Dolphins chatter

A collection of quotes from the Dolphins' locker room, including head coach Tony Sparano and quarterback Chad Pennington, as transcribed by the Dolphins' media relations staff:

Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano

(On where he would place the blame for the last few minutes of play) – “In my mind….if anything, it looked like a lack of poise. We were going back and forth, back and forth, and really I thought at one point it would come down to just one stop, really. And that’s really the way I felt at the end, the things that we were talking about. And then we did the things that young, immature teams do. We got penalties, we go caught up in that whole mess out there, and that’s how you end up losing a game, against a good team like that.”

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(More from Sparano)

(On his feelings about the late touchdowns by the New England Patriots and the incident between New England T Matt Light and Dolphins LB Channing Crowder) – “I’m not going to comment on that. I mean, at the end of the day, we’ll see what happens. They won one; we won one – looks like we have a little rivalry.”

(On the way in which the Patriots were moving the ball down field with their passing game) – “Give credit to the Patriots. They did a great job. They ran empty an awful lot, spread the field, got their skill personnel out there…I mean, we blitzed them, we played man, we played zone, and we played off. At the end of the day, the guy just kept finding people. That’s what he’s [Patriots QB Matt Cassel] been doing pretty well. They caught and ran with the ball a little bit and made a bunch of plays.”

(On if he was surprised that the Patriots did not establish their running game earlier in the game) – “Well, I mean, you know, last week it looked like they had some success against the [New York] Jets in that ball game. I believe they were in no huddle 51 snaps in a row. And they were throwing the ball, and doing what they did. So, I’m not surprised they didn’t try to establish the run.”

(On if he received any explanation from the officials on the pass interference call made against CB André Goodman in the fourth quarter) – “No.”

(On the team’s resiliency for most of the game) – “For three quarters and half, or three quarters and a quarter, we’re slugging it out there in a big game, to where I think anybody could have won the game. We knew going into this game that turnovers were going to be a difference, we knew we had to get off the field on third down, we knew a lot of these things. And we didn’t get off the field…I believe they scored on eight possessions, whatever it was, or, I’m not sure, either eleven, or eight of ten, something like that. On the offensive side of the ball we turned it over there at the end and it was all a bad decision.”

(On his post-game message to the team, if he told them that ‘all is not lost’) – “We went into this game today talking about this being a new season. That’s something that we did speak about as a group and there’s good teams, at this point, with six games left that will play good football, right now, down the stretch. I’ve been in some of those things were maybe you don’t play your best football at the end. So, we went out there today and I think we slowed it down early in this thing. It was the kind of game where, obviously, we didn’t think it was going to be one of these scoring deals. But I did tell them that you can still be where you want to be at the end of this thing. There’s a lot of football left. We’re just going to have to regroup this week and get that done.”

Quarterback Chad Pennington

(On surprises of the game when playing the Patriots) – “They did a good job. You have to give them credit. They came out and executed really well. I think this a time for our team to really look at one another and gut-check each other and ourselves and see what we want to do from here. I think we will respond, I think our coaches will respond, I think we have to do what it takes to get back in this thing.”

(On immaturity and youthfulness of the team) – “I don’t know. It is an emotional game. We put a lot into the week, and then it doesn’t go your way. Sometimes those things happen and you wish they didn’t happen. What we have to do is learn from it and make sure we take care of our business starting tomorrow. Some of those things I didn’t even get to see, I was over on the sideline trying to look at pictures and talk some strategy.”

(On how soon he realized this game would be a shoot out) – “Well right there in the second quarter it kind of felt like it was going back and forth. Offensively we showed some spurts of excellence and some really good football, and then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit.”

(On importance of this game to the AFC standings) – “Well there is a lot of football to be played. We have five games left, a lot of things happen in the last five games of the season. We can’t even look at that. We have to look at ourselves tomorrow and correct our mistakes and then move on to our 12th game of the year and try to get our seventh win. That’s all we can do. We can’t get caught up in the speculation and trying to figure things out. That’s unhealthy.”

