For the teams that aren’t in the playoffs and aren’t embarking on coaching searches, this week begins the self-scouting process, as they try to figure out what went wrong with their seasons.
And as the Dolphins look inward, they have plenty to digest.
“It’s disappointing,” tight end Anthony Fasano said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “Everyone had higher expectations. What the major factor was was distractions. We couldn’t handle distractions.”
You might want to sit down and take a deep breath before considering what they had to deal with this season.
To begin with, they lost starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a season-ending knee injury in training camp. Then they replaced him with Jay Cutler. Then there was a hurricane which postponed their opener and cost them a bye week. Then there was the assistant coach getting fired after a video leaked of him doing drugs while talking to a hooker. Then there was linebacker Lawrence Timmons going AWOL during their trip to Los Angeles. Then there was Rey Maualuga arrested for battery in a nightclub incident, a few hours before he was supposed to be at practice. Then a bunch of players lost it and got into a brawl in the finale.
When you think of it, it’s almost a miracle they went 6-10, and had a shot at the playoffs before losing three straight to end the season.
So as they begin the rebuild, they might want to look for players who want to be there, and show a little resilience once they arrive.