WEBVTT - Drive Time: Week 2 Variety Show with Jeff Darlington 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:04.760 You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.280 This is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:10.760 to a looking whips about. 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:17.040 The wide Dolphin touchdown Timeriquel uncolievable, just blue. 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:18.280 Fire for a second time. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.360 Don't know where he was going right away. 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:21.640 I want to hit that though. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:23.120 Man, I'm wanna help you. 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:24.560 Someone will step on your bandwagon. 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.520 Wattle Wattle to a shotgun, back to throw, looking at 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:30.160 them up fires touchdown. 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.920 It's Waddle his sixth touchdown paras of this day. 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:40.600 Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.839 your all, baby. 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.760 I'm fired up for this one. 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:46.479 What is up? 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.000 Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast, part of 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:55.400 the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.160 It is week number two, a Friday variety hour. Here 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.800 on the Draft Time Podcast. We're gonna hear from Kyle 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:05.000 Krabs in the Finns Draft in five here later on, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:06.840 also a stop by the locker room and talk to 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.080 some of the guys. But first and what I'm most 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.720 excited about. Jeff Darlington joins us on the podcast today. 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:14.480 You do not want to miss this interview from the 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.600 Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:23.560 is the Drift Time podcast. Let's right away get to 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:27.399 my interview today with ESPN's Jeff Darlington. Please join me 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.560 in welcoming back to the show from ESPN the great 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.240 Jeff Darlington. Jeff. When I turned on NFL Countdown on 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:36.440 Sunday and they cut to the quad box with all 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.319 the reporters on site, I was shocked to see you 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:41.160 at Hines Field and not out here at so far 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:42.080 for the Dolphins game. 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.039 That's right, I was in Pittsburgh. Oddly, I don't cover 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:51.600 every Dolphins game and we actually just have inside baseball stuff. 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:55.120 But Lindsey Theory, a wonderful reporter who lives in Los Angeles. 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.440 She is now going to be more full time with Countdown, 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:00.880 and she was out there. She lives there, and she 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.960 is perfectly adequate dandal that task. But I will see 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:06.480 you very soon, Travis. I'm sure we'll do a lot 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:07.760 of Dolphins games this season. 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:09.680 I was gonna say, yeah, you kind of have a 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:11.640 front row seat to one of the most exciting teams, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.160 at least for the first week of the season, and 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.200 I have to imagine that continues here going forward. But yeah, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.320 I always love having you around here. Maybe the Broncos 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:19.320 home game, maybe, I don't know. 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.320 I don't think there'd be a lot. I think there'll be. 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:23.920 I mean I might be stationed there now that you know. 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:26.520 I don't want to go too far here, but the 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.800 AFC East is looking quite different than it did not 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:30.440 too long ago. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.680 It's crazy how that happens. And like you said, one weekend, 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.000 the entire paradigm seems to have shifts so far, at 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:37.760 least through one week, and I'm sure it'll shift again 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.600 next week and a week after that. That's how this 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:41.520 league goes, why we love it so much. But I 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.440 want to get you on here, Jeff. Today we talk about, 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.320 you know, speaking of a Sunday countdown, your piece on 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:48.880 coach McDaniel, and I'll never forget we had you on 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.119 the Twitter Spaces Show, one of our first ones last 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.840 year with Seth and Oj and you were adamant that 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.160 the addition of coach McDaniel would be one that would 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.480 maybe not just parallel the Tyreek acquisition, but even supersed 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:03.800 it in terms of its importance. And we saw a 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.880 great game plan play out here. So I want to 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:09.359 revisit that question with you about McDaniel's impact. Let's go 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:10.920 ahead and start there and just kind of give us 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.920 a week, one year two rebuffer on that comment and 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.079 just what you saw in this first game with McDaniel, 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:17.760 the Dolphins getting the win in Los Angeles. 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:20.680 Well, you know, I would say that two things I 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:24.640 knew about micah Ready was his brilliance as an offensive mind, 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.600 which obviously was no mystery really once anybody did a 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.480 deep dive to understand his impact on the forty nine ers. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.840 The second element that I believed he'd be successful at 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.640 is managing a locker room in terms of the personalities 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:43.840 that are in there. He is such a likable person 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:48.000 but also a very open minded person, someone that really, 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.840 if you get him in a room, the initial impression 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.240 is a bit quirky, and beyond that you start to 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:59.520 realize the loyalty the understanding of people. And I thought 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:03.200 that those two things would be why he'd largely be successful. 