Dolphins know they wasted a prime opportunity with playoff loss
Let’s start here: this season wasn’t successful for the Miami Dolphins.
No way.
The season wasn’t a failure.
But it was close.
I’m not declaring an absolute. The season was somewhere between success and failure, and it leans much closer to the latter than the former.
The Dolphins wasted a season with one of the most talent-rich rosters in the NFL.
They know that.
That’s why there was so much pain in that locker room Saturday night.
Lots and lots of pain.
Jaylen Waddle
Reporters were in the locker room after the Dolphins’ disappointing 26-7 wild-card round playoff loss, which featured the once-mighty and now injury-riddled team slamming into an iceberg known as the Kansas City Chiefs in subzero temperatures at Arrowhead Stadium.
We’re gathered around wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, a guy who is always upbeat and smiling.
On this occasion, predictably, he was somber.
The Dolphins lost, and was been slowed by a high ankle sprain in the past few weeks.
Asked whether it was a successful season:
“As far as what?” he asked.
The team.
“No,” he replied flatly.
What would qualify as a successful season? Does it have to be a Super Bowl to be successful?
Waddle turned that question on the questioner.
“What do you think, with our roster?” he asked the reporter.
A few playoff wins.
“I’d say the same,” Waddle said.
Robert Hunt
I walked up to right guard Rob Hunt, who was sitting on a stool by his locker.
Hunt, who battled hamstring injuries late in the season, has a big personality. You know when he’s in the room.
Predictably, he was subdued in the postgame locker room.
Was it a successful season?
“We did some good things,” he began. “For the organization, we did some good things. Me, personally, it sucks. This is my fourth year and I’ve grown to love the city, love the place. I definitely wanted to help get that playoff win that we have got in a couple years. I mean, in 20-something years, so (expletive), you take that any way you want to take that. Yeah.”
You won’t use injuries as an excuse, but are they part of the explanation for the season?
“We had a really good team this year,” he said. “It was a really deep team. Injuries are a part of the game unfortunately. That’s the card we got dealt and even with all the injuries I think guys stepped up and played their asses off to try to get wins, and that’s all you can ask for.
“We had a good team, we had a deep team. It was a really good team, a really good locker room, and it sucks. Same (expletive).”
David Long
Linebacker David Long is one of the most intense players on the team. I grew to like him the more I talked to him, starting around midseason. He’s insightful and candid with a sense of humor.
He was struggling to find the right words in the locker room.
“It’s hard to talk after a loss like this,” he told a group of reporters.
Then came another reporter inquiring about the frustration level.
“The frustration level?” Long said. “It’s high, of course. Especially when you have so many great guys on a team like this. It’s rare that you’re a part of a team like this so the frustration is high.
“I don’t think we lacked anything in this game. No question, we lost people. But I think we had enough to get it done. It just didn’t come out our way. Shout out to them.”
Raheem Mostert
Running back Raheem Mostert has been a blessing for reporters. He won our “Good Guy” Award, given to the player who most helps you do your job on a daily basis. Mostert is always there for us and offers great anecdotes from his past on and off the field, whether it’s growing as a surfer in New Smyrna Beach, or keeping a list of every team that ever cut him. He’s an interesting guy.
And Mostert, who battled knee and ankle injuries down the stretch, didn’t make any excuses for the weather, which was minus-4 at kickoff with a minus-27 wind chill.
“At the end of the day we all bleed the same color and we all have to go through the same conditions, so you have to line it up and be ready to play ball,” he said. “That’s as far as I can go with that. You can’t give any excuses on how cold it was because the other team had to deal with the same cold and the same temperature. You’ve got to go out here and just play ball and be the best, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case for us.”
Zach Sieler
Defensive lineman Zach Sieler was incredibly emotional and borderline choked up as he spoke in the postgame locker room. Some of his defensive line teammates — Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Emmanuel Ogbah — might not be back because of contract reasons. Sometimes the business side of the NFL collides with the personal side.
“A lot of things are going through my head right now,” Sieler said. “This is not how we wanted the season to end. I think one of the hardest things for me right now is I spent probably the last four years with Christian, Raekwon, Ogbah, and all that being up in the air is just really kind of hitting me right now.
“I love those guys. We’ve all grown up so much together as a unit, friends, and just seeing each other all grow so much on and off the field. So it’s pretty emotional, but I know that God’s got a plan and everything’s going to work out.”
