S Malcolm Jenkins talked to us today about how he basically played more than half of Sunday's game with an undiagnosed concussion. That's a really dangerous thing from everything I can glean.
COACH KELLY: It is. We talked to him afterwards about that, that he has to keep the coaches and the medical staff informed. His health and safety is the No. 1 priority for us.
Did you feel the need to talk to the players again about the importance of letting you guys know?
COACH KELLY: No, I haven't talked to the players yet, but we have time for that.
What is your role as it applies to players playing through pain?
COACH KELLY: I don't have any rules on playing through pain. I defer to our doctors and medical staff on every injury, so --
Are they the ones who decide who is probable, questionable or doubtful during the week?
COACH KELLY: Yeah.
Do you still have to find out how Jenkins' symptoms went undetected?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, our doctors and medical staff are talking to him and they have gone through that protocol with him in terms of what has transpired with him.
How did T Jason Peters look today in practice?
COACH KELLY: He looked good. He was limited; he didn't go through the full practice, but he looked good in the reps he took. He took reps in team and in all three team periods today. He looked good.
Any idea if he'll play?
COACH KELLY: No idea.
As far as you know, is Peters' injury a long-term concern or condition?
COACH KELLY: Not that I know of. No.
Going back to Jenkins. The league put all of this stuff in to try to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen. They have a spotter in the press box and yet it happened. Is that frustrating?
COACH KELLY: No. I think, again, the player has to also be able to tell us kind of where he is, too. There is some responsibility that goes with him and Malcolm knows it. He feels – We've talked about it. I've talked with him. He's heard from his mom and he's heard from his wife. His long-term health is the most important thing to us and we will continue to monitor him as we go and see if he is able to play on Sunday.
What about his teammates? He talked to a couple of guys about this during the game. Do you think they have a responsibility to --
COACH KELLY: Again, none of the coaches or the medical trainers were aware of anything from that standpoint.
But should teammates tell you guys?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we want to make sure we know everybody that has an injury, in terms of what is going on, so we can prevent anything from further happening. Yeah.
I know you leave it up to the doctors when it comes to medical stuff, but what is the coaching staff's responsibility as it applies to making sure that players are not out there injured?
COACH KELLY: Well, right when you know there is injury you refer them to the doctors. Then the doctors tell you if he can play or if he can't play.
How do you evaluate LB Mychal Kendricks' season when you look at it as a whole?
COACH KELLY: I haven't really looked at it as a whole, to be honest with you. I mean, he's been injured and missed a couple games. When he has been in there, he has been really good.
Do you factor in the injuries?
COACH KELLY: It's not the time to sit down [and evaluate]. We're getting ready to play the Dolphins. So I don't sit there and say, "Hey, let me look at what Mychal's season has been like to date.' So, it's not a reflective time for us as a staff; it's getting ready to play the Dolphins. When Mychal has been healthy and ready to play, he has played well for us. When he was injured, he couldn't play.
How is he improving and how did he do in the games in which he did return though?
COACH KELLY: He's played well.
In third quarters this year you're plus-forty in point differential. What's happening at halftime of these games?
COACH KELLY: I think our staff does a good job on both sides of the ball of making adjustments and our players are doing a better job of executing in the third quarters.
Does WR Nelson Agholor look a lot better this week in practice than he did last week? I know he practiced full last week and then didn't play.
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we've seen improvement out of Nelson. But again, we have tomorrow's training and Saturday's training before we make a determination on him.
What did you think of CB Byron Maxwell's performance against Cowboys WR Dez Bryant? Particularly at the line of scrimmage at the start of the snap?
COACH KELLY: We thought Max played a good game on Sunday against Dallas.
What do the Dolphins do on the defensive slot position? Is it strictly CB Brice McCain that goes up against the receiver inside?
