Miami Dolphins coaches and players comment on their upcoming divisional game against the New England Patriots.
On playing the Patriots...
"They're a great team, and obviously I've played them a bunch. (I have made) 10, 11, 12 starts, something like that against them. I've played them quite a bit in different cities, obviously, but they're a great team and have been for a long time, so it'll be a tough opponent for us."
- Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
"They play with good fundamentals and technique. They play well all around. It's not one particular area, which I think that's impressive. They put pressure in all phases. Every snap counts. That's the kind of approach they take. It's a good approach to take."
- Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores
"With the Patriots and everything, they study a lot of film. They probably know what cleats I'm going to wear come game day. (laughter) That's why we have to put a lot of time in, in the film room."
- Dolphins LB Sam Eguavoen
On the Patriots defense...
"It's a very disciplined defense and a tough, aggressive defense as well. They always present issues for you, and they make you earn it, that's for sure. They make you earn your yards down the field and your touchdowns."
- Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
"They're a great defense. They've got a lot of good, moving pieces. They've got a lot of really good players that have been playing for a long time. They're very experienced. It's definitely going to be a challenge for us, but we're up for it."
- Dolphins RB Kalen Ballage
"That's a good defense with a lot of good players on it. It's a veteran defense. They can make adjustments. They're big, they're fast, they're physical. We're going to have to play well, really across the board – from a communication standpoint, from a technique/fundamental standpoint, from a make-a-play standpoint – to have success against this defense. They've got a good scheme. They're very multiple. Yes, we know them; but at the same time, we have to do a good job of executing."
- Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores
On Tom Brady...
"Tom Brady still has got that arm. Everybody is saying that he can't throw but that man still has got an arm on him. There's a lot of things they are doing with Phillip Dorsett, Josh Gordon, plus 'A.B.' – they added him. The running backs, they have a hell of a running back corps. They do a lot of great things over there. We've just got to be prepared for it."
- Dolphins CB Xavien Howard
"Not a lot of people get inside his head. (laughter) He's a great player, and he's somebody I have a lot of respect for. I have a lot of respect for a lot of guys on that team, but him especially. He's a great leader. He's a great person, but he's a competitor, and so am I. We've competed against each other, and we've gone back and forth, but he's a good friend also. He knows that we're going to be ready to compete. I know that they're going to be ready to compete. That's the challenge this week. We have to play against a great player, a great team. They play well in all three phases. Between he and (Patriots Head Coach) Bill (Belichick) and the ownership there – they lead the charge, and it's going to be a great challenge for us. That's why we love the game – because we love challenges. We love to compete. To me, this is fun."
- Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores
On Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins...
"They're veteran guys, very physical, very cerebral. They seem to almost know the play before it is out there, because they study the game very well and are very in-tune with the formations and the motions that the offense may try to trick the defense with. It's going to be very difficult for us to go out there and do our job to our standard, but we know we have to go out there and do it, because at the end of the day, they're a great team and we're going to do everything we can to focus, making sure we're in our right position, so that when they do try to make a play, we make the most of it."
- Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake
On the Patriots sustained success...
"Continuity is the first thing that comes to mind. Then they have good players, good coaches. There's a system in place, a culture in place, and it's a group of guys that work hard, that understand the game and have good leadership, really across the board. All of those things amount to sustained success, I believe. They do a good job at all of those things."
- Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores