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:08.280 What I've been especially impressed by by him and his 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:12.800 coaching staff is how well run the organization has been 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.360 since he arrived. I think one of the very understated 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:21.640 components to a coaching staff or any NFL organization is 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:26.400 how difficult it is to have a well oiled machine, 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:32.039 whether it's organized practices, whether it's clear messaging, whether it's 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:37.400 the meetings themselves. And I think that I've been very impressed, 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.040 not surprised, but there was an unknown there about how 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.520 Mike would handle that component of being a head coach, 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.080 and so far, to me, he and his coaching staff 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:47.200 have knocked it out of the park. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.599 I recall the social ideas about whether or not he 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:53.240 had the look for an NFL head coach, and I 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:55.120 always found that to be so funny, because who gives 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:56.440 a damn what you look like if you can do 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.520 the job at a high level, and you know, back 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.000 to your piece on Countdown. Can't imagine there's a person 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.479 listening to this podcast right now who has not seen it. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.360 But if you have not, go check it out. It's 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.960 on Jeff's timelines on ESPN and sports and there's timeline 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.400 all that good stuff. But I was hoping to get 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.480 some some behind the scenes from you. First of all, 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.839 have you done a piece like that before? Pretty unique 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:16.479 to be able to join up with a head coach 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:18.240 at two o'clock in the morning and drive to work 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:18.760 with them. 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.440 No, I have not. You know, I've I've gotten really 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:26.919 good access with players in the past, and I'm proud 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.200 of the access that I've gotten players. But a head 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.840 coach is a different a little bit of a different 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:39.000 situation and a world that that really, I know many 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.640 people have really entered into. And I'm really thankful to 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.640 first of all, Mike and the Dolphins organization and Nolan 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.760 and pr for really not only buying into the idea 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:55.359 but really kind of catapulting it. And I think that 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.880 one of the elements here that was so special about 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:02.760 it with Mike is that not just his willingness to 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:08.880 provide the access, but to be vulnerable in topics that 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.520 are you know, both wide ranging and intimate, and I 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.600 think his story, you know, one of the things that 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.599 Mike is so passionate about is to make sure that 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.760 if there's any spotlight on him, that it is for 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.960 the greater good of the organization. He's so adamant about that, 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.640 and you know, I think that was probably a concern 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.880 for him, like is this I don't He's not comfortable 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.680 with the idea of it just being about him. Can 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.880 it be better for the team, And to a degree, superficially. 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:39.599 I'm sure people might look at it and say that 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:43.640 it is just a story of Mike and his past, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.960 but I would argue that, you know, whether by design 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:49.760 or not, and I don't think it was. I think 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.240 it's very helpful for the team and the organization to 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.039 understand who he is and where he comes from, and 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:57.600 he can stand up in front of a room and 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.240 say it, and there can be you can read, you know, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:05.039 past articles, but to feel it, and that was I 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.040 think my goal going into it was to show that 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.440 Mike is not just a quirky, funny dude. He is, 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.400 but that he is also he has a past, he 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.440 has scars, and so too do so many people in 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.360 that locker room. So again, not that is by design, 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.480 but if that can galvanize a room and players can 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.600 potentially learn something about their head coach that helps that 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:29.680 locker room, then you know, I think that that's a 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:30.480 positive as well. 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.680 Yeah, to your point, I mean, most of these players, 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.400 I mean, to be able to achieve excuse me, Jeff, 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:37.800 to be able to achieve this, you know, to get 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.080 to this level of this profession, you probably had to 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:41.840 go through some trials and tribulation. So to be able 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.080 to share his story. I'm sure really connects with a 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:45.800 lot of guys who've gone through their own, you know, 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.400 issues in the past and overcome those you know, adversity 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.320 as an opportunity, he always loves to say. So how 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.200 perfect is that that he can kind of use his 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.680 own life experience to really drill that point home. You 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.840 mentioned you wanted to prove and show the non quirky 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.840 side of Coach, But I have to ask you because 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.600 in that piece, you're doing it for a specific reason, 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.120 but you spend so much time with him. I know 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.480 that Coach threw some jokes at you. You guys probably have 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.520 some fun levity moments. Can you give us some behind 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.440 the scenes look at the content that got left on 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.360 the cutting room floor because it did not fit the piece. