Why one Miami Dolphins player called the team ‘soft’ after their loss to Packers
The Miami Dolphins attempted to downplay the effects of the cold weather following their 30-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
One player, however, did not hold back.
“I thought we were soft,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks told ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “Simple as that, I thought we were soft today. I don’t know if guys was too cold. ... I don’t know what it was. I feel like the elements played a part in how we played as a group, and that was the result that we got.”
The Dolphins have failed to win in cold weather games as of late. In fact, Miami has lost its last seven games when the temperature is below freezing. Thursday’s game at Lambeau Field – where the temperature was in the 20s around kickoff – was no different: the Dolphins missed a season-high 20 tackles which led to an additional 132 yards for the Packers, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
When asked about the soft comment, coach Mike McDaniel linked Brooks’ thoughts to the plethora of missed tackles.
“I think specifically what Jordyn was talking about, I think that has to do with the tackling or the lack there of,” McDaniel said Friday. “So much of the production over 100-some odd yards for them offensively was as a result of tackling, and I think that was a collective issue.”
Added McDaniel: “We didn’t bring some of the nuts and bolts of how we play football and paid for it severely.”
This isn’t the first time that the Dolphins were called soft. Earlier this month, former Dolphins safety DeShon Elliot called the team “soft as [expletive]” during an episode of the “Punch Line Podcast with Marlon Humphrey.”
“I haven’t been able to play against Baltimore the way I wanted to because last year I played up for a team that was soft as [expletive],” said Elliott, who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He later added that “there were some guys who were tough, but like for the majority of the team, there was not mentally tough individuals. So, to be on a team with the full team of mentally tough guys going against another mentally tough team and AFC North ball, it’s going to be fun.”
The question of whether the cold factored into Thursday night’s result was broached many of times immediately after the game. Although the offense took quite some time to get going, Tua Tagovailoa denied that the weather played a role.
“I wouldn’t say any of the things that were out there as far the elements are going to be used as an excuse for the reason as to why we started slow,” the quarterback said. “When you are on the road, it’s always tough to communicate and operate at such a high level the way you want to and that’s why it is very premier that in walk through and practice, when it is loud, that you are locking in so that you know did I hear this, did I hear that, or did I say the correct thing in the huddle and are we getting out there and doing what we need to do to execute this play.”
Calais Campbell shared a similar sentiment.
“Today wasn’t even that bad,” the defensive lineman said. “You play in colder games than this. We’re definitely not going to use that as an excuse.”
As the calendar year comes to a close, the Dolphins cold-weather woes could continue. Two road games against the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, respectively, could pose issues going forward. Even worse: the Dolphins’ will likely have to go undefeated during their next five games in order to make the postseason.
While history says the Dolphins’ chances of winning both road matchups are very slim, McDaniel has faith.
“We weren’t failing to snap the ball before delay of game or false starting because of the cold,” McDaniel said. “I think that the tape will show that when we watch it tomorrow, but like anything else, you eventually have to overcome it if you are trying to do anything in this league.”
The narrative surrounding the Dolphins’ inability to win in the cold, he continued, “will always exist until you defeat it.”
“I think our guys will look forward to executing in the cold weather at the next opportunity because I think that they know that they can,” McDaniel said. “They need to and they want to, so we will take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.”
