Speaker 1: First, I have to say disappointed. Eight and nine. That's
Speaker 1: not the standard here. It hasn't been been and it
Speaker 1: won't be. We will be better and that includes everyone,
Speaker 1: for myself to my coaching staff, players. We had expectations
Speaker 1: which were created by the excitement of the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, and we had hoped to continue it and
Speaker 1: for various circumstances didn't happen this year, and then it
Speaker 1: was unacceptable. No one's happy and we will get this fixed.
Speaker 1: Very confident in our process and looking forward to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five and not being out of the playoffs watching
Speaker 1: other teams play.
Speaker 2: What is up?
Speaker 3: Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am
Speaker 3: your host, Travis Wingfield, and on today's show, we have
Speaker 3: a lot to get to. Chris Grear and Mike McDaniel
Speaker 3: met with the South Florida media.
Speaker 2: As you heard off the top.
Speaker 3: That was Chris Grear's opening statement ahead of fielding about
Speaker 3: thirty five minutes worth of questions from local reporters here
Speaker 3: in the Miami market. We'll cover all the important things
Speaker 3: they talked about. We'll discuss how I feel about them.
Speaker 3: Play some player sound bites from locker room clean out day,
Speaker 3: and we'll see if we have time. I have some
Speaker 3: more content plan, but might have to bump that to
Speaker 3: Friday because this might be a pretty long episode covering
Speaker 3: the press conferences from the Baptist Health studios inside the
Speaker 3: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime podcast. Let's
Speaker 3: go ahead and kick this thing off on the Tyreek
Speaker 3: Hill section of everything, which I'm not going to play
Speaker 3: the audio because to me, it sounded like a guy
Speaker 3: that they were not planning on moving off of. But also,
Speaker 3: there's no reason to show your cards in that instance,
Speaker 3: so I don't want to read too far into that.
Speaker 3: Because they both talked about productive conversations they've had with Tyreek,
Speaker 3: about emotions spilling over in a emotional situation and fighting
Speaker 3: back from two to six to get themselves in position
Speaker 3: in week eighteen, and it just kind of felt like
Speaker 3: they were holding the cards close to their vest on
Speaker 3: that which you should because if you tell the league
Speaker 3: you're going to trade the player, his value becomes depressed.
Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3: But my overall general takeaway from this, and this is
Speaker 3: going to be played out over the next couple of
Speaker 3: soundbites here, is that it sounds like the issues that
Speaker 3: were presented by that player will no longer be tolerated.
Speaker 3: And if that's the case, you can kind of cut
Speaker 3: the source off at the head, right, take the patient
Speaker 3: zero's head off, if you will, which then cures all
Speaker 3: the other infected zombies. Right, that's the comparison I'm making here,
Speaker 3: So I'll use the terminology to make it stick. Let's
Speaker 3: go ahead and play this first sound bite here from
Speaker 3: this entire theme that has developed about players being late,
Speaker 3: not being accountable and kind of writing their own ticket
Speaker 3: and their own schedule, and how the head coach and
Speaker 3: the entire program can be more accountable to get players
Speaker 3: with the right mindset.
Speaker 4: That was the main topic of the team meeting that
Speaker 4: you talk to them after. So it was not something that.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: It's almost like them bringing that up means that they
Speaker 4: understood the message.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I think you know, myself, as the head coach, you're
Speaker 4: accountable for all things, and you're adjusting as the as
Speaker 4: you see the team needs you to adjust. I think
Speaker 4: you know it starts. It starts with me ultimately, because
Speaker 4: I'm accountable for all all things on the field, you know,
Speaker 4: specifically during the season and I'm not gonna waiver. I
Speaker 4: think it was very clear. I also think that, you know,
Speaker 4: part of my motives were to make sure that without
Speaker 4: any varying confusion, that guys came to work and the
Speaker 4: you know, once we start the phase one of twenty
Speaker 4: twenty five fully knowing the expectations and how things were
Speaker 4: going to be addressed. And I think I can find
Speaker 4: people until they're blue in the face, I can take
Speaker 4: their money, I can yell at them, but until they
Speaker 4: understand that part of the reason that we're in the
Speaker 4: position is controllable and we have to with absolute certainty
Speaker 4: and zero tolerance for anything else. We have to clean
Speaker 4: the controllables up and we can have a chance to
Speaker 4: have success together. So you know, I I there's a
Speaker 4: reason that that was an overall theme for for the
Speaker 4: you know, final team meeting, and the whole key is
Speaker 4: that they understand the expectations and that they not only
Speaker 4: understand the expectations but embrace them, which sometimes hard lessons
Speaker 4: to do.
Speaker 3: I want to play less of Mike because he tends
Speaker 3: to be long winded and it's not good for podcasting,
Speaker 3: although I did edit that one down quite a bit,
Speaker 3: so we'll try to get him more concise as we
Speaker 3: go along here. But I want to play the three
Speaker 3: sound bites from Zach Sealer, Bradley Chubb, and John new
Speaker 3: Smith because that's what coach is referring to. There After
Speaker 3: the team meeting, we spoke to players at their lockers
Speaker 3: on Tuesday. Let's go ahead and start with Zach Sealer,
Speaker 3: who has some comments about guys not being on their
Speaker 3: p's and cues.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, I think, and what McDaniel's a great job of
Speaker 5: is preaching the player locker room, and I he needs
Speaker 5: to come from us as players, leaders and captains as
Speaker 5: well as the staff and get everyone here and get
Speaker 5: everyone working together from day one and OTAs in camp
Speaker 5: and get things taken care of from day one and
Speaker 5: take care of business and start fast next year. Was
Speaker 5: that not done to the extent that it should have
Speaker 5: been by all the players going on this year? Obviously
Speaker 5: in the background, and they need to get taken care of,
Speaker 5: and some things could have been I guess. I just
Speaker 5: we needed to be on our p's and cues earlier
Speaker 5: season and earlier in camp. And I think it's a
Speaker 5: point of focus this year and we're going to make
Speaker 5: sure we'll mess that up again.
