that's just part of the position, part of the position that that I play, being able to interact with everybody and get a good feel for everybody and spend a lot of time in all the different rooms.

And let's go back to the question about the ability of the Patriots on defense and in that secondary and how fits has weapons he can attack them with. Here is Fitzpatrick talking about the offense weapons he has here

in Miami. Yeah, I mean they we definitely have. We've got guys that can make plays in a variety of ways, and so I think a lot of that, and especially when a new staff comes in, it's a lot of learning these guys and learning the things that they're great at, the things that need to work on, and maybe some

of the things that we should stay away from. And one of the things that I've harped on since chan God here is playing the guy's strengths and something he does a really nice job them in a great position and putting me in a great position. So, um, we have a lot of talent on the offensive end, and I think being able to utilize each guy, um, you know, playing to their strengths and giving them some freedom to go out there and do what they do best. That'll

hopefully show up here as we get going. If it's first one to echo josh The's statements off the top with our you know, our thoughts being with you with the passing of your mother. UM. I also want to go back to a question earlier. You mentioned Stefon Gilmour, and you had to comment last December after that game, how it's not that you necessarily don't respect the guy you're going against, but you have ultimate confidence in a guy like Davante to give him chances to make plays

in the football. I'm just curious. Is there a like measured approach you have to that, like a certain time or a look they give you, or is it just I'm gonna trust my guys all the time? Um? Yeah, I mean there's there's definitely calculated risk. But I can't give you all my secrets, Travis, but h yeah, a

lot of it does come down to that. I mean, they're best players are going to be on our best playmakers, and so the way these games go, uh, you know, their guys make more plays or doors, and I just and going into you know, matchups like this, I just want to make sure that my guys know that I've got the ultimate confidence in them and I'm going to give them opportunities to go out there and make plays. And um, you know, that's no secret to the defense,

that's no secret to my guys. Um, but that's how we'll figure out who's gonna win the game. You know, if our guy a big playmakers show up and I can get them the ball, or or if they can't. Next we'll hear Ryan Fitzpatrick talk about the feeling around the building this year now that he's in your number two and kind of one of these original guys and the Brian Flora slash Chris career program, right, one of

these original o g s should we call them. He's one of the guys that was here last year and now we'll see through in your number two with all the roster change, he comes back. He's a good guy to ask what the differences between this year at this time compared to last year at this time. Uh, there's definitely a different feeling right now than there was uh last year at this exact time. But uh, yeah, I just I think right now there's a great vibe in

the building. I think in terms of the personalities and the guys that have been on this team with the guys that were added to this team, everybody's pulling in the same direction right now, and and that's that's easy to do when there's no adversity and you haven't played any games. Um, so we'll figure out real quick what kind of team that we have. But I think we've

we've brought in the right guys. We've got a great group of guys in the locker room and hopefully that adds to our success on the field of being able to kind of get along and you know, everybody have the same mentality and mindset. Offense heavy. On this edition of the Drive Time Podcast, we first heard from Jesse Davis on the offensive line, your quarterback, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, and now we'll hear from one of the guys he

throws the football too, in wide receiver, Preston Williams. I had this question queued up and it got asked right before my turn came up. But we'll go ahead and get to it anyway. It's all a team effort down here in South Florida. Here's Preston Williams on how he feels his game as evolved from your number one as a rookie undrafted out of Colorado State into year two with some established production and heading into the offense as

a starter for the Miami Dolphins. Uh. Game definitely slowed down to me personally that this is one of my my things. Game definitely slowed down to me. Uh, you know, last year of coach told me I need to you know, have a better jump from point year one of year two. So not just being focused in Tinny proved my game learn more positions. Uh no, this year, you know, lapire a lot more on the plate, you know, just trying to manage everything. You know, I was a rickie last

year and still get my feet wet. But now you know,

Gang slowed down them just working every day. I think the one thing you have to really give Preston Williams credit for is the work he put in to get back from the A c L so quickly and to look so good on the practice field out there each and every day here on the Lifetime podcast and here's present talking about his mentality, has focused his mindset, his goals of the off season to get back for week one, his previous experience with a torn A c L back

in college, and how that helped prepare him for the workload he knew he had ahead of him this time around, getting ready for the season opener now just five days away. Now definitely in my head, you know, if it didn't happen, then in my head, I probably we're hard enough. So I was. I was preparing for wee wine. But up and we transition to the other side of the football here and linebacker Jerome Baker and my guy Joe Chad,

one of my good friends here on the beat. He has been asking this question all summer long, all August and September long now about the quality of tackling players expect to see on Sunday. Here's Jerome Baker talking about maybe some sluggish starts and sloppy starts with tackling, but how the Dolphins have really been drilling the fundamentals and focusing on getting tackling done so so poignantly every day in practice. I think that's he's going to get a

little slapping slop you just across the league. Um, that's why we work on it every day. That's how we know go so harderly Now. I think that's pretty much around the whole league of Uh. You know, we all haven't tackled in so long. We all haven't really got that much time as we're used to so um, but you know, over time we definitely get better that I know.

