Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel might be on alert after Miami lost a game by more than 10 points for the 14th time in his tenure at Cleveland last week, but he insists the focus is on winning in Week 8.
“Anything else other than the Atlanta Falcons is a disservice to our entire team,” McDaniel said of where the Dolphins are spending their energy as questions about his job status and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s performance echo in Miami.
“In times such as these, because I do think this is when leaders are needed the most, you are coaching to win football games. But your true test as a coach does come in adverse situations. In my 20-year NFL career, this is not my first, nor will it be my last, losing streak in the NFL. It’s a big-boy league. It does get tough. But I signed up for the tough parts.”
Repeating his opinion that players are very much committed to a turnaround, McDaniel said he decided to “really take measure” of where the team is by “being quite literally on the ground floor of the facility” on Tuesday.
No immediate lineup changes are planned but McDaniel said he’s open to moves that make the team better.
“The best players always play. I saw a lot of things that had need for improvement,” McDaniel said. “I’m definitely not opposed to someone raising their game.”
McDaniel and the Dolphins (1-6) have lost three one-score games this season, but the 31-6 loss to the Browns came in the immediate aftermath of Tagovailoa publicly questioning the commitment of teammates. Tagovailoa apologized, but his performance at Cleveland — three second-half interceptions — was highlighted in the context of a season of perceived failures.
The early part of the week for McDaniel and Miami’s coaching staff focused on finding reasons behind significant failures.
“You make sure to specifically, when you have a team really focused on getting right and ending a streak of losses, you make sure players are empowered. You take a critical look at quite literally everything,” McDaniel said. “When you are flipping the table over and getting things done and trying to fix things, you really take a hard look at not just that game but kind of the breadth of the season. Realistically for me, run-pass ratio is a thing. How do you get more runs? Well, you don’t turn the ball over.”
McDaniel said he met with Tagovailoa for 90 minutes on Monday and Tuesday.
“As Tua and I have always operated,” McDaniel said. “I think there’s zero uncertainty with Tua on my conviction and my belief in him. We’re both very, very eager to be better at our jobs. We’re both very committed and trusting in each other to respond.
“He’s never strayed from being questioned as a player. He’s at a high-profile position. That is the expectation. He has standards that he has for himself.”
The Dolphins are averaging 4.6 yards per carry and have a 222-140 pass-to-run ratio. Tagovailoa has 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and Miami is 30th in the league with 16 first downs per game.
McDaniel said he dug deeper in his assessment of the turnover issues to evaluate whether the ball is being thrown to the right receiver and if his play call in a given situation led to a negative result.
He said there is “100 different things” he coaches quarterbacks on because of how involved they are in the offense. He’s working to define a clear pecking order behind Tagovailoa with rookie Quinn Ewers making his debut at Cleveland. Veteran Zach Wilson is also on the depth chart and McDaniel said he’d like to avoid a flip-flop of No. 2 quarterbacks.
“The quarterback is the captain of the ship. They have to take to coaching, command the huddle, communicate responsibilities and allow, as the point guard of the offense, allow other player to make plays,” he said.