The Daily Briefing Friday, November 11, 2022

AROUND THE NFL

WASHINGTON

It makes headlines, but the announcement by District of Columbia attorney Ken Racine does not include any actions that actually happened within his jurisdiction.

DC Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit against embattled Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, the team and the NFL on Thursday, alleging they colluded to deceive DC residents about an NFL investigation into the team’s toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault.

“For years the team and its owner have caused very real and very serious harm and then lied about it to dodge accountability and to continue to rake in profits,” Racine said Thursday. “So far they seem to have gotten away with it, but that stops today.”

The lawsuit alleges those deceptive efforts aimed to keep fans in the dark and increase profits for the team. The lawsuit cites the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which gives the Attorney General broad authority to hold individuals or a company accountable for misleading customers.

The AG’s investigation began last fall and found that Snyder lied to DC residents when he denied knowing anything about allegations of a hostile work environment and culture of sexual harassment within the team, according to Racine.

“In fact, the evidence shows Snyder was not only aware of the toxic culture within his organization, he encouraged it and he participated in it,” Racine said. “Mr. Snyder exerted a high level of personal control over everything the Commanders did and his misconduct gave others permission to treat women in the same demeaning manner.”

The NFL and Commanders launched what they billed as an independent investigation into the allegations, but they secretly entered into an agreement to give Snyder power over what could be shared with the public, the lawsuit alleges. At the same time, Snyder and the team tried to interfere with and obstruct the investigation, the lawsuit states.

Ultimately, the NFL released a short press release summarizing the investigation’s findings but said that they did not receive a written investigative report due to confidentiality concerns, the lawsuit states.

“Does any part of this investigation sound independent? Does any of this sound like accountability?” Racine said. “Of course not. That’s why we’re suing.”

Racine is now seeking unspecified financial penalties for every incident in which the parties lied to residents dating back to July 2020. The Attorney General said the penalties could run into the millions of dollars. The lawsuit also seeks a court order forcing the NFL to release all findings from its 10-month investigation into the Commanders’ workplace culture.

Commanders counsel John Brownlee and Stuart Nash issued a joint statement in response to the lawsuit.

 “Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen,” they said. “We agree with AG Racine on one thing: the public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization – for the first time – in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction.”

NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy rejected the allegations as baseless.

“The independent investigation into workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders was thoroughly and comprehensively conducted by Beth Wilkinson and her law firm. Following the completion of the investigation, the NFL made public a summary of Ms. Wilkinson’s findings and imposed a record-setting fine against the club and its ownership,” he said.

“We reject the legally unsound and factually baseless allegations made today by the DC Attorney General against the NFL and Commissioner Goodell and will vigorously defend against those claims.”

Charles Robinson of YahooSports.com thinks it is a big deal because Racine threw The Commish into his pot of defendants:

Litigation seemed inevitable. But the targets? That was a surprise for the NFL.

That’s the takeaway from the latest tentpole of embarrassment for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, who was sued on Thursday by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine for allegedly covering up decades of abuse and sexual harassment inside his NFL team. In an unexpected twist, Snyder had company in the 45-page complaint: The NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell were named as co-defendants in the complaint, alongside Snyder.

The fact that the NFL and Goodell are now directly wired into Snyder’s legal woes as defendants is significant on two fronts. Let’s start with front No. 1.

Dan Snyder’s mess now threatens NFL

This development all but cements that Snyder’s days as an NFL team owner are coming to an end. Regardless of the “exploration” of a sale of the Commanders, Goodell and the league are now getting swallowed by the blast radius surrounding Snyder. At the conclusion of the Wilkinson investigation in 2021, Snyder’s problems were largely only his. Aside from the repeated public relations black eye for the NFL and the constant microscope on Goodell’s handling of Wilkinson’s probe, the overriding threat to the league was minimal. Snyder’s presence was ugly, but manageable.

That changed when Congress got involved. Then it got worse when Racine and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares both began separate investigations into Snyder. All of the sudden, the in-house Wilkinson investigation transformed into an outhouse problem, with the NFL and Goodell knee-deep in the foulness. Once it destroyed Snyder’s ability to get a new stadium built, he was teetering on the edge with frustrated fellow franchise owners. Now there’s litigation on top of it that actually names the league as a defendant (and there may be more lawsuits on the way). Pile it all up and what you get is a stack of trouble that makes it a virtual certainty that Snyder is finished. Either he’ll willingly sell the team or he’ll be voted out in the last show of force the league has available.

Which brings us to front No. 2.

In the vast expanse of everything that has happened with Snyder over the past few years, there was little question that Goodell was doing precisely what the other NFL team owners wanted. From the shady conclusion of the Wilkinson investigation to Goodell becoming a virtual flak jacket for club owners following the massive spate of criticism that ensued, the commissioner was doing his handsomely paid job. But as the situation with Snyder has become increasingly volatile, Goodell has also seemed to become remarkably passive inside the situation. Not only did he completely avoid Snyder as a topic inside an owners-only meeting in New York in October, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay reportedly told shareholders that Snyder’s situation should be something controlled by club owners and not the commissioner.

