Head Coach Raheem Morris

(On how relieved he was to get the first win of the year this past Sunday) – "I don't know if it was a relief, it was more of a joy for my team, my coaches, and all the guys that work really hard to get it. It was great to see the building progress beginning, great see the guys develop, great to see the guys go out there and win especially [against] a team with the capabilities of the Green Bay Packers and that was a lot of fun."

(On if there was something in Josh Freeman's practice that indicated he was ready for the start) – "No, it wasn't necessarily just there during the early parts of practices, it has been the whole development. It has been how he has come here, how he has prepared. The stuff he has done in practice, the stuff he has done off the field, the stuff he has done in the morning, the stuff he does with the coaches, the stuff you felt he was taking home and bringing it back and getting better every day. It was his turn, he was up. It was great opportunity to come in here, right after the bye week, having two weeks to prepare, giving the young man a little extra time to develop into his game plan. Having the ability to watch Byron Leftwich and watch Josh Johnson was definitely a benefit for him. It was time to go. Here we are."

(On if he would rather a young quarterback be a backup for at least a year or play if he is ready) – "I think everybody is different. You have to let every quarterback come into his own and come into his own situation. Sometimes you put a young quarterback in with a team that is already set, got a whole bunch of other players that are already talented, you could throw him in there, let him manage the game and the other guys could make him better. We were in a situation we wanted to have a veteran come in here and lead the team, give Josh Johnson the ability to watch and learn and he just picked it up a lot faster than we thought. He picked it up a lot faster probably than anyone else thought. Still you have to be ready for patience. The young man is still young, he is still ‘wet behind the ears' and we are fired up to see him get another opportunity to play."

(On having patience with a young team) – "It is not hard to have the patience, it is keeping the balance. It is keeping the healthy balance. It is not patience to the point you don't want to win. Your team wants to win every week. Your team has the ability to go out and win every week. It is patience in some of the mistakes they make, it is patience in helping them learn, showing them how you want them to learn, showing them how you want them to do it, showing them how your system is going to grow. It is a long-term plan here. We want these guys to be able to build and as we bring people in, they are able to build those guys and help those guys the same way as they are being helped now. It has been a fun process, it has been refreshing."

(On Kellen Winslow and his role on the team) – "He is a major part of the football team. He has come in here and he has done nothing but help this young quarterback. He is one of the guys that is teaching them how to study tape, one of the guys that I know Josh [Freeman] likes to watch tape with. He has a guy that has a high demand for the ball and you like to get him the ball and he likes having the ball, but he also loves the finer, intricate parts of football. He understands a little bit about the quarterback play, he understands a little about the route running and the trees and how the progression goes. He is able to help him with some other things. It has been fun to be able to watch those two work together. Those have been the two guys that have been working after practice because I don't know if you know Kellen as well you would like, but he has one of the highest motors and one of the best work ethics I have ever been around as far as a person getting extra work done and doing extra things. He has been nothing but a positive influence for these young men. You love his energy and how he comes to practice every day to work."

(On Davin Joseph and Sabby Piscitelli, two South Florida natives) – "Davin is starting to develop into one of our team leaders. He has been here, he was a first round pick that has been here, playing well, playing right from the beginning. Quiet, lead by example, kind of get the guys around him to be tough and be physical and be violent; that is the kind of guys you want. Then you talk about Sabby, Sabby been in and suffered an injury his first year and went through that process. But he took that the right way; took that [injured reserve] plan and went really got… I mean it was textbook so when he came back he was ready to start and ready to be part of the starting rotation. Now he is really starting to fill into this role. Now he is getting better and better. He will get better as he grows too, he is one of the guys you need to have patience with. He is one of the guys that gets better and better each time out. A lot of guys are. You have Torrie Cox; you have a bunch of guys that have been doing a lot of positive things from South Florida."

(On the importance of having a healthy Cadillac Williams) – "It is just encouraging to see a healthy Cadillac Williams. To come from where he came from is a happiness for him, but also a happiness for myself; a happiness for our team. Cadillac provides a certain energy for us that fires us up. I am sure you guys know what I mean who got Ronnie Brown who is the same type of guy, the same type of back. When those guys are up and running, they are healthy, they lift the whole team. They lift everybody around them. They have great character, great men, and are great working with other people. You can ask them pretty much anything you want and they will do it."

