MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel made his expectations clear throughout necessary minicamp on Wednesday: if the staff desires to recover from the hump, accountability must be the precedence — on the sector, within the locker room and behind the scenes.
“The football program has to focus on football,” McDaniel stated. “For that to happen, there’s a lot of things that can’t dominate people’s time, which is like, first and foremost, being on time, being accountable to each other and staying to the rules.”
And then, McDaniel delivered a line that caught.
“Feeling very open as a team that, ‘Hey, it’s okay to call someone out when they deserve to be called out.’ And for those people … it’s okay to be called out as long as you change your f—— behavior, okay?”
The Dolphins look like embracing that tone, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who’s coming into his sixth season with a sharper focus and a stronger voice.
“For me, I think what’s most important is I’ve been here for five years going on six,” Tagovailoa stated. “Are you not tired of what we’ve done these past five years? If you are, then why aren’t we doing anything about it? What do we have to change?”
With left deal with Terron Armstead now retired, the Dolphins are retooling their offensive line round Tagovailoa.
Left deal with and former second spherical choose Patrick Paul heads into his sophomore season projected to start out in Armstead’s place. Miami additionally added former Pittsburgh Steelers guard James Daniels in free company and traded as much as choose guard/ deal with Jonah Savaiinaea, of Arizona, within the second spherical of the 2025 NFL Draft.
But the most important change won’t be the personnel — it’s the mindset.
“I think there is a culture shift,” Tagovailoa stated. “I really do feel in my heart that this is a change of scenery for our guys in the locker room.”
Tagovailoa additionally mirrored on a hip harm that slowed him earlier this offseason. While he declined to disclose the prognosis, he stated the ache started to ease in February and he’s adjusting his mindset round self-protection.
“I’ve got to take it into a sense where if this guy is here, get the ball out,” he stated. “Just throw it away.”
The quarterback’s affect is extending off the sector, too.
“You create that standard in the locker room, the guys follow and you’ve got to uphold it,” Tagovailoa added. “So you come into work knowing that they are looking to you to uphold that standard.”
With coaching camp simply weeks away, Tagovailoa stated he plans to remain sharp with a brief trip and light-weight exercises within the Bahamas — however extra importantly, he’s centered on pushing a locker room that lastly feels prepared to carry one another accountable.
And McDaniel made it clear: for the Dolphins to turn into contenders, that has to turn into the norm.
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