Dolphins
Miami was blown out in Indianapolis in Week 1, and QB Tua Tagovailoa finished with two picks and 114 passing yards. Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel kept it honest and said Tagovailoa needs to step up, along with the rest of the team.
“I saw quarterback play that was less than to be desired, which Tua absolutely knows,” McDaniel said, via Adam Stites of the Dolphins Wire. “But he’s the captain and the franchise quarterback, and everybody kind of fell victim to something similar. I also know that he’s very, very much like most quarterbacks, to be honest, where you’re putting a lot of work into something and your first time doing it for a collective four quarters in months, you’re not at your best.”
- Tagovailoa, after another loss in Week 2: “We can’t have any of this. 0-2, we’re not saying this is the end of it. But me and Waddle I don’t think have started a season 0-2. I wouldn’t say there’s alerts going on. What are we doing that we’ve done other years, to where we’ve had explosives, timing? I did hear the boos. It’s part of the game.” (Joe Schad)
- Dolphins RB De’Von Achane on the loss: “It’s a game of inches. Even though I went out of bounds, we have penalties at the end of the game, we can’t have. We can’t have stuff like that, especially in that moment. We have to fix the mistakes quickly. The way we played today is not going to work (in Buffalo).” (Joe Schad)
Dolphins
Dolphins veteran LB Willie Gay Jr. didn’t record any snaps in the team’s Week 1 blowout loss to the Colts despite getting praised throughout camp. Miami DC Anthony Weaver regrets not playing Gay and admits he needs to find a way to get him out there going forward.
“I gotta find a way to get Willie on the field, and I told him that the next day,” Weaver said, via Adam Stites of the Dolphins Wire. “There was a plan, certainly, to get him in the game. Plans change, right? There was some chaos there for a little bit. But he’s impactful. He’s earned the right to get on the field, so I gotta make that happen.”
- Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel, following the Week 2 loss: “Guys are very frustrated — but like I told the team, it makes me even more venomous how we responded to a start that we absolutely did not want again. “The weaker mind says, ‘here we go again,’ but that was not the case today.” (Marcel Louis-Jacques)
- McDaniel continued: “I’m very frustrated — there’s some coaches and players that did not execute communication with the game on the line … Our communication and substitution was not up to par — but ultimately I hold responsibility for all things.”
Patriots
Patriots OC Josh McDaniels made it clear that second-year QB Drake Maye is the “right guy” for the team.
“The biggest thing for me is he’s a young quarterback. He’s a young quarterback. He’s learning through all these experiences. He’s the right guy,” McDaniels said, via PatriotsWire.com. “So, we’re going to have an opportunity to continue to improve and get better. I think I’d really be jumping ahead or jumping the gun if I sit here and try to pinpoint one or two things (to improve). We work on a lot of things to try and get better every day. He’s going to improve.”
- Maye is the only player from the Patriots’ 2024 draft still remaining with the team. (Jeremy Fowler)
- Patriots RT Morgan Moses is wearing a walking boot in the locker room after suffering an ankle injury in Week 2. (Doug Kyed)
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