Conference call transcript: Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano

On Wednesday Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano addressed the New York media.  Here is the transcript of the conference call courtesy of the Jets.

On the team coming to practice at the Giants facility on Friday-

“Well I mean one of the things is that we’ve gone out to…early on some away games a couple times and (you know) one being two weeks ago against California and then we’ve gone out early I think one other time and I just think it’s a great way to get my team together and to have my team focus is to have them all together on the road so we’re going to get out there and get out there early and have ourselves prepared.”

On if they’re going to practice in their indoor facility-

“We are going to practice in their indoor facility. (You know) it was an opportunity for us—we had reached out to the Giants and (you know) we have a good relationship with the people there in the Giants organization and they were very nice and gracious to be able to allow us to get in there. But, we reached out to them.”

On when they plan on getting in the facility to practice –

“It’ll be sometime in the afternoon.”

On what did he draw out of the Monday night Jets vs. Patriots game-

“Well I mean I just obviously (you know) I think one of the issues when I watched the ball game was field position and the turnovers (you know) those kinds of things—we just lost a football game in a very close football game where we turned the ball over three times. So, obviously I watched the ball game and we seen the tape but (you know) I’m a little bit more concerned about what we’ve done and need to do better from our end.”

On the Dolphins running game and not having many 100 yard rushers and receivers and how does that contribute to their offensive struggle –

“Well, I would say to you that we’ve tried to split the load up probably a lot different than the Jets have done with their two backs—Ronnie (Brown) and Ricky (Williams) both play kind of equal somewhere in that range. You know Ronnie (Brown) probably has more snaps than Ricky (Williams) at the end of this…not by much but we try to get both guys involved as much as we possibly can. In the last couple of games we’ve rushed the ball for a bunch of yards and you know we’re able to run it a little bit more right now. We’ve had two ball games there in the middle of that you know the Chicago game being one where we didn’t get a lot of offensive snaps and got behind in the game and then there was one other ball game there where we were behind playing catch up. So, in those games, you’re not going to run the football. You got to throw the ball to get back in the game. But, as of late we’ve gotten our run game back on track.”

On coming to New York early and if he give any consideration to taking the team outside to get use to the change in climate –

“Yeah, that is something that we talked about. So, and I just think getting down there and in that environment is always good, so. From our end I mean we’ve obviously played in cold cold weather before but it’s 65 degrees here today. So, you know we do better as a football team on the road and we have played really well on the road when we’re all together and we get out there and get focused and spend some time. So, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this…this is the third time I’ve done this.”

On the past and if he had taken the team to high school fields –

“We’ve gone to high school fields a couple of times, yes. So, that’s kind of what we’ve done.”

On if he’s not going to take them outdoors when they get up there (follow up to previous question) –

“We’ve like I said, I think I’ve already answered this, but we reached out to the Giants first and we have a very good relationship with the people there with the Giants and just worked out that they’d be done and we’d be able to get in there by the time we would (have) gotten down in there. So, that worked out well. Maybe we’ll see what happens with our Saturday walkthrough.”

On possibly working outdoors on Saturday –

“Possibly yes, not sure.”

On whether a team is allowed to go to the stadium the day before a game for walkthroughs –

“Sure, yeah. I think if, they are allowed yes if that’s something that they, they choose to do. I think a couple weeks back we had somebody do it versus us that, that had to travel in here.”

On Chad Henne and whether he’s still considered the future of the team –

“Is he considered the future of the team? He’s one of my young quarterbacks on the team. I’ve addressed that question this week here with our media and just said that Chad Henne right now is going to be the quarterback this week against the Jets. At the end of the season we’re going to sit down and we’re going to reevaluate everything but we like this young guy’s future. He’s getting better for us.”

On what he’s seen from Jason Taylor so far this year –

“Looks like he’s, he’s contributed very much in a lot of ballgames. Jason always has been a guy that can closeout games. Looks to me like, like he’s pretty healthy and playing well.”

On whether the team is missing any of Jason Taylor’s intangibles in the locker room this year –

“Jason has great leadership but we have great leaders here right now. I’m excited about my leaders. I have four captains here that are outstanding and a bunch of other veteran players like Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown and Anthony Fasano. We have solid leadership here but Jason Taylor was certainly a very good leader.”

On what Jason Taylor has brought to the Jets defense –

“I’m sure he’s brought wisdom and I’m sure he’s brought leadership, intangibles and all those things to that defense. I mean they have some good veteran players there too but I’m sure that he’s brought both of those things. I would think that the fact, it’s always good to have somebody on your team that can show you how it’s done and this guy’s sacked the quarterback a lot of time in the National Football League. That’s good for the young players to see.”

On the status of Brandon Marshall –

“Well he practiced today so that was, that was a good thing. We’re a little bit a ways away from Sunday so we’ll see where we go from there but he did practice today.”

On how Brandon Marshall looked at practice today –

“Looked good.”

Tyson Rauch

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