Dan Campbell on Ndamukong Suh: 'The Guy Gives 110 Percent'

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Dan Campbell's post-practice press conference is transcribed below.

(Opening statement) – "First things first, (it was) another good day. I feel like the guys came out, this is really day three. That's what I told them, 'Hey, this is three.' Three in the books, that's money in the bank. I feel like they came out, they competed. I thought they used their pads today. They only get one day a week with them. I thought it was everything we are looking for as far as being fast, efficient. It was clean. I wouldn't say it was perfect, obviously, but it was pretty clean for a Wednesday. You know you have new install and things of that nature. Sure, you will have some repeats but the energy was good. Guys looked like they had fun. They competed. They blocked for each other. They rooted for each other. Those were kind of the things we were talking about just when it comes to changing the culture a little bit that really showed up today."

(On the play of DT Ndamukong Suh so far this season and what he expects from him going forward) – "Yeah, what I've seen is, because I went back and watched all four games of our defense, what I saw was a player that has improved over four games. That's what I've seen. I see a guy that he goes out… He gets here early. He does his own thing as far as doing a workout and working hard. He does stuff with the team and then he comes out here and practices. The guy gives 110 percent. I see a guy who wants to win is what I see. You're talking about stats, yeah. That's what I've seen more than anything. You talk about misleading. That's one of the first things you look at is you sign a guy like him and you're looking for three or four sacks, four or five TFL's and all those things. Ultimately, you can still have a very productive day without getting those types of stats. You clean up the linebackers or in pass rush you're giving (DE) OV (Oliver Vernon) or (DE) Cam Wake or (DE) Derek Shelby their opportunity. He wants to win."

(On if he wants DT Ndamukong Suh to be more physical) – "I mean just as a whole, as a team, that's what it's all about. He's a pretty physical guy anyway. I just felt like it's more of an overview than anything. To me when you talk about being physical it all starts with the O-line and D-line and they are all lumped into that. We have to, offensively, this has kind of been the whole message for those guys is we have to re-establish the line of scrimmage. If we are coming off the ball on offense, we have to move them and at the very least you get them a yard off the ball; at least you got a yard back. You do what you've got to do with it. Defensively, we need to be playing in their backfield."

(On the Jets blitzing a lot and if QB Ryan Tannehill has the ability to change the protection or play at the line of scrimmage) – "I would say obviously we took a long look at that. If anyone blitzes you that much, you've got to identify the problem of what's going on. He's had the ability to alter protections or re-idea if he felt he needed to because he understands the problems. Of course, (C) Mike Pouncey does a good job of that too. He kind of sets the table. Ultimately, that's a result of where we got in the game just of us not complementing each other. We got in a position of where we are behind significantly. The Jets know it. We're trying to get the ball down the field and it's just a bad formula. It's something you don't want to be in. There are things that we've addressed with that protection wise. Maybe, we'll keep another guy in there if it'll help him. To be honest with you, we'd love to take as much off of Ryan as we can as far as that's concerned. He can handle it. He's a smart guy, but really we just want to (say), 'Hey, here's the point. Let's play ball. If you've got to throw high, he'll throw high. Got to throw a side? We'll throw a side. Let's play ball.' Ultimately, hey, what's the worst thing in the world? You've got to throw the ball to (WR) Jarvis Landry for three yards? Well, the guy is pretty dynamic. He can make people miss."

(On how important it is to start fast and how to address that issue) – "Yeah, I mean, it is important. It's very important because to me that's the most glaring stat and I've brought this up before; 37 to 3 after the first four games in the first quarter. That's a problem. That's a problem because you're not allowing yourself to do what you're best at on offense and defense, particularly us. Everything that we are doing in there just as far as setting up competitive drills… We went good on good today. We went Miami versus Miami. They don't even run the same style defense as what we're about to see in Tennessee but to me it's irrelevant. You need a couple periods of that, just a couple shots. You know, you get two or three plays on each other good on good where now they are coming off at each other and you set a tempo and you make it competitive where, hey, there is a winner and a loser, guys. You understand that. To me that helps. It helps your sense of urgency and urgency is going to help you obviously when you walk out there for play one versus Tennessee on Sunday."

(On where does G Billy Turner stand) – "Billy worked in today with the starters and we're just going to see how he progresses this week and (G) Jamil (Douglas) is working at it too. We like both of those guys, they both deserve an opportunity to compete for the job and we'll see what happens."

(On if G Dallas Thomas is locked in on his side) – "As of right now, he is. Yes, we all have to play better, everybody has to play better up front, you can say that about the whole team, but I feel like Dallas has gotten a little bit better every week. There are some things that have happened, but I feel like Dallas is growing and what helps is we're able to keep Dallas at guard. People forget, well I say shouldn't say people I'm sure you guys know, but we had to move Dallas a lot last year, we really wanted to keep him at guard and we kind of got forced to put him at tackle because he's one of our best athletes when (T Branden Albert) BA went down we had to shuffle and move (T) Ja'Wuan (James) over. To be able to keep Dallas at one spot is only going to help him."

