Taylor leads Miami with 12.5 sacks this season
Jason Taylor is a candidate for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Taylor, a 6'6", 255-pound defensive end in his 10th season out of Akron has collected 12.5 sacks this season and he's tied for the team-lead with two interceptions. He says he would gladly trade in any individual honor for a chance to play in the postseason.
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Miami Dolphins' DE Jason Taylor, 12.21
On his impression of the Jets…
They are doing a darn good job, that's for sure. They are in the thick of things as far as playoffs are concerned. They're definitely playing well and being very efficient on offense and doing enough to win games. You have to give them credit.
On the sense that the Dolphins should have won the first meeting…
I thought we should have, but it's easy to sit there and say what you should have done. They made the plays that won the game and that fine. There were some big plays that we gave up and we did some stupid things that cost us the game, but we still had a chance in the end to try and tie the game but we missed the kick.
On the possibility of ruining the Jets' playoff aspirations…
Regardless of what they are trying to do playoff-wise or what the circumstances are, it's a rivalry game, it's a division game, it's the Jets and the Dolphins. There are plenty of reasons to play besides trying to worry about what the Jets are doing playoff-wise. We want to win the game for ourselves; we want to win for a lot of different reasons and try to get to 7-8. I could really care less about whether they have a chance to make the playoffs.
On if he feels he is having his best season…
I don't know, I think it's been a pretty decent one. I let other people talk about that, I don't really like to say if it is or not.
On feeling more comfortable in the position he's playing…
Yes, I do. It's another year under my belt of standing up in a two-point (stance) sometimes, dropping sometimes, rushing coming from the left or the right. I think last year I was doing a little bit more thinking than playing. Like anything, once you do it for a little bit longer and get more comfortable it's easier to just react and not have to think about it as much.
On this season following the same pattern as last year…
That's a good question. We really put ourselves behind the eight-ball in the first seven games of the year. I knew when the season ended last year and we won six straight and everyone talked about it all offseason and Sports Illustrated picked us to win the Super Bowl, I knew all that stuff was premature when it was being done. Yeah we won six games at the end of the year, but it doesn't mean it's going to automatically transfer into this year and translate into wins. You still have to go out there and do the things necessary to help you win games. We just didn't do that early in the year. We didn't execute. Daunte (Culpepper) was obviously struggling with his knee and wasn't healthy. It took us a little while to get going. We changed offensive coordinators and regardless of whether you try to keep the offense the same, it's going to take some adjusting. We got ahead of ourselves; I think people were sort of putting us too high as far as expectations. We expect a lot out of ourselves, but the talk was a little premature and we got ahead of ourselves a little bit.
On being disappointed for not contending for a playoff spot…
Yeah it is, it definitely is. That's why you play this game. You play this game all year to get in the playoffs and have a chance to play in January. You can't say everything is lost; it's not a total waste because you still have two games to go and we have reasons to win those two games, but we definitely wanted to play at the turn of the year and unfortunately we won't have that.
On D'Brickashaw Ferguson…
I think he's improved, you can see he's moving better. He doesn't seem as fidgety; I think his movements earlier in the year were choppier, for lack of a better term. He was trying to guess and figure out what was going on, because it was new to him. Like I said, he's going to be a good player for a long period of time, especially once he gets to the offseason and starts with the NFL lifting and running getting himself in NFL shape and getting bigger and stronger. He's definitely going to be a force. He's doing a very good job now for them, he's been steady enough.
On it making a difference what running back the Jets use…
It doesn't make a difference really. They do kind of committee it a little bit but, it doesn't matter. They're going to run the same plays regardless of who is back there. They have very adequate backs, they have guys who do a good job, but we obviously take pride in our defense and need to show up in a big way.
On still being effective this far into his career…
It's been great because in this league when you get eight, nine, 10, 11 years in the league and you get up to 30 years old, people start talking about your replacements. All of sudden you can do what you do because you hit a certain number in your age. I don't think it matters how old you are if you're making plays and you're doing things that are needed to help the team win games. That's all that matters. I do take a lot of pride in being able to do that. I take a lot of pride in doing it as an undersized guy. I was never that big defensive end that everyone always talked about, but I take pride in not being that 295-300 pound defensive end. I've done it at 240 and I've done it for 10 years. It's something I'm proud of and it's something I couldn't do without the guys that I've played with. My teammates make me a heck of a lot better.