Is Goodell avoiding taking on Snyder as this all spirals? And if Goodell is avoiding the Snyder problem, why is that?

It’s fair to wonder if those questions could be answered by Racine’s lawsuit, which points to Goodell and Snyder having a partnership of sorts when it came to the Wilkinson investigation. Or at the very least, a partnership in how to survive it and move on. If that proves to be true, then what consequences are awaiting Goodell on the other side of this? If Snyder had a role in manipulating the outcome of the probe (as Racine alleges) and Goodell had a role in helping him along the way (as Racine alleges), that would clearly make Goodell an accomplice in the middle of everything.

Looking back at how the Wilkinson investigation unfolded, a great emphasis was put on what Snyder had supposedly gotten away with. Far less grief was focused on what Goodell might have been getting away with, too. While Wilkinson gave a verbal report on what she found in her Snyder investigation, we’ve gotten no report on anything Goodell was doing then to help Snyder. Nor a report on what he may have been doing in the months since.

The Racine lawsuit could be the mechanism that changes that. As much as it aims to put a spotlight on Snyder, it’s attempting to put another glaring spotlight on the NFL commissioner. That’s another problem for a league that has a growing docket of litigation pressed against it, including the racial discrimination class-action lawsuit from Pittsburgh Steelers coach Brian Flores and a lawsuit from former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden alleging a league-orchestrated smear campaign against him.

Any one of these lawsuits could end up getting under the hood of the league and seeing how it operates. More specifically, one or all could end up pivoting into a big reveal on how Goodell operates when his first priority is to protect his bosses.

That makes all of this more than a Dan Snyder story or a Dan Snyder problem. Now it’s in Goodell’s lap, too. What we learn about both when this is all over will be fascinating.

ATLANTA

In the wake of a listless loss at Carolina, has QB MARCUS MARIOTA’s time at the helm of the Falcons come to an end?  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota played an ugly game on Thursday night, but he was never in danger of being benched.

That’s the word from Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who said after the game that he never considered turning to rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder.

However, Smith would not say definitively that Mariota will remain the starter for the Falcons’ next game, November 20 against the Bears.

“I know those are popular narratives, those are the easy questions to ask,” Smith said. “But as a whole football team, we’ve got to do a better job, starting with myself. So, we look every week to make sure we’ve got the right guys in the right spots.”

When asked a follow-up question about whether Mariota or Ridder will go, Smith declined to focus specifically on the quarterback position.

“You can make it about the quarterback, how about the team?” Smith said. “We had an opportunity at the end of the fourth quarter the last two weeks, and a lot of different ways, and a lot of different phases where we’ve got to get better. And we’ve got an opportunity to do that with seven games left.”

The Falcons do have an opportunity to make the playoffs, thanks to the overall weakness of the AFC South. But they’re not going to win much if Mariota keeps playing like he did on Thursday night.

CAROLINA

Carolina’s 25-15 victory was not by a unique score:

@NFL_Scorigami

ATL 15 – 25 CAR

Final

No Scorigami. That score has happened 3 times before, most recently on November 4, 2012.

25-9 would have been a Scorigami.

– – –

On a rainy night in Charlotte, ex-Falcon RB D’ONTA FOREMAN was the star.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Running back D’Onta Foreman was out of football last year when the Titans signed him to help cover for the absence of Derrick Henry and it wound up being the chance Foreman needed to show he was a capable NFL runner.

Foreman ran for 566 yards in nine games and then moved on to Carolina this offseason as a backup to Christian McCaffrey. His role changed when McCaffrey was dealt to the 49ers last month and Foreman has again shown that he’s able to handle the load of a starter.

Foreman’s load was larger than ever on Thursday night. He ran 31 times for 130 yards and a touchdown in the 25-15 win and has now run 79 times for 389 yards and four touchdowns in four games since McCaffrey was traded.

After the game, Foreman expressed his gratitude for the chance in Carolina.

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity,” Foreman said, via David Newton of ESPN.com.

The Panthers have won two of their four games since trading McCaffrey and the team is averaging nearly 160 rushing yards a game over that period, so the gratitude likely runs both ways.

Foreman, who also spent time with the Texans and Colts, was on Atlanta’s practice squad for part of 2021.

TAMPA BAY

We could have put this with any of the four teams, but opted to put Frank Schwab’s YahooSports.com assessment of the NFC South with the Buccaneers

There have been three teams in NFL history to win a division title with a losing record. The Washington Commanders in 2020 were the last one to do it.

Maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get above .500 by the end of the season. They’re probably the only team that can save the NFC South from being the fourth division ever to not produce a winning team.

The Atlanta Falcons entered Thursday night tied for first place in the NFC South. Anyone who watched Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers wouldn’t confuse the Falcons for a future division champion. But it’s the 2022 NFC South, and the Falcons will be in the race for at least a few more weeks, just because nobody else has shown they can separate from the pack.

The Panthers are bad, but they were much better than the Falcons on Thursday night.

The Panthers are bad enough that they’ve already fired their coach this season. The Falcons are theoretically a little better but you wouldn’t have known it Thursday night. All the Buccaneers have to do is not trip all over themselves to win the NFC South. But if you’ve seen the Bucs play this season, you know there’s no guarantee they can even cross that low bar.

