Coach Mike McDaniel meets with the media | Miami Dolphins

Coach Mike McDaniel meets with the media | Miami Dolphins

Go ahead. So obviously in the aftermath of his comments you asked about yesterday uh many former great players said D was wrong in making this comment for the benefit of reflection. Do you wish to uh had not made those comments? Uh and do you plan to talk to about it? Well, I mean, now that I’ve heard heard of them, you know, you you guys caught me um before I heard them, so it was kind of like um I mean, I it doesn’t surprise me whatever reaction. I think uh you know, regardless of in intent and um you know, what was on onto his mind um after a loss as as the franchise quarterback, that’s not the forum to displace that. I think he knows that now. I I I do honestly believe it was not um there was no ill intention, but you’re you’re talking about um uh you know I think kind of a a misguided repres representation of uh player orchestrated film sessions. Um and you know the bottom line is no one’s going to be happy um and always is looking for uh reasons uh uh for failure to succeed. So you’re trying to look for reasons that um you know you can attribute to losses and there’s a you know heavy is the crown of being a franchise quarterback. I think um you know what I do know is that he’s directly communicated with um a lot of guys uh uh starting with last night and that’s what team teammates do and um you uh you live and you learn and ultimately I I look at it like um everything else uh the there’s there’s no ifands or buts about it. um accountability and and our our team’s performance always lies squarely on my shoulders. Um so we know that as well, but the the focus um uh to beat the uh Cleveland Browns and fix this uh uh fix what we need to get fixed in our game to um go attack the next opponent. Um there’s nowhere in that lies that uh anything but focus on what we can do individually and uh how how we can attack this work week and everything else um is is not leading us into the direction of solution. Mark, do you worry though that stuff like this uh shows a deeper problem or is this an isolated thing that you think just too a misspoke or just said in the wrong form as you said or is there more to this potentially of any kind of misunderstanding within teammates I guess? Well, I think that’s a that’s a um No, I’m not worried that that it’s a mi when I say it’s a misrepresentation of I think uh you know, I don’t want to speak for too. He’ll he’ll obviously get asked about it and be very candid, but um ultimately know the the uh I I wasn’t worried about the result of the game being um uh determined by the uh the extra outside of um all things scheduled uh film sessions with players. Um, and I think that’s the at the crux of the issue is inherently it’s kind of assumed that you’re attaching um reasons for for failure to that. So um beyond I’ve got a lot of things to worry about um and uh one of them is not those those comments um and where our team uh is lying after that. Um there’s you we just had meetings about the about the game itself, the factual um successes and failures uh that led to the ultimate result and that’s where people’s focus needs to be. Um and I’m confident we’ll be as we are all very motivated to um fix our uh uh fix our problems and find a way to win. Got a beef going on here. And so like um these meetings that the problem that Tua mentioned is separate from the problem that was brought up at the end of last season of players being late to team meetings, right? Completely separate. But I can understand the the completely what whatever he was talking about. Um uh if I if I would have been aware of anything and um you know would be under uh my veil of uh responsibility if there was anything that had been discussed in the previous pass that that it was similar to. Um this was a a different topic altogether. at the expense of making it a weekly question, what conversations have you had with owner Steven Ross? And could you just relay any communication you’ve had with him? Yeah. No. Um, after after the game, the you know, the the main thing is that um, you know, he’s uh, experiencing the loss like all of us. Um, and you know, I think it’s a uh, fourth loss this season that we’ve had. um uh that in the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter um we had a different outcome available to us, let’s just say. So, um, and then, you know, the the focus on, you know, what what we need to do as a team to, um, try to, uh, correct this. And each time that, um, you know, you you have situations like that where you’re disappointed, um, the the best way to, uh, do something about it is focus on Cleveland. So, that’s what we talked about. That was the extent of it. you mentioned like some of the issues in the second half is like um execution and you know technique and fundamentals and things like that. How do you I guess coach a change when it’s something as far as like you know we’re executing it right in practice but we’re not getting it right in the game and I guess how how long can you afford to to wait for the execution part to come? No. Well, I mean you’re you’re talking about um you know I think