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NFL Fans Roast Miami Dolphins for Removing Ping-Pong Tables To Try and Turn Things Around

Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a scandal. Nothing serious, though, as this one involves a ping-pong table and the Miami Dolphins‘ locker room.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel revealed Wednesday that the ping-pong table in the locker room had been removed at the request of Miami’s team captains. McDaniel claimed that team captains such as receiver Tyreek Hill thought that the ping-pong table had become a distraction. He applauded his cast of captains for their leadership on the heels of back-to-back losses.

“Tyreek and the captains decided that they wanted to take a step forward with all their opponent prep with regard to the team and their preparation with our game plans in general,” McDaniel said, via CBS Sports. “… That, to me, is leadership. To me, leadership is acting, not talking. There’s a bunch of different examples from those guys, and that’s why they’re captains and that’s why I rely on them, because it’s about solving problems, not complaining about them.

“They, collectively, as a group of players, wanted more time investment during the week on their jobs for Sunday. So instead of just saying it, they did something about it. And that’s the whole reason that I really have a lot of love for those guys.”

Now if you think about what McDaniel said, can you come to the conclusion that Miami’s 40-17 loss to the New York Jets (3-2) in Week 5 has broken the team? To some fans, that might have been the breaking point for McDaniel and the Dolphins.

Would Jets rookie running back Breece Hall have run for less yards if the ping-pong table had been removed prior to the game? You be the judge on that one.

Tyreek Hill Refutes Mike McDaniel’s Claim

Hill, meanwhile, refuted his head coach’s claim on Thursday. Per Hill, said ping-pong table was bent and thus, removed from the locker room. He promised that a custom-made table will be coming soon and the ping-pong tournament between the players will still commence.

Dolphins to Start 3rd Different QB This Season

The Dolphins will have a tough task ahead of them in Week 6, looking to avoid a third consecutive loss. Miami travels to Minnesota to play the Vikings (4-1) on Sunday and will do so with a new man under center. With Tua Tagovailoa in concussion protocol and Teddy Bridgewater making his way back out of the protocol, it will be rookie Skylar Thompson getting the start for the Dolphins.

McDaniel said Wednesday that while Tagovailoa could exit the protocol this week, it would be a disservice to the Dolphins to allow him to play on Sunday.

“He hasn’t done a thing on the football field for literally two weeks,” McDaniel said. “So, I don’t think that that would be fair to the player. That wouldn’t be fair to the team … I don’t feel comfortable putting him in that situation.”