Are 2025 Dolphins tough enough mentally and physically?

MIAMI GARDENS — Sometimes people set a tone without saying a word. Miami Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks is one of those people. If I was a Dolphins fan, I’d want the entire team to share Brooks’ mental and physical toughness. Those characteristics, which become apparent just by watching Brooks, are crucial to helping the Dolphins achieve what should be their minimal goal.

To be clear, for the third consecutive year the Dolphins’ minimal goal for a successful season should be winning a playoff game. The 2025 Dolphins have talent. But the Dolphins have had talent for a few years now.

You wonder whether they have that get-over-the-hump type of mental and physical toughness, enough to get that elusive playoff win.

That’s been the question for everyone in this era of Dolphins from general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel and through to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and filtering through the entire roster.

Did the Dolphins finally get the mental and physical toughness right this year?

That’s the big question, and here’s why …

Situational football has crushed this team. They fumble (Arizona, Indianapolis, Buffalo 2024). They commit a penalty, giving the opponent a second chance or negating a touchdown (Buffalo 2024, Philadelphia 2023). They drop a pass (Philadelphia 2023). They sustain a key injury due to an unwise risk (Buffalo, Houston 2024). They don’t make the tackle (Green Bay 2024). The run game doesn’t get the late-game first down (Tennessee 2023). On and on it goes.

You wonder about the mindset. You wonder whether the right mentality is being foundationally set through coaching, play-calling, practice, locker room behavior and other such things. The same goes for the physical.

I’ve written about this a few times in many ways over the years.

I’ve wondered whether they’re tough enough physically, asking which three Dolphins you’d want by your side walking down a dark alley.

I’ve wondered whether they’re tough enough mentally.

I’ve questioned their motivation.

The cold-weather narrative is false. I’ve knocked that down. That has nothing to do with the Dolphins’ toughness. It has to do with the Dolphins’ inability to win late-season road games against quality opponents, something else that causes their physical and mental toughness to be questioned.

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Hope has surfaced in this regard.

I’ve written that I’ve seen hints that the toughness is improving.

I’ve seen signs of change as recently as this year.

But in the past it’s never been enough.

When you see teams such as Buffalo and Baltimore win division titles and playoff games, you wonder why the Dolphins can’t do the same.

The Dolphins should be at the same level as the Bills and Ravens, which is knocking on Kansas City’s door but not yet capable of kicking it in. The Dolphins are nowhere near knocking on the Chiefs’ door.

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So many teams have ascended and surpassed the Dolphins in the Grier/McDaniel era — Washington, Houston, Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Rams — and that it’s crazy. Yes, it’s a topsy-turvy league, but the Dolphins haven’t been topsy in more than two decades, and they should have been at some point in the last couple of seasons.

So you wonder.

Is the focus there? Are they dialed in? Are they razor sharp?

I’ve always maintained these Dolphins have left too much meat on the bone.

This is why I think the Dolphins need Brooks’ intensity.

You saw that in Chicago during the preseason that he feuded with fellow inside linebacker Tyrel Dodson on the sideline of the Dolphins’ joint practice against the Bears. Brooks, you might recall, lit up tight end Julian Hill, a teammate, in practice a couple of days before the Dolphins departed for Chicago. That’s a no-no. Practices aren’t meant to be full contact in that fashion. Brooks reportedly wanted Dodson to similarly light up one of the Bears players. That’s also a no-no. But Brooks wanted to set a physical mentality.

“Today, he was holding people to a higher standard,” said safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, someone who shares Brooks’ intensity.

I like Brooks’ mentality. He’s quiet, but expressive. You never have to wonder what Brooks is thinking. He speaks his mind.

Brooks is the guy who remarked after last year’s Green Bay loss that he thought the cold weather made the defense play soft, that it made them not want to tackle.

Brooks is also the guy who unintentionally contradicted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa by saying he didn’t think wide receiver Tyreek Hill needed to apologize to the team after his infamous “I’m out” comment following last year’s season finale.

Let’s be crystal clear on this important point: Brooks is a class act. He’s one of the nice guys on a team full of nice guys. He’s a pro’s pro. But he’s intense. In a good way. This team needs more intensity.

The Dolphins have talent. But this team must be tougher mentally and physically.

We’ll soon see if the Dolphins finally got it right.

Are 2025 Dolphins tough enough mentally and physically?

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