Speaker 3: The message seems pretty clear to me, and I apologize
Speaker 3: for the low audio there. It's as best as I
Speaker 3: can get as far as the volume for you guys.
Speaker 3: But hey, if you have a contract dispute, why don't
Speaker 3: you help out your teammates and be on the practice field.
Speaker 3: Because let's go ahead and run this audio from Zach
Speaker 3: when he was asked back in August about having missed
Speaker 3: zero days of training camp.
Speaker 5: And one thing my mom and dad always raised me,
Speaker 5: work as hard as you can, and there's guys that
Speaker 5: need those days, and I'm blessed enough I haven't needed
Speaker 5: that yet in my career. So the point where I'm at,
Speaker 5: I want to make sure I was out there taking
Speaker 5: the reps, taking charge, and make sure everyone was up
Speaker 5: right up front and working with those guys and building
Speaker 5: that camaerie in the D line room. So it's been great.
Speaker 5: He's been a blessing this camp to be able to
Speaker 5: get through healthy and how big excited for the season
Speaker 5: as the store.
Speaker 3: So basically, all I'm asking for is more players with
Speaker 3: a mindset like Zach Seeler, like Bradley Chubb, and like
Speaker 3: John Smith. Let's go ahead and go back to Beachubb,
Speaker 3: who had similar thoughts.
Speaker 2: Mike knows what he needs to do, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean.
Speaker 6: He talked to the team, he addressed us about how
Speaker 6: he's gonna be better as a coach and as a
Speaker 6: leader of men next year.
Speaker 3: So he knows exactly what he has to do. And
Speaker 3: we're all right there behind him, gonna move it in
Speaker 3: that the same direction.
Speaker 6: And Smith's definitely a lot more things, you know, more
Speaker 6: house cleaning rules that we could clean up on. Now,
Speaker 6: it's not going to equate the wins. You know, it's
Speaker 6: hard to say, you know what I mean, Uh, but
Speaker 6: you know you definitely need structure anytime you were striving
Speaker 6: to do something great. So, uh, there's a lot of
Speaker 6: things that we need to clean up, you know, as uh,
Speaker 6: you know as a team, you know, speaking individually for myself,
Speaker 6: you know that I can improve on and get better.
Speaker 6: And again I'm just gonna continue to speak for myself.
Speaker 6: But where we as a team, like I alluded to
Speaker 6: it yesterday, I think we all know the foundation that
Speaker 6: was set, and we got a good foundation. We just
Speaker 6: gotta continue to carry that out and and and the
Speaker 6: leaders in his locker room continue to stand on that
Speaker 6: and you know, continue to relay that message throughout, you know,
Speaker 6: those throughout the twenty twenty four season coming up.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a big reason right there, what you
Speaker 3: just heard with regards to why there are so many
Speaker 3: teams that you think are gonna be good or teams
Speaker 3: do you think are gonna be bad? And it goes
Speaker 3: the opposite direction because you just cannot peel open the
Speaker 3: proverbial chest and look into a player's heart and see
Speaker 3: what they have in there, Like you can't forecast that
Speaker 3: with x's and o's on paper and how things look
Speaker 3: on film, like you have to have the inner workings
Speaker 3: of a team. And the Dolphins team this year wasn't
Speaker 3: out there for each other, right, That's kind of what
Speaker 3: it came down to. At least a few core players
Speaker 3: that were issued that had issues with this, and guys
Speaker 3: that show up to practice late. Guys that you know,
Speaker 3: I heard Tyreek this year at one point say they're
Speaker 3: still on special teams. Okay, I'll hang out, and you
Speaker 3: see them come out fifteen minutes later, Jalen Ramsey walking out.
Speaker 3: They to practice, like when your best players are sending
Speaker 3: those kind of examples, and it stems from a culture
Speaker 3: where the whole premise was, you know, we're gonna ball
Speaker 3: out and get paid, and that's exactly what those guys did.
Speaker 3: Like you create issues and so now it's time to
Speaker 3: correct those issues. And again I think the coach is
Speaker 3: gonna have a chance to do this here and like
Speaker 3: like I said, if it's if it's not fixed, then
Speaker 3: you know you're very clear about what has to happen
Speaker 3: in the future in twenty twenty six, because if it's tolerated,
Speaker 3: you have your answer. If it turns to that exact
Speaker 3: same look, then you have your exact answer. It's like
Speaker 3: getting back with an ex who did some egregious stuff,
Speaker 3: and you know, taking yourself out of the game is
Speaker 3: the equivalent to infidelity, right, And the connection in that
Speaker 3: comparison has not lost me for what it's worth with
Speaker 3: Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 2: But if you.
Speaker 3: Allow that person to come back and they show the
Speaker 3: same issues, then shame on you, right, And that extends
Speaker 3: beyond just Tyreek Hill to the rest of the guys
Speaker 3: that had these issues. And you know, Mike has a
Speaker 3: chance here to grow. So many coaches, I think often
Speaker 3: grow in this league between jobs and they become an
Speaker 3: absolute stud for their second team. I rather than bemoan
Speaker 3: this and kind of go back on some of the
Speaker 3: things I've said that I think need to happen for
Speaker 3: as far as changes go to make this team better
Speaker 3: and to compete at a higher level.