again this past game there was 159 plays. there’s um you’re you’re we are getting more execution and getting people to execute certain things um but not enough to tip the scales in in the uh given game. So then you know the biggest challenge is people always look to um you know one play here, one play there at the end of the game to attach responsibility while you lose or win. And I I don’t see it that way. I see a game of accumulation of of events and cause and effect. And you you the the bottom line is you want um guys to avoid collectively uh that desire to have the easy press. Okay. Solution. That’s all it was. Um now now I don’t have to feel uh responsibility for my contribution. It’s it’s far from that. It’s uh unilateral accountability. It’s not placing blame on one play or one player or one particular unit um for the results. It’s understanding that we all are um you know the uh there’s a three-yard gain that um uh that Jaylen Phillips makes or uh uh there’s a three- yard gain on first and 10 in the in the first quarter that um if Jaylen Phillips doesn’t strain and um honor his pass responsibility on the fake run action um we don’t make the defensive call on second and seven um that doesn’t have uh uh JB that zone where JB and uh Su made uh took a takeaway and then the next play was a touchdown, you know. Um cause and effect being executing for four quarters the last two games. Um we’ve we’ve done our better job of executing in three out of the four quarters. Um and uh if you can’t do it for four quarters or at least when one fa phase fails to execute the other one steps up when you have uh you know snowballing uh failures of execution you can find yourself in a hole. What I what I did um believe to be true that I that I did also uh witness is a a team that was down by 13 at 12 minutes left. um that uh case in point, what happens when three phases execute? I think we had a um a 10play touchdown drive, a um uh uh series start at the 20 based upon a special teams play um and then a fourplay drive uh force a punt then a 13-play touchdown drive. Okay, that means when the team is executing um you have you have a a chance to uh play with it with anybody and um I you know I I was proud of the guys for um finding execution. Um but um you know at some point you have to we all collectively get over being proud of us um you know uh overcoming adversity and we need to minimize some of the adversity that we we control in our own hands. So it it’s it’s you always wish it was easy as it’s far from that. Um it’s getting your hands dirty um across the board and no one feeling that they what they’ve done is good enough to win. Mike, getting back to what Tua said when he said um players are late and or missing meetings and he later clarified just to say late to meetings. Why do you think that’s happening? Is that a sign of disrespect for their teammates? And is that something where you might get involved and say these meetings are important, you need to be there on time? Well, I think the first and foremost is to um to define uh if we’re going to speak at it in a in a press conference forum. Um I think it’s you have to define uh how often and who and h how many people if this is or if that’s a misrepresentation on um uh you know most units or most groups you know these player um film sessions that again are um after uh meeting times and practice times um either uh you know Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. um that created uh activity from the players locker room. Um you know, I’m I’m sure it didn’t have unilateral uh issues at every at every step. So that’s that’s why you have to be um very uh clear and um and and understand the consequences of any any statement you make. Um what what are we talking about? a whole lot of stuff that has to do with um uh not the reason or the reason for or against any sort of execution. This is something that where guys are trying to play um 11 is one and if they have issues with each other um on their team bonding and uh film sessions um they they can handle it um in-house and that’s that’s kind of the learning lesson that the um team gets to witness and that in situations where you’re losing football games um the uh it’s about winning football games and everything will come up um when you’re when you’re losing uh and particularly the way that we have the last couple games. Mike, are you going to open the window this week for any of the IR players, Sanders, Meyer, Daniels, Austin Jackson, etc. Um not this week. So, it has been theorized by I think many analysts that because Tua didn’t name names and he kind of painted everybody with the same brush that um it could have lingering effects that that some players could be thinking, hey, is he talking about me? That kind of thing. Um do you think there’s much to that? Um, how do you think the reaction is going to be? I I think you leave all things open and without direct communication. I think it was important that um he communicated with his teammates starting last night and uh continued today and that’s I I think that is um a concern without um uh void of communication. Um, but if you uh it’s there’s a real easy way to um clarify uh with teammates