DAVIE, Fla. _ There is a universal theme coming out of Davie this week, and it's as refreshing as a glass of lemonade on a humid South Florida day.
And it's something that needed to be said because the Miami Dolphins players needed to hear it.
The Dolphins stunk in every aspect of football in last Sunday's embarrassing season-opening 59-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and coach Brian Flores acknowledged, "that starts with me."
"Obviously I didn't do a good enough job of getting this team prepared to play," Flores said.
In fairness to Miami's rookie head coach, it wasn't like general manager Chris Grier handed him and his staff a complete roster full of veterans.
Five players started their first NFL game for the Dolphins on Sunday, and 11 of the 13 newcomers added to the team over the past week played in the game despite participating in just three practices.
Miami's offensive line had worked together for all of three practices before playing one of the most physical football teams in the NFL.
But still, coaches don't want to hear excuses for poor execution during game day, and neither do players.
That's why one by one Flores' coordinators followed his message on Monday and fell on their sword. They reiterated on Tuesday that the game plan against the Ravens was flawed, acknowledging that they didn't make the appropriate adjustments during the game, and that the utilization of the team's personnel could have been better.
Pair that with the team's poor execution on offense, defense and special teams and the end result was the worst season-opening loss in franchise history, which isn't exactly the way Flores and his staff intended to begin their era.
"Overall, our execution can be better in a lot of areas," said offensive coordinator Chad O'Shea said, who is in his first season as a play-caller. "We can coach better. We can play with better technique and better fundamentals.
"All of us can get better."
An admission for their role in Sunday's debacle was likely meant for the fans, media, and most importantly the players, who have been looking at these coaches and the front office with a side-eye glance since Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills and Kiko Alonso, three of the team's better players, got traded away a little over a week ago, and numerous veterans who held starting roles got released.
Dolphins players are aware of the theory that the franchise is tanking this season for the No. 1 draft pick next year. What they need clarity on is whether or not Miami's coaches are in on it.
They need to be certain Miami's coaches are putting the team in position to be successful each week, and the jury is still deliberating that topic.
"I could have coached better. There is no question about that," said Patrick Graham, who is in his first season as an NFL defensive coordinator. "It's a new day, and thankfully we have another opportunity this weekend to get better."
In preparation for this week's opponent _ the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots _ the emphasis will be placed on improving the fundamentals of football.
The Ravens film is being used as an instructional tool to help the team grow and improve.
Graham reiterated flushing Sunday's blowout loss, and moving forward starts with the head coach, and trickles down to the coordinators and position coaches, and then the players, which are led by their four captains and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
He said there's an open line of communication inside the organization, and that was evident as defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was involved on two Ravens touchdowns, and Flores were spotted sitting in the lunchroom having a seemingly animated conversation on Monday.
"We are doing this thing together," Graham added. "That's a big part of it, having a clear line of communication and understanding about what each one of us expects from one another."
The Dolphins players want a fair chance to compete and a legitimate opportunity to win games this season, and that starts with the game plan and proper personnel usage.
"We've got to do a better job of getting them ready to play as a coaching staff. That starts with me," Flores said.
"Yeah, we had a lot of new faces. But again, we're not going to make excuses, we're not pointing fingers, we're not going to feel sorry for ourselves. The situation is what the situation is. We've got to make the best of the situation. We've got to play better than we did (Sunday)."