Speaker 2: This is what we're doing.
Speaker 3: So accept it and see how it goes, and at
Speaker 3: the very least you'll know exactly what you had and
Speaker 3: what you need for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2: Is that ideal? Probably not.
Speaker 3: I wish we were in the playoffs and all this
Speaker 3: stuff had been you know, secondary non starters. But it's
Speaker 3: where we are, and it's how you have to proceed
Speaker 3: and go forward. And I just think that you take
Speaker 3: this twenty twenty five season to see if those things
Speaker 3: can get fixed, and if it's not, then you move
Speaker 3: on to twenty twenty six. But I I I it's
Speaker 3: it's not a great situation, and I want to I
Speaker 3: want to make sure I make that very clear, like
Speaker 3: that is a scary culture thing to have to fix.
Speaker 2: Can they do it?
Speaker 3: We'll see, but that's where they're gonna go with it.
Speaker 3: And I want to continue on that theme because it's
Speaker 3: the reason this team stunk this year. That in the
Speaker 3: quarterback injury, which we'll get to here in a second,
Speaker 3: because there was a very clear message sent to QB
Speaker 3: one from both from Chris really in this entire situation.
Speaker 3: But coach was asked, why was it a problem with
Speaker 3: players not being on time, being where they're supposed to be.
Speaker 3: Why do the players kind of get away from the
Speaker 3: entire operation of the team and write their own ticket.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of guys that you know, had certain
Speaker 4: finds before that didn't have any there were some people
Speaker 4: that had multiple that you know. I think there's different
Speaker 4: ways to to kind of counteract that. Bringing up as
Speaker 4: a team and continue to find guys wasn't wasn't enough.
Speaker 4: So I'm not gonna continue to just place all blame
Speaker 4: on even some of the smallest of individuals that will
Speaker 4: multiple offenders. I'm adjusting my process and make sure that
Speaker 4: it's team wide knowledge anytime that things are done that
Speaker 4: aren't in the best interest of winning football games. Finding
Speaker 4: guys didn't particularly move the needle in the way we
Speaker 4: need to, so I'll adjust as I should as the
Speaker 4: head coach.
Speaker 3: I mean, it seems really dubious, but again, we'll see
Speaker 3: a chance to grow and get better. One chance, right,
Speaker 3: One more on this this particular topic. What would be
Speaker 3: the punitive action if it continues, if the the late
Speaker 3: issues that proceed with you know, shifts and motions and
Speaker 3: pre snap penalties and slow starts and road environments and
Speaker 3: me me, me pulling yourself out of games. What if
Speaker 3: all that continues, Like, what's the punitive action to nip
Speaker 3: it in the bud.
Speaker 4: We're at the point in our team where guys that
Speaker 4: are firmly aware of expectations and if your actions uh
Speaker 4: continually lead to finable offenses that you're telling me without words,
Speaker 4: that you don't want to be here. So it's, uh,
Speaker 4: you know, I think it's it's it's very clear. I
Speaker 4: think it's not an indictment necessarily of all. But we
Speaker 4: are subject to everyone's actions as a football team, so
Speaker 4: we'll address those as such.
Speaker 3: And that's why I think you can send the ultimate
Speaker 3: message by moving off of number ten, Right, That's that's
Speaker 3: how you start this thing and say, hey, here's how
Speaker 3: we're changing. We're not going to put up with that
Speaker 3: stuff anymore. The way the Bills did was Stafon Diggs
Speaker 3: and so many teams have with devil wide receivers in
Speaker 3: the past. So if that didn't drive me crazy enough.
Speaker 3: Here's one that sent me over the over the absolute moon,
Speaker 3: this answer about the backup quarterback position.
Speaker 1: Obviously, we drafted Skyler here, you know, three years ago,
Speaker 1: and he started the playoff game and and uh almost
Speaker 1: beat Buffalo on the road. We lost thirty four to
Speaker 1: thirty one. We beat the Jets to get into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And then and just watching him work through the following year,
Speaker 1: which he never got a chance to a stayed healthy.
Speaker 1: He played the entire season. So we were excited about
Speaker 1: him and his growth and the players believed in him.
Speaker 1: He won the backup job through the spring. But that said,
Speaker 1: as we always do throughout that entire offseason, and Mike.
Speaker 2: And Steve is aware of it.
Speaker 1: Through it, we were in on a number of top
Speaker 1: flight backup quarterbacks in the league. We were runner up
Speaker 1: for a couple of them that we wanted to get here,
Speaker 1: and for you know, some financial restraints and compensatory pick stuff,
Speaker 1: we just couldn't go to those to those prices. But
Speaker 1: all those guys wanted to come here, and so it's
Speaker 1: a position that we did not take lightly. We were
Speaker 1: working through that the entire offseason and the fact that
Speaker 1: some of those guys were willing to come here at
Speaker 1: what we could pay them. It shows and how they
Speaker 1: believe in Mike and the staff and the offensive scheme
Speaker 1: and the players that are here. They're all excited about
Speaker 1: our skill group. So that's a position we will always
Speaker 1: focus on, and it will be a position that we
Speaker 1: will focus on this offseason, and I will tell you
Speaker 1: every stone will be unturned at that position, including the draft.
