"In order to get where you need to be… the division runs through the Patriots"
~ Dolphins head coach Tony Soprarano

Sometimes the best way to disarm an opponent is to kill them with compliments.  Loudmouth linebacker Joey Porter was having none of that this week, but head Coach Tony Sparano was.  Here are some select quotes from this week’s conference call courtesy the Patriots media relations. 

Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano

Q: Can you talk about how different it is preparing for this game against the Patriots compared to when you first faced them in week three? You were pretty emotional after getting that first win. How different is it now that you guys have established yourselves as contenders?

TS: I don’t know if we have done anything like that. I just think we are playing a little bit better right now. One thing is when you come in as a new coach, and any coach that has done this for the first time will say the same thing ‘in order to validate what it is that you have done, you need to win some games.’ That just happened to be the first time we won a game so that gave us a little bit of validation to the things that we were trying to get done here within our change of culture.

Q: The New York Jets are on top of the AFC East but in a way do you still measure yourself against the Patriots when it comes to this division?

TS: I sure do, I told our team the other day that in my mind our [division], in order to get where you need to be the [division] runs through the Patriots. I understand where the [New York] Jets are but till the end of season comes one way or the other the [division] runs through the Patriots.

Q: How much confidence has your team built over the four-game winning streaks you guys are on?

TS: There is confidence. You have to win games a bunch of different ways in this league. Certainly you need to be able to beat some people that maybe you are expected to beat, win some close games at some point and then you need to beat somebody that maybe you are not suppose to beat. We have been able to do some of those things right now so I think there is a little bit of confidence there. Certainly not cockiness - just confidence. I think it comes with any team when they are having some success.

Q: Running back Ronnie Brown said earlier that one of the things you did when you first started was say that you were not coming in to rebuild and that you wanted to win football games now. Is that what you were referring to earlier when you said ‘culture change’?

TS: Yes, no question about it. I think that coming in here with the situation that we came into, I think the natural reaction was that you were going to maybe rebuild and this thing was going to take some time and you were going to try and do all those things. Well, I know I don’t have the patience for that. I know Bill Parcells doesn’t and Jeff Ireland doesn’t. We wanted to come in here and be able to compete and just give ourselves a chance to win games to see where this thing goes. That is really what we have done. I made no bones about saying that the first time I met the team. This is something that we wanted to do and we were fortunate that we were able to win a couple of games. We have six wins right now. They don’t give you any trophies and you don’t get anything accomplished with six wins.

Q: Is it safe to say that your defensive scheme is ‘unleashing’ linebacker Joey Porter more than the previous regime did?

TS: I would say that. That is definitely fair to say. Joey [Porter] came into this league really as a 3-4 outside linebacker. We were able to get him to as close as he was to his natural position when he was back in Pittsburgh. This does help him do that and it helps us use some of his talents to the best of our abilities. That is important for us. In our scheme, it is not much different from the Patriots or these other 3-4 teams; if your outside linebackers can’t get to the passer then you really don’t have much of a chance.

Q: How much has quarterback Chad Pennington’s accuracy benefited the team this season?

TS: It is tremendous. We are a young football team, particularly a young offense. You find a quarterback that gives you a chance to run with the football a little bit like that…his accuracy [helps] the fact that we are up there in the league right now on first down and first-and-10 yardage - those types of things. Just giving yourself the opportunity to play throw and catch. In some situations to catch the ball and run with it – that is important. If the ball is not thrown with good location and good accuracy, then you have a little bit of a problem. It is awful hard to play behind the chains in this league.

Q: How much did that first win against the Patriots do for your confidence?

TS: It validates what you are trying to do. When you are 0-2 starting the regular season…the preseason that is a lot of fun. You get to go out there and you do what you are doing. When you get into the real season and you start 0-2 and you know that you took over for a 1-15 [team], all of a sudden you are looking at yourself and reevaluating yourself constantly and looking at yourself in the mirror and saying ‘am I doing the right things?’ At that point, I found myself talking to myself an awful lot. I needed some success as well so that playing with the vision that I have had here and putting that whole thing in place, [showed] that we were doing the right things.

Q: How much has offensive tackle Jake Long improved since week three?