The Falcons have played hard early this season and have pulled out some wins, but they’re limited. In general terms, they act like the forward pass should be outlawed, presumably because they don’t trust Mariota.

Mariota has mostly been a low-volume, safe passer this season. On Thursday night he made several bad decisions. One wild interception led to a Panthers field goal in the second quarter. Atlanta’s offense was stuck all night, and that led to Mariota pressing even more. He tried to throw one pass from his backside on a sack and it was intercepted, but Mariota was saved from being on highlight reels forever because he was ruled down before he threw. His whole night was terrible, and not all of it can be blamed on the rain. The way the Falcons try to hide Mariota makes it obvious he’s not their quarterback of the future, and it makes it pretty hard to win in the present as well.

The New Orleans Saints are 3-6 and they could still get hot, but that seems unlikely. The Panthers are even less likely to get hot, though they have played better for interim coach Steve Wilks. The NFC South is likely coming down to the Falcons or Buccaneers. About halfway through the season, the Buccaneers have a good defense and the blind hope their offense with all those star names turns things around. Atlanta’s shot at stealing an unlikely division title is dwindling as we see their weaknesses exposed.

The NFC South winner will host a playoff game. But none of the four teams look like they deserve it.

What does the remaining schedule hold?  Presuming not upsets like Tampa Bay over Seattle

Tampa Bay – 4-5 with 5 winnable games – the 3 division foes, at Cleveland, at Arizona

Atlanta – 4-6 with only 1 sure loss (at Balt) – others are CHI, at Wash, at NO, ARZ, TB

New Orleans – 3-6 should lose to SF and Philly – hope in other 6

Carolina – 3-7 losses to Ravens & Seattle – 2 div games and PIT, DEN, DET all at home

SAN FRANCISCO

A costly practice for the 49ers as CB JASON VERRETT will not be returning to action after all.  David Bonilla of 49ersWebZone.com:

The San Francisco 49ers announced that cornerback Jason Verrett suffered yet another devastating injury, tearing his Achilles tendon during practice on Wednesday. He will not play in a game this season.

Verrett was scheduled to speak with reporters after Thursday’s practice. The defender was attempting to return from the ACL injury he suffered during Week 1 of the 2021 season. The 49ers activated him off of injured reserve on October 26, but the cornerback was inactive for the team’s Week 8 contest against the Los Angeles Rams.

“I thought he was real close—we considered him [against the Rams],” head coach Kyle Shanahan said before Wednesday’s practice.

The coach was hopeful that Verrett’s return was nearing.

“I know he worked,” Shanahan continued. “He was here for a lot of the time when we were away. I know he did some stuff down on his own, where he goes, and so I expect him to be further [along] this week. I’ll see him out there in about an hour, but hopefully, it’s closer.”

Verrett’s only healthy seasons came in 2015, his second year in the league, and 2020, his second season with the 49ers. Verrett was easily San Francisco’s best cornerback during that 2020 season. He has suffered season-ending injuries in his other seven seasons, including this one.

The latest injury was heartbreaking for the teammates who watched him battle back from last year’s torn ACL.

“It took the life out of everybody at practice, like, literally,” wide receiver Deebo Samuel told reporters after Thursday’s practice. “[Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] tried to bring it up, but he couldn’t really talk. He was just like, ‘What do you guys want to do?’

“At the end of the day, it’s a part of this job, but definitely the last guy you want to see on this team go down, knowing all the things that he been through. So we held him up as a team, and everybody prayed for him, and we tried our best to finish practice.”

Samuel added that the team is keeping Verrett in their prayers and hoping the cornerback can find a way to return.

“Brutal. Devastating. Heartbreaking. It just sucked,” tight end George Kittle told NBC Sports Bay Area when asked about the injury.

While Shanahan was at a loss for words after the injury occurred on Wednesday, the coach discussed Verrett during his Thursday interview on KNBR.

“For him to go through that this amount of times, it was so hard to watch,” Shanahan said after listing Verrett’s many previous injuries. “He knew it right away, and it was pretty sad for everybody.”

LOS ANGELES RAMS

CB JALEN RAMSEY will not lay the failures of the Rams defense on its coordinator.  Cameron DeSilva of USA TODAY:

Raheem Morris helped the Rams win a Super Bowl last season as their defensive coordinator, his first year in that role with Los Angeles. Fans came around to his defensive scheme late last year during the playoff run, but he’s once again come under some criticism.

After the Rams let the Bucs drive down the field for a game-winning drive in Sunday’s loss, fans called out Morris for using soft zones and not being more aggressive. It’s all part of the team’s “bend, don’t break” approach, but it bit them in Tampa Bay.

Jalen Ramsey, who’s always backed Morris and praised the job he does, came to his defensive coordinator’s defense on Twitter. Seeing some of the hate Morris has gotten, Ramsey made sure everyone knows how he views his coach by calling him “the real deal.”

He added another tweet a minute later.

This isn’t the first time Ramsey has complimented Morris. Back in January, he tweeted that Morris is the best coach he’s ever had. He strongly believes Morris should be a top head coaching candidate, deserving to lead a team again.

