The NFL penalized the Dolphins earlier this week for a blatant, multi-year tampering effort to an effort to acquire Sean Payton and Tom Brady. The penalties included the loss of a first-round draft selection.
New coach Mike McDaniel isn’t worried about it affecting the 2022 team, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, believing the locker room is insulated.
He said he will not address it with the players.
“You can say a lot by saying a lot or by not saying anything at all,” McDaniel said, via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post. “We have an incredible challenge in front of us is the 2022 Dolphins. I think the players are owed complete and utter focus on that. So I think there’s power in not giving legs to something that doesn’t really affect those 2022 players.”
Tight end Durham Smythe said the tampering penalties are “out of all our control in the building,” so the players aren’t talking about it or worrying about it. That’s exactly as McDaniel had hoped and expected.
“Players are owed a lot by coaches for what they sacrifice,” McDaniel said. “So I wouldn’t do them a disservice by spending any time on things that aren’t 100 percent focused on what’s important to them and their job at hand, which is making a football team and then being held accountable for their efforts moving forward on game days.”