[wysifield-embeddedaudio|eid="374806"|type="embeddedaudio"|view_mode="full"]Dolphins Interim Head Coach Dan Campbell
(On what it's like to have to prepare against the New England Patriots)
"To be honest with you, it's a division game and it's at New England, we've got our hands full and that's all I'm thinking about."
(On if his nerves have calmed down before games now that he has two under his belt)
"I would say so. I would say it's not quite as bad (inaudible) it came up last weekend which is better than what happened two weeks ago. No I feel much better, I think every week and every day I've gotten a little more comfortable, but I don't know if the nerves will ever go away to be honest with you. To me it's a good feeling, it's a good nervous energy and if I don't feel that anymore it's probably time to get out."
(On what has changed for the team that has allowed them to play the way they've played for the last two weeks)
"I would just say that the guys (inaudible) have played for another which is the most important thing when you're talking about team and teamwork and that's kind of the way everything has been. It's competing against one another, competing for one another and then having it spill out into Sunday obviously."
(On the challenges New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman presents)
"A lot. Certainly having a guy like (New England Patriots TE Rob) Gronkowski out there is going to force you to do somethings that you're just going to have to do at times and when you do that, now you're singling out Edelman which he's tough to cover. He's a quick guy and he finds (inaudible) where he needs to be, he'll be where he needs to be and he's quick. Then if you want to try and take him away, now all of a sudden you've got Gronkowski one-on-one, those are the issues that they present, but he's a smart player, he plays hard, makes plays, he's an impact player for them and you can go on and on about the guy."
(On what he thinks of New England Patriots LB Dont'a Hightower)
"I think he's a strong player, I think he hits like a defensive lineman, I think he's explosive, he makes plays, I think he sets a good edge, I think he's good in coverage and he's another guy that presents issues for us upfront because he can do a little bit of everything. That's what I would say about these guys, being on the opposite side of the ball and watching some of these guys that have been there that were young guys that are developing, it's pretty impressive. I'm sure if you're a Patriots fan you're loving it because between (New England Patriots LB Jamie) Collins, Hightower and a number of these guys, every year they get better and better and they're pretty damn good football players."Â
(On how he handled LB Chris McCain's twitter profile picture)
"I found out about that today and to be honest with you I've got enough other stuff to worry about besides that. I'm really focused on what's going to happen on the field and the X's and O's."
(On if he has a social media policy with players)
"I have not brought those things up, but let me handle the media and don't stir anything up. To me, I'm not even going to worry about that, I've talked to the player personally and I'm worried about what Thursday night presents."
(On how he's gotten the players to play for one another)
"To be honest with you it started in practice, everything has to begin and I think that when you get these guys to practice hard and intense and compete against each other, not just practice or run cards, but actually compete against one another during the season, you do it training camp all the time, but if you can do that during the season and they're going after each other all week and then you – for example we're about to play on a Thursday night, now they can look across the field and see that's the opponent, you look to your left and your right, that's the guy you've gone against all week, you guys have been battling one another, giving everything you've got to beat each other and it gives you a better perspective on what the guy next to you is going to give you because you've had to go against him all week."
(On if guys weren't playing for one another before he took over as head coach)
"To me, the first thing and the quickest thing for us to get better at was guys being more aggressive and more competitive and that's what I tried to do, that's what I tried to instill and these guys have gone 100 percent all in and they're giving everything they've got right now."
(On how realistic it is to expect the players to continue to play with the edge and passion they've had so far)
"Well I think it's like any good team, the good teams do it on their own. Once you light a fire, then you can't put it out as long as the players continue to feed that fire and that's what you're looking for. That's why the team we're getting ready to play, the New England Patriots, has been so good. of course they've got good players, smart players, but also they have passion, they play with passion and that's what we've got to get too."
(On if he's spoken with Bill Parcells since he's become head coach)
"Oh yeah, we talked, he's one of the first people I talked to when everything that transpired here and he's been a huge asset for me. Obviously I have a ton of respect for Bill and any advice that he gives and he's somebody that I will continue to talk to from time-to-time."
(On how often he speaks to Bill Parcells and what did he say)
"It's probably been almost two weeks now, it's pretty much the same as to a lot of the coaches I've talked to, it was 'Be you and change things up,' that was the common theme."