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, Because if you're using the Jets twenty twenty
Speaker 3: two finale and the playoff tape against the Bills the
Speaker 3: week later, if you're using those two tapes as an
Speaker 3: indicator of hope, then that's another cause for reevaluation. Because
Speaker 3: that was legit some of the worst tape I've ever
Speaker 3: seen from any quarterback on this team. I've been watching
Speaker 3: every single snap from every single quarterback on this team
Speaker 3: since Ryan Tannehillsbrookie season, really going back to Chad Henny
Speaker 3: if you count broadcast, but that's didn't include all twenty two.
Speaker 3: I digress, and that includes this season with Tyler Hunting.
Speaker 3: With Skylar's Week three game, it was atrocious quarterback play
Speaker 3: that I can't imagine inspired any and why the coverage
Speaker 3: on Skyler had been what it became on this podcast,
Speaker 3: and then the compensatory pick stuff like six games, six
Speaker 3: and a half games your quarterback misses where you if
Speaker 3: you had an Andy Dalton or I don't want to
Speaker 3: say Joe Flacco, which is who everybody would have signed
Speaker 3: if it was up to them in the offseason, that
Speaker 3: would have blown open your face because he was terrible
Speaker 3: this year. But man to save that and go forward
Speaker 3: with what you had because of compensatory picks in the
Speaker 3: sixth and seventh round, and I get it could have
Speaker 3: cracked into your thirds and fourth as well, but that
Speaker 3: seems like bad process because I would gladly trade a
Speaker 3: fourth round pick for a playoff appearance right now.
Speaker 2: But it is what it is. Speaking of the.
Speaker 3: Quarterback, there were some very very strong messages sent to
Speaker 3: a tongue of by Loa, and we'll cover that next
Speaker 3: year after a short break Draft Time podcast, your host
Speaker 3: Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, and here
Speaker 3: are the aforementioned strong messages sent a quarterback to a
Speaker 3: tongue of by Lowa about protecting himself.
Speaker 1: It was good to see his growth as a player.
Speaker 1: When he was playing I would say that the one
Speaker 1: thing that has come out of this even this year
Speaker 1: was the leadership part. Is all the players are talking
Speaker 1: about he's a leadership and the step he's taken and out.
Speaker 1: A couple of our free agents that come in said
Speaker 1: he was one of the best leaders they've ever been
Speaker 1: around for a quarterback, and to see where he's come
Speaker 1: from from his early time here was impressive. That being said,
Speaker 1: he needs to be available, like he needs to know
Speaker 1: how to protect himselves, like you're going to get hit
Speaker 1: at times. It's always going to happen, but he needs
Speaker 1: to control what he can control. He understands that not
Speaker 1: being available for taking chances and risks is unacceptable to us,
Speaker 1: and he knows.
Speaker 3: That taking chances and risk is unacceptable. It seems like
Speaker 3: he has this year to prove that he can't protect himself.
Speaker 3: And again, we have to separate this. And again, I
Speaker 3: know fans are strictly results based, and I get that
Speaker 3: your Sunday and how you spend your sundays, how you
Speaker 3: spend your money, You're entitled to that. But in terms
Speaker 3: of fixing and making them correct, you need to be
Speaker 3: processed driven. And I think it's important to separate the
Speaker 3: injuries that he can and cannot prevent, and that is
Speaker 3: the ones that he suffered this year running headfirst into guys. Right,
Speaker 3: That's how he got hurt both times on scrambles where
Speaker 3: he ran head first, and why I laugh when everyone
Speaker 3: says it was the offensive line's fault. He never got
Speaker 3: hurt one time behind the offensive line in pass protection.
Speaker 3: If you get rolled up or if you get blindsided
Speaker 3: like he did back in twenty twenty one against Buffalo
Speaker 3: when Jesse Davis shouldn't have been out there and got
Speaker 3: him killed in that game. To me, that's different than
Speaker 3: dropping your head into Demor Hamlin, or trying to make
Speaker 3: a tackle after you threw a pick with using your
Speaker 3: head first, or you know, trying to scramble for a
Speaker 3: first down diving headfirst into Texans defenders. All of those
Speaker 3: injuries this year were preventable by Tua himself, and I'm
Speaker 3: glad they made that point to him because someone has
Speaker 3: to find a way to get through to this guy.
Speaker 3: You just do because he has to. If you have him,
Speaker 3: you're gonna be a good team. If to A plays
Speaker 3: all the games this year, you're probably eleven and six.
Speaker 3: You're probably going to Houston on Saturday. You probably win
Speaker 3: that game and you've done everything the fans want want
Speaker 3: you to do by breaking the playoff drought.
Speaker 2: But that's not how it happened.
Speaker 3: And so here we are, and it wasn't just at
Speaker 3: the quarterback position where they pointed too injuries as a reason.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people would say excuses, but
Speaker 3: I don't like to call them excuses because reasons are reasons.
Speaker 3: I'm not justifying it. I just think there's I think
Speaker 3: that words matter, and those two words mean a lot,
Speaker 3: mean something very different. Let's go ahead and hear about
Speaker 3: how they approach their change in personnel evaluation based upon
Speaker 3: injury history.
Speaker 2: Here's Chris career.
Speaker 1: There's one hundred percent injury rate in football. You always
Speaker 1: talk about that, you know, Mike said it normal times,
Speaker 1: numerous times. We always look at it. We always have
Speaker 1: discussions with our medical staff. We look at guys injury
Speaker 1: history from when they're in college and high school stuff,
Speaker 1: so when we go back. So there's always risk and
Speaker 1: signing players, but you also don't want to miss the
Speaker 1: opportunity of having or adding a good player to your
Speaker 1: roster and being afraid to make a move and missing
Speaker 1: out on someone that may become a really good player
Speaker 1: for you because you're scared of something that happened a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago.
