MIAMI GARDENS — There’s a tangible heaviness surrounding the Miami Dolphins as they prepare for Sunday’s home opener against the New England Patriots. If you went into the locker room this past week, watched practices or attended press conferences there’s no doubt you sensed the proverbial dark cloud hovering over their facility in Miami Gardens.
It’s against this backdrop that the Dolphins (0-1) host the Patriots (0-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Fans are angry at the effort they saw in the Dolphins’ 33-8 loss at Indianapolis in last week’s season opener. Players, knowing there’s a lot of negativity swirling about, had a players-only meeting with a clear message.
“Just stay locked in,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said.
Even after that players-only meeting, the mood has been a bit dark at the Dolphins’ facility.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who used to personify bounciness and quick wit, wasn’t as energetic as usual. He spoke in subdued, muted tones. At times you could detect a quiver in his voice. McDaniel didn’t smile much. He didn’t make eye contact as much. He still maintained his sense of humor. He’ll always have that. But he wasn’t as funny as he used to be back in 2023, when he was the NFL’s next young genius.
In the good old days, when the Dolphins had the league’s No. 1 offense and once scored 70 points in a game, McDaniel was an absolute riot. Any standup comedian would have loved to get half as many laughs as McDaniel did at a daily press conference.
There’s not a sense of doom around the team, but for the first time in the three-plus-year McDaniel era doom seems a very real possibility.
In the past three weeks the Dolphins had outside linebackers coach Ryan Crow arrested for battery, learned the NFL would investigate domestic abuse allegations against wide receiver Tyreek Hill, faced the reality that tight end Darren Waller (hip strain) won’t likely be ready anytime soon, and got pounded by Indianapolis, a game in which they lost four starters to injury.
Beyond that, there seem to be cracks in the foundation that didn’t exist in 2023, when the fast-paced, fun-loving Dolphins were doing touchdown celebrations that were the hit of social media. The conga line. The roller-coaster.
You remember those days. They’re gone.
On Monday, McDaniel used defensive tackle Zach Sieler in an example of undisciplined play. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said that play’s effect has been overblown.
“To me, that play being referenced was such a footnote in the game,” Weaver said.
McDaniel was the one who brought it up. The normally accommodating Sieler didn’t speak with the media all week.
Earlier in the week quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had two misunderstandings with reporters who asked whether he’s aware statistics show his turnovers tend to come in bunches.
“That’s crazy,” Tagovailoa bristled Sunday, dismissing the notion.
On Thursday, offensive coordinator Frank Smith was asked about a comment by Colts cornerback Xavien Howard, the former Dolphins standout and Tagovailoa teammate, who said Tagovailoa goes into “panic mode” when his first read is taken away. Smith, always an ardent Tagovailoa backer, didn’t totally dismiss that idea.
“I just think when you really assess his performances over time it’s not necessarily true,” Smith said of Tagovailoa going into panic mode. “Might have been true in that moment, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true overall for him.”
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So what do the Dolphins have going for them against the Patriots?
Well, you’d think the September heat and humidity could be a distinct advantage. The forecast calls for a “feels-like” temperature of about 90 degrees at kickoff.
But Brooks, perhaps the most candid player on the team, doesn’t see the weather as an advantage.
“I personally don’t think it’s an advantage,” Brooks said. “Anybody can play great in the heat one day, you know what I mean? Or you play bad in the heat one day. So I don’t think it’s an advantage because the heat is the heat. You get tired of it no matter how long you’re in it.
“I think we’ve just got to go out there and have a mindset that we’re going to win this game. I think that’s going to be our advantage, our mindset.”
If that’s the determining factor, it puts a huge major question mark on the game’s outcome.