Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Team no longer satisfied with reaching playoffs.
Team no longer satisfied with playoffs
DAVIE — Here’s the best example of how much things have changed around the Miami Dolphins’ training facility these days: After cleaning out their lockers and going through exit interviews with coaches, players were actually talking about the Super Bowl on Monday, one day after their 30-12 loss at Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card playoff game.
“The culture has definitely changed here,” safety Michael Thomas said. “We’re not satisfied with just making it to the playoffs. No, we wanted to go there and we wanted to win, we wanted to go all the way to the Super Bowl.”
Players credit first-year coach Adam Gase and his staff with changing the mindset of the team.
Now, instead of talking about making the playoffs, they’re talking about winning a Super Bowl.
“We definitely always want to push to be the best team in the league,” linebacker Jelani Jenkins said. “Even when we made the playoffs we knew we had the team, we had the talent to go all the way.”
This is definitely different from what we’ve heard recently from Dolphins players in Janu-
ary. For the past few years the final day has meant regret and introspection.
That’s no longer the case.
The Dolphins, who finished 10-6 in the regular season and made their first playoff appearance since the 2008 season, thought they had what it took to go far.
“We truly believe in this room that we could make a run, a serious run,” wide receiver Kenny Stills said, “and we still truly believe that.
“We feel like we didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”
And this tutelage from Gase and his staff apparently goes far beyond onthe-field expectations.
Veteran defensive end Andre Branch said Gase and his staff brought excitement, brotherhood and camaraderie, things he considers rare and prized traits among NFL teams.
“It started with the coaching staff, the new coaching staff that we brought in,” Branch said, “and then the players just bought into that. And week in and week out we began to have that camaraderie each and every week, and it showed in our play, it showed when someone made a mistake how let down they were when it happened.
“Those are the type of players and the type of teams you need if you want to be successful in this league.”
Even though there was an overriding sense of optimism in the Dolphins locker room Monday there was a definite sense of bewilderment.
“It’s weird,” middle linebacker Kiko Alonso said, “because you’re in the playoffs and you’re obviously planning on winning and moving on. And now it’s done.”
Still, players think the atmosphere has changed. They now demand more from each other and the team overall.
“How we played [Sunday] wasn’t good enough,” Thomas said, “and to everybody who returns here the mindset is going to be coming back not just to make the playoffs, but try to dominate — dominate your unit, have a dominant defense, have an imposing offense, imposing special teams, dominant special teams.
“That’s going to be the mindset.”
The Dolphins say they’re aiming higher than just making the playoffs. While a playoff appearance would have been a destination in past years, this year was supposed to merely be a step on the way to bigger things.
And players definitely think bigger things are coming.
“I feel like it’s coming,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said. “We’re not all the way there, but we’ve started something under Gase and the staff that he’s brought in that will allow us to do something special.”
So though players take pride in being the first Dolphins team to make the playoffs since the 2008 season, they say they’re disappointed that they didn’t accomplish their ultimate goal, which is another testament to the mindset change ushered in by Gase and his staff.
“I’m sick about the game,” Stills said, “but I still understand where we’ve come from. I told the guys before the game, ‘Look how far we’ve come.’
“So it’s something we can be proud of, but it’s not something to hang your hat on.”