Mike McDaniel’s final message to players before summer break
The Miami Dolphins have high expectations for 2024 after back-to-back playoff appearances.
The third year of the Mike McDaniel era in South Florida is being approached with heightened urgency. The Miami Dolphins enter 2024 after failing to derail the league’s longest drought without a playoff win despite reaching the postseason in the last two seasons.
The Dolphins finished the offseason’s program last week with a three-day mandatory minicamp. McDaniel was asked to share his final message to players before leaving the facility until training camp in late July.
“Since you’re not with them every day, you try to have them understand what the six weeks and their decisions, how it relates to the overall football team,” McDaniel said Thursday. “There’s so often that – the work we put in is long and strenuous, and people do need life balance. But in that, there is a huge commonality that I think with the orchestration of what is currently orchestrated that when you get to the preseason, how much – or just you get to the season in general – how much is dependent upon those six weeks and you doing right by the team.
“What’s doing that, what’s doing right by the team? That’s showing up in shape for training camp, because if you show up in shape for training camp, check the box, we can work. All the things that you aspire for that season individually and as a team, those are on the table.”
The Dolphins plan to host 10 practices open to fans in Miami Gardens, beginning with ‘Back Together Weekend’ on July 30. Tickets are sold out for all but the stadium practice on Saturday, Aug 5.
Miami’s preseason begins on Friday, Aug. 9 against the Atlanta Falcons. The Dolphins have scheduled joint practices with all three preseason opponents before the regular season kicks off Sept. 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“If you don’t show up in shape and use training camp to get in shape, well one – that’s the No. 1 variable for soft tissue injuries,” McDaniel said. “You get a soft tissue injury, then now you’re out two weeks and you haven’t even started getting back in shape until three weeks in, and how is your game going to develop.
“Or if you don’t get injured, trying to get Week 1 ready is very difficult because of the unique hurdles that preseason schedules provide where you have the bye week, there’s like three days off transition before the first game.”
McDaniel and the Dolphins hit the ground running with three-game winning streaks to begin each of the last two seasons. Next season starts with three of the first four games at home, then three road games in four weeks following a Week 6 bye.
“And then you have different nuances the weekend before all of which make the ability to sustain the shape you’re in plausible – not getting in shape, there’s not enough reps,” McDaniel said. “So illustrating how everything that you are working for on the table, how nothing – you can’t even venture to that journey if those six weeks aren’t appropriately attacked.
“That’s what I’m really getting at them, because that’s the one thing that everyone is depending on.”