Speaker 3: Now, I don't imagine they'll change their process there, whether
Speaker 3: you want to hear that or not. That's usually a
Speaker 3: place where you can find talent at a bargain rate
Speaker 3: because that's the reason guys get away from injury history.
Speaker 3: So I imagine you don't see muchould change there. But again,
Speaker 3: I'm gotta let it play out and see what they do.
Speaker 3: Let's get to the one that everybody wants to talk about,
Speaker 3: the offensive line position, Chris Career.
Speaker 2: I'm not concerned, are you? Guys are more concerned about
Speaker 2: it than I am?
Speaker 3: The famous exhausting thing that I see on social media
Speaker 3: all the time. Let's go ahead and go to Chris
Speaker 3: as he was asked about that.
Speaker 1: When I said that, and I'm not trying to backtrack,
Speaker 1: I believe in that. But I will always support a
Speaker 1: group of guys that have worked with a coach that
Speaker 1: we believe in that tiresly works to improve and that
Speaker 1: group did nothing but where and they still it's the
Speaker 1: hardest working group in the building. Like if you stay
Speaker 1: after practice and you guys seen there sometimes and you
Speaker 1: guys go back out and walk in the lock. Those
Speaker 1: guys are still out on the field working. And so
Speaker 1: with that group, you know, it started the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three off season it was you know, are they good enough?
Speaker 3: Whatever?
Speaker 1: And we were the number one offense, number one yards
Speaker 1: per rush, and so we ran it back with a
Speaker 1: lot of those guys while adding Brewer, who was I
Speaker 1: think an addition that people weren't concerned about because they
Speaker 1: were focused on another player that wasn't here, and rightfully so,
Speaker 1: that player was a good player for us. But adding
Speaker 1: Patrick Paul, we feel that he's going to be a
Speaker 1: good player. Myers the undrafted rookie that made our roster
Speaker 1: as a developmental center. So we do we Philly have
Speaker 1: some good pieces at Austin was a huge loss and
Speaker 1: can't it's it's through week nine or ten. We were
Speaker 1: still up there running the ball, moving playing well, and
Speaker 1: it was a huge loss for us. And then once
Speaker 1: he went down, it was like a slow bleedout the
Speaker 1: rest of the year with guys just playing through stuff,
Speaker 1: being Nick Battle and Bruce. So yeah, I mean we
Speaker 1: had games where you know, Jackson Carmeron was playing tackle.
Speaker 1: I mean we just you know, I think people forget
Speaker 1: Keon Smith was a huge loss for us. We had
Speaker 1: high exp we had teams trying to trade for Keon,
Speaker 1: and we were excited about him, and he got hurt
Speaker 1: in pre season win was a setback. We thought he
Speaker 1: was going to be back much quicker than it happened,
Speaker 1: and he did not come back till late in the season. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: when I was saying it wasn't concern, I'm always concerned.
Speaker 1: You're always concerned about injury. But I did think we
Speaker 1: had created some depth. We had some players that were
Speaker 1: very confident in Butcher and Mike and the scheme and staff.
Speaker 1: Those guys I thought deserved some praise because of what
Speaker 1: they had done the year before, and they started out
Speaker 1: the year well and unfortunately injuries got to us. We
Speaker 1: didn't finish well. But yes, going forward, Toront and I
Speaker 1: had a conversation briefly yesterday. We're going to talk again
Speaker 1: here and sometime in the next few days or a week,
Speaker 1: coming weeks, but also knowing that yeah, this will be
Speaker 1: We're gonna have to invest in the offensive line now,
Speaker 1: you know. It kindled at a fantastic job here for
Speaker 1: a few years and we're just older there now and win.
Speaker 1: So yes, this is the time again like we did
Speaker 1: back a few years ago with Austin and Rob Hunt
Speaker 1: and Solomon Kinley and stuff, this is a time for
Speaker 1: us to again start investing in some offensive lineman.
Speaker 3: All right, let's do this again for the forty fifth
Speaker 3: time here on the show. So yeah, I saw, you know,
Speaker 3: David Farrones had tweeted out just that cherry picked quote
Speaker 3: that I thought was really misrepresentative of what Chris actually
Speaker 3: said in that situation. But the way Chris addressed it
Speaker 3: was basically saying that we used to invest in offensive lineman.
Speaker 3: And I want to read this quote that was put
Speaker 3: out by Mike McDaniel on the Dan Levittard Show when
Speaker 3: he was asked about the approach to getting Tyreek Hill
Speaker 3: and the team building that offseason. Here's how the quote goes.
Speaker 3: There was a particular moment that set everything off. It
Speaker 3: was early March. He had just been hired two months prior.
Speaker 3: We were going through free agency, and in that free
Speaker 3: agent process, we're meeting with all the scouts and coaches
Speaker 3: in the room, and we're discussing all sorts of things
Speaker 3: about whether we need to do this that or the other,
Speaker 3: and I knew in my mind Tua needed skill position
Speaker 3: play that were dynamic with the ball in their hands.
Speaker 3: I saw him as this dude's a point guard. He
Speaker 3: has a gift that way. And some people, some of
Speaker 3: the people in the personnel, were like, we need to
Speaker 3: spend money on the offensive line.
Speaker 6: Men.
Speaker 2: I knew that.
