HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (General Comments) * *
"It was a heck of a game last night. It was a real tough battle for us. Miami did a tremendous job in terms of their preparation to get ready for us and executing their plan. Our guys, I thought, hung in there. They played inspired football and played tough. They fought until the last minute. From a defensive standpoint, it was one of those situations they (Dolphins) did a good job of getting us out of sorts a little bit with the Wildcat, but also their normal offense as well We were able to hang in there, slow them down and make them kick field goals in crucial situations. Offensively, we took advantage of the opportunities that we had. They had eight possessions and we had eight possessions. The time of possession was obviously different. Some of that can be attributed to our scoring in 12 seconds and (43 and 32) seconds. There were a couple of quick drives there. We had some long pass plays and things of that nature. Nevertheless we took advantage of our opportunities. We scored three touchdowns and two field goals. They scored two touchdowns and three field goals. That was the difference in the game."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the Dolphins offense creating problems)
"We have certain assignments we have to take care of. We are a gap control team. There were just some situations where we were not where we needed to be in terms of our gaps. There were other times when we were there in position to make the play, and we missed tackles. Couple those things with inconsistent play and that's what happens to you. You get the ball controlled on you and don't get off the field. The time of possession is out of whack. They (Dolphins) are like most teams in terms of if something is working for them, they will keep using it until you stop it. We didn't slow them down too often."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On being concerned with fatigue on the defense)
"That's something you better play close attention to. We have thought it out and, we certainly do have a plan in mind with all the travel. There are a number of factors that are at issue with the biggest (being) we have to get rest. That is so important, along with hydrating themselves. We are on the practice field a lot sooner than we would ordinarily be. That can take a toll on you. All of those things in a short week you have to really monitor. I believe you have to adjust what you do accordingly. I'll be watching that closely. I want to see the freshness and life come back in them. If I don't, I will reduce what we are doing until I see that freshness come back. I believe in a fresh team. Oftentimes it's better to sacrifice preparation in some cases for rejuvenation. We'll look at that closely."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On if he's ever been a part of another game like last night)
"We've had some around here that have been close. Last year, we had a couple where the time of possession was out of whack. I think we might have had maybe seven possessions in the game and scored six out of seven. We've had some of them that have been fairly close, but nothing like last evening."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On how the Colts win these types of games)
"Over the years, I believe this is something that has been developed here. Tony (Dungy) used to always talk about it. Even when he came, he was talking about it was here, and he attributed it to Jim Mora and Bill Polian with instilling the ability to work hard and consistently work hard with poise on the practice field day in and day out. It was one of the things Tony (Dungy) didn't have to preach about. You have to look at the leadership core, too. It's been a culture around here of having poise and confidence. You have that because of the way in which you practice. Week in and week out, we operate the same drills pretty much all the time and the two-minute operation. The guys have a lot of confidence in terms of what we do in those crucial moments in the ball game. We've done it so many times. We don't take anything for granted. We've had some great performances from our players that have gotten us in position to win those games."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the performance of the younger players last night)
"Some of our young guys really stepped up and played well. You've heard us talk about them practicing and what type of attitudes they had and how diligent they are in terms of preparation. We were hoping that one day you'd see those things sort of manifest themselves during the course of the game. I think you are starting to see some of that. I think you see it from RB-Donald Brown. He did a pretty good job yesterday. We have to keep working to get our running game improved. We averaged a little over five yards a carry. We just didn't run it a number of times because some other things were working well for us. It wasn't because they (Dolphins) shut down our running game. With will, desire and power he (Donald Brown) got that ball into the endzone. It was a real tough, hard-nosed run. We've seen Pierre (Garcon) do that in practice. That exact same situation occurred one day in practice that he took to the house. In our first ball game, one might have slipped out of his hands for another opportunity to take it to the house. He's got that kind of speed, power, and he's a very tough competitor. He just keeps getting better. He has to. Every week he is going to get challenged in a different sort of way. WR-Austin Collie is another one, as well as K-Pat McAfee handling both duties in terms of kicking off and punting. He has had poise and presence. There are a number of young guys that are doing a good job at this stage of the game."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On having a culture of winning)
"There's no question there's a culture of winning around here and the way you go about doing things. It's infectious. The standards are really high. It doesn't happen by accident. It's by design. Bill (Polian) and the personnel department know what we are looking for. They know what fits. They know the kind of individuals that thrive in this environment. It has made for a pretty good formula over the years."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the health of LB-Gary Brackett and DB-Kelvin Hayden)
"In both of those cases there was a medical issue. We are not quite certain how extensive it is. One of them was due to cramping. One will get looked at this afternoon."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the possibility of DB-Jerraud Powers playing last night)
"If he could have gone, we would have had him out there. In his mind, he probably felt he was capable of going. From our medical staff standpoint, it was better off holding him out."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On DT-Ed Johnson coming back)
"He made some plays. I think he had about five tackles. He did some pretty good things. He did look like a guy that it was his first time out. He's coming along. He probably didn't play as sharp as he's capable of playing. He has to improve every week."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On what he recalls from the last game against Arizona in 2006)
"(Jim) Sorgi started that game as I recall. They played great defense during that time and they are doing the same thing today. They were strong down the middle. Adrian Wilson created the most problems for you from pass protection to pass coverage. They are a very formidable team on both sides of the ball. They are tough and capable. I remember our guys hanging in there and scoring at the end. It was a collective team effort. Everybody was going through a tough time. It was a grieving period for our entire team and organization. To get that victory was special."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On hearing from Tony Dungy)
"I got a text from him. I haven't talked to him yet today, but I will a little later on. His message was encouraging. It also showed his great faith in saying he knew we had them. From his vantage point, he though we were in good shape. He just felt we were doing the right things. It worked out the way he thought it would."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the crowd last night)
"It was electric. One of the things they did was a great job of setting the atmosphere for that ball game. There was a lot of interest and a lot of fan enthusiasm. You could sense the buzz in the crowd early that evening. I think our guys enjoyed that, having an opportunity to play in front of such a large crowd. They did a great job in stetting the stage for a great game. It was enjoyable."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he expects more of the same out of TE-Dallas Clark in terms of production)
"Week in and week out it all changes. A lot of it depends on what the opposition decides to do to us in terms of how they want to approach us. They decided to double up WR-Reggie (Wayne) a little bit more on the outside with some of their two-deep kind of looks. Therefore, it left TE-Dallas (Clark) one-on-one with either a linebacker or nickel or dime personnel. He was able to take advantage of that. It just depends on who we are playing and what they decide to do from a schematic standpoint."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On QB-Peyton Manning breaking QB-Johnny Unitas' franchise record for starting wins)
"He (Peyton) has spoken and said he didn't do it alone. He had a lot of teammates who helped him with that. Obviously, he's a major part of that as well. He has humility, but also great preparation, will to win and all of those things that translated into a lot of victories around here. We certainly are appreciative of his efforts, and he should be honored accordingly."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On how practice translates to victories)
"A lot of times you'd see a lot better throws and catches on the practice field than you would see in the game, because it's every day. They do the same thing all the time and are striving for perfection. It doesn't surprise me, but every time it happens we realize how fortunate we are to have guys on our team like the men that we have. They do an incredible job."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On 3rd-down conversions not going well defensively)
"We have to keep working at it. It's a long year. We are striving to keep improving. It's a long haul. It's a marathon. It's not a sprint. Oftentimes progress doesn't show up right away. It may take very small steps. We just have to keep working at it. That's what this game is all about."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On how he feels about the season so far)
"There is so much football yet to be played. We have to play a different team that presents a different challenge each week. Our charge is to win it. We have to stay focused."