(On if he's given any thought to moving CB Jamar Taylor into a starting role) – "I think Jamar is getting a load as it is right now. I think that however it plays out Jamar is going to have plenty of plays by the end of the day. I think that Jamar has been more of, over the last four weeks, health more than anything. Both of those guys have been improving though, they're both going to play a lot for you and they're both guys you're going to need to count on."

(On DE Cameron Wake wanting the defense to adapt to his demeanor of toughness) – "That's obviously humbling and it makes you feel good because you want a tough team, you want a team that's willing to grind it out and deliver some body shots if need be and take some body shots and to be able to keep going. I think every coach should want their team built like that and that's good. That's kind of what we're looking for, it's kind of the whole mind over matter a little bit. When things happen to you that appear to be bad, they're really not bad, it's all about perception, it's all about how you deal with it and I just tell you what, we have some really good guys in our locker room, I already knew that, but now that I've been able to really start to develop more relationships with the defense over there and some of those guys, I've known Cam, we've been here a long time, but some of the other guys, I'll tell you what, it inspires me. We've got some good guys, they want to come to work, they do want to win, they're competitive and that's all you can ask for as a coach."

(On if the story is true about his appendix bursting on the plane and not showing pain) – "It didn't burst, no. It sounds like my gut fell out and everything else. Yeah, I did have the surgery, it was bothering me and it's a long story, there's some funny bits and pieces to it that I won't get into, but I did have the surgery, but it did not rupture."

(On can he envision WR DeVante Parker getting a bigger role in the offense) –"Here's how we see DeVante is DeVante after coming back from the foot, he seems like every practice he's gotten a little bit better and that's kind of been one of the things for him that has obviously held him back is that if you noticed him he'll come out of a route and it's a limp through the route. It seems like every practice he gets a little bit more comfortable and that little limp when he turns a certain way is not showing up as much, his speed is starting to show up a little bit and to me that's one. It's almost like a two-parter: the first is where he gets to where he feels good, he's back to 100 percent for him where he feels like 'OK, man I'm healthy, I feel healthy.' And two, now he's still a rookie who missed all of spring and training camp, now you're trying to get back that work now that he's a healthy football player to get back to the fundamentals that he needs to be successful. The faster he comes along with that stuff, which he is improving and he is showing improvement, then the faster he gets on the field and plays a little bit more."

(On if there is any way for him to prepare for in-game situations like clock management as a head coach and with a defensive coordinator calling a game for the first time in a long time) – "I would say this – like I've talked, Riz (Darren Rizzi) and I have talked a little bit. As you guys know, Riz does an excellent job. I don't think there's anybody better in the league that can handle game situations. So we've had a few talks. Obviously, I've been around here when we've had different situations that have popped up and you're always kind of going over those things in your head. But we'll have a game management meeting later in this week, it'll be myself, the coordinators and Riz, and we go through scenarios then. Just anything that can happen, 'OK, here's where we're at, we're down by six, it's two minutes left or you're up by whatever and now you're in four-minute mode.' So we'll hit all of those and you can't hit all of them, but just to kind of start working your mind that way a little bit."

(On if there is anything he can do with players in practice leading up to the game to prepare them for particular situations as far as game management, and involving Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo) – "Oh, yeah. Like one of the scenarios that will come up, like we hit Friday, we'll get into our two-minute mode right, and that's usually where a lot of that stuff comes up and sometimes you go from a two-minute mode to a four-minute mode, right? You can do both in that small little window. So yeah, we'll get into those, we'll have a small little period of that stuff to where now you've got to be thinking about how you're going to handle it – OK, are you using timeouts or you're not? What do we need to do, we need to take a shot? Is it a clock or is it a timeout? We'll hit some of those and then from his end, we'll hit things from that, from a management aspect for him as well as OK, hey we're down here, it's the last play of the game, right and they are going for the win, they need a touchdown. Do you use a timeout so you can see what's coming up or do you let it ride type of stuff? So we'll hit all of those and we'll be fine."

(On if he has been pretty good about game management things in his own mind) – "I don't want to say, you don't want to speak too much and all of a sudden something goes bad and then it's like well you said…I would say that's one of the most intriguing things about the game is it's not all, not 100 percent meet, and it's fun. It's fun to challenge yourself and it's fun to try to put yourself in those situations, like how would you handle this? How would you deal with this? We did this, I might not call a timeout, I might just let this thing ride and see if we get it to the two-minute or … You do think about, now, I have not thought about them like the head coach, but you do when these scenarios pop up, they kind of, especially day after the game, you start thinking through them and just a little bit getting into how you might handle them."

(On if he's spoken to coaches he's familiar with like Bill Parcells or Sean Payton) – "Yeah, I've had conversations with, I actually, Coach Payton and I have basically played phone tag a little bit. Obviously, he's a busy man, too. Coach Parcells and I have talked. He's helped me out a lot. From obviously just when I played to just the fact now ever since I've been a coach and then everything that has transpired over the week, he's been a huge resource."

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