On his relationship with Zack Thomas…
We've both here for a long time. He has been here for 11 years; I've been here 10 years now. We are appreciated down here by the community, the fans and everybody in the organization, I guess we are like everybody's little puppy or whatever, their favorite son right now. It's good, you kind of get the sympathy sometimes, because they wish we could win a Super Bowl, we've been here so long. We don't want the sympathy, we don't want all the credit, we just want to find a way to win some games and get a chance to play in the postseason. Hopefully, we can do that for ourselves and for the city and for the fans and the organization that has been behind us the last decade.
On it being comforting to have Thomas along side him for all these years…
There is one thing you never have to worry about and that's the man in the middle for our defense. He's always held that down and continues to do that at a very high level. It's amazing the things that he has been able to do. He's a year older then me and another guy that people said never had a chance and couldn't do it. And the defense changed when Nick (Saban) came in a couple years ago and people said to him that he was too small and couldn't do it. He continues to prove everybody wrong and I think every day in practice and on Sunday he shows us why he's one of the best out there.
On the questions of whether the Coach will be there wears on the team…
We don't really talk about it. It's irrelevant at this point. We have a couple of weeks to finish up here and the rest will work itself out because we can't control that. Even if it was something that was plastered on the bulletin board, we have nothing to do with it. All we can control is preparing ourselves to play on Sunday, or Monday in this case and get yourself ready to go and bring the enthusiasm and the passion that you need to be successful. The rest of is going to work out with or without you anyway.
On it being important to win the Defensive Player of the Year award…
No, to be honest, it wouldn't be. I'd much rather trade in everything, every sack I've ever made and every play I've ever made to have a chance to play into the new year and have a shot. All you have to do is get in the door, in the playoffs and anything can happen. Unfortunately, we haven't had that chance in a while. It'd be great to win an individual award like the Defensive Player of the Year, in this team game, but if it did happen for me I wouldn't enjoy it myself, it would be a group award. I don't care who you are out there, in this game you can't do it by yourself, it's impossible.
On having any jealousy that the Jets are competing for a playoff spot…
No, I'm not jealous of them. If they earn it and get a trip to go, then they earn it, what can you say. I don't like when people are given something they don't earn, but if anybody goes out there and earns something then I'm happy for them. I have a bunch of friends on the Patriots and they are going and I am happy for them. I have a couple of guys that I know on the Jets and if they make it, then good for them. We have not earned it, so I can't sit here and be upset when somebody else has.
On how close the team is to being good…
It's very disappointing that it didn't turn out because I know we have the talent to do it. Sometimes, maybe we played to the level of our competition or what our perceived level of our competition. I know we showed in a big way against Chicago, we showed up well against New England down here and we beat a good Kansas City team. We've shown that we can do it; it's just a matter of being consistent and doing it on a daily basis. We have to execute in practice and you have to carry it over to the game on Sunday. We didn't do that early. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, our turnover ratio was upside-down for us and we weren't playing well enough defensively, offensively or on special teams early in the year. We'd have spurts where the defense would play well and then the next game the offense would do some good things and then the kicking game would do well.
On the lost to the Jets this season being a low point…
I don't really separate the loses into one being worse then the other. They are all bad to me. I don't care if we lose 3-0 or 35-0; they are all bad to me. Every loss is bad and when you lose in the division against a rival team like the Jets or the Bills or the Patriots, again that's a little worse and you get a little ticked off about it. They are all bad, you don't want to lose to these guys and you definitely don't want to lose to them this Monday.
Thursday Injury Report Jets Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (back), RB Cedric Houston (calf) & Eric Smith (foot)
Probable: *RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Matt Chatham (foot), *C Nick Mangold (hip), *WR Justin McCareins (foot), *OL Brandon Moore (back), *DL Rashad Moore (hand), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *LB Anthony Schlegel (illness), *DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder), *S Jamie Thompson (ankle) & *WR Wallace Wright (thigh)
Dolphins Out: DT Dan Wilkinson (calf)
Doubtful: WR Marty Booker (ankle)
Questionable: *CB Will Allen (groin/quad) & *RB Ronnie Brown (hand)
Probable: *QB Joey Harrington (ankle) & *DT Keith Traylor (knee)
*Denotes players who participated in practice
I'd much rather trade in everything - every sack I've ever made and every play I've ever made - to have a chance to play into the New Year and have a shot," Taylor said. "All you have to do is get in the door, in the playoffs and anything can happen. Unfortunately, we haven't had that chance in a while. It would be great to win an individual award like the Defensive Player of the Year in this team game, but if it did happen for me I wouldn't enjoy it myself - it would be a group award."
Read below for Jason Taylor's complete press conference transcript
