Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel Postgame Transcript 1/4

DOLPHINS HEAD COACH MIKE MCDANIEL

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

January 4, 2026

Q: How’d you feel coming out of the game, first half, as far as your team – kind of got back into the game, and then the way Quinn [Ewers] played?

MM: Yeah, so our expectations as a team were to – we were trying to go win the game in the first half. I feel like the game felt the way we anticipated. We knew it was going to be – we were going against a good opponent and we were going to have to make some plays. It was a one-score game, 10-17. Realistically, out the half, we drove down the length of the field, that interception and then the consequential drive down for a touchdown kind of appeared to break the team’s back. I think Quinn did a good job growing in this game. There were some plays in the first half that he was able to make, avoided some sacks and I think there was the fourth-and-1 that I thought he made a real good throw to Cedrick Wilson [Jr.] [on]. He’ll learn from some of the second half stuff that ended up transpiring, but overall he did a good job growing. But for this team and this game, you can’t really say anything was quite good enough. He’ll have some very frustrating moments to learn from, seeing that the offseason will start tomorrow.

Q: Team-wise, when you had that stretch of second halves, got it done, kond of got over that last week, and then here again it comes back to haunt you one more time.

MM: Yeah, each game is unique to its own. This game I didn’t feel like specifically the – it didn’t feel, on the field, like the Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati game, however, it kind of played out that way. I have a strong motivation to take the offseason to kind of figure out what we can do from a controllables standpoint, from a schematic standpoint, from how we operate, because that’s – the game’s won in the second half. When things don’t fall in your favor, you have to be able to adjust. I look back all the way to my second game here against the Ravens, we were down 28-7 at halftime, and a lot of your wins in the course of a season, for playoff teams – which is the nonnegotiable, only expectation to be in that mix – you have to win games where things aren’t ideal in the third quarter, so we’ve got to figure that out. That will be led by me, for sure.

Q: So, you’ve talked about all season, you have a lot of young players. Rookies and some second-year guys that have played a lot of downs, and then with the core veterans you have, do you think this is a team that can – this team turns it around in a year? Do you think you have the capability with the guys you have in that locker room?

MM: I think I’ve learned a lot about the players on this team. You get the most information when you have a team that goes through trials and tribulations, and for this team, that started early in the season. And so, I do have a tremendous amount of silver lining with regard to who is going to have to change the results moving forward. There’s a lot of young players that learned the lessons of the National Football League the hard way. When you start 1-6 and your season’s left for dead, and then you breathe life back into it, for all the young guys that we’re going to be relying upon moving forward, the guys that are on their rookie contracts, it was an incredible learning experience. That’s probably the silver lining, the only takeaway that I can take away is, moving forward, you have the opportunity to be surrounded by guys that don’t blink in adversity. That’s a huge part of this game. Unfortunately, it’s going to be hard for me to really focus on silver linings right now, but your point is very much real, that you can’t supplement stuff, situations like this. No one wants to go home while other people are playing, so you have to rest on the frustration, look it in the eye and make sure you use it to your advantage moving forward, and nothing else.

Q: Are you expecting to be back next season? Have you received any assurance?

MM: The conversations all stay consistent with – the conversations that I have with ownership, I won’t opine on, but I think I’m operating the same exact way that I always have, which is no one’s entitled to anything. I take the job serious, and so I will aggressively attack the job tomorrow and like every day that I have the job because I think it’s supremely important to not minimize your responsibility and what people need from you. I think, realistically, I understand the question and appreciate it, but I’m going to keep my conversations with ownership to myself and ownership.

Q: When you look at the time that you’ve spent here with the Dolphins and you think about the highs and the lows, what stands out the most?

MM: I think that might be a great question for tomorrow. We just finished a game that the whole locker room and coaching staff really wanted to finish the season on a different note. Regardless, even if you know your season’s coming to an end, there’s this team, which will never be the exact same team again, you’re kind of mourning that, and I feel that it would be doing a disservice to your question and to the team if I really elaborated and reflected right now. You can save that one in your hip pocket for tomorrow.

Q: What was your message to players in that locker room? A lot of them may not play here again.

MM: It was very much similar to that, where I try to focus on the game directly after the game and refrain from doing a disservice to the reflection itself. I’ll see them tomorrow. We’ll have a team meeting, so I kind of just saved all the conversation for this particular game, one that we had a lot of vigor to come out of halftime with the ball and go even the score, and we drove down, fell short and the wheels fell off. So, that was mostly my focus. I don’t trivialize what your saying, the reality that is the NFL and everyone can’t be together. So, we’ll have clarity with that tomorrow and I’ll reserve that for tomorrow’s conversations.

Q: How would you assess the totality of three starts for Quinn Ewers at quarterback?

MM: The major thing with Quinn, the expectation isn’t to be the final product. The expectation is to go play the game, be able to lead the troops and make some plays while you do that, each start growing. I thought he did a great job each and every start adding to the lessons learned while on the sidelines, and then while under center. I thought he did a good job competing, made some plays that are difficult to make. Like I said before, maybe the game’s a little different if that fourth-and-1 we end up being in the box score and we get a touchdown. I thought he made a really good play on that. So, I was pleased, not looking at the tape, but in-game, the game is definitely not too big for him. He’s a competitor that guys play for.

Q: I’m sure he still needs some evaluation, but [inaudible] with that knee?

MM: I think we’ll still get some more evaluation, but from all things, initially seems to be stable and doesn’t seem to be what people would fear.