The Miami Dolphins will be prepared for anything amid the uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There will be plenty of audibles called throughout the course of this season, but the Dolphins have done their best to ensure they are ready for anyone to need to take time away from the team. And when we say anyone, we mean anyone.
Brian Flores met with the South Florida media yesterday to talk about the Dolphins’ return to training camp and the strength and conditioning programs. During the call, it was asked if the Dolphins have plans in place for if any member of the coaching staff were to test positive for the virus and how the team would handle that scenario.
“To your question, yeah, we talked about (coaches needing to quarantine) in the spring. Everyone’s got a backup. Everyone’s got two backups. It’s something we’ve talked about,” said Flores.
“We’re taking the same approach we take with the players. If I go down, we’re doing this, if the d-line coach goes down, we’re doing this and so on and so forth. It’s something we’ve talked about, but it’s not just on the coaches and players. It’s staff. It’s our strength and conditioning coach, head trainer, head equipment guy, nutritionist. You have to have a plan for everyone, especially in times like these.”
The contingency plans in place for the Dolphins and their support staff is impressive, but also necessary. NFL teams operate as finely tuned operations and any disruption in the daily work flow that is not accounted for could cause distractions and possibly even a competitive disadvantage — and so Miami will enter this season with a “next man or woman up” mentality across the board — not just for their players but also for those in Davie who help keep the Dolphins healthy, fed, equipped to play and coached to execute.