(On his touchdown) – “Well we had a good route off, but they dropped eight people in coverage. I was trying to buy some time. When you have eight people in the end zone covering four to five guys, it gets a little dicey in there. With the three men rush, I knew I could buy some time, and try to see if someone could wiggle themselves open. When they squirted out to the left of the pocket I felt like I had the corner of the end zone and I had David Martin working around there so I tried to play a two on one game.
Luckily I was able to beat the linebacker to the goal line.”

(On receivers getting better every week) – “Yes I really do. I feel like our guys are getting more and more confidence each week. It starts at practice. It starts with how they work and how they approach practice everyday. They keep gaining more and more confidence, and finding ways to get open, and making difficult catches too.”

(On pressure leading to the interception) – “I have to go back and look at it. I felt like I lost the ball a little bit. I left it high. Other than that I will have to go back and look at it. I am sure there is always a better place to go with the ball. Hindsight is 20/20. For the most part I felt like I stayed disciplined with the reads and we were creasing them here and there and really finding some holes, and it is one of them I would like to have back.”

(On what happened in the game from a Dolphins perspective) – “I think we learned today how you can put a game out of your own reach. Even when we were trading scored back and forth we were right there, regardless of how things were going on one side of the ball or the other we were right there. Then in the last nine minutes we did things that put the game out of our reach and kept us from being one score away, or one possession away, or one play away. What we have to learn is in game like that stay true to what you believe in and to your game plan. Even though some things aren’t working you don’t step out of that. You keep pressing forward, you keep chopping wood and a lot of times something happens that flips the switch in terms of momentum and we weren’t able to do that in the end of the game.”

CB Jason Allen

(On if New England surprised them with anything they did) – “I don’t think they surprised us. It was one-on-one and they just made more plays than we did. I can only speak for myself going against Randy Moss; he made more plays then me.”

(On being right there on coverage and Randy Moss making plays) – “I have to give respect where respect is due. He’s a Pro Bowl type wide out. He’s a good wide receiver. I give my respect to him and he just made more plays then I did.”

(On if Matt Cassel was different from the first time they played them) – “We knew that coming in that he was a totally different quarterback. He’s built confidence and he’s playing with confidence. You tip your hat off to New England and the way they prepared.”

(On if he expected them to throw that much) – “We knew they would throw the ball but I think they threw the ball a little bit more than what we expected, but like I said, they made plays and they made more plays then we did today.”

(On being one-on-one with Randy Moss so much) – “Regardless of what I expected, I just have to make the plays. That’s what you have to expect week in and week out; one-on-one and make plays.”

DE Vonnie Holliday

(On the loss to the Patriots) – “First of all, what’s so disappointing about this loss; not only were we beat, but physically, these guys came out and they put out the points, but the way we handled the game especially at the end right there. That’s embarrassing. It’s an embarrassing loss on a big stage with a big opportunity. What our team, I feel like what has been our backbone throughout the first half of the season has been smart, disciplined and tough football. This was an embarrassing loss. An embarrassment to us, this organization for the way we handled that and the end and I just want to extend our apologies to our fans, to ownership because that’s just not how you go about it. We’re a team that’s certainly building and changing a culture and what we did today was the exact opposite of what we want to do.”

(On Matt Cassel) – “As it goes with Cassel, I thought they came out with a good game plan. Watching him on film leading into this game they were trying to be physical upfront and run the ball more. [They were] totally opposite in this game. They changed it up from the beginning trying to slow us down on pass rush with the screen and then pretty much from there, open it up with empty [backfield]. We weren’t able to get there with a four-man rush. It’s as much my fault as any. We had our DBs out on an island against very good receivers, guys that can make plays. The one guy that you can’t let beat you beat us.”

(On why the game unraveled) – “There’s a lot of emotion that goes into this; an opportunity lost. I felt it slipping away. What’s so interesting is even with four or five minutes to go in the game, you’re still only down by two scores and I think we lost sight of that a little bit. There were a lot of things going on on the field; not only with the patriots but with the refs. I think emotion got the best of a lot of people today, not just players.”