Speaker 3: I disagree with that, but I hate the Hey, everyone
Speaker 3: know because I said so. So I went back in
Speaker 3: the office and I cut up the tape. And so
Speaker 3: I'm cutting the tape to build the tape to explain
Speaker 3: to the entire coaching staff, to start a conversation from
Speaker 3: my lens, and I'm watching the different skill positions and
Speaker 3: as I progress through the tape, I start to notice
Speaker 3: a trend. Wow, that's like the seventh different outbreak that
Speaker 3: I've watched to a throw to the field and outbreak
Speaker 3: to the field I see once or twice a season.
Speaker 3: That's a high risk throw that quarterbacks are nervous to make,
Speaker 3: and he would make pinpoint throws. What started as an
Speaker 3: explanation of how guys needed to be more open for
Speaker 3: Tua turned into this marvel sessh that started out about
Speaker 3: six thirty PM and I just started watching until midnight
Speaker 3: on a random weekday in the off season. I thought
Speaker 3: I knew, but I didn't even know what we were
Speaker 3: sitting on. I'm freaking out. I know for a fact
Speaker 3: from this night of study that this is the best
Speaker 3: quarterback for our offense that I've had a chance to
Speaker 3: co which I was freaking out.
Speaker 2: So it's a lot of good to appraise there.
Speaker 3: But he's directly telling you that it was him that
Speaker 3: went to the personnel staff and said it's not offensive
Speaker 3: line that we need. In fact, you guys believe that
Speaker 3: I'm going to change your minds. So I just get
Speaker 3: upset by that because everyone points to Chris Career as
Speaker 3: this guy that avoids the offensive line, and he told
Speaker 3: you in that quote, we drafted three offensive line in
Speaker 3: two years before Mike McDaniel got here, within the first
Speaker 3: four rounds of the draft, one of the first round,
Speaker 3: one in the second round, one in the fourth round,
Speaker 3: and then they went out when Mike did get here
Speaker 3: and signed to Ron Arms said, the biggest left tackle
Speaker 3: on the market, the top paid center of the market
Speaker 3: that year, and Connor Williams that replaced Connor Williams, the
Speaker 3: guy that's even better than him and Aaron Brewer. They
Speaker 3: spent a second round draft pick this year, a premium
Speaker 3: spot on a left tackle again, So I just really
Speaker 3: really loathed this idea that they completely think the offensive
Speaker 3: line is meaningless. They went with continuity and played through
Speaker 3: guys that were they thought could get more from their
Speaker 3: production from their overall league value of their cost based
Speaker 3: upon how they play with their continuity and knowledge of
Speaker 3: this system.
Speaker 2: Did it work out? No?
Speaker 3: Was that part of a lack of talent at those positions. Partially,
Speaker 3: it was also part of scheme. It was part of
Speaker 3: injury and getting depleted before the year even started. It
Speaker 3: was so many things beyond just we don't carry about
Speaker 3: the offensive line. And holy hell, that whole conversation drives
Speaker 3: me freaking crazy, man, because it's just misplaced and misguided.
Speaker 3: But it's accepted as this like universal truth that is
Speaker 3: not the case, and that drives me completely crazy. If
Speaker 3: you can't tell, let's hit one more break right there.
Speaker 3: Let me calm down and come back to how this
Speaker 3: offensive system will change in twenty twenty five. That's next
Speaker 3: Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 3: by Auto Nation. Up next in our press Conference roundup.
Speaker 3: Coach McDaniel was asked about what the system will look
Speaker 3: like in twenty twenty five, and once again, I have
Speaker 3: done the work here for you guys to edit this
Speaker 3: down and make it more concise.
Speaker 4: We didn't start seeing normal defense until the Raiders game
Speaker 4: where we got a couple zeros and blitzes, and at
Speaker 4: that at that point in the season, we'd worked to
Speaker 4: that point and that's and that's what you You have
Speaker 4: to be able to take advantage of what the defense
Speaker 4: is not taking away while they're trying to take something else.
Speaker 4: So I think our ability to execute, you know, all
Speaker 4: three levels of the past game not UH, not just short,
Speaker 4: not just long. But you have to compliment those things
Speaker 4: so that you are able to, regardless of how people
Speaker 4: plan for you, be able to go on Sunday and
Speaker 4: UH and be able to move the ball and score points.
Speaker 4: I think UH it was it was a process based
Speaker 4: upon offensive success for you know, both coaches and players
Speaker 4: to get used to anticipating the UH or to expect
Speaker 4: the unexpected. Probably have gone twenty five games with in
Speaker 4: a row where teams are playing or introducing different coverages
Speaker 4: or different personnel groups or matching de personnels differently than
Speaker 4: what they put on tape. But as you as you
Speaker 4: grow as an offense and have experiences with each other
Speaker 4: and execute the finer details of all three levels, you
Speaker 4: are you are best prepared to make people pay for
Speaker 4: defending the deep stuff, so then they cover the short
Speaker 4: stuff so you can throw the deep stuff. It's an
Speaker 4: endless cycle that that that has kind of We've built
Speaker 4: the system around our our players and continue to work
Speaker 4: at how to how to make sure all aspects are utilized.
Speaker 3: So it's an interesting point because he talks about how
Speaker 3: this system is based upon, you know, adjusting to what
Speaker 3: the defense does. But it feels like every year we
Speaker 3: have the situation where that the Dolphins show something new
Speaker 3: and it works. You know, last year was the exit
Speaker 3: emotion that helps you expand your vertical passing game that
Speaker 3: was built off of the you know, stacking Tyreek and
Speaker 3: Waller the same side of the field and running a
Speaker 3: vertical and a horizontal over to create vertical and horizontal stretch.