Morris garnered consideration from the Vikings last offseason but the job ultimately went to fellow coordinator, Kevin O’Connell.

The Rams have fielded a strong defense since Morris took over, ranking 15th in points allowed last season and eighth in yards allowed this year. If they continue playing well on that side of the ball – even with some softer coverages to limit big plays – Morris should once again be a head coaching candidate.

Someone who would know the subtleties of defensive back play recently told the DB that late in games Ramsey tends to play soft in coverage, not wanting to risk being beat deep.  Thus he can be thrown in front of for completions more than someone of his talent should allow.

That within a defense that does not play man-to-man very often:

@MattBowen41

NFL mid-season coverage rates

Cover 1 (Man-Free)

1. DAL — 49.3%

2. NE — 43.7%

3. NYG — 41.3%

4. IND — 39.9%

5. LAC — 39.6%

28. BUF — 22.9%

29. HOU — 22.5%

30. MIN — 20.9%

31. AZ — 19.2%

32. LAR — 17.0%

* ESPN pass classification using NFL Next Gen Stats data

Cover 4 (Quarters)

1. LAR — 29.8%

2. TEN — 22.7%

3. NYJ — 20.7%

4. DEN — 17.6%

5. WASH — 16.8%

28. PIT — 6.1%

29. SEA — 4.9%

30. CHI — 4.0%

31. DET — 2.6%

32. MIA — 1.7%

2-Man (Two-Deep, Man-Under)

1. NO — 20.1%

2. BUF — 13.6%

3. AZ — 11.9%

4. DET — 11.8%

5. LAC — 11.3%

28. HOU — 3.2%

29. ATL — 2.9%

30. IND — 2.3%

31. LAR — 1.4%

32. SF — 1.0%

LAS VEGAS

The Raiders have sent TE DARREN WALLER and WR HUNTER RENFROW to IR as LB BLAKE MARTINEZ retires.  Ryan Young of YahooSports.com:

Thursday was a strange day for the Las Vegas Raiders.

After Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller landed on injured reserve due to lingering injuries, linebacker Blake Martinez announced he was retiring.

Martinez, 28, was in his seventh season in the league. He got his start with the Green Bay Packers, who first took him in the fourth round of the 2016 draft out of Stanford. After four seasons there, Martinez spent two years with the New York Giants before he landed in Las Vegas this past offseason.

Martinez was signed to the Raiders’ practice squad in early October, and was quickly promoted to their active roster days later.

Martinez had 20 total tackles in four games this season. He had a team-high 11 tackles and played more than 90% of their snaps in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.

He didn’t elaborate much on his decision, which was surprising midway through the season.

Darren Waller heads to IR

Waller isn’t coming back to the field anytime soon.

The Raiders placed their tight end on injured reserve Thursday due to his lingering hamstring injury, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The move will keep Waller out at least through their Dec. 4 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Raiders expect Waller to return before the end of the season.

Waller has struggled with injuries in the past two seasons. After dealing with back and knee injuries last year, Waller sustained a hamstring injury in training camp and has missed the Raiders’ past three games after he left their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 10 after eight snaps.

In total, Waller has missed eight of the Raiders’ past 14 regular-season games.

“It’s not like I’m doing anything to keep myself off the field willingly,” Waller said before landing on IR, via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “I’m doing everything that I can. It just may not be happening in the timetable I’d like for that to happen.

“So I’m just extending that grace and that patience to myself because I really am trying my best to be healthy and go about my processes and my routines like I have in the past.”

Waller has 175 receiving yards and one touchdown on 16 catches this season, his seventh in the league. The 30-year-old signed a three-year, $51 million extension before the season.

While his absence has been frustrating, the Raiders hope the extended break will give Waller time he needs to recover.

“It’s very difficult to predict some of these things. Muscles and those kinds of things are always a little tricky, especially for a player that his No. 1 skill, or one of his certain top traits, is his ability to run and open up and go. There’s no timetable,” head coach Josh McDaniels said, via ESPN.

Hunter Renfrow also on injured reserve

Las Vegas also added wide receiver Hunter Renfrow to the IR list due to an oblique injury, according to Schefter.

Renfrow first went down in Vegas’ loss to the Jaguars last week. He’ll now be out at least four games, marking another lost target for quarterback Derek Carr.

Renfrow has 192 receiving yards on 21 catches this season, his fourth with the team. The 26-year-old reached a two-year, $32 million extension before the season.

The Raiders, who have lost two straight, host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

DL JERRY TILLERY is being waived today.  Lindsay Thiry of ESPN.com:

The Los Angeles Chargers are waiving defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, a first-round pick in the 2019 draft, the team announced Thursday.

The move will not be official until Friday, meaning Tillery cannot be claimed until Monday. Considering that multiple teams expressed interest in trading for him before the deadline, Tillery is expected to be claimed, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

The Chargers had listed Tillery as a non-participant due to personal reasons the past two days of practice.

“This was not an easy decision but, after careful consideration, it was a necessary one that is in the best interest of both team and player,” general manager Tom Telesco said in a statement released by the team. “We wish Jerry all the best moving forward in his career.”

