Coach Mike McDaniel responds to former Dolphins safety who called 2023 team 'soft'

C. Isaiah Smalls II, Miami Herald on Nov 13, 2024

Published in Football

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MIAMI — The 2023 Miami Dolphins put up historic offensive numbers.

Various players set franchise records for rushing touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards en route to leading the league in total yards.

But former Dolphins safety DeShone Elliott doesn’t have the best memories of that 2023 squad, calling the team “soft” during an episode of the “Punch Line Podcast with Marlon Humphrey.”

“I haven’t been able to play against Baltimore the way I wanted to because last year I played up for a team that was soft as [expletive],” said Elliott, who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He later added that “there were some guys who were tough, but like for the majority of the team, there was not mentally tough individuals. So, to be on a team with the full team of mentally tough guys going against another mentally tough team and AFC North ball, it’s going to be fun.”

Coach Mike McDaniel, however, didn’t seem to care about Elliott’s comments.

“Our team played a tough-fought game the past three weeks and ended up finding a way to win this past week,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “That’s not the easiest thing to do.

“I’m just worried about this year’s team. He said it on a podcast? Cool podcast.”

On Sunday, the Steelers will face the Ravens, the team that Elliott spent the first two years of his career after being drafted in 2020. He played the 2022 season for the Detroit Lions before the safety joined the Dolphins in 2023.

“Miami, it’s a distraction,” Elliott said. “I would say that we already didn’t hang out much as a team, because there’s so much to do in Miami. So guys are dispersed so much, and everyone thought they were somebody because of the mind-set of, ‘Oh, I’m In Miami, I can be somebody different,’ you know? And then we go into that city, and I felt like we were a really good team.”

Elliott then said that “the heart and soul for that team disappeared” once the “injury bug hit us.”

“You could just tell like the Miami culture is the reason why Miami will never be good,” Elliott continued. “Like Miami will never be a good football team. I don’t care. They will never be good because of the Miami culture. I think they have great players. The culture is not going to be there. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s true.”

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