We've been working on it every day. So um, you still gotta go out there and perform up next, Bike is going to tell us about some of the experience of former Patriots now on the Dolphins roster and how that knowledge of this defense here with Brian Flores has helped them grow and get more acclimated quickly in the defense. Yeah, what's unique about them is, you know, they played in this system. This system, they really know the ins and outs. Uh, and they do a great job, you know, vocalizing that

make sure everybody knows what things look out for. They just have a lot of experience really, Um, and you know they're great people off the field, so you know, definitely you know arriving Uh, you know, Kyle, they're they're great leaders. So it wasn't really no surprise of you know, the being captained. So uh, definitely congratulations. I know. The one thing they always bring up is you have to be consistent. Um, it's being consistent and truly getting better

throughout the year. Uh. That's the one thing they always bring up, is being consistent, no matter who's in, that person that comes in, that's new, whoever it is, you gotta be consistent, You gotta do the same thing. You gotta truly just get better. So uh, yeah, they already talking about pictures too much. So next here is Jerome talking about the growth Revolution, which he calls not an evolution but rather just more visibility. For Brian Flores. From

year one to year two, here in Miami. I don't think he really evolved that much. I wouldn't said that is more of you know, people are starting to see it. Um see how he really is. Uh, you know, he smiles, he jokes around. Uh, he truly loves his players, and he liked building that connection. So I think now I think people are starting finally starting to see it. That's pretty much one thing always find it funny with him.

It's kids. They truly think I made up you know, drones in the house, but anybody knows that they came from Martin, so uh, shout out Martin. And here is Jerome talking a little bit about the coaching staff new Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, and how the staff and the people that were here last year even helped him a lot and grow his game and evolve his game from your number one to year two last year and

now you're too last year to year three this season. Yeah, you know, they do a great job just pushing me every day. Uh, even going back to last year. I can make a good play, for example, interception, whatever it is. Uh, they still get on the about that. Yeah you cause the interception and that's cool. But you could have a pig six. Uh, and even this year it was just more pressure of Um, they want me to get better

in all phases of the game. If it's pallet, his hand placement, it's rushing and pastor uh, coverage, whatever it is. They truly uh, they still on top of me to get better and be consistent every place. So, UM, you know, the one thing I know camp he always gets on me is getting off blocks, getting off blocks clean. UM. So that's the one thing that this offseason has been grinded in my head. We've been working on it NonStop.

So I'm definitely excited. We'll go ahead and finish up with this one of my favorite themes so far as guys talking about year one to year two here under Brian Floors with this Dolphins program. Here is Jerome on the off season and where the Dolphins field they are right now at the end of training camp and heading into the season coming up on Sunday. I mean, we

definitely tell me what was We definitely got better. UM. But one thing is unique is UH, all the guys you have, they truly work hard in the sense of uh, they go hard no matter who it is. UM, you our expectations for whoever is in it's high no matter who it is. Uh. And that's just the one unique thing. Even you know, just rushing the past, I might not have that much experience. Uh you know, shock, he gets on me of how to do it, Kyle, he coaches me up on how to do it. The expectation does

not change whoever it is. Just having that I think that races everybody. It's not um the individual player, but everybody in the room. Uh, you just raise your game. So that's the only unique thing that should I'm excited to just to see because uh, it's going to be you know, rest of the quarterbacks, it's gonna be fun. Man. You just cannot top that type of self policing and self leadership on the roster. Having guys really help convey

the coach's message. It's so important in football and sports, in life and jobs, everything you do, it's so important to have people that can really echo the mindset and go the mantra of the leaders at the top and really genuinely believe it and push it on the rest of the staff and in this case, the rest of the teams. Are great to hear that from Jerome Baker. Plenty of good stuff there from Fitzpatrick, Preston, Williams, Baker

and Jesse Davis. And with that will go ahead and include this Tuesday edition on Game week here of the Drive Time Podcast, Week one Dolphins at Patriots. The best time of year has officially arrived. Football on your television pretty much every day, because as it goes these days, you get football pretty much Monday through Sunday. All the good TV shows, at least in my opinion, are back our South Park and it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Gonna be back this fall. I don't know that yet, but

I assume they will be. You've got sports every night, NBA Playoffs, You've got baseball, the stretch run coming down to the wire. There hockey as well. Speaking of baseball, the Mariners have one twelve of the last sixteen, right when I gave up on them. So go M's the to a documentary Hard Knocks America's Game Football on Thursday, the Chiefs and Texans. I tried to get up for b y U. Navy last night, but that turned into a laugher very quickly. The point is it's September and

it's very tough to beat this time of year. Alright, that's gonna be my time. You all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, on Spotify, wherever you get your podcast us from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me a follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. Fallow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast. New episode dropped today with Trace Armstrong, as well as the Audible podcast and of course Miami Dolphins dot com.

All right, multiple stories every day up on the site for you guys, pretty much from now through Christmas, so keep an eye on that until next time finds up