Jason Taylor: “If we don’t beat the Titans then our season will pretty much be over”
December 15, 2009 – 8:45 am by Zach Krantz
Jason Taylor is a Dolphin lifer, drafted here, does all his charity work down here and even was traded and came back here. He has been through many coaches and different front offices. From Jimmy Johnson to Dave Wannstedt and then Nick Saban to Tony Sparano. He has been in Miami through all the good times and bad times. He finally gets the shot to play again for the chance of the playoffs, his first time in that position in a long time. JT was in Miami for the 1-15 season under Cam Cameron and got traded when the new regime came in to the Redskins. But he is back and the Dolphins are right in the hunt for the playoffs. Not just the wildcard, but the AFC East. Miami is only one game behind New England and has the tiebreaker.
Miami started the season really slow and has had a great turnaround since starting 0-3, they are 7-3 and right in the middle of the playoff hunt. If you looked at the way this team has gotten back into the chase after a few bad injuries to key players and them landing on the IR; Chad Pennington, Will Allen, Jason Ferguson, and Mr. Wildcat, Ronnie Brown, yet they are still alive. The young guys are stepping up and stepping up big with some veteran leadership still leading the way including JT and Joey Porter on the defense and Ricky Williams leading the offense. Who would have thought Jason Taylor would have danced his way back onto the Dolphins and the word playoffs would be back in the picture. Get it dancing? Alright I know, lame Dancing with the Stars reference, but I couldn’t get tango in there.
Jason Taylor joined Joe Rose on WQAM in Miami to talk about the win versus Jacksonville, the upcoming game against the Titans, some of the young guys on the defense, and finally playing again in meaningful games in December for the first time in a while.
Asked how nice it feels to be able to stop the other teams in the 4th quarter to preserve the win:“
We have done some good things the last couple weeks. Your right, the fourth quarter is the money quarter. We have had our problems earlier in the year with some 4th quarter woes. For the last couple weeks we have been able to put that to rest, so hopefully it will stay that way. What a big win for us yesterday, that’s what you call a team win there. With our offense running the ball and doing some things well besides turning the ball over and the defense stepping up and finishing the game out.”
Asked what he sees in Cameron Wake that makes him think he could be a great pass rusher in the NFL:
“Well he has all the physical gifts, he has the speed and quickness and he has the phone booth quick. He is a strong guy. As he gets older and more mature in his football life he’ll learn the different ways of using his body and the things that he has. Right now he has a tremendous speed rush and quickness on the corner. As he continues to develop that and a counter, he should really be a great pass rusher in this league.”
Asked how he is feeling this late into the season:
“I feel great, actually I feel better than I did in December 2, 3, 4 years ago. I feel a whole lot better. It’s always a grind, the NFL season is always a grind no matter how old you are, whether you are 25 or 35 your body is going to feel it. I am playing games that mean something in December; I am happy, healthy and ready to go.”
Asked how the team is treating the chance to make the playoffs in the locker room:
“You know what; the guys are just talking about the next one. We haven’t had any playoff talk. We understand what we are playing for and what we are fighting for to stay alive in the race. The most important game is not the one you just played and not the one you are going to play after Christmas here at home; it’s the next game coming up and it’s the Tennessee Titans. Its sounds so cliché and you hear coaches and players say it all the time, we can’t afford to look past anybody. If we don’t beat the Titans then our season will pretty much be over. So we have to put all of our focus and effort on beating the Titans this week and they got a guy (Chris Johnson) that is trying to set records in the league running up and down the field. He is probably running as we are speaking right now and we got to find a way to stop him.”
Tags: AFC, AFC East, Cam Cameron, Cameron Wake, Chad Pennington, Dave Wannstedt, Jason Ferguson, Jason Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Joey Porter, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, NFL, Nick Saban, Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Tony Sparano, Washington Redskins, Will Allen