The Chargers had declined to pick up the fifth-year option on Tillery’s rookie contract.

Tillery appeared in seven games this season, but did not start. He finishes with a sack and a forced fumble.

In 54 games for the Bolts, he had 10.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

The Chargers (5-3) play the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

With Tillery’s departure and defensive lineman Austin Johnson being placed on injured reserve earlier this week, the Bolts are down to five interior linemen on their active roster, including Sebastian Joseph-Day, Morgan Fox, Otito Ogbonnia, Christian Covington and Breiden Fehoko, who was signed from the practice squad following Johnson’s move to IR.

JACKSONVILLE

With RB JAMES ROBINSON gone, RB TRAVIS ETIENNE is quietly on fire:

@MattBowen41

RB Travis Etienne

Three straight games with 100+ yards rushing (and a TD).

Short-area acceleration. Vision. Run to daylight in zone schemes.

BUFFALO

They are still holding their collective breath in Buffalo. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Bills have been taking things day by day with quarterback Josh Allen’s elbow injury this week and head coach Sean McDermott said they’re going to go even more granular on Friday.

Allen has not practiced this week, but McDermott did not rule him out for Sunday’s game against the Vikings during a Friday morning appearance on WGR 550. He said that the team’s waiting to see what happens at practice later in the day and that they’ll shift to an hour by hour analysis of his condition.

“Today we’re going to literally take it one hour at a time and see how things go through the course of today and then go from there,” McDermott said, via Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com.

Case Keenum will start against the Vikings if Allen is ultimately ruled out. While the team waits to make that call, McDermott did say that safety Jordan Poyer (elbow) and defensive end Greg Rousseau (ankle) have been ruled out for this weekend.

Two ex-Vikings who created one of the greatest plays in team history – QB CASE KEENUM and WR STEFON DIGGS could await Minnesota on Sunday.

Here are the current AFC East standings:

Buffalo            6-2

NY Jets           6-3

Miami              6-3

New England  5-4

The Dolphins are home to the Browns, the other two teams are on bye – so it is possible that the Super Bowl inevitable Bills could be third in their division when the sun sets Sunday.

Miami              7-3

NY Jets           6-3

Buffalo            6-3

New England  5-4

Remember, the Bills are 0-2 in the division with losses to both Miami and the Jets.

MIAMI

Kalyn Kahler of The Athletic tells us about Coach Mike McDaniel:

Before he met Mike McDaniel, Tua Tagovailoa had only known tough coaching, the kind built on hard criticism. He knew it from his dad, from Nick Saban, from Brian Flores and even from himself.

In June during OTAs, Tagovailoa said McDaniel’s more encouraging coaching seemed “backwards” to him. “I’m getting hard on myself and he’s trying to tell me, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK. We’re only in May. We’re only in June.’ There’s a lot more time to grow,’” Tagovailoa told reporters.

In October, he told NBC’s Maria Taylor that he wasn’t sure McDaniel’s supportive style would last. “I was kind of giving him some leeway as to, oh you know, this is how he is right now, but let’s see how this plays out,” he said.

To Tagovailoa’s surprise, it’s Week 10, and McDaniel is still aggressively the same cheery guy.

“Mike is overly positive, and sometimes it gets to the point where I’ve got to kind of step away from overly positive,” Tagovailoa said last week. “Or if that’s the case, then I just listen to what he says, nod my head yes and then I go away and then kind of … ”

Even if the constant encouragement can be too much for Tagovailoa at times, McDaniel is the exact coach that he — and the Dolphins — needed for this particular moment. It takes a special personality to pull the attention away from a scandal, and the Dolphins organization has been embroiled in not one, not two, but three crises since McDaniel was hired as the team’s 14th head coach in February.

The racial discrimination lawsuit brought forth by former head coach Brian Flores, the league’s investigation into tampering and tanking, the subsequent suspension of owner Stephen Ross, and the quarterback’s concussion controversy might still be the biggest stories here if it weren’t for the quirky and loquacious head coach who has overseen Tagovailoa’s transformation in one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses.

“His style, really just him as a person, it’s very unique, specifically in this game,” says tight end Durham Smythe. “He understands how people of this age react to specific coaching styles. … He just sympathizes so well with people our age that he really does get the best out of people.”

When McDaniel stands on the sideline during games rocking a gray track suit and Aviators, he looks much younger than his 39 years, almost like a teenager dressed up as an NFL head coach. He jokingly heckles opposing players when they near his side of the field, such as on Sunday when he asked Bears quarterback Justin Fields to please stop scrambling. He’s dwarfed in his size by most of his players, and though there aren’t official stats on this, his press conferences surely last longer than any other head coach. That’s not because he faces more questions but because he tends to launch into a several-minute explanation for any type of question, even a simple transactional or injury-related ask.

His engagement level with his team is no different. Dolphins offensive meetings start at 7.a.m., and tight end Mike Gesicki says McDaniel always has a Red Bull in hand. “He is screaming and yelling in a positive way, and he’s the only guy in the room that feels like he is awake at that time,” Gesicki says.

Quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell says, “If something bad were to happen in practice or a game, and you bring it up, he’ll be like, ‘What are you talking about? I don’t know what you are talking about, that’s already gone.’

