There was a way of pleasure and accomplishment within the Dolphins locker room Sunday evening after their 34-31 wild-card spherical loss at Buffalo. Weary and battle-worn, gamers talked about their dedication to one another, the closeness of the workforce, and so they mentioned they need that bond to be even stronger.
Whether being an in depth workforce results in extra victories or higher efficiency is up for debate. Dolphins gamers appear to suppose their closeness did assist them win video games, and watching them at work and play it’s powerful to disclaim their declare.
Whatever the case, there’s no denying coach Mike McDaniel and his workforce constructed a powerful bond, and it confirmed whether or not they had been taking part in soccer, ping pong, playing cards, or simply joking with one another within the locker room. They appeared to take pleasure in being round one another.
“I came in, made good relationships with guys,” mentioned edge rusher Bradley Chubb, who was acquired in a Nov. 1 commerce deadline cope with Denver, “however I wish to take it to the following stage and be there when their child will get born and so they’re saying, ‘Uncle Chubb,’ and stuff like that — take it to that stage.
“I feel like we can do that, we’re going to do that and it’s going to be fun when it all comes together.”
There was widespread disappointment within the postgame locker room, to make sure.
Disappointment is essentially the most anticipated sentiment after a playoff loss.
But gamers spoke with pleasure about what they completed regardless of the chances being stacked in opposition to them. They spoke of their locker room power, their dedication to one another, and their more-than-respectable efficiency in opposition to Buffalo.
“With the people we’ve got in this locker room,” cornerback Xavien Howard mentioned, “we didn’t bow down to them no matter the injuries or anything that was going on.”
And to make sure, this loss harm.
“It’s supposed to hurt,” defensive sort out John Jenkins mentioned. “It hurts because of the fact we know the type of effort we put in behind closed doors. So when a team is hurting like this with the results we had it just goes to show it was something internal.”
General supervisor Chris Grier preferred what he noticed from his younger workforce. He, similar to most others, deemed it a profitable season.
“I would say successful,” Grier mentioned, “however on the finish of the day all 32 groups are attempting to get to that final objective. It was profitable, I’d say, not happy.
“To watch the fellows compete [Sunday] figuring out the accidents we had, we performed the workforce 3 times, Buffalo, and what coach [Sean] McDermott, [general manager] Brandon Beane and people guys have carried out is large. I’ve nice respect for them and I instructed them that after the sport.
“For our guys to go up there in that environment, and most of that roster hadn’t been in a playoff environment before, to go down 17 and not blink, and come back and fight and get into it and have a chance late in the game, to tie it up and have a chance to potentially win, [I’m] very excited. Disappointed we lost, but very excited, so I would say yes it was a successful season.”
Perhaps the Dolphins’ closeness is what bought them into the playoffs, maybe it’s what allowed them to summon the power to edge the New York Jets, 11-6, within the regular-season finale to get into the playoffs.
No, it wasn’t a really perfect season.
The Dolphins completed 9-8, after which misplaced their first-round playoff recreation.
But it was a profitable season, and the way in which gamers inform the story, their success was at the very least partly as a result of they cast such a good bond.
“Overall, we had our ups and downs, had our streaks,” mentioned security Eric Rowe, whose hit on Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen precipitated the fumble that defensive sort out Zach Sieler scooped up and ran 5 yards for a third-quarter landing mentioned, “however one factor we by no means actually wavered from was taking part in arduous, training arduous all through the week, having enjoyable. We made it to the playoffs, type of like limping in, however we made it.
“That was kind of our motto all year, just to keep playing.”
It labored. They stored taking part in and bought into the playoffs.
“I’m super proud of the guys,” linebacker Jaelan Phillips mentioned. “We’ve always known who we are, and the fight and the type of guys that we have so [the Buffalo game] was nothing new. Obviously, super disappointed for the loss, but just so grateful and proud of our guys.”
And proud to be a part of such a tight-knit unit. Again, it’s debatable whether or not the Dolphins’ unity helped them attain the playoffs for the primary time because the 2016 season, however there’s no denying these guys had been shut and so they’ll inform you it was an element within the season’s success.
“We were a team,” Jenkins mentioned. “When a workforce is hurting, they had been a workforce. We put it in for an additional. Nobody was egocentric, no person was malicious, no person was something. It was a workforce, not ‘I.’
“That being said, I think the organization’s [headed] in the right direction.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com