What McDaniel Wants to See After Tough Practice vs. Lions

The Miami Dolphins’ joint practice against the Detroit Lions did not go well on Wednesday.

Almost every report indicated the Dolphins looked well behind the Lions in every facet. Multiple players, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, expressed their frustration with Miami’s performance, too.

So, what does coach Mike McDaniel want to see during Thursday’s practice?

“It will be tricky. Results do help, for sure,” McDaniel said. “I'm hoping for better results. Honestly, it's like, I don't really care about results that aren't measured in some sort of challenge. So, like if we're getting completions because of a drop coverage or we're getting a tackle for loss because of a busted blocking assignment, that doesn't matter to me. I want to see either contested wins or losses. I want to see guys improve on specifically the things that we've been focusing on.”

McDaniel has talked a lot about process over results during his time with the Dolphins, and his thoughts on Wednesday’s practice are no different.

He acknowledged the team’s results weren’t great, but he’s more concerned with how players are executing this time of year.

“And I wanna see our individuals be highly motivated,” McDaniel said. “And then I wanna see that application in team periods. And to me, the more I see that, results will definitely be more positive. How positive? Again, the results of a score that doesn't matter don't drive and motivate me ever.”

Wednesday’s practice was highlighted by big plays in the passing game for the Lions, while the Dolphins’ passing game struggled to find footing without Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown looked unstoppable at times, but McDaniel isn’t worried about how many catches St. Brown has or how many touchdowns Tua throws for. He wants to know whether his cornerbacks and receivers are in the right place.

I didn't like practice because there were a lot of negative results tied to things that we've been working on in our process,” McDaniel said. “So, I'm cool with contested losses. I'm not cool with busts. I'm cool with DB making a great play. I'm not cool with a receiver running the wrong route — those types of things.”

While it’s easy to get caught up in the results of a practice, it’s important to remember that each team’s goals in practice are different.

Some teams might be working on new plays that they’re less comfortable with, or putting players in positions where they’re going to be tested more than normal.

That’s not an excuse for how the Dolphins performed on Wednesday, but McDaniel did mention that one reason St. Brown saw so much 1-on-1 coverage is that they wanted to see how their young cornerback room responded to the challenge.

“I got to learn so much about the cornerback unit because I challenged a lot of guys to do semi-uncomfortable things against super good receivers and one-on-ones,” McDaniel said. “You learn, okay, what type of boldness that person has, or are they just going to rely on stuff that's worked before. Having said that, what a great rep of seeing how people respond after they get punched. And that's all that matters.”

That’s probably the best way to sum up what the Dolphins need to accomplish on Thursday. They got punched on Wednesday — in both process and results. Thursday is an opportunity to punch back.

And for a team looking to change its culture, it’s hard to ask for a better opportunity.

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