(On how does he try and disguise a defense against New England Patriots QB Tom Brady)
"He's going to figure out most of it, if not all of it, but at least you're making a try. There's got to be a fine line between your disguise, but then you've got to play what you play. You've just got to have enough of that stuff in there to where at least you make him think a little bit, but what else are you going to do? If you look at all the things teams have done to him, it doesn't work. You can say part of it works, but it's hard and that's why Tom Brady is Tom Brady, that's why he's that good because of the things he can do."
(On if Brady is one of the only guys that you can't disguise your defense against)
"I think (Denver Broncos QB Peyton) Manning has presented those challenges. I think, obviously Tom Brady, (Green Bay QB Aaron) Rodgers is a guy that can do that to you, but he can do it for different reasons just because he's so mobile and he can hurt you with his legs. Tom is one of those guys, he's a unique quarterback and he does, he presents problems. Let's face it, he's seen everything, what has he not seen? There's only so much you can do and everything has been done at one time or another, he's seen all of it. At some point you just have to lineup and play football and ultimately that's what we've got to do. We've got to play our style of football and do our best to try to at least contain him or limit him."
(On having film of the Miami defense containing and getting to Tom Brady)
"Yeah, it does help, but we also know that we're going to have to get there fast. He gets the ball out of his hands faster than any quarterback does for most of the game. When you're getting it out of your hands in less than two and a half seconds, even if you're running through there free it's going to be hard to get to him. That's going to be the challenge, but we're going to do our best to get there."
(On if he's talked to New York Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles for any advice against the Patriots)
"No, we see what we see on film – this is my sixth season here, I don't want to say I've seen everything you can see, but I've seen plenty of different things. They'll have something for us, they do every year, they'll have way to try and shut us down on both sides of the ball and we'll be ready."
[wysifield-embeddedaudio|eid="374661"|type="embeddedaudio"|view_mode="full"]Ryan Tannehill, QUARTERBACK
(On what has changed with the team to allow them to play the way they have the past two weeks)
"(Interim Head Coach) Dan's (Campbell) enthusiasm and passion for the game, his energy and competitive drive is just contagious and it's transferred over to the team and we've been really playing that way lately."
(On if there were changes schematically that helped too)
"I think it's been more of an attitude adjustment, we haven't changed a whole lot of what we're trying to do, obviously we've been running the ball better and that's where it starts offensively is that we're able to move the ball on the ground and that opens up a lot of things for us through the air. It's nothing new schematically, it's stuff that we've had and it's just our mindset."
(On why it took a change in head coaches for the effort and attitude they have now to show)
"Honestly I can't answer that, but these are the cards we're dealt and we're sitting here now with these cards in our hands. We're just trying to make the best of it and go out and win football games."
(On if he looks back and feels like he let former head coach Joe Philbin down)
"To some aspect for sure, I have a lot of respect for Coach Philbin and I think everyone in this building has a lot of respect for Coach Philbin and what he did here and the kind of man he is. It's a little bit tough to sit here and think 'Hey, it's the same people and the same schemes and we're playing this way now,' but you can't change the past, you can't change anything that's happened and all we can do is look forward."
(On what he's seen from the New England Patriots secondary and if they were to double a receiver who would it be)
"You never know how they're going to play, they always find something and try to take it away from you, that's just kind of their mindset whether it's a different coverage than what they normally run or doubling somebody. You always have to be on your toes to adjust to whatever they're throwing at you. We're definitely preparing for them to double somebody; we don't know exactly who it's going to be at this point."
(On what he thinks about New England Patriots LBs Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower when he sees them on film)
"They're big, strong and physical linebackers, really good players. I have a ton of respect for them both, they can both do it all, drop in pass coverage, you'll see Collins a lot covering running backs out of the backfield and for a really big linebacker he does a great job just with his freakish athleticism of covering running backs. They both rush the passer well, whether it's on the inside or the outside, whether they're matched up on a tackle or a running back, they both do a good job of finding a way to get to the quarterback."Â
(On what he took away from his time with former head coach Joe Philbin)
"He helped me in a lot of different ways, not only in football, but just as a man. He's such a strong man of character and had such great values and transferred those to not only me, but the rest of the team. I'll always have a ton of respect for him and how he made my life better."
(On what's it like playing for Interim Head Coach Dan Campbell)
"It's fun, it's exciting and I think that energy has transferred over to the team. He's a guy that we can relate to, he was in our shoes not too long ago as a player, it's easy to relate to him and his approach to the game is just so energetic and filled with so much passion. It's easy to latch on to that."