Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Challenge accepted
Gase confident Dolphins will overcome disruption caused by Irma
OXNARD, Calif. — The Miami Dolphins have faced quite a bit of adversity during Adam Gase’s brief tenure as the team’s head coach, and have handled it well, rallying back a 1-4 start last season to qualify for the playoffs.
Miami’s resiliency is why Gase didn’t seem concerned Wednesday about the team experiencing a hangover from Hurricane Irma as the Dolphins returned to practice in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Char- gers, which will be the team’s first game of the season.
“Some of the challenges we met last year, and going into this year, everything hasn’t always been smooth,” said Gase, who is referring to Miami losing three starters to seasonending injuries during the preseason. “They battle, and fight, and handle adversity as good as any [team] I’ve been around.”
That fight begun last Wednesday when the NFL defrom cided to reschedule last week’s season opener at Hard Rock Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Nov. 19, which happened to be the bye week
for both teams.
After that decision came down half the team left the state, and so did Gase and many of his assistant coaches.
Once it was decided the Dolphins would spend the week in Los Angeles following Hurricane Irma, and that family members of the coaches and players would accompany the team on a charter paid for by Dolphins owner Steve Ross, the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams assisted the team’s transition to California.
The Dolphins are using the Cowboys’ practice facility at Oxnard, California. And the Rams staff helped the coaching and auxiliary staff set up the hotel Miami’s staying at, getting it as close to the facility as possible.
The entire hotel lobby of a Residence Inn is set up as the team’s headquarters. A tennis court has been transformed into the team’s weight room, and the hotel has been filled with Dolphins players, coaches, auxiliary staff and their family members. The Dolphins will prepare for Sunday’s game in Oxnard before leaving for Los Angeles, which is located 90 minutes away.
Numerous players compared the remote setup to Miami’s west coast trip last season, where the Dolphins practiced in Carlsbad, California for a week between November games against the Chargers and Rams.
“This is like training camp essentially. That’s where our mindset is. Everyone is together. We meet together, eat together. There’s nowhere for anyone to go,” said quarterback Jay Cutler. “It’s a good experience for us.”
Cutler said the Dolphins were ready to play the Buccaneers last Thursday and Friday because the gameplan was in, and the team was looking sharp in practice before that game got pushed back. While Cutler acknowledged that Wednesday’s practice wasn’t super sharp, he feels the rust of not practicing for week can easily be worked off.
“This is a resilient group. We’ll battle through,” Cutler said.
Miami’s coaches didn’t begin preparing for the Chargers until Saturday, but Gase said the Dolphins benefit from seeing the Chargers’ Monday night loss to the Denver Broncos.
Gase’s message to the team has been, “control what you can control,” which means to minimize the distraction caused by being displaced, and focus on football and the lasting impact of Hurricane Irma.
Returning to practice has provided many Dolphins players a necessary distraction from what’s taking place in South Florida.
“It’s just having an opportunity to take my mind off a little bit of what’s going on back home in Florida and focus on what’s important out here,” said defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. “Obviously we’re not worried about football and taking care of that stuff. Obviously the real world hits hard, but it is part of life.
Some players believe their game Sunday, and their performance against the Chargers will provide South Florida a necessary distraction.
“We play for South Florida every Sunday. We have Miami going across the jersey,” said cornerback Walt Aikens, a special teams ace. “It’s tough right now. We were just going through the same thing for Houston and for us to turn around and now it’s on us, it’s kind of a big shot, a big deal. We just have to stick together as a community and pull through this together.”
Ross pledges $1M
Ross has pledged $1 million to immediate and longterm rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.
In addition, the Dolphins have partnered with AARP Foundation on a dollar for dollar matching campaign, with 100 percent of the money raised going directly into Florida communities impacted by the Category 4 storm that blew through the state.