“He has a good way of shaking it off.”

McDaniel reorganized the Dolphins locker room to put random players next to each other, instead of position groups, to help with team chemistry. He wore a hooded sweatshirt to practices in June in Miami humidity so he could get a better sense of how the players were feeling working outside so he wouldn’t work them too hard.

He’s created a culture that the players say is driven by them. After most practices, Dolphins captains lead players-only meetings where different position groups or units get together and watch practice film for about a half hour. In most contexts, the term players-only meeting is code for someone is about to get fired, but in Miami, the players have been doing this every week all season long.

“Mike gave us an enormous amount of confidence that started in the offseason,” cornerback Keion Crossen says. “When we did mess up, it wasn’t that we was discouraged. It was ah, I let my teammates down. So, it got to a point where it became, how can I not let my teammates down, than like, I am getting coached. So it is a lot more player-driven.”

Through three consecutive losses in which the quarterback who started the game was not the one who finished the game, and now three consecutive close game wins, McDaniel has kept the energy of this turnaround going.

“It’s a complete 180 (now),” says linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who has played in Miami for his entire NFL career, since 2019.

Van Ginkel and backup center Michael Deiter were both rookies in 2019, the “tank for Tua” season. That year was Flores’ first year in Miami, when the team started 0-7 before finishing 5-11.

“There was a lot of tough coaching that year,” Deiter says, hesitant to describe the experience with any more detail than that.

“At times, it just felt like you couldn’t do anything right because they were nitpicking every little piece of your game,” Van Ginkel says.

Deiter says he doesn’t respond well to that type of coaching, where players are singled out regularly in meetings for mistakes. “There are some guys who, that type of coaching, it makes them go into a cocoon and quiet and keep to themselves, and some guys will totally change when they know they can be themselves and they don’t have to act a certain way because they are afraid of this and that.”

“You don’t have to be negative on me, you don’t have to tell me everything I am doing wrong,” Crossen says. “As a player, I am smart enough to know when I messed up. … A lot of players in systems of that disciplinarian (type), you tend to ease your way around and tread lightly because you don’t know what or how somebody will perceive it because it is all about perception. Here you have the freedom to be yourself.”

Deiter says a lot of his teammates seem different this season with McDaniel’s positivity radiating on the entire locker room.

“When you come out of a meeting where you’ve watched a few guys get totally ripped, it’s hard to come in here (the locker room) and be totally buddy-buddy,” he says. “If you come from a meeting where you were told, ‘You guys are doing good stuff, we are headed in the right direction,’ it’s easier to come in here and be a more cohesive team.”

“That’s what has been huge about this staff, is everyone is like, you’re good, don’t worry about it, cut it loose, there is going to be some good and there is going to be some bad, but there will be way more good if that’s what you focus on, playing fast and with confidence. It’s been quite the difference.”

Rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson unexpectedly became the Dolphins’ QB1 in Week 5 after Teddy Bridgewater was removed after the first play of the game when he took a hit and the team of concussion spotters noticed him stumble and grasp his head. With Tagovailoa still in the concussion protocol from his scary hit that prompted the league to change the concussion protocol, Thompson prepared as the starter for Week 6. He says the first teammate he heard from was Tagovailoa.

“Which I think says a lot about him, considering what he was going through at the time,” Thompson says. “He texted me and said a lot of encouraging things.”

“(McDaniel’s) coaching style, it reflects first off on the entire staff and trickles down onto us and teammates,” he says. “When my time came, I felt very supported by the guys in the locker room. Everybody here had my back and wanted to see me do well and was rooting for me. There were a handful of guys that came up to me and said that I’ve earned it and earned their respect and that they believe in me.”

Crossen didn’t play for Flores, but he had spent his four seasons in the NFL playing for Bill Belichick and other coaches from his tree, Bill O’Brien and Joe Judge.

“Ummm I’m trying to say this correctly,” he says when asked how McDaniel’s style is different from what he’s known before. “To boil it down, I think he has his own style of coaching. Typically coaches that come from the Belichick tree, they try to imitate Bill, which is very, very, very hard to do because he has his own style of coaching as well. What you see here is you have a guy who has his own ingredient and formula to make sure his team is successful, and his way of getting on a player is not to belittle you or to make you feel like you are the worst player in the NFL, it’s more so to help you understand how you can do it better and then help you understand what exactly it is you are doing wrong and how not to make the same mistake again.”

Says fullback Alec Ingold, who joined the Dolphins this season after three seasons with the Raiders: “One thing early on that Coach McDaniel said was, I have watched all your tape, I have seen your 10-20 best plays. It’s my job to make sure I coach you up to that all the time.”

That’s the approach McDaniel has taken with Tagovailoa, who is now the NFL’s most efficient quarterback. He leads the league in passer rating (115.9) and yards per completion (9.2), is third in completion percentage (69.9 percent) and has won all six games he’s started and finished this season. His third-down passer rating (147.0) is the best in the NFL since the league started tracking stats by down in 1991.

McDaniel emphasizes what Tagovailoa does well, and when Tagovailoa has had just about enough of that positivity, he turns to his quarterbacks coach, Bevell, who comes in as the realist taskmaster.