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.200 There is always with Mike, I mean, and always has 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.080 been and always will be, no matter of the setting, 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:22.080 whether it's with a camera there or not. I mean 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.600 that literally is who he is and it can fly 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.880 over people's heads very quickly. I remember saying that the 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:30.800 second he got hired, like, hey, guys, buckle up. There's 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.000 gonna be a lot of things that he says, and 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:35.360 you're gonna walk out of the room. You're not going 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.679 to have laughed at it, and you're gonna twenty seconds, 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.520 a minute, five minutes literally as you're going to sleep, 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.920 you're gonna be like, oh, that's what he was joking. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:47.400 To be at my podcast with him, you were like, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.440 Travis hasn't gotten to know him quite enough yet? Not true? 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:52.560 Do you not now understand it? Yes? 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:52.880 It is. 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.000 I mean it is nuanced. Sometimes he is literally practicing 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.880 bits on you because he loves comedy on me and 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:03.400 I you know, we there was plenty of those moments. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.400 I'm trying. I can't really necessarily think of specific ones. 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.160 But it was funny when we got in the car 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.480 and he just the second we got to his house. 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.679 We left our house, my house here with my crew 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.439 at like two am. Make sure you're prepared that you're 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.600 there early. You know, you never want him to be waiting. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.840 I mean we pulled up and like the second we 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:24.760 pulled up, the garage door goes up, and I mean 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:26.959 it's got to be two twenty. I mean it's not 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.000 like he hits the alarm clock and you know, struggles 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:32.720 to get out of bed. Like he walks out and 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:37.280 he's like ready to go, and even in the car 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.240 right again there he's like, yeah, I'll apologize like I 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.600 and he's he's talking not you know, he's obviously overcome 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.520 his struggles that we've talked about, and it's not like 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.640 he doesn't know how to sleep in and all those things, 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.160 but he goes when I wake up, I'm immediately going 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:54.040 a mile a minute, and to like my friends in college, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.040 to anybody that I've ever known, he's like, I realized 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:00.000 how wildly annoying that is. You know, for most people 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.680 they need a minute with Mike, he does not. He 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:07.840 is full go pedal to the metal. You know, you 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:09.920 talk about cutting room floor one of the things that 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:14.520 I actually thought could carry the piece. This wasn't even funny, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:18.600 but it's it's a good opportunity to share it. When 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.480 we left his house, there was at one point where 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:22.920 I thought this was going to be the framework of 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:24.480 the piece. It just didn't end up being that, and 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.480 we just went a little bit different way with the structure. 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:32.120 When we left his house, we went east instead of west, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.280 towards the stadium. And this is a good opportunity to 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:36.520 show the story because a lot of people from South 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:40.520 Florida understand this. We go east toward because he lives 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.360 near the water, and we go over one bridge and 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:47.800 then we go come back over another bridge, very roundabout way, 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.000 and I at one point I go and I'm from here, 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.320 so I understand it, and I go, why did you 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.719 just go that way? You realize that is not He's like, oh, yeah, 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.640 the GPS definitely does not like that. But he told 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.320 me he never saw the ocean until he was I believe, 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:04.599 he said in high school or in college, being from Colorado, 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.680 and now he lives so close to it that he 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.040 cannot help. But every day to start his drive, go 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.920 over a bridge and see water. And he's like, it's 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.119 the first five minutes of my drive are about perspective 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.920 and about appreciating the moment. And I was like really 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.680 taken back by that, Like, I mean, how cool is that? 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.960 Like that this guy, yes, he is waking up so 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.840 early to get to work because he has a level 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.440 of urgency about him, but he's also still willing at 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.040 this point to take that five minutes out of his 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.720 day and kind of reflect on it. And I thought, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.480 how fitting and sort of from a storytelling standpoint, again, 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.400 it didn't really necessarily go this way. He was a 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.840 little too complicated to say, but like the road less traveled, 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:52.200 I mean it is his path, the entire way, literally, 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:55.280 very literally from the second he gets in the car 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:55.800 in the morning. 