Dolphins’ coaching staff not optimistic about the future of the team

The Miami Dolphins lost to the Baltimore Ravens in a must-win situation on Sunday and after the game, emotions from various players were flying. After a day to settle down and gather thoughts, it was the coaches’ turn to express their feelings. What came out of their mouths though wasn’t anything positive.

Joe Philbin said that he didn’t think the team played well in the fourth quarter in the game against the Ravens and said that the responsibility of that falls on him. 

“The team should play well in the fourth quarter and there is no case to be made that we played well in the fourth quarter. That starts with me. We have to do better there. We have to finish games better. We have to learn from the mistakes. We have to correct them. We have to get ready to play an excellent team this week.”

Kevin Coyle was more direct and blunt about it, saying that he doesn’t think the team is trending upward based on the facts of how the past few games have finished.

“We haven’t played well down the stretch. We’ve had opportunities. We had a lead yesterday going into the second half of the game. The game was a 14-13 game with I guess about eight minutes left in the game. I’m not exactly sure about that, but it was midway through the fourth quarter and it was still a one-point game. We had opportunities to win the game and we didn’t. I don’t feel like there’s an upward trend. We have to get fixed areas that are keeping us from winning these games.”

Bill Lazor tried to paint a different picture, saying that in the position they are in, they have no choice but to be optimistic. He admitted he was disappointed and frustrated but he won’t let himself get discouraged and is looking forward to moving on from the Ravens game and onto the New England Patriots.

“We’ve got to be honest with the players and, at the same time, be positive because we’ve still got great things ahead of us and opportunities. We’ve got to decide how we’re going to approach what we’re going to do going forward for this week for the Patriots. All we can do is look forward. If you don’t enjoy the challenge, then this probably isn’t the job for you because you’re certainly not doing for it accolades. Days like today remind you that those aren’t coming very often. You’ve got to do it for the challenge, for the competition and for the fun that you have sitting down in a room with a bunch of guys, and we’re going to figure out together how to make this thing work. That’s what we’re looking forward to for tomorrow. It’s not always easy, but it’s our job to make it fun because it’s fun when it works.”

When asked to point out positives, Philbin said that all the Dolphins did was get off to a good start before falling apart in the second half. He said that this was basically it and that the Ravens deserved to win the game. 

There was talk about players giving up but after reading this, you can’t help but think the coaches are starting to give up on the season as well.

This story was written by Matthew Cannata. Follow him on Twitter: @PhinManiacs

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