‘Set that standard for ourselves.’ How Dolphins leaders are holding each other accountable
Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb sprint back-and-forth up the sideline.
The Miami Dolphins edge rushers usually would be in — offensive and defensive starters are currently scrimmaging right now — yet the two race 20 or so yards down the field before turning back around and slowly jogging to the start line to do it again. While it’s likely that coaches use the brief rest as a tactic to ease Phillips and Chubb back from injuries that cost both significant chunks of the 2024 season, they refuse to take a play off.
“Bradley’s been really critical for me, everybody in the room and the defense of holding us to a really high standard,” Phillips said Friday. “Today, we took a little less reps and so to make up for that, we’re going to sprint on the sideline.”
The move appears to be rooted in this new, player-led culture of accountability that has been heavily discussed since the unceremonious end to the 2024 season. And although fans and pundits alike would be quick to dismiss this as just talk, there have been real, concrete examples of change during the early days of training camp.
“We are working as a team to set that standard for ourselves, for this team,” Chubb said Tuesday. “What we want it to look like each and every day. Over the offseason, we had guys texting each other, making sure we are holding each other to that standard in the offseason. It’s been sent for sure. The message is loud and clear, and everybody’s moving accordingly.”
This comes after a 2024 season that initially began with high hopes before injuries started to pile up. Questions of discipline – or more accurately, lack thereof – swirled around the team following a 8-9 finish, the first sub-.500 season of coach Mike McDaniel’s career. Players even complained about teammates showing up late to meetings.
“I know a lot of people don’t want to be here [for] optional [practices], but at the end of the day man, if we want to get to where we want to go, that’s where the foundations will have to be laid,” Chubb said in early January. “In life you’ve got to sacrifice for what you really want. It’s not, ‘you got to be here every day, each and every day.’ But let’s start building that rapport as a team and setting our goals for what we want in the future.”
Much of the offseason conversation then became about whether or not these changes could be made. McDaniel, however, has emphasized a player-led locker room, meaning that it would be up to team leaders like defensive tackle Zach Sieler to set the standard.
“I think one of our goals this summer, or this spring, was to be more communicative, to not let things build under the sheets,” Sieler said Thursday. “Don’t throw things to the side, put things on the table. Not breadcrumbs, don’t let things build up to a big pile. As it happens, talk about it.”
That’s where punishments like post-practice sprints emerged. The new rule is actually quite simple: make a mistake and you’ll have to pay for it.
“It’s something we as the players decided,” tackle Austin Jackson said Wednesday. “If we have presnap penalties, we’re going to punish ourselves for that. Things that are in our controllables — that’s what we call that. Pre-snap penalties, we can control that, so if you make the mistake in practice, we’re going to self-correct ourselves with a little disciplinary action.”
The Dolphins ranked in the top-10 when it came to per game penalties in 2024. That needs to change for the team to have success this season.
“It’s a way for players to re-emphasize the importance of doing the little things the right way,” coach Mike McDaniel said of the post-practice sprints. “It’s something that when you’re looking at ways to improve your team, right at the beginning are the controllables.”
Phillips and Chubb’s mid-practice sprints can be considered an extension of this newfound identity. Yes, they are coming off of significant, season-ending injuries, however, both also understand their respective importance to this team, especially considering the unproven talent at both boundary cornerback positions. This defense, for better or worse, needs elite play from the edge – and they intend to help set that standard.
“Our thing is finding an edge wherever we can whether that’s extra reps in the weight room, extra rehab, extra prehab,” Phillips said, later adding that “we call ourselves big dogs for a reason. We got to kind of be the engine for this defense, for this team. So we can’t have off days, we can’t have when we’re coming in here lackadaisical.”