(On Dolphins rookie cornerbacks Sean Smith and Vontae Davis) – "I am very high on those two guys. I had the ability to evaluate both of those guys coming out this year, liked both them a lot. I thought Vontae was one of the best corners in the draft, if not the best and I kind of told him that. He knows it. I told Sean Smith he was right up there as well and I love both of those guys. [The Dolphins] have two really talented corners and I knew it wouldn't take long for those guys to get on the field. I didn't know how long, I knew it wouldn't take too long at all for those two get out there and giving people problems for a bunch of years and they will certainly be doing that."

(On Tampa Bay's defense having a tendency to give up big pass plays) – "It is never one thing we can point the finger at, it is always an accumulation of a bunch of different things. It could have been bad coaching. It could have been bad play call. It could have been a bad individual play, you just didn't have enough pass rush. Whatever the situation may be, to each its own. We don't sit around and harp on the negative, we like to move on to the positive and correct those things and go back and learn from them. We have given up too many, we certainly cut them down. Last week we gave up two, the slant and go that Ronde Barber gave up. That was a bad play by Ronde Barber. He came back, bounced back on the bench and was ready to go and scooped up a punt return and ran it back and got his points back, as he would put it. We gave up a big play by Elbert Mack last week on a coverage and it was a bad play by Elbert Mack. He bounced back and got an interception. He was able to run it back down to the three [yard line] to set up a score. To see these guys bounce back from adversity, to see how they respond to adversity, to see them respond whenever they do something bad and understand what just happened and be able to go back to the bench and correct it is what makes you proud as a coach and makes you proud person in charge of this football team, it is what makes you fired up to go do it again."

(On Tampa Bay's rushing defense and if it is coming along the way he wants it to) – "Forget the fact on how many ways [the Dolphins] can come at you, you are talking about two of the premiere running backs in this league and they have been for years when you talk about Ronnie Brown and you talk about Ricky Williams and you talk about some of the other guys they are giving the ball to as well. These guys all have talent, they been around a long time, they do it the right way. The guys up front, big, strong powerful humans, that is how [the Dolphins] were built. That is what [the Dolphins] are going to continue to do, we understand that. We got to blow up this week. It is a big challenge for our team, it is a big challenge for our rushing defense, it is a big challenge for everybody. Everybody has to stand up and be a part of it to stop it or limit it or somewhat hold them down enough so we can somehow squeak a victory out. They are very talented. It is a great challenge for my football team. It is a great challenge for me. It is a great challenge for my coaching staff. We got to go to the lab and we got to establish something to help us get a win."

(On Chad Henne) – "We talked about it, what is your plan with a young quarterback? The plan down in Miami has to run the football and let Chad make the plays that he has to make and let Chad go out there and Dan Henning - who we have a lot of respect for up in Tampa with his Carolina background and the things he has done down there and the things he has been able to do to us over the years, he has been a little bit of a ‘Buc killer' - he is doing the same thing right now with Chad. He is grooming him the way he wants him to be groomed. We have seen him do that before with different types of quarterbacks, Jake Delhommes of the world and all the other guys he has coached in his career. It is no different than Chad. You are talking about a big, smart, physical kid who can make every throw on the football field. That is getting better and better every time he has an outing."

(On Kellen Winslow helping out the young quarterbacks watching tape) – "He has always been one of the guys who watches a bunch of tape after practice; he watches it on his own. I have seen him, I have watched him bond to Josh [Freeman], grab Josh by the neck and bring him into the room with him and those two sit for hours at a time and go through the process. Whether it be the game plan, whether Josh is playing or not. He has been that kind of guy, he wants to know the quarterbacks progressions, and he is telling him what he is thinking and they are just talking to each other and there is just constant communication which is a really good thing. Those two have constant communication, those two being on the same page, those two wanting to be in the building and being the last ones out of the building. The quarterback is always the last one and around here it is going to be like that for a while, especially with a young guy, but you know Kellen is not far ahead of him and sometimes he is with him. That has been a lot of fun to watch with those two grooming together."

(On if he can use Cadillac Williams as a resource this week to prepare for Ronnie Brown) – "I wish I could tell you yes on that one, but no way. Ronnie Brown is a tough, physical running back that is coming downhill. If you don't prepare yourself to tackle him, he will make you miss and he will score. That is the bottom line. Cadillac can tell us everything he wants to tell us about him, but we are talking about a multifaceted back that can throw the ball. He is what you call a joker; he can do it all. He can run it from quarterback, he can throw it, you can hand it off to him, he can also catch it, [the Dolphins] are not afraid to leave him in for protection. He can all do facades of the football game that you love out of a running back and that is what makes him special."