Speaker 3: You had those adjustments and adapting adapting the defenses had
Speaker 3: to do to you. And then this year it was
Speaker 3: about taking this stuff underneath and finding Johnny Smith and
Speaker 3: Devon a chan and they got there again in that regard,
Speaker 3: and then things kind of peered out again down the stretch,
Speaker 3: although did they because the Nyers game was pretty good.
Speaker 3: I guess the drop passes reduced the production. But the
Speaker 3: Houston game, you know, they had a blueprint for you
Speaker 3: that really stomped you out in that game. So to me,
Speaker 3: it's all it's going to be about how how can
Speaker 3: Mike adjust as the year goes along, as well as
Speaker 3: constructing offense going into the year that starts off stronger,
Speaker 3: which goes back to time on task and practicing, And
Speaker 3: that's just the adapting he needs to figure out, right,
Speaker 3: because we've seen like Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray in
Speaker 3: Arizona kind of fade down the stretch. Kingsbury had that
Speaker 3: happened midyear this year in Washington, although they bounced back.
Speaker 2: I thought again, I.
Speaker 3: Thought the I thought that was just kind of a
Speaker 3: bad approach going into the year with all the screen
Speaker 3: game and short game, and it seemed like they were
Speaker 3: trying to mitigate protection issues at points early in the
Speaker 3: year with some of the injuries they had. But I
Speaker 3: just feel like, you know, we've kind of seen coaches
Speaker 3: in the Shanahan tree. You know, Kyle Shanahan was talked
Speaker 3: about among Nyers fans like is being on the hot seat,
Speaker 3: and Sean McVay kind of lost his fastball for a
Speaker 3: year there and came right back. I think that sometimes
Speaker 3: these guys need a little bit of rejuvenation, a little
Speaker 3: bit of renaissance, and I'm hopeful. I'm not gonna stamp
Speaker 3: it with any type of guarantee your approval, but I'm
Speaker 3: hopeful that that's what happens here for Mike McDaniel. And
Speaker 3: then he talked about he was asked if Tyreek Hill
Speaker 3: remains the number one option next year, and we'll see
Speaker 3: if he's even here. But here's what coach had to
Speaker 3: say about that.
Speaker 4: Really, my true job is to evolve to the situations
Speaker 4: based upon our players and the opposing teams players in scheme,
Speaker 4: so that will always adjust. I don't think it's effective
Speaker 4: offense to throw the ball up into double coverage and
Speaker 4: throw to where the defense is, and and so, uh
Speaker 4: we'll always make sure that, uh we complement each other
Speaker 4: so that there's no one asset that people can double.
Speaker 4: You have to make people pay other places, uh. Case
Speaker 4: in point, John new Smith's productivity. I think he he
Speaker 4: really helped us out with taking advantage of the space
Speaker 4: that was given up to cover some of the deep zones.
Speaker 4: Uh you know from from both Reek and Waddel and
Speaker 4: and Uh. The more effective you are at doing that,
Speaker 4: then once you prove that you you can march down
Speaker 4: the field and and and beat very preventative, cautious defenses.
Speaker 4: They you have time and possession and you score a touchdown,
Speaker 4: they will try to get you off the field in
Speaker 4: different ways. And that's and that's what opens up the
Speaker 4: full utility built of utility belt of offense.
Speaker 3: So it's interesting because if you listen to Dan Campbell
Speaker 3: and Detroit, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and
Speaker 3: you have to figure out whay to stop them. And
Speaker 3: I do recall McDaniel having that similar quote back in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two about how if you are a good
Speaker 3: running team, you can just run the ball and it
Speaker 3: doesn't matter what the opposing defense does. But it sounds
Speaker 3: like or he told you point blank, like our identity
Speaker 3: is to adjust based upon the opponent, which means they're
Speaker 3: kind of dictating the terms in a certain sense. And
Speaker 3: that's why I'm not gonna do it today, but we'll
Speaker 3: do on a future podcast. I'm gonna talk about what
Speaker 3: has to change, and one of those things is gonna
Speaker 3: be revamping the entire running game, because I do feel
Speaker 3: that having a strong running game is really what makes
Speaker 3: to his most effective with the ball handling and the
Speaker 3: processing and the moving of the defense and taking advantage
Speaker 3: of how certain defenses present themselves based upon how you
Speaker 3: can run the football, but that can allow you to
Speaker 3: better dictate the terms, kind of like that Buffalo game
Speaker 3: and it was like we're gonna run, we're gonna pass,
Speaker 3: and you guys can't stop either of them. It's a
Speaker 3: good way to do things. So it's good and it's bad,
Speaker 3: and I guess that's the identity. We're gonna let the
Speaker 3: defense dictate what we do and hopefully there's a little
Speaker 3: bit of both and more evolution in that guard. Next,
Speaker 3: Chris Greer was asked about a playoff mandate. I want
Speaker 3: to just play the first part of this because again
Speaker 3: it's it's kind of a shot to the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Injuries happening and not using that as an excuse. You know,
Speaker 1: it is what it is. Every team deals with it,
Speaker 1: you know, I would say our biggest one, no matter
Speaker 1: what happened, is obviously the quarterback. When he misses six
Speaker 1: and a half games, when you miss it by a
Speaker 1: game getting into the playoffs, to me, that's the difference there.