COACH KELLY: No, I mean, they do a variety of things. They play a lot of zone coverage and quarters coverage. They play some match-up bracket. It's not just a single one-on-one operation, so they give you a lot of different looks in terms of what you're going to get over there. So it's not always the nickel; it can be the strong safety. Sometimes if base is in the game, there'll be a walk-down linebacker; if they're in quarters coverage, you could get an outside linebacker out there. So you'll see a lot of different looks in the slot.
It seems Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill has played better in the last few weeks. Is he doing something different or is it just that what he's doing is finally working better?
COACH KELLY: Again, I don't know. We're not watching every game in terms of what an individual player's progressions are. Just kind of taking off what they do on third down, what do they do in the red zone and what they do in certain situations. He's played well recently. I couldn't tell you why or what the rhyme or reason is, but I know he's played really well. We have to be aware of not only him in the passing game, but him in the running game also.
You talked about special teams a little bit yesterday. How much of the fact that teams aren't punting to RB Darren Sproles and teams are kicking off out of the end zone, has to do with the unit's reputation last year. And also, how does that affect blocking punts?
COACH KELLY: I don't think that kicking it out of the end zone has anything to do with any reputation. It's just they have a really good kicker. If you have your druthers as an operation, if you can kick it out so it's not returned, then that's the best thing. So I don't think that has to do with -- No matter who you have back there, I think any coach in this league would say, 'I'd rather have him kick it [out of the end zone] so we don't have an opportunity for a return or anything to break down from a return standpoint, we'll just take it.' And obviously everybody knows what a good [punt] returner Darren is. I think they knew that before he got here, too. I think it's more about the individual player than it is about the reputation of the team.
Of the cornerbacks, who can swing over to play safety?
COACH KELLY: Of the cornerbacks who can swing over to safety?
For instance, would that be CB Denzel Rice or CB Eric Rowe. I'm asking because S Jerome Couplin is injured right now and you don't seem sure about Jenkins.
COACH KELLY: A lot of them can. Eric Rowe could slide over and [CB] E.J. Biggers could slide over. Those would be the first two out of the four corners.
Have they trained there this week?
COACH KELLY: They train there every week because they play nickel, so nickel is the same as playing safety.
What does Sproles give you out of the slot? How is he different than WR Jordan Matthews in there?
COACH KELLY: How is he different than Jordan in there? Size is different, match-ups are different.
The match-ups.
COACH KELLY: Yeah, part of it is because of our lack of depth at receiver. We've had [WR Nelson Agholor] down for a couple of weeks now, so we're trying to get some fresher legs out there. Jordan is playing some outside [receiver]. You'll see Jordan and Darren in the game at the same time. It's just trying to get our best players on the field.
For someone like Dolphins WR DeVante Parker, who is somewhat iffy for the game, how do you prepare for that when there's not much going on?
COACH KELLY: We prepare for their plays and what they're going to run scheme-wise. And there is tape on DeVante, so we'll watch what they have on tape on DeVante. That's all you can prepare for; whatever they've put on film. There is no other way to look at it. You're not allowed to get practice tapes.
Would you ever consider if Peters wasn't a hundred percent, if he played, putting him at another position other than left tackle?
COACH KELLY: No.
Do you guys do anything in the sports science realm as it applies to concussion prevention and trying to stay ahead of the curve?
COACH KELLY: No.
No you're not going to tell us, or no?
COACH KELLY: No, I don't think there's a lot out there right now. People say they drink a certain water and that helps them, but until there is real -- I don't think there is anything you can do unless you're teaching proper tackling techniques and things like that from a technical standpoint to prevent it when you have a blow like that that's going to prevent a concussion.
Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis took Jenkins off of Cowboys WR Cole Beasley during Sunday's game and put Biggers on him. Was that related to anything that was going on with Jenkins?
COACH KELLY: No.
How do you feel about Jenkins on Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry? Landry does a lot of stuff out of the slot, and he's a bigger guy.
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we're confident if Malcolm can go that he can handle whoever they put out there for him.
What went into bringing C/G Julian Vandervelde back?
COACH KELLY: [C/G] Josh Andrews is out this week, so we needed a backup center.
