What the Dolphins are saying about the Patriots this week
The Dolphins are trying to prepare for the daunting task of playing Bill Belichick in New England.
After beating Carson Palmer’s Cardinals in Week 1, Jimmy Garoppolo and the Patriots take on the Dolphins in Foxborough this Sunday at 1 p.m. Here’s what the opposition is saying about the team prior to the game.
Adam Gase:
- On the Patriots: “Once we get into this game, we have to be ready to adjust with them. When they start making moves, we’ve got to make moves. It’s a constant, 60-minute cat and mouse game.”
- On Jimmy Garoppolo: “I think you try to do the best you can as far as the information you have. And the thing that makes it tough playing this team is a Josh McDaniels will do a great job, he’ll figure out a way of what’s best for them this week. He’s not going to do something their quarterback or somebody else can’t do. That’s what makes them so tough to go against no matter who is playing on Sunday. They’re going to adjust to their personnel and figure out what’s best for that opponent they’re playing.”
Ryan Tannehill:
- On the Patriots: “You have to play well for 60 minutes, I think that’s the biggest key for us and probably the part where we’ve failed in the past. We’ve had good halves there but just haven’t put a full game together. I kind of know what I’m going to get up there, what the crowd’s going to be like, what the team’s going to be like, how they’re probably going to play us most downs. You just have to aware for that change-up where they throw something at you that you probably haven’t seen on tape. Just try to throw you off, try to take away your best player in key situations like in the red zone, third down. They’re going to try take away what they think you’re going to go to, and you have to adjust off of that. Once we get into this game, we have to be ready to adjust with them. When they start making moves, we’ve got to make moves. It’s a constant, 60-minute cat and mouse game.”
- On Jimmy Garoppolo: “I think that’s what you get when you face New England, you really never know. They like to play their man coverage but they’re always going to throw something at you that they haven’t shown much of on tape and try to make you stumble a little bit – whether it’s in protection, a stunt up front, a blitz or a coverage that they haven’t shown.”
Reshad Jones:
- On Jimmy Garoppolo: “He’s not Tom Brady, but he’s been watching the guy for the last few years. His mannerisms are pretty much the same and he does a good job of finding his target and getting the ball in his hands fast
- On the Patriots: “It’s huge. Any time you play a divisional opponent it’s big, you wanna win those kinds of games. It’d carry over throughout the season, beating a tough opponent on the road, in their house, I think it’d help us down the line.
Kiko Alonso:
- On the Patriots: “They got a lot of weapons – Blount, Edelman, Gronk – a lot of good players, we just need to play fast, a little like last week, but finish better. Go out there and play our game. With our front getting after the pass like that, they’re gonna force the quarterback to throw it up there, [maybe] get some strip sacks. We’re an aggressive defense, we’re gonna take the ball away.”
Cameron Wake:
- On the Patriots: Even in the past few years, its when the game’s on the line, making the play that matters. We’ve had success with them down here, playing them -beaten them a few times, but you know [we need to] play them the same way whether it’s home or away. Playing consistently, playing the entire game, no matter what the situation is, going out there and giving us a chance to win.”
- On Jimmy Garoppolo: “It’s the NFL, it’s full of great football players, no matter whether you know their names or not. We obviously have the same kind of situation here, where it’s the ‘next man up’ mentality, we’ve experienced that over and over again. To think that a guy, who may be a backup, isn’t a good football player is a silly thought. No matter what position it is – corner, [defensive back], linebacker – they’re the best in the world and you gotta play that way no matter what position it is.”
Michael Thomas
- On Garoppolo: “He proved last week he can run that team. He can get the ball to his playmakers, he looked poised, so we got our work cut out for us this week. You gotta respect your opponent, I respect him, what he showed last week.
- On Patriots: “We’ve got a tough challenge ahead of us, there’s a reason that team is as good as they’ve been for a long time.”
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