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.160 Our imitates life, right, I mean, stop and smell the 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.240 roses a little bit. It kind of reminds me of 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.920 what coach Darryl Bevell has you know, drilled into Tua 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.720 about be where your feet are, because Mike has made 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.600 that same comment several times about just kind of being 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:10.640 present in the moment and how he owes that to 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.360 the players in the organization, the coaching staff, to be 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.240 president and not think about, Wow, my first NFL game, Wow, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.400 this big moment. That's you know, I could think and 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:20.440 make it about me, but I don't do that, and 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.319 it brings me my next question here, Jeff about the 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.280 quarterback and with with Mike McDaniel, the relationship between he 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.320 and Tua. What a performance on Sunday? Surprised expected that? 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:31.120 What do you think about Two's first game here in 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:31.880 twenty twenty three? 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:37.240 Certainly not surprised, I think I think anybody who continues 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:41.719 to be surprised by two his ability is fooling themselves. 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.200 I mean, he's shown it, and that's not just about 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.240 two that this happens too often in the NFL in general. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:52.320 I feel similarly to a guy, like a good example 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.280 would be a guy in Jared goth I talked to 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.240 him about this ever since that game when he had 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.960 against Patrick Mahomes, when it was fifth, four to fifty one. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.520 It was the most unbelievable regular season game I've ever 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:07.040 seen in my life. And then a couple of years 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.560 later people say, oh, he sucks, Jared Goff, you know, 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:14.000 he's not good enough. I refuse to accept or believe 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.600 that a player, a human being, can go do something 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:23.040 as athletically special and gifted as that and then just 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.360 not have it. That is not lightning in a bottle. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.400 And the parallel here is with Tua. Last year, we 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.400 saw it. I mean it was there in front of 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.040 our eyes. Yes, the injuries, I get the concern, and 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.200 honestly legitimate concern, which Tua has done his best to 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.880 try to alleviate those concerns literally in his preparation. But 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.320 the idea that he couldn't go out there and do 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:50.160 what he just did, to me, it's ridiculous. Of course, 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.720 he can do it. He's showed us that the beauty 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:58.200 of it is going back to Mike and the offense. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:00.000 And I don't want to take any credit away from 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.320 Tua here, he's the one who did it. But I 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.400 just love the empowerment and the confidence that has been 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.320 bestowed on him, whether it's from Tyreek, whether it's from 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.840 his teammates. We are seeing that, and I think that 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.160 that goes a very long way in his ability to 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.439 attack and be the guy that he is capable of being. 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.400 Yeah, I think that the conference to a displayed in 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.080 that game because there was a couple of throws early 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.240 on into some coverage where it's like, man, I don't 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.160 know that probably shouldn't have been tested in that window. 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:26.080 But the confidence to keep going back to with the 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.720 ball placement he shows. Yeah, the game went to Tyreek 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:34.880 for instance, there's he's not open open, unbelievable. 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.840 And at first you're thinking, when you see that, that's Tyreek, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.160 and again it takes a special wide receiver. The second 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.080 you see the replay, you're like, wait a second, that 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.400 ball disappeared through the defender, like it literally looks like 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.280 it went through the body of the defender and somehow 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.120 ended up in Tyreek's hands. It was unbelievable and that 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:55.840 was absurd, I mean, and that's not I saw someone 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.120 saying this the other day. It's not necessarily a timing thing, 0:14:58.200 --> 0:14:59.640 I mean, or it is more of a timing thing. 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.200 It's not touch pass, yeah, because he doesn't know that 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.160 the defender's going to be there. But it is a 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.360 timing thing where he put it so perfectly where there 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.520 was only one person at one point who's going to 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.120 be able to catch that pass. That is where Tua 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.720 is absolutely elite. And that, by the way, is what 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:16.640 Mike has always seen in him from the second he 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:22.880 got here. He didn't see all the flaws that previous 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.840 people have seen. He saw the positives, namely his ability 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.320 to have elite ball placement. 