(On Lousaka Polite's success on 3rd and 4th and short) – "That has been a long time coming now. That is from [Brad] Hoover in Carolina, everyone knows in the stadium that Dan Henning is going to run the fullback dive and there is nothing you can do about it on 3rd and 1 but try to blow it up and try to stop it. He has been doing it for a long time. That is a bread and butter fixture play. They have plays off of it he hasn't had an opportunity to use yet and probably won't need to for a while with the way those guys are blocking up front and the way he is running the football. It is just a system; it is how it was built. I have a lot of respect for Dan Henning, I know him personally. I talk to him as a younger coach and he has been one of the guys that has been the fixture in this league for however many years and a guy you respect and one of the guys that is going to go out there and give you his very best and do their job the right way."

QB Josh Freeman

(On what it has been like to get acclimated to the NFL) – "It's been a pretty smooth transition. I've had a lot of great people around me, whether it be my offensive coordinator, head coach, to the guys that I meet with every day in Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson. Everybody's been extremely helpful in preparing me for this."

(On what the most challenging adjustment for him has been) – "Probably the play book. This is our second offense since I've got here because I started out with coach [Jeff] Jagodzinski and then they made the switch to coach [Greg] Olson as the OC, so it's probably learning protections and new combinations, like route combinations, stuff like that."

(On if he wanted to be the starter as soon as he was drafted) – "I wanted to play. It's my competitive spirit. I don't like to sit out a competition; I wanted to play from day one. I also understand that the coach and the coaching staff had a plan for me and they wanted to take things slow. During that time, I was doing everything to get ready to play."

(On his confidence going into his first start in the game last week) – "I'm definitely in my element on the football field. I'm able to be so relaxed and so comfortable because first off, I know exactly what we're doing in protection and what we're doing as far as routes. And second off, I watched a lot of film and I knew what our opponents were trying to do. It's really just a matter of getting comfortable and maintaining that comfort level throughout the game and not feeling like the game's too big, or that you have the game wrapped up. It's just finding that balance between being comfortable, but still, being on point and alert."

(On the importance of Kellen Winslow to him both on and off the field) – "Kellen's been great. A lot of these guys have almost taken a big brother role. Me and Kellen, we talk a lot of football together. We talk about how we want to attack certain guys and we kind of use each other as far as bouncing ideas back and forth, what we think we can. Not even just that, but on the field, Kellen's a tremendous weapon from whether you put him out in the slot, whether you have him coming out of a three point stance. He causes a lot of problems for defenses."
(On if he met any of fellow rookies Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, or Chris Clemons during pre-draft activities and what he thinks of them) – "I'm real familiar with Vontae because I had the opportunity to train with him leading up to the combine and the draft. I know Vontae's a confident individual and he puts it all out there on the line. He's been playing, from what I've seen just watching film these past three days, he's been playing extremely well and it's one of those things where you have to respect everybody. There are no slouches in this league. You know that all those guys are capable of being great defenders. We understand that they're rookies, but none of them are playing like rookies."

(On how he handled hearing the calls for him to start in the weeks leading up to his first start) – "Really since they traded Luke McCown during the preseason, I've been preparing every week as if I was the starter, so not a whole lot has changed for me. As far as people calling for me to go in, I don't pay that really any mind because one second it's me they're calling to put in, the next, it's Josh Johnson, next it's Byron [Leftwich]. All I'm worried about is what's going on in our building."

(On if it would be difficult or helpful for him to come on and off the field, as in the Wildcat substitution system) – "I don't know. We're not really a big Wildcat team. I really don't know how that would feel or how that would be. From what I've seen, you guys have had a lot of success in the Wildcat. I don't really feel I'm qualified to comment on Chad Henne's feelings. I know you guys rely on that Wildcat, we really don't. You guys have a lot of good, talented players on your offense."

(On how completing passes helps confidence, continuity, and momentum as a passer) – "It's one of those things where you try to complete them all. My percentage wasn't all that great last week. I was trying to find a way to move the chains. If you miss it on first down, ran it on second down, you try to get it on third down. I really try to view the game as almost ‘one play at a time' mentality."