and it’s literally telling them. Um so I think that’s uh um was definitely on his plate last night this morning and um uh moving on to focus on what we can do to uh win football games, not lose them. How’s Tyrell Dodson progressing? And in the same breath, if you could assess KJ Brett’s performance. So, um I thought uh I think T DOT is uh um do doing well uh through the protocol. We’ll hopefully um in uh the next couple days he he’ll get cleared. Um and then uh you know KJ Britt I thought um uh played a phenomenal game. He, you know, we we went into the game with a uh various various scenarios of how we were going to play the game was going to play out by personnel. Um and you know, with uh uh his combination with um JB and and what he he was able to make some uh some plays on some run fits early and let his energy and enthusiasm breathe. um which is an important part of that position and and how connected you are to pass rush in coverage. Um and he he was uh able to take advantage of the opportunity. So I was happy for KJ and I thought um the you know there’s a lot of uh good things on tape that we need to build and accumulate so that we uh um can play winning football and not losing football. Mike, a question about um Dante Shrader. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to him and I told him, you know, I like the way you stick your head in there. And he goes, yeah, I ain’t scared of nobody. Last night after the game, um, he spoke up and took responsibility for missing the tackle. What do you see in Dante along those lines? He seems very accountable, very mature for a rookie, very aggressive. Tell me what you see about No, I I think um he’s a player that’s capable of having high expectations for himself and I think he’s mentally uh strong enough to handle um how how how bad he feels about that particular play that you’re speaking of. You know, I think it’s important that players understand that you can’t just file away your good plays as assumptions and fixate on your bad plays. um or vice versa. There’s a healthy balance, I think. Um we’re all confident in his uh fearlessness and how um h how mature he is. Uh and that, you know, plays that you’re capable of making that you don’t make are always difficult. Um it wasn’t the reason why we won or lost, but he knows he’s capable of contributing to uh uh wins with with plays like that. And uh you know I think there’s a big part of it um football that you know I stress um plays I understand plays happen. Um, I don’t like when mistakes are made in vain. And with with Trader, I have a high confidence that um the next time he’ll uh you know that he’ll learn from that and be able be able to be a little uh more consistent with his um sideline approach tackles and um in that particular case, making that a right shoulder tackle and utilizing the sidelines as the other um compression defender. So, uh uh you it when they’re when you’re capable of it, it makes you sick for him. I know he’s sick about it. Um I think uh the the one thing that um we’re all confident in is that he will um learn from that uh mistake and perform um better because of it, which is why he’s uh has those opportunities in the first place. I’m going to take kind of a risk here and just ask you about film specifically. On that last play, it looked like Jaylen and Chop were relatively in the same place. And I’m I’m curious if that was by design or was Jaylen’s pass rush lane supposed to be more inside. So, um that uh that it was a you know what you’d call a straight rush. So, you’d go through the B and C gap. Um and it just so happened that you know their uh simultaneous get off kind of you know cut chop off cut chop off a little bit. Um that was not and uh usually there you don’t draw rush lanes um where guys get free that quick, but they got a good jump and they edged um their blockers and then you know they so much of this game is you’re you’re doing right longer and you get a shot on the quarterback and um you know a playmaker that’s as strong as him, you have to bring your feet, you know, when you when you wrap up or he’ll shed you. And we um unfortunately uh he was able to make that play and that combined with um you know the sideline tackle end up being a play that got them in position to score points. Um you know my challenge to the team was you know the the guys on that play. Everybody wants to make a play and and players make plays and sometimes they don’t. Um, but the reason we lost was an accumulation of things that each person and each player and each coach if they don’t hard look at what they can do more then they’re going to be part of the problem. That’s not um our personality. That’s not how we’ve done anything. Um so uh it’s more important than ever that we um uh constructively look at um all the things that we can do and if you have a unilateral approach that way it gives you a chance um to come out of something that is uh uh that is difficult for all but um uh well worth anything that we have to do to go ahead and have that uh winning feeling for the organization and the team. Thanks guys. Mhm.

Coach Mike McDaniel meets with the media

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