TS: He [Jake Long] is an awful lot better. In week three and early on in the season, Jake was just learning maybe what people were going to do to him and how they were going to attack him. How they were going to attack him. As you get on in this league and you play against the people you have to play against as a left tackle, 10 or 11 games in now, you figure that you have seen almost everything. With him, he usually doesn’t make the same mistake again. As he is going through this whole thing, he is learning each week. You would hope that 10 weeks into this thing that he is getting a little bit better. I see it on the practice field and in the games – the use of his hands, his run blocking and all those things are a lot better now.

Running Back Ronnie Brown

Q: Do you have any more Wildcat schemes cooked up for the Patriots this week?

RB: I don’t know, we may have a few things in the mix. [I] can’t give them away yet though it’s too early.

Q: How gratifying is this to be in a playoff chase in November coming off a 1-15 season that you spent the last three quarters of on injured reserve?

RB: It’s exciting to have that opportunity. Obviously the main thing is we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and start thinking too much about the playoffs. [We] just want to do what we’ve been doing and take it one game at a time. Each game gets bigger and the reward becomes bigger each time we have an opportunity. We just have to take it one at a time and hope everything works out for us.

Q: Even though the Jets are on top, do you guys measure yourselves against the Patriots given what they’ve accomplished over the last few years?

RB: When you see a team like the Patriots, their accomplishments obviously speak for themselves, they’re still who they are. They’re a great football team and despite the stumbles they’ve had this season they’re still a good football team. You have to look at that and not get too far ahead of yourself and start thinking about the Jets. We have to focus on the Patriots right now and you know how hard it is to beat them twice in one season.

Q: Looking back to last season when the Patriots went down to Miami that was the game that you got hurt, has it been rewarding for you to bounce back this season and have the success that you’ve had?

RB: It is. Obviously, when I had the injury my main goal was to come back strong and do everything that I needed to do in the offseason to make sure that I was back and ready for the season. I was just taking it one step at a time and providing myself with goals that were maintainable as far as setting little short term goals [like] being able to participate in all of the offseason workouts. Then being able to come in and participate in camp and not miss any practices. I kept setting short term goals and everything worked out and I was able to start the season.

Q: How much do you see [Bill] Parcells around and as a player do you feel his presence around that building?

RB: He’s around and you see him every so often. He’s usually here when we’re practicing. He’ll come around and if we’re in the weight room. You obviously know his presence is here. He’s had a lot of success in the things that he’s done with football programs and organizations so to have that around… And he’s a part of that mindset that you want to win and turn your program and the organization around.

Q: Greg Camarillo isn’t the prototypical first round draft pick wide receiver and yet he’s making plays all the time?

RB: He just comes in and does what’s asked of him. Obviously you don’t try to do too much more. Fundamentally, he does everything that he’s asked to do. He works hard at practice and this is just a payout for him. He’s been doing everything up to this point that everybody has asked: offense, receivers coach or even Chad [Pennington]. He’s doing a great job getting open and doing what he does, catching the football.

Q: When you first unveiled the Wildcat people kept saying that defenses were going to catch on but it doesn’t seem like they have yet. Is it something that defenses can catch up to or can you guys keep making it fresh where they’ll never catch up?

RB: We try to give teams a different look. I think they do the same for us. [In] a few games, teams have defended it well. The Ravens did a good job. Teams did a good job occasionally and they stop it but the key is for us to be able to mix it up, get the ball in different people’s hands, kind of keep people out of balance or off balance, attack them in different ways, throw the football here [or] give it to a different person and it’s had some success. Hopefully, we can keep moving it around and keep everybody off guard.

Q: How does winning a close game last week, coming from behind late in the four quarter, how does that affect the team’s overall confidence level or confidence in Chad [Pennington]?

RB: As a team we’re confident and I think we’ve grown a whole lot since the beginning of the season and since last year. We’re confident that when we get in those close games we have a good opportunity to win them. But, I’d rather not be in a close game like that. I’d rather it not have to come down to the last play or the last drive of the game. We’ve grown a lot as a team and as an offense. [We all knew Chad was a leader] and the way he took on the quarterback position, he was the leader of this team. The way he approaches the game, he’s seen a lot [and] he’s been around for awhile so we are very confident in him and I think he’s very confident in himself. Last week was a great example of that when he called a fourth down play we were able to convert, get down and score points.

Q: Do you like running behind Jake Long?

RB: I do. He does a great job. He’s gotten a whole lot better since the season started, so the sky is the limit for him. [He] took on the pressure coming in being that first pick. He’s handled everything well. He’s been doing a great job and he’s continued to get better each week.