Defensive End Cameron Wake Conference Call with Carolina Media (On how to make the week as normal as possible with investigator present) – “It’s actually been the epitome of normal. We’ve gone about our business, our schedule’s been the same. We go out to practice just like two, three, four, five weeks ago and everybody here is professional. You know you have a job to do. You study your plays, go to the weight room and you just conduct business as normal so it’s not something that’s really been a big deal for us. Obviously everybody on the outside of the locker room seems to be making a lot of fuss about it but here in Miami, at the facility it’s business as usual.” (On if he’s had to meet with them) – “No not yet.” (On if it sounds like that at some point they’ll talk to everyone) – “I have no idea.” (On what his thoughts are on the Panthers) – “It’s definitely a game I’m looking forward to. Obviously they’ve been on a roll as far as football is concerned, playing pretty well and we’re coming off a game where we feel like we can take the momentum and kind of build with it. Try and make sure we have our season go in a positive direction, so I think it’s going to be a good game on Sunday. Obviously both teams are really looking for a win and there’s a lot of things that show that we can match up pretty well so I’m definitely looking forward to it.” (On if he’s face a quarterback like Cam Newton this year who can escape the pocket) – “You always talk about quarterbacks who can run and when it comes down to it, whether they throw the ball 40 yards or ran it 40 yards you still are force to be 1st and 10, 40 yards down the field. Having to make sure that you take care of both in a situation where the quarterback would run or thrown the ball definitely puts a challenge on the defense but the way we’re built as a defense, it’s something that I feel like we’re up to the task for. We’ve got a lot of guys who can run and make plays, we’ve got guys who, rush the passer well and just making sure that everybody is on the same page as far as keeping him contained, or any quarterback for that matter. That’s the basis of rushing together as a unit. This is another week in the NFL where there’s another challenge that you have to deal with as a defense. I think we’ll be prepared and ready on Sunday. “ (On if the defense has to alter their rush as you chase someone like him due to his ability to escape) – “No, you don’t change anything. Rushing the passer comes in stages. You first get off the ball, then you have to attack the defender or the blocker, whichever side of the ball you’re on. For me you attack the blocker, you defeat the blocker and then you have to make a tackle. That’s always the case whether it’s a guy who’s going to be standing there and maybe going to be scrambling. A guy who’s going to take off and run, guys who are quote, unquote, sit in the pocket guys, you still have to get to the point of attack and put the ball on the ground. It turns into a fundamental of football which is tackling and he’s going to run around just like any other quarterback who is trying to escape a sack or a hit. That’s just the way it is, you still rush as hard as you can and try to get to the ball and that’s not going to change this week.” (On if he’s seen any improvement in Cam Newton’s games) – “Like you said, I don’t do much studying of quarterbacks and this is not a common game where we don’t play each other often. To me, I look at a guy who’s taking the snaps as kind of the guy who’s running the show. At the end of the day he’s the quarterback he has to drop back to throw the ball and usually their going to try to avoid being hit and that’s just like any other quarterback you play. Generally speaking, if you make their day stressful or long or difficult you can affect the outcome of the game. That’s not unique to him that’s universal across the board. The same approach as far as in the back end, the DB’s as far as getting after a receiver, disguising looks and so on and so forth, upfront trying to get them off the point, mess up the timing whatever it may be, that’s just the way the game is.” (On where he thinks the Panthers stack up with the teams the Dolphins have faced in 2013) – “You would have to have me sit down and look at the stats where that is something that I don’t do, but they are a good football team. They are on a hot streak right now and we feel like we are a good football team. We have had some games that have slipped through our fingers, but either way on Sunday, obviously as the saying goes ‘anything can happen any given Sunday’. So you just have to go out there and make sure that you do what you have to do and make sure that you play the game the way you can to the best of your ability and I feel like when we do that we are hard to beat.” (On the Panthers offensive line) – “You know what, I don’t know exactly what they have going on. I know that there are a couple of guys that have kind of moving around, but I am sure that later on in the week that will kind of play itself out. Again, I don’t know the exact stats, I think they are top ten or so in the league in rushing. I don’t know that exactly you will have to look that up for me, but obviously they do a good job running the ball. Their running backs run the ball hard, they work together as a unit and that is the essence of playing this game, you have a group of guys that are going to try to impose their will on another group of guys which is our defensive line and our front seven, and we feel like that is a kind of game we like. Everybody that we have is hard headed and hardnosed and will go up there and put their head in. That kind of downhill kind of football is the kind of the ball we like, so I think it will be a good matchup on Sunday. I think I can speak for the rest of the guys when I say we feel good about it.” (On how big a thrill it was to have a game winning safety) – “Yeah, it’s very rare. I have heard like you said of a game winning touchdown or obviously field goal kicks happen quite often, but to be on the defensive side of the ball and be able to do something that kind of sets the game, it was really special. I was very fortunate to have things turn out the way they did, my coach made a great call, Coach Coyle, and a couple of my guys, Jared Odrick and Randy Starks kind of held the point for me so that I could get that one-on-one and I just had to do my job and get the ball on the ground and you look up and see it was a safety, we scored and the game is over. That is one of them that I am definitely going to remember for quite a while.” (On what he thinks is the biggest misconception the public or media has about the situation going on) – “Honestly I don’t know. I don’t before this quote, unquote, situation and I probably won’t after. I don’t concern myself with anything that goes on outside this locker room. I don’t read twitter and emails and blogs and all that. Until there is a player in this locker room who does a radio show or a TV show, nobody knows what goes on here and nobody know anything about the way the Miami Dolphins (are). Everybody is speculating and assuming and to me, that, I don’t have time for that. So I really don’t concern myself with it. Unless it is helping me and my teammates on Sunday, it’s a waste of time.”
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 01:43:16 +0000
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