(On if he still feels like at 6-5 there is still time to get things done) – “This is going to be a pivotal point in our season here no doubt about it. Of course you want to go home a winner but things are completely different. Now as a team, you’re at a cross road. What’s going to happen now? How are you going to respond after a loss like this after everything transpired on the field today? For us as veterans in this locker room, leadership is very important right now. I know Coach Sparano and what direction he’s going to go with this and we’ve got to all get on board and learn from this because this was an embarrassing loss and the things that went on on the field today we can’t play the game that way. We can’t have that going regardless. For us, there’s life after this game. It’s certainly a disappointment and one that you’ll be thinking about for a long time; the opportunity lost, but we still have an opportunity. We just have to go back to the way we’ve been winning game; smart, tough and disciplined football.”

(On the loss of emotions at the end of the game) – “I thought that was terrible and they’ll probably get fined for this officiating, they missed the call on that, no doubt about it. Channing (Crowder) is a rebel rouser is you will, but in that situation, he’s clearly not in the wrong. You really have to watch what you say when you talk about officiating around this league. You’ve seen the fines and as much money as we make, I don’t want to give it away. I’ll just leave that alone.”

(On the Patriots in general) – “They were embarrassed at their place, so you’ve got to know these guys are coming in with a big chip on their shoulders and wanted revenge. We talked about that earlier this week. At our expense, they got that today and you want to take about class? We didn’t sho much class at the end either, so that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

RB Ronnie Brown

(On how disappointing this loss is after having won four straight games) – “It was a big opportunity for us to come out and do something special and obviously get another game in our division on our field. Unfortunately, they played some good football today and they made plays when they needed to.”

(On if players started to lose their cool during the game) – “Yeah, at times, I guess in certain situations. It is football, but then occasionally it turned into something else unfortunately. There was some things that didn’t look so well and didn’t go so well as far as stuff that may have happened.”

(On 28 points usually being good enough to get a win) – “At the same time, they’ve got a great offense themselves. They’re playing good football like I said and they have some offensive guys over there that made plays. On third down situations they were able to make the plays and were able to stay on the field in certain occasions. We knew a big part of this game was trying to keep the ball and time of possession.”

(On if he was impressed by Matt Cassel) – “Obviously, they’re still the same team; they still got the guys around him that make plays. They’ve got Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk. They still have the guys around him. He’s had opportunities to play a few games and get a few games on his belt and get that experience. I think they’re coming into their own as far as being comfortable with him in there.”

(On still have five more games) – “We got to go in and see some things that we didn’t do well this game and obviously build on those things. We still have five games left and those are going to be big games as well. The next one is St. Louis and we’ll focus on those guys.”

(On Coach Tony Sparano’s message after the game) – “Pretty much it falls down to we didn’t play in the way we are capable of the whole game. We knew it was going to be a tough one. They made some plays in certain situations and we didn’t.”

(On the electricity in the stadium) – ““We were excited about the game and going into it and the opportunity we had as a team. Unfortunately we just didn’t come out on the winning side today.”

T Jake Long

(On how you bounce back from this loss) – “This team has been bouncing back all year. We’ve faced adversity and this isn’t the first time. We’re going to come back tomorrow, fix our mistakes and go back to work on Wednesday and get ready for St. Louis.”

(On if the wind was taken out of the team after a four-game winning streak) – “It’s always upsetting losing, but we’ve bounced back before from a loss. I have no doubt in my mind this team is going to come back tomorrow, correct mistakes, go out on Wednesday, get fired up and be fired up and get the winning streak back on.”

(On how he’s feeling health wise) – “I’ll be alright. I got my ankle rolled up on me pretty good, but I’ll be okay.”

(On the game getting chippy at the end) – “We knew it was going to be like that. We knew they were going to come in here especially how we won last time. We knew they were going to come in and give it everything they got and we were expecting that.”

(On what Coach Tony Sparano said postgame to the team) – “We got to come back tomorrow, correct mistakes and keep working. We’ve been through this before; fix our mistakes, not create the penalties and all of that stuff and just correct everything and get back to work.”