“He has been very hard on himself, and he has had people that have been very hard on him as well,” Bevell says. “At times that can hurt you because you can’t let things go. And you continue to dwell on those. And a lot of times if you do that, then we compound the problem. So it’s been our mission a little bit to try to help get him out of that. Because he is so hard on himself, so it’s like, we don’t need to double down on it.

“Mike does a great job with that, and then I kind of try to play right in the middle, where there are times where it’s like, yeah, you know that already, so how do we overcome it and how do we fix it?  Just reinforcing the good and then, when things are not good, say all right, we don’t need to beat ourselves up about it, what can we learn from that situation to get better at it?”

Bevell points to Tagovailoa’s second of just three interceptions this season as an example of this coaching in action. It was Tagovailoa’s second pick in the game at Baltimore in Week 2, a second-quarter throw down the left sideline for Jaylen Waddle when Waddle had his back to the ball and never got his head turned around.

“It was a really bad play, a bad interception, and he’s beating himself up on it, “Bevell says. “So, just to be able to get back, get by that, talk about the situation, understand the situation, and we haven’t done it again.”

The Dolphins trailed 28-7 at halftime of that game, but Gesicki remembers McDaniel’s message to the team being still, “super positive.” It was, “‘Guys we are going to go out and do our thing, and if it works out, great. If it doesn’t, we’re just going to get back to work next week.’”

It was another example, Ingold says, of McDaniel’s mantra that he repeats to the team: to be mindful, intentional and deliberate. “In the moment, you decide what you are going to do and you accomplish it and you make up your mind,” Ingold says. “And I feel like if you get 53 guys to do that, regardless (of) if you miss a play or not, eventually we are going to get there.”

Tagovailoa went on to pass for four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and 469 yards in the game, and led the Dolphins back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Their 42-38 victory made them the first team in 12 years and 711 games to win after being down that much that late in a game.

“There’s been some rehabilitation,” Bevell says of Tagovailoa. “You know, processing there, just to get our mindset and our psyche where we can have some positive experiences to get our confidence back to where it needs to be.”

Has Tagovailoa felt like he’s made any progress on being less hard on himself in the five months since he told reporters about that habit?

“It’s mostly internally now,” he said. “I don’t show it as much when I am around Mike, but I do show it when I am around guys that I know won’t tell me what I feel like I want to hear at times. Because of how overly positive Mike is, and so, it’s like a give-and-take kind of deal.”

It used to be all take-and-take with Tagovailoa, and McDaniel’s give has added some much-needed balance.

“Tua has always been hard on himself ever since he got into this building, and I’m sure before,” says Smythe, who has been in Miami for Tagovailoa’s whole career. “And Mike has done a great job of finding a way to complete him by, if he already has someone being tough on himself, as he is, he needs someone on the other side who is encouraging.”

Just like their quarterback, many of Miami’s players were used to tough coaching, and each week as they weathered a losing streak and drama surrounding the organization, they learned more about their new coach’s uncommon way of doing things.

“(McDaniel) is himself,” Ingold says. “Good, bad or indifferent, he is going to be real all the time. And that consistency when you show up, it kind of hits you in the face. Like, he’s different, and the more you get used to it, you think, this might be how it should be.”

THIS AND THAT

2023 DRAFT

Here are the top 50 prospects at Pro Football Focus.

Now that we’re past the midway point of the 2022 college football season, the PFF draft board was due for a refresh.

Quarterback-needy teams, you’re in luck: This is one heck of a quarterback class, with five signal-callers making the top 50. It’s also a strong class at edge defender, running back, defensive tackle, cornerback and tight end.

1. QB BRYCE YOUNG, ALABAMA

Even without the two top-50 picks he had at receiver a season ago, Young is still the second-highest-graded passer in the Power Five (90.1).  He’s come up big in crunch time on multiple occasions and shown the “it” factor it takes to succeed in the NFL. The scary thing is that his stats should look even better, but he’s suffered a 8.1% drop rate from his receivers this year. His size could scare teams off in a talented quarterback class, but it’s about the only knock on his game.

2. EDGE WILL ANDERSON, ALABAMA

You won’t find many 243-pound edge rushers who come with no concerns about their size. And that’s just how powerful and explosive Anderson is.  After leading the country in pressures as a true sophomore, Anderson has 44 so far this season as the focal point of the Bama defense.

3. QB WILL LEVIS, KENTUCKY

Levis has tools for days. Quick release, howitzer arm, legit rushing ability — Levis has it all. And unlike most quarterbacks billed for their tools at the collegiate level, Levis isn’t far off from being able to operate an NFL offense because he’s been doing it the last two years under current (Liam Coen) and former (Rich Scangarello) NFL offensive coordinators.

4. QB C.J. STROUD, OHIO STATE

Stroud will get the “Ohio State quarterback” knock, given the success of his predecessors, but he operates the position differently than Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields did. He’s a pure pocket passer who’s been tremendous at avoiding sacks over his career, with only an 12.7% pressure-to-sack conversion rate.

