National Football League

Dolphins coaches address player frustrations after emotional loss

Published Dec. 8, 2014 6:00 p.m. ET

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DAVIE, Fla. -- The mood at the Miami Dolphins practice facility was about what you'd imagine it to be a day after their tough 28-13 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

The defeat has left Miami at 7-6 for the season and dropped them to the ninth seed behind three teams including the Ravens in the AFC wild-card chase. With a road game coming up next against the New England Patriots who are eager for revenge after their Week 1 loss in Miami, the team has little time to fox all their issues on both sides of the ball.

A grim-looking Joe Philbin didn't pull any punches on Monday in his assessment of his team, who went scoreless in the second and third quarter after racing out to a 10-0 lead Sunday. What used to be a reliable defense has instead struggled in the past three games, especially down the stretch.

"I don't feel like we played well in the fourth quarter yesterday," he said. "That's my responsibility as the head coach of the team. The team should play well in the fourth quarter and there is no case to be made that we played well in the fourth quarter. That starts with me. We have to do better there. We have to finish games better. We have to learn from the mistakes. We have to correct them. We have to get ready to play an excellent team this week."

Quarterback Joe Flacco led a versatile Ravens offense down the field in the second half for consecutive touchdown drives of 97, 75, 80 and 81 yards. Miami's offense never got going again after the first quarter, with their offensive line unable to provide enough protection for Ryan Tannehill. They scored just once more on a 34-yard field goal from Caleb Sturgis early in the fourth quarter before the Ravens added two more touchdowns.

"We have to do a better job," said Philbin. "There were a couple of things we have to do better. We had our run-fits at times weren't as good as they needed to be. Our tackling wasn't as good as it needs to be. Our block protection, there are certain fundamentals in football in run defense that have to show up on a consistent basis. Sometimes we play the run. Obviously, early in the game we played the run pretty well. Later in the game, we did not play the run very well. We have to be more consistent and execute better."

What might be complicating matters goes beyond what the players need to do on the field to correct their play. Emotions have run high from several players as of late in the locker room following games. Wide receiver Mike Wallace has long shown frustration with his limited role in the offense and a visibly upset Jared Odrick was caught on sideline cameras having choice words for Philbin, an incident which both Odrick and Philbin downplayed after the game.

"It's an emotional game," Odrick said on Sunday. "I think one thing that I bring to the game of football is emotion and I try to do it in the most positive way possible. It may have looked like I was yelling negative things and that there was a disagreement, but every game there's a disagreement.

"Emotions are running high and I hate to say that any of that was a detriment to our team. I probably should have calmed down a little earlier than that, but it's tough when you want to win a football game. Emotion is all a part of this game and it's tough to gauge it sometimes."

Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle insisted there is no rift between the players and the coaching staff nor have they been openly questioning the team's game plan.

"I think the players have a lot of faith in what we do," he said. "I really believe that. I think, when you don't have success in anything, there's always going to be some questioning. I think, at the end of the day, when the players look at the tape, they see the situations we were in, why things were called, why things were done a certain way, I think at the end of the day they realize that we're doing everything we can to put them in the best spot possible."

Philbin said on Monday that he "absolutely" believes the players have the same faith in him and the coaches now as they did entering the season. It's clear though that the team has had difficulty closing out games when they should be surging at a critical time in the schedule and he will have to shoulder a significant amount of criticism if they do miss the playoffs.

Though the team's chances of making the playoffs appear slim now, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said the relationship between the players and the coaching staff remains as strong as ever.

"We've got players here that I feel like can talk to me and that I can speak with," he said. "It's a very professional atmosphere. I feel good about it. To me, I've been in a lot of atmospheres in the NFL. It comes down to Joe Philbin and how he's built the team."

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.