Transcripts of Miami's Joe Philbin and Reggie Bush with Jets reporters on Wednesday afternoon:
DOLPHINS HEAD COACH JOE PHILBIN
On how much last week's win did for his team...
Well, obviously establishing a presence on your own home field is important, and September 1 o'clock football games historically have been successful for this team. So I think it was good to get that first home win and hopefully establish some home-field advantage.
On how much time he will spend preparing for Tim Tebow, if any...
Yes, there's no question. I sat in the defensive install meeting this morning and obviously that's part of their weapon system, so to speak, at their disposal. I'm sure they're going to have a plan on how much they use him, and that's certainly their decision, not ours, but it does take practice time, there's no question about it. Your job as a coach is to prepare your players for what you anticipate them seeing on any particular Sunday afternoon to the best of your ability, and when you have a player that has those kind of skills that Tim Tebow has, you have to get your team ready for him.
On if he and his staff try to figure out how much Tebow will play and what role he will have in the game...
Not overly. We tell the players all the time that there's only so much that we control as a coach and you guys control as players. Primarily, for the players we tell them that your attitude and your effort are what you control, not necessarily who you're playing. The schedule is set and we're not in the Jets' planning meeting as coaches, so we don't know what type of personnel. That's all up to them in terms of how they want to play the game and we have to be able to adjust to whatever they do.
On any advantage defending the Wildcat since the Dolphins have run the Wildcat themselves in the past...
I don't know about that. I doubt it. Again, we kind of have a new system and new coaching staff and we've only been at it for a couple of weeks so I don't know that we have any great advantage because the Dolphins used to run it here. I don't know that it's a factor.
On what he's seen from QB Ryan Tannehill in the first two weeks...
I like the way he's battled back. He had a couple of rough stretches in each game, which I don't think is unusual for a rookie quarterback to experience those types of things. But the thing we like overall is that he's responded pretty well to some adverse situations and he's come back and played pretty well in the second half of the last two games. Obviously, he took better care of the football here this past Sunday, and we like his decision-making. When he comes to the sideline, we like the fact that he knows what just happened out on the field. He doesn't seem to be in awe or surprised too much.
On the contributing factors to Reggie Bush's big day last Sunday...
I think mostly it was a collective effort. Obviously, the first touchdown run that he got off was more of an individual effort. There were three, maybe four broken tackles on his own where you can clearly see the defense had a legitimate shot at bringing him down and he made people miss and bounce off and finished the run off. The second one, the 65-yard run, I don't believe he got touched if I'm not mistaken. So obviously there was good execution at the point of attack, we had receivers blocking downfield, and it was just a good overall solid football play.
On appreciating the Dolphins-Jets rivalry...
Starting to. Again I'm new to the AFC, new to the AFC East, but walking into the team meeting this morning, some of the guys were a little more lively than maybe they would be on a typical Wednesday morning, knowing that it's a division rival, it's a home game, it's a September game, and it's the New York Jets, an excellent football team. So hopefully our guys will be excited and ready to go.
On what scares him the most about the Jets' offense...
I think they have big-play potential on the outside. They have a big, young receiver [Stephen Hill] who has already made some plays in this league who's got some excellent vertical speed. He's a big, big individual; he's a tough guy to defend down the field on balls down the field. [Santonio] Holmes has been a consistent playmaker in this league for a long time. Dustin Keller is a very, very good tight end. They have a good running game, they're very physical, and Mark Sanchez does a great job managing the game. He gets them into a good play, he's very efficient, he's got a good quick release, and he has good awareness in the pocket. I think they have a good football team.
On how much he thinks the Jets defense changes if Darrelle Revis can't play on Sunday...
I don't think a whole lot. Coach Ryan still has the physical attitude on the defense. They're aggressive, they're confident in what they're doing. You know, again, I think you build an identity as a football team, and you understand the nature of this league is that at times there are guys that aren't going to be available. That's just the nature of the beast. I'm not a sorcerer, so I don't know if the guy can't play, but I imagine they're still going to play the style of defense they believe in.
On what he thought of the "Hard Knocks" experience...
I thought it was excellent. I really enjoyed working with the people from NFL Films. I think it's a first-class operation. They're dedicated professionals. I thought they treated our players with great respect and they're good people. It was a positive.
On if he worries about WR Clyde Gates divulging information about his offensive scheme to the Jets...
Not really, no. I think everybody who has been around the league for a while understands that players move to different teams. I mean, we picked up a player from Houston the first week of the season and we lost, 30-10, so I don't know how much that helped us. I don't sit around and worry about that kind of stuff.
DOLPHINS RB REGGIE BUSH
On what he saw from QB Ryan Tannehill against the Raiders...
He was poised, but he seemed poised in the first game, too. Obviously, we had the turnovers and that wasn't all his fault in the Houston game, but he was really poised. I saw the same thing I've been seeing out of him all year, really, him just poised and leading the offense. That's kind of who he has been since day one.
On his biggest challenge going against the Jets defense...
Biggest challenge for us, I think, with all the different exotic fronts that they run on defense, it's just to protect the quarterback. I think that's probably one of the main challenges for every offense, but any time you're facing defenses like the Jets defense, they're bringing a lot of different pressures at you, a lot of different looks. You just want to make sure you ID the fronts right and make sure you're protecting the quarterback and limiting the hits on the quarterback.
On what the key was to his big game against the Raiders...
It wasn't just me. It was the offensive line, it was the receivers. Everybody contributed. I can't sit here and take all the credit for that because that wouldn't be right. A lot of the credit is due to the receivers getting on the safeties and getting blocking, giving good blocks, and then the offensive line doing a great job blocking and opening up holes and the fullback doing a great job in blocking. It was a collective effort. It wasn't just me. It was everybody who chipped in and made the effort to run the ball.
On what he thought of "Hard Knocks"...
I don't think it helped us [laughing]. I guess, if anything, it was a great show. I think they do a great job at capturing just what it takes to be in the NFL, to go through an NFL season and training camp, the business side of things, sports side of things. I think that's great for fans. For football players, I don't think it makes or breaks us. I think a lot of guys probably prefer not to have the show around because then you kind of have to watch what you say and how you act, speak differently and walk differently. Especially in this day and age, you just never know, especially when there are cameras around. You just never know what kind of things get out there. You always want to err on the side of caution.