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:30.920 The one that made m run around the building and 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.200 tell everyone, look at the seven hundred play real ef 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.600 together of this quarterback and the way he can kind 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.640 of mitigate pressure and the idea of surrounding him with 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:40.640 weapons and not you know, I mean, not that they 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.720 didn't invest in the offensive line to Ron Armstead and 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.240 Connor Williams were both massive gets for this team. Now 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.760 getting Austin Jackson back and Kendall Lamb looks pretty good, 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:49.920 Isaiah Win looked pretty good. But they knew that they 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.840 had a skill set in this quarterback where he could 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.320 really maximize playmakers on the perimeter more than you know, 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.880 going out and building a you know, five first round 0:15:57.960 --> 0:15:59.880 track pick type of offensive line. I want to take 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:01.360 a break right here and come back on the other 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.840 side and talk more about Tua and Mike's relationship, what 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.160 we can expect the rest of the way for the 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.640 Miami Dolphins here in the next sixteen games of the season. 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.120 That's next. My guest today Jeff Darlington on the Draft 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:14.840 Time podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. Back here 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.640 with ESPN's Jeff Darlington, who had a great piece on 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.440 Sunday NFL Countdown detailing Mike McDaniel and the kind of 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.360 history that he had to overcome to get to this 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:25.480 position where he's now leading to Miami Dolphins out of 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:27.360 the gates to a want to know start here in 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:29.960 his second season. We talked a little bit about Tua 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:31.560 on the other side there, Jeff, and I just want 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.520 to go back to the relationship between those two guys, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.880 because you have this you know, like you said, the 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:37.720 access to coach, to kind of get to know him 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:39.240 and just know a little bit more about him than 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.200 we get to see outside of the quirky jokes and 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.000 the way he leads this football team. How would you 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:48.480 describe that relationship and is it unique for a quarterback 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.480 and coach to be so tight and to be so 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.280 intertwined like that. I know that there are obviously, you know, 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.520 coaches and quarterbacks around the league that do have good relationships, 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.880 but this one seems a little bit unique to me, you. 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.520 Know, is unique for I think that the most successful 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.879 partnerships are often the ones that are where the quarterback 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.119 is an extension of the locker room, but somewhere in 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.480 between the coaching staff and the locker room. So from 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:17.600 that perspective, on paper, maybe not, it is a very 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.720 special relationship. And again I'm not necessarily one to harp 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.960 on the past, but in this case, I can't ignore 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.679 it either. Brian Flores as a head coach was a 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:33.719 different type of coach, much more militant, much more, you know, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:38.160 coming from the Bill Belichick model, and his expectations maybe 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.719 in certain regards were different. And that doesn't mean that 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.320 that's necessarily bad personally, I think you have to adjust 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.560 to your players, but I'll give him that you can 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.919 win like that. Bill Belichick proved it with Tom Brady. 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:57.320 The way that he handled Brady in this situation, it 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:01.000 was clear that too, his confidence was shattered. It was obvious. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:02.800 I mean, it was obvious to It should have been 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.159 obvious to outsiders, but internally, I can tell you it 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:10.359 was obvious. So for Mike to come in with his 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:15.520 optimistic and it is authentic and genuine, and I don't 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.760 think that as by a coincidence at all. Steve Ross, 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:24.400 Chris Career, Tom Garfinkel, I think recognized that that quality 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:30.760 in Mike immediately recognized their quarterback and and where his 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.560 mental state was. And I'm not saying that you make 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:37.120 the higher just for the player, but it certainly has 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:39.160 to be a factor. And I know that they felt 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.960 that way coming out of that higher that they saw 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:48.080 Tua and said we're going to do right by you. Yes, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:50.040 I mean we could look at Ted Lasso, you know, 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.280 as a great example of that dynamic. You know, I'm 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.399 not saying it's not that, but there is there is 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.200 power in optimism, and Mike sees that and to a 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.600 need of that and I think that that makes it 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.040 very special. One of the reasons why last year was 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.760 so difficult to watch when it came to a lot 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:15.320 of the criticism that Mike was facing to a situation 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:19.200 was I mean, if you had any sense of Mike's 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.720 care for Tua and for players in general, you would 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:28.360 know how ridiculous that take was. That I thought was 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:32.639 that was tough, and I think it it will ultimately 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:37.000 though time allows people to see who Mike is and 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:41.880 understand that his relationship with Tua will absolutely it won't 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.600 change his ability necessarily to go out there and do 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.240 everything on the field. There's a lot to be seen here, 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:50.199 but I think that everybody right now is in a 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:51.200 really nice situation. 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:53.639 Well, like you said, a lot to be seen because 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:55.760