October 14, 2012 – 4:50 p.m. EST – Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

Head Coach Joe Philbin

On calling a fake punt with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter:

Yeah, you know this is something that we had worked on all week in practice, ran it [checking notes] 248 times in practice last week. Started out slow, [long snapper John] Denney wasn’t quite getting the velocity, nor the rotation on the ball that I wanted to see at first, I like four and a half rotations, he was getting about three and a quarter there at first, so, you know we worked on it. Once Denney got the rotation part, we cleaned up the timing of it all, from about 1.85 seconds from snap to run completion to about 1.55 seconds, and I felt slightly more comfortable with it at that point.

[Special Teams Coordinator Darren] Rizzi should get a lot of the credit for this call. He said at the half that there might be the opportunity to run the fake, and we got the opportunity late in the fourth quarter. To tell the truth, I still wasn’t that comfortable with the call, but Rizzi, he’s a player’s coach and he knows how to motivate the guys – and his staff as well. He got on the [head]set and called me a “bald this” and a “skinny that”, really got me going a little bit. You know, he comes from a military background, so he was talking about pushing my face in the dirt here and, how’d he put it, “breaking my pilgrim ass in two,” I think he said. I can’t repeat all of it, that’s between us. So Rizzi got us up for the play, motivated us to call it a little bit.

Running Back Reggie Bush

On whether the news of his becoming a first-time father had an impact on his (12-rush, 17-yard) performance against the Rams:

Oh definitely, definitely. You know, [girlfriend] Lilit [Avagyan] and I have already started talking about our divorce terms because you can just never plan ahead enough, especially at this stage, us just starting to talk about marriage, a wedding, alimony, that stuff. It was funny, she was joking before the game sayin’ “Reg, you better run your cute little ass off, get you those 100 yards, ’cause Ima be takin’ half of what you got, so you better get enough for the both of us.” Lilit’s got a really good sense of humor. But yeah, I think I was thinking a little bit about that during the game, pressing a little bit. When you know you’ve got a little mouth to feed for, what, the next 20, 30 years, you know you better perform, and I think I was trying to bust the big one at times.

Tight End Charles Clay

On whether his one-catch performance was due to the Rams’ excellent man coverage or [Offensive Coordinator] Mike Sherman’s weekly game plan:

Game plan? What you mean?

Um, you know, Coach Sherman’s game plan, preparing for the rams:

I don’t know about no game plan, man. Sherm and I don’t talk much. Next question.

Left Guard Richie Incognito

On whether Coach Phibin has discussed the notion of “playing dirty” with him, and, if so, what they have discussed:

Yeah, Philbs and I have had our share of chats about my playing style. I try to discuss it with him over a beer, but he prefers coffee, pussy. But yeah, we’ve talked about it, and he gives me the usual: “Richie don’t do this, Richie don’t do that.” But I’m my own man. You seen these tattoos?

On whether he himself thinks his play borders on “dirty”:

Man, what you media guys don’t realize is this is a rough f*cking game. If you show any weakness out there, guys will eat you up, and I mean just totally tear you to pieces. So most guys play to the whistle, and I play a little beyond that. F*ck it, man. Most guys get a little rough, but they stop when that whistle blows or they’re going to really hurt somebody, but I take it a little farther, man. Some guys go for the hair-pull, I’m grabbin’ sacks. Some guys pinch you real bad under the pile, I’m more of a fister. You seen these tats, man? You know what they symbolize? Respect.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill

On whether he’s noticed improved communication with his offensive line throughout the first six weeks of the season:

Yeah, you know it’s funny, I have. The guys up front have just done a tremendous job thus far, as far as communicating protection and blocking, that kind of stuff. It’s taken a little while, definitely, to get to really know each of the guys’ personalities, ’cause, you know, each one’ s a little different in terms of communication. [Left tackle Jake] Long’s kind of like my big brother out there, the bully. Not afraid to take shots at my wife, even in pressure situations. I think he feeds off of that a little bit, you know. [Left guard Richie Incognito] Cog’s a little more of a jokester, talking about fisting me and stuff if I screw up. You see the zero interceptions, well he’s a big reason why. [Center Mike Pouncey] Pounce is all business; he’s a business man. He’s talking ventures out there, loves to say he’s gonna buy the team from [Owner Stephen] Ross, make him his butler or something rather, haha. And [right guard John Jerry] Jer and [right tackle Jonathan Martin] JM, those guys have their own language out there, I can’t even understand it. They have some kind of food code going on out there, like “twist double cheese no fry, 27 cheetos, rye, pastrami, mayo.” Real odd stuff, sounds like they’re building a menu out there. But they get the job done, have done a tremendous job so far, keeping me out of the dirt, haha.

On whether Head Coach Joe Philbin knows their “food language”:

Have you seen Coach Philbin? He hasn’t had a meal in months. [Laughter] But seriously, no. No one knows their language but them.

On Tight End Anthony Fasano’s third-quarter touchdown and overall involvement in the offense thus far this season:

Yeah we had a hot read on that touchdown. I saw that there was pressure coming from the strong side, so I checked into that read and it worked out for us. Anthony’s a real smart football player and also real tough, physical. He knows how to break you down physically and emotionally. His family are all business men, the olive oil business, I think he said. Real successful family. His Dad, he said, would have him practice hand-to-hand combat moves for defense and also psychology, to get into people’s heads. He uses that stuff on the football field, in preparation for the games, too. I’ve gone in to talk to [Tight Ends Coach Dan] Campbell a few times after tight ends meetings and Camp sometimes just looks shook. Looks like someone’s threatened his family or something. That’s the effect Fasano can have on you; he’s passionate as hell, deadly serious. And he’s been just great for us this year and also getting involved in the passing game more for us since week one, which, it’s a little funny, ’cause I remember the coaches during camp and week one prep saying they weren’t going to have Tony all that involved in the passing game this year, more blocking. Not sure what changed their minds, but I’m glad they have.

-Ben @BenMarkus1985