Well, now we know that the Dolphins as an institution aren’t the only ones in denial.
The individual parts of the team are now insisting that last year wasn’t really a problem either.
Dolphins center Mike Pouncey told reporters today he had no regrets with the way last season unfolded for the Dolphins, and that he didn’t need the league-mandated mental health evaluation that stemmed from the Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin bullying scandal.
Asked what that evaluation entailed, Pouncey replied: “I have no clue, but I don’t think I need that. I don’t think I do,” via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
Asked if he had any regrets about last season, Pouncey said: “No, not at all.”
That kind of tone-deafness shouldn’t be a surprise, after he joked on Twitter about first-round pick Ja’Wuan James getting him gifts.
“Obviously, it was a joke, but I’m not here to be a distraction,” Pouncey said of the ill-conceived tweet. “It’s all about football right now. We’ve moved on from that.”
He might think he has, but there’s clearly a persistent problem here. The Dolphins rolled the dice on draft weekend, choosing two and signing a third player who had been thrown off their college teams. While all situations are unique, adding more players who had problems fitting in is likely the last thing the team needed.
And now with Pouncey taking a defiant tone about the steps established for him, it appears clear the lessons learned are few and far between.