Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel wasn't caught off guard by the boos that rained down from the hometown fans during Monday's dismal outing in a 31-12 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
"I guess it didn't hit me with surprise," the coach said Tuesday of the boos, via the official transcript. "I think people invest and have to go and believe in a team that has, bottom-line, the droughts that this organization has incurred. I don't take that lightly. So I would be dishonest if I told you that I didn't expect that."
Entering the season with heightened expectations in McDaniel's third season, it's getting late early in Miami. The Dolphins fell to 1-3 ahead of a Week 5 showdown with the New England Patriots.
The Tua Tagovailoa injury has played a part in the early season struggles, but it isn't the entire story. The Fins have struggled on both sides of the ball through four games, particularly in the trenches.
The Dolphins are the only team in the NFL that has not led in a game through Week 4. The 2017 Browns (finished 0-16) are the last team to never lead through four games of a season. After last season's explosive start, Miami has lost six of its past seven games, including playoffs.
Monday night, the locals voiced their frustrations.
"The worst part about all of that is you have people that I can relate where weeks are ruined with losses and the worst part about it is you don't have any control," McDaniel said. "So that's not a fun place to be in. I know sporting events where I'm rooting for a team and I'm not coaching in it, I get much more angry when there's failure than when I'm coaching and I can actually problem-solve something. It's to be expected. This is the big leagues. To feel entitled to blind support, that's not my cup of tea. I think you have to go to work, problem-solve and try to fix things as best you can, and I don't think we're necessarily owed anything. I think people believe when you give them reason to believe, and if people jump off the bandwagon..."
McDaniel admitted that it's up to the club to earn fans' trust back.
"I'm not really villainizing the people who are jumping off the bandwagon; it's more we gave them reason to," he said. "So that's to be expected. I don't think people pay what they pay to go to Hard Rock Stadium to watch us lose, so whatever results incurred by our game-day failure, we deserve."
The Dolphins can turn things around against a Patriots team that they've beaten six of the past seven times (3-1 under McDaniel). Sunday marks the first meeting between the Dolphins and Patriots with both teams entering below .500 since 1991 -- Week 11, 1991: Miami (entered 4-5) defeated New England (entered 3-6), 30-20, in Miami; starting QBs: Dan Marino (MIA) and Hugh Millen (NE).
