Headed into the 2019 NFL draft there were plenty of different directions the Dolphins could go with the 13th-overall pick. When on the clock, the Dolphins decided to focus on the trenches by taking Clemson’s Christian Wilkins to be the anchor of the defensive line.

With a solid preseason in the books, Wilkins met with the media before his NFL debut on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens:

How excited are you for your first game?

“I’m excited as I have been for every other game in my life, pretty much; but this one is obviously a little different, it being my first game – my first official NFL game,” Wilkins said. “I’m just excited. I’ve just got to prepare every way I do for every game. I can’t get too overexcited or play too emotional or anything like that. I’ve got to play within myself, but I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

You said you could bring that championship mentality to Miami, how is that going?

“I just feel like I’ve got to bring the right mindset every day – just the mindset to get better and make those around me better as well because it’s not just me out there,” Wilkins said. “It’s a team effort. Hopefully just some of my good energy, my positivity will rub off. Like I said, just make all of those around me better. That’s the biggest thing. I just always try to have a good mindset

each and every day and get one percent better each and every day.”

What will we see from Miami’s defense out there?

“I love our defense. I think we’ve got a lot of good guys – guys who work really hard,” Wilkins said. “Just the group – there are good players at every position at every level, too. So just building that chemistry is huge for us and we are getting comfortable playing with one another and just creating a certain level of accountability for one another. That’s really important because that’s what allows the defense to be great.”

How do you feel about your progress since the start of camp?

“I feel pretty good, but I’m never satisfied,” Wilkins said. “That’s just the mindset I try to bring every day. I just feel like I can always get better at something, but I definitely see the improvement which is good, which is encouraging. I’m definitely not where I want to be, not even close to being able to scratch the surface on my potential as a player. There’s just a lot of parts of my game I really want to clean up and get better at. I’m definitely happy with my progress, but still not satisfied.”

Wilkins started three of the four preseason games for the Dolphins and finished the summer with seven tackles, five of which were solo. The Springfield Massachusetts native also registered a sack and looks to be an anchor for Miami’s defense for years to come. The Dolphins welcome the Ravens to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.