Coach speak has been one of few consistencies of the Miami Dolphins
Can you think of any other ones? This is the only one I can think of at the moment.
Former Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase took some heat recently after a press conference when he stated his Jets team looks great in practice after an 0-5 start. I am willing to bet almost anything he had made those exact statements when he was a coach for the Dolphins.
One thing that has and likely will stay the same in the NFL is coaches bending and contorting things in order to walk a tight line. They do so in order to stay in the good graces of the front office and the players alike. In some corners, these are called lies.
It is nice to have transcripts and rundowns after games and these are posted all over social media, seemingly hanging on every word. But just how much truth can be mined out of such statements? Coaches will come up with almost anything under the blue skies in order to walk that tight line. Here is a look at some things Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has said recently.
Tua getting a few snaps in potentially could help him Brian Flores says. But he’s not in favor of it because of rhythm of offense disruption.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 7, 2020
Joe Schad posted this after the loss to the Seahawks. He is a Miami Dolphins journalist for the Palm Beach Post. Flores stated he didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm of the offense. I’m counting six field goals and a touchdown with less than 2 minutes left in the game and the score was 31-15, looking at the box score against the Seattle Seahawks. This might be a rhythm to the coach, but you have to come away with more than a FG when you keep driving the field against a team with the stature of the Seahawks.
Former Dolphins coach Tony Sparano may have been fist-pumping from heaven. And got an added bonus of five more field goals the next game, the TD’s were cherries on top. Not to downplay the 43-17 beat down over 49ers, it was great!
Ok, by now you are probably reading through the lines and know that I am advocating for some playing time for Tua Tagovailoa. Joe Schad might have been doing the same after that Seahawks game, with his own nitpicking of coach speak in an article he wrote. He states that coach Flores said back then, he is holding Tua back dues to medical concerns. Schad retorts: Why have Tua at second string if that is the case? And he also wonders if the true intention is to red-shirt him for the whole season. You can read his story here.
Joe makes some strong points by stating why even have him as a backup if he never sees the field? And I have to add that soon after his story coach Flores changed his line to Tua just isn’t ready football-wise. This only adds to the contortion and speculation.
Related Story. Miami Dolphins Jason Sanders breaks team record in field goals by Brian Miller. light
One last resent contradicting Flores statement: We don’t want Tua in there to just make handoffs. When asked about the fake punt in the mauling of the 49ers. “We don’t sit on leads”, queue the Chris Rock meme saying. Huh? And looking crosswise.
Maybe wanting to put Tua out there in the Seahawks game was a bit of a stretch, but if you truly want this rookie to be ready to get out there when needed, and in the NFL anything can happen. Then having him in for stints when the games are out of reach one way or the other seems imperative.
The longer this doesn’t take place the more of a head-scratcher it becomes.