If the Miami Dolphins have been in free fall for most of this season, it’s unclear what you’d call it now. The Dolphins fell to 1-6 on Sunday after getting embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns 31-6.
Head coach Mike McDaniel spends most of his time during press conferences these days answering questions about his job security and/or what so-and-so player just said that he shouldn’t have.
McDaniel expectedly bristled at questions about his job following the loss to Cleveland.
“The way I look at this job is I find it very offensive to all parties involved if I’m thinking about having the job — I need to be doing my job,” he said. “So, for as long as I coach for the Miami Dolphins and this organization, they’ll get everything from me. And I refuse to spend my time thinking about [my job security]…You have a job, you do your job and you do it to the best of your ability.
“That’s where my concern lies. I think it’s offensive to all coaches, players and the organization if I’m spending that precious time thinking about myself.”
Mike McDaniel says just about everything is on the table
On Sunday, McDaniel benched quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and with good reason. Tua threw for 100 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions and he probably looked worse than his stat line.
Heck, before the game McDaniel even made a quarterback change by elevating rookie Quinn Ewers to the backup job and making Zach Wilson the emergency quarterback. Ewers replaced Tua once the game was out of hand.
“I think [we] did everything to lose the game,” McDaniel said. “I think you saw a lot of frustrated players from the season allow it to seep into our play and keep us from executing…a game like this, I think we didn’t see coming in terms of our prep but you absolutely, with 100% certainty, have to evaluate everything.
“No person, no player or no coach has got their hands clean, and we have to go back to work and — starting with me — do a better job.”
Mike McDaniel hints at personnel changes
Next up for the Dolphins is the Atlanta Falcons, who are coming off of a tough loss on Sunday night to the San Francisco 49ers. McDaniel said he’s going to look at every player and how they are doing their job, something he probably should have been doing a long time ago.
“There’s a lot of guys that will have an important work week,” he said. “I mean, if you are negatively affecting the football team routinely, I don’t have a choice but to assess a different player, and I have to coach a lot better, as well. So, we’re going to find out who and what we’re made of.
“We will watch the tape and change our style of play if we have to — everything’s on the table,” McDaniel said. “When you go to a game you fully know that you have the capability to win, and get handed a very, very humbling loss, there’s no if, ands or buts about it. Guys need to be professionals and guys need to step up to the plate. And every person on our team, if you’re saying, ‘It’s not me,’ it’s you.”
Most reports have indicated that owner Stephen Ross is going to wait to make a change at head coach (and general manager), but it’s unclear how thin his patience is.
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