Dolphins' Joe Philbin press conference pre-Ravens game

(Opening statement) - "It was actually good to get outside today. We haven't had a chance really with the fields being as they've been to get outside and practice, so it's good for us to finalize the main portion of our on-field preparation for Baltimore outside."

(On if Sunday's game is a bounce-back game for both teams or both quarterbacks) - "I think it is a team game all of the way, so I would certainly characterize it as a team. I don't know if I would use the same words you would, but it is an important game for the Miami Dolphins, certainly, and for our entire football team. I wouldn't say just the quarterback."

(On if this is a swing game) - "Not necessarily. We aren't thinking in that mindset. The mindset is we have a very good opponent coming in to Sun Life Stadium. We know we are going to have to play extremely well. There is no doubt about it. We've communicated that to the players. I think they are well aware of that, and so that's our expectation and our plan. Aside from any big-picture swing game type of thing, that hasn't really entered my thinking."

(On how much the team has missed Dimitri Patterson) - "He played well, but injuries are part of the National Football League. Every team deals with them. That's what happens in this league. Guys get hurt."

(On the status of the open roster spot) - "We meet this afternoon. We will kind of finalize the best we can. Things could still change in the next 48 hours, but those are some of the discussions we'll be having here this afternoon."

(On extra motivation of playing the defending Super Bowl champion) - "Well I mean I think the truest thing is look at the film. I think they are an excellent football team on tape. They've got very good players. They are extremely well coach. They've had a lot of success over a long period of time, so I think that is plenty of motivation."

(On what the vibe has been since Monday's loss) - "I think it's been good. I think our coaches do a good job putting together a good plan. We communicated that to the players. We've had an opportunity to work on it, and (we're) excited about the game."

(On if Nolan Carroll's play has surpassed his expectations) - "He had a good offseason. He had a good training camp and preseason. He's a hard-working guy. He's very, very professional, very detailed with the things he does. You know you're going to get his best effort. I'm not surprised he's done a nice job."

(On what Jared Odrick is doing at defensive tackle that is effective) - "He (had) good getoff in that particular game. He was able to penetrate and few times and scheme. He was in the right place with the right run called in a couple of occasions, and he made the plays that presented themselves, no doubt about it. Yeah, he's making good progress."

(On chemistry in the quarterback meeting room) - "Those guys work their tail off. They are very, very professional in everything they do. They spend a lot of time here, extra time. I think they like being around one another. There's a good rapport with (quarterbacks coaches) Zac (Taylor), Mike (Sherman) and those guys. I think it's very healthy."

(On run defense and if opposing offenses are running around the edge to get yards) - "No, I think we've seen a wide variety and diversity in terms of how teams have attacked us in the run game. Certainly there has been a certain of perimeter plays that have gotten out on us, but we've also had some inside plays get off. I don't know if it is more scheme. We feel like it's more like of a function we have to do a better job at our basic fundamentals, block protection, leveraging the ball, tackling, those type of things."

(On advantage of alternating all three defensive tackles) - "Hopefully we are going to get fresher people inside and more juice, basically."

(On any thought of playing all three defensive tackles at the same time) - "We are not opposed to any combination of guys. We've explored a lot of different possibilities."

(On what Marcus Thigpen showed in his role on offense) - "He's a skilled athlete. That's not a surprise. He was able to make a guy miss and turn a short pass into a long gain. Those are always good explosive plays to have. We are pleased with his contribution."

(On if he felt last week's matchup was a less favorable matchup than Baltimore might present) - "Not necessarily. Obviously I credit New Orleans offense. They did a fine job, no doubt about it. There were a lot of things we felt like after watching the tape that we could have done better and were self-inflicted, so to speak. We have to do better. We are more concerned about addressing our own scheme and our own players. We don't necessarily control play calls of the other team, so we have to do a better job on our own."

(On if the amount of yards the defense is allowing is sustainable to win) - "The points, I believe if you add up both points, we are about 15th in the middle of the road. The middle of the road is middle of the road when you are negative turnover margin for four games. I'm not as concerned about the yards. Obviously the situational football that you mentioned is very, very important. We would love to have it all if we could. If our point total differential is way, way down, then it would clearly not be sustainable."

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