Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
New attitude
Dolphins thinking like winners after recent success.
Members of the Miami Dolphins point to different moments when they realized the culture change within the team.
“The feeling started a long time ago,” defensive end Cameron Wake said after Miami’s 31-24 comefrom-behind victory in San Diego on Nov. 13.
That win over the Chargers was the game that right tackle Ja’Wuan James realized his team had finally become a resilient one.
“It was the play when Jakeem [Grant] dropped the punt against San Diego, and the first thing [defensive tackle] Jordan Phillips said was, ‘This is [a situation] the defense loves to be in. We get to stop them and look good,’” James recalls.
Most years, that blunder would be the “That’s so Dolphins” moment, the one where the game slips through the team’s hands.
But Tony Lippett intercepted a pass in the end zone, stopping San Diego’s scoring threat. Then Byron Maxwell’s interception ended another, and linebacker Kiko Alonso followed it up with a game- sealing picksix.
“In the past something would happen like that and I’d think, ‘Damn, game over!’ ” James said. “When I saw Kiko get that interception, I realized we really do have something special.”
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill says the players now have a collective belief in one
“Guys are buying in, making sure we trust in one another.” Cameron Wake, Dolphins DE
another, as opposed to different factions on the team, which has been a struggle for the Dolphins to establish over the past few years for various reasons.
“There has been a few games [this season] we’ve been down 10-plus points and on the sidelines you can’t tell we’re down. There is a sense of urgency, but no panic. No stress,” Tannehill said. “This team finds a way to win, and that’s what you want.”
If you ask tailback Damien Williams, the Dolphins’ 14-10 comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams provided all the evidence he needed to conclude that a culture change had finally occurred.
“We were down the whole game. Flags weren’t going our way and everything was going downhill, but you could never tell,” Williams said. “I loved the guys I was playing with my first and second year, but in those situations guys would quit.
“I’m usually the guy running up on people and cheering them on to lift their confidence. I’m always going to be that guy, but that game I didn’t have to say nothing,” Williams continued. “You could feel it. It felt like we weren’t losing even though we were.”
The Dolphins went on to score two touchdowns in the game’s final five minutes to seal their comefrom-behind win.
“Guys are buying in, making sure we trust in one another,” said Wake, who since joining the Dolphins in 2009 has never been part of a winning season. “They keep fighting. No panic. They keep going after it, and guys kept playing for the full 60 minutes.”
Offensive tackle Branden Albert, whose unit triggered Miami’s resurgence when the Dolphins established a physical rushing attack, gives all the credit to first-year coach Adam Gase, because he “treats us like men.”
“He listens to us,” said Albert, a ninth-year veteran. “A lot of coaches think they’re smarter than the players. But we’re the ones that’s out there.”
Gase isn’t letting the inmates run the asylum, however. He’s a straightshooter who has been firm, like when he left tailback Jay Ajayi home for the season opener for having a poor attitude after Ajayi didn’t win the starting job.
When he released offensive linemen Billy Turner, Dallas Thomas and Jamil Douglas because of their struggles in losses to Cincinnati and Tennessee, it served as a warning to the entire team, reminding players that their jobs weren’t guaranteed.
And if high-priced newcomers like Maxwell and Mario Williams could get benched, anyone could.
Gase has also let the players be themselves. He encourages them to show their personality, and that’s most evident in how he treats Jarvis Landry, an emotional receiver who plays with an edge.
Gase calls Landry Miami’s tone-setter because the entire team feeds off his relentless effort and fiery personality.
He personifies the fighting spirit the Dolphins have adopted.
“Gase came in, and he’s trying to establish a culture here, a winning culture. When you go into games not hoping to win, but expecting to win, it breeds another type of confidence through the guys that take the field,” Landry said. “We’re definitely extremely confident and motivated right now.”