Miami's Mediocre Mind-Set

The Miami Dolphins have a problem and it isn’t the fact that they currently sit at 0-2. It has nothing to do with their time management issue which Dan Henning took responsibility for…at least part of it. Nothing to do with rookies, play calling, QB’s, or the “Wild Cat”. It does however have to do with this quote from Dan Henning. 

"“Chad made a great read on the ball that he threw to [Ted Ginn Jr.] down in the end zone, and I would expect that Teddy feels that five out of 10 times he’s going to come down with that ball,” Henning said, referring to the possible 42-yard touchdown pass Ginn dropped. “If he had [caught the ball] we wouldn’t have said anything about the two-minute (drive) then."

So therein lies the problem. Expecations. The comments that Dan Henning made is a microcosm of what this franchise has become over the last decade and something that the Miami Dolphins fans have come to expect on the field. Mediocrity. Ted Ginn would have been “expected” to make that catch 5 out of 10 times? What’s the matter with 8 out of 10. Or God forbid 9 out of 10. Again, this is the problem with the Dolphins.

How can Ted Ginn expect more from himself if the coaching staff doesn’t expect more from him? Is the quote by Henning taken to literal by me instead of taking it as a simple quote and nothing more in regards to the rest of his sentence…”had Ginn caught the ball”? The arguments along these lines are a decade old. Jay Fiedler was a tough SOB but he wasn’t a great QB. Chris Chambers made fantastic catches but couldn’t make the ones that were easy, the ones that don’t make the highlight reel.

The point is simple, and yes I know that I own a rather well known disdain for the WR, but Ted Ginn is mediocre and the comment by Henning tends to back that assessment up. Last year this team did very well but they did so on the shoulders of the Wildcat and smart play, what wasn’t a huge part of that season was of course the play of Ted Ginn, our number 1 WR.

The Dolphins will not accept mediocrity in their seasonal record. They bark that they are there to win it all. They fight to go further and get better. They strive for perfection but they do so with imperfect decisions. They do so with the understanding that this is the best they have to work with and they seem to accept that.

I have nothing personal against Ginn other than the fact that I don’t think he possesses the heart to play at this level. That is not a knock because many football players don’t. It’s not his fault he was drafted number 9 overall or drafted at all for that matter. If the Dolphins said they wanted to draft me number 1 this year, I would let them and then I would proceed to laugh to the bank. I don’t think Ted Ginn is laughing.

Ginn is a nice kid but an NFL superstar or even a future star he is not. When he learns to take the hits, then he will have a chance to become a better WR. Unfortunately, I don’t think he can anymore. That time has passed. So has, in my opinion, the years of mediocrity. If the staff expects perfection then they need to have individuals on the team that expect perfection from themselves. Ted Ginn’s days are over and the coaching staff needs to stop thinking 50 percent is o.k. 5 of 10 is not going to cut it. The reality of the world may be 50% but you have to expect more. The Dolphins, or at least the taken out of context quote by Dan Henning suggests otherwise.