Speaker 3: And again, yeah, he's right, because if you're eleven and
Speaker 3: six and you're going to Houston this week, things are
Speaker 3: a lot different, which is about where I think you'd be,
Speaker 3: maybe even twelve wins. But who gives the damn. It's
Speaker 3: all the same regardless either way. But here's where I
Speaker 3: come down on two. It because you guys know that
Speaker 3: I believe this guy is one of the best players
Speaker 3: in the entire league at his position. That has not changed.
Speaker 3: I think that's been proven out. And I again more
Speaker 3: behind the scenes stuff where I can tell you that
Speaker 3: he is the adult in the entire building, in the
Speaker 3: entire room with how this offense operates. But I will
Speaker 3: tell you this, and I go back to all the
Speaker 3: fans that say move on from two.
Speaker 2: It's time.
Speaker 3: It's proven, it's been proven he's not the guy. Like,
Speaker 3: you can't just say that because you have to have
Speaker 3: an alternative. I'm gonna move off to and do this
Speaker 3: because just moving off of him puts you in the
Speaker 3: territory of the Bears and the Giants and the pre Patriot.
Speaker 3: I don't want to do that. I don't want to
Speaker 3: be a two win team that can't They just cannot compete.
Speaker 3: And if you move off to that's what you're gonna become.
Speaker 3: Unless because there is no option for twenty twenty five,
Speaker 3: you're gonna draft the fourth quarterback in a bad quarterback class.
Speaker 3: You're gonna sign Andy Dalton, you want to sign Sam Darnold.
Speaker 3: What's the plan? Because there isn't a good option there.
Speaker 3: And so here's where I come down with Tua is
Speaker 3: keep him and if he proves he can't stay healthy again,
Speaker 3: then when you get the opportunity to replace him, then
Speaker 3: you do it. But if he can't stay healthy, I'm
Speaker 3: rocking with the top ten quarterback who can't stay healthy.
Speaker 3: But you have to have alternatives if you want to
Speaker 3: move off of him, and if he can't stay healthy
Speaker 3: again in twenty twenty five because of decision making that
Speaker 3: puts himself in bad spots that I'm all with you guys,
Speaker 3: that we can then decide, all right, how do we
Speaker 3: find the next guy? Because we cannot keep doing this
Speaker 3: year after year, and at least in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 3: it sounds pretty strong like you're gonna have a different
Speaker 3: backup quarterback that can help keep things afloat. Speaking of
Speaker 3: to us go heading clothes on this, Chris Greer was
Speaker 3: asked about the hip injury.
Speaker 2: Is it serious?
Speaker 3: Once again, he's going to tell you more about kind
Speaker 3: of teaching this guy how to play smart. But there's
Speaker 3: also some good stuff in here about how he grew
Speaker 3: this year as a player in his age twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3: And the opening answer here is were you concerned or
Speaker 3: is there concern long term about that hip injury?
Speaker 1: No concern at all, No concern at all. He's talked
Speaker 1: there's it was a very unique injury, and there's no
Speaker 1: concern at all, I think from us and you've heard,
Speaker 1: i mean, everyone talks about it. Like players that can
Speaker 1: operate this system at the levels that he does. We're
Speaker 1: very excited. You know, he's twenty six years old. Still growth.
Speaker 1: I think every year you've seen growth in what he does.
Speaker 1: This year, Mike and I talked about some of the
Speaker 1: steps he took when he was on the field and
Speaker 1: he can still ascend, which is, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: weird for a quarterback that's, you know, played as much
Speaker 1: as he has in won as many games as he
Speaker 1: has from high school, college and the NFL. And so
Speaker 1: we're very confident. His teammates are very extremely confident in him.
Speaker 1: And I think that's been the one thing that seeing
Speaker 1: here is that he knows how important he is to
Speaker 1: these guys, and they've told them. And again it's his
Speaker 1: availability of controlling what he can control, like throw the
Speaker 1: ball away, you don't have to run around be superman
Speaker 1: lived for the next play and the sooner. He understands that,
Speaker 1: which he's told Mike and I. He understands that clearly
Speaker 1: because this was hard for him, missing these last two
Speaker 1: games after he played all last season. It was hard
Speaker 1: for him. And what you love about him is his
Speaker 1: competitiveness and his fight. I mean, you guys are seeing
Speaker 1: a little bit of how he is now when he's pissed,
Speaker 1: and that's what you love about him because he shows
Speaker 1: that to us all the time. And it's not taking
Speaker 1: the competitive spirit out of him. It's just having him
Speaker 1: play smart and realize how important he is this franchise.
Speaker 3: I should have known that was going to be the
Speaker 3: entire podcast I wrote a whole separate podcast for you
Speaker 3: guys that will bump to later in the week and
Speaker 3: we'll cover that probably on Thursday, I think is the plan.
Speaker 3: But in the meantime, you can find the entire press
Speaker 3: conference on our YouTube channel, I believe, but you don't
Speaker 3: get my commentary.
Speaker 2: Oh one last thing.
Speaker 3: They said they would love to have Kalais Campbell back
Speaker 3: if he wants to come back, so hopefully he does.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 3: Meantime, subscribe, rate review the show, follow me on social
Speaker 3: at LinkedIn NFL. The team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
Speaker 3: the fish Tank podcast with my guy Seth and Jews.
Speaker 3: Check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, which is
Speaker 3: going to be every other week now on the YouTube channel,
Speaker 3: as well as media availabilities and so much more, and
Speaker 3: last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com Until next time.
Speaker 2: Bins up Colin and Cameron Daddy then just coming home.