5. DI JALEN CARTER, GEORGIA

Carter has been hampered by an injury in the early going and has been limited to only 132 snaps. However, his work as a sophomore in 2021 is enough to solidify his top-five draft stock, as he led the Bulldogs with a 90.0 pass-rushing grade.

6. DI BRYAN BRESEE, CLEMSON

Bresee is not your run-of-the-mill defensive tackle. At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, he’s not holding an ounce of bad weight and could pass for a defensive end from a build perspective. He’s one of the best pure penetrators in the class and earned a 76.0 pass-rushing grade this season.

7. T PETER SKORONSKI, NORTHWESTERN

Skoronski is in the middle of the single most dominant pass-blocking season we’ve seen in our nine years of college grading. On 383 pass-blocking snaps, he has allowed only five pressures. That’s it.  His 93.1 pass-blocking grade is far and away tops in the country.

8. EDGE MYLES MURPHY, CLEMSON

Murphy is still a bit of a bull in a china shop, but at 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, he’s one strong bull. You see it most in the run game, where Murphy has earned a 72.0-plus grade in every season of his career.

9. WR QUENTIN JOHNSTON, TCU

In nine years of college grading, I can say with certainty we have not seen a wide receiver quite like Johnston. At a rangy 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, he is a terror with the ball in his hands. His broken-tackle rate over his career is unlike anything we’ve graded, with 41 forced missed tackles on 97 career receptions.

That’s what you’d expect from a receiver with a running back-esque build like Deebo Samuel, not a pterodactyl like Johnston.

10. EDGE NOLAN SMITH, GEORGIA

Smith is next in the line of athletic marvels the Bulldogs have produced in recent years. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder can fly sideline to sideline. You also see him play with physicality at that size, with run-defense grades of 90.6 and 81.4 the past two seasons. He needs more ways to win as a pass-rusher, but you bet on the athlete.

11. EDGE TYREE WILSON, TEXAS TECH

Wilson bet on himself by returning for a fifth year, and it looks like it’s going to pay off for him. He came back a different player and already has an impressive 47 pressures on the season after recording 37 a year ago. He’s a unique projection at 6-foot-6, 275 pounds with a 7-foot-plus wingspan.

12. CB CAM SMITH, SOUTH CAROLINA

After producing three picks and nine pass breakups last season, Smith is simply being avoided by quarterbacks this season. He’s allowed only nine catches on 22 targets for 137 yards in eight games.

13. TE MICHAEL MAYER, NOTRE DAME

Mayer looks like one of the safest picks in the draft. Not only is he the focal point of Notre Dame’s offense — he has 51 catches for 624 yards and five scores on the year — but he also works his backside off in the run game. At 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, he’s built for the NFL.

14. WR JORDAN ADDISON, USC

Addison is the next slim all-around separator who should be plug-and-play in the NFL. At 6-foot, 175 pounds, he’s not going to be your contested-catch guy, but with how often he’s open, he doesn’t have to. For his career, Addison has hauled in 70.3% of his targets with a healthy 11.2-yard average depth of target.

15. CB KELEE RINGO, GEORGIA

Ringo had a bit of a slow start to the season but has rebounded nicely enough. He looks like a walked-out linebacker at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and he plays with that kind of physicality on the outside.

16. S BRIAN BRANCH, ALABAMA

Branch is just a football player. He’s sound in every facet of the game and fills the ever-valuable slot role in Alabama’s defense. You want him around the ball with how lights-out he is as a tackler. On 136 career tackle attempts, Branch has missed only two.

17. QB TANNER MCKEE, STANFORD

While McKee is technically a redshirt sophomore, he was in the same recruiting class as Trevor Lawrence before taking a two-year LDS mission after high school. Between middling receiver talent, a dated scheme and a porous offensive line, he’s had to overcome a fairly rough situation for the Cardinal the past two seasons. Still, he’s shown growth from 2021 to 2022, as he’s earned a 75.8 passing grade this season.

18. T PARIS JOHNSON JR., OHIO STATE

Johnson has looked more comfortable in his first year at left tackle after staring at right guard in 2021. He’s allowed only eight pressures on 286 pass-blocking snaps.

19. EDGE ANDRE CARTER II, ARMY

Carter was tied with Aidan Hutchinson for the highest pass-rushing grade in the nation last season (93.4). This year, teams are chipping and double-teaming him to the point where very few are even giving him a chance to attack their quarterback. As such, he’s rushed the passer only 100 times on the season and has 11 pressures.

20. CB JAYLON JONES, TEXAS A&M

One of the biggest risers this season, Jones has shown a very mature playstyle through 10 weeks. He’s allowed only six catches on 11 targets for 72 yards.  At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, he has ideal size for the position in the NFL.

21. EDGE JARED VERSE, FLORIDA STATE

Verse is one heck of an explosive athlete off the edge. After transferring from Albany to Florida State this offseason, he’s been a revelation for the Seminoles. He’s earned an 85.2 pass-rushing grade despite playing through a knee injury.

22. RB BIJAN ROBINSON, TEXAS

This is about as high as you’ll realistically see us put a running back on the draft board. Robinson gets such a billing because he’s exactly where the NFL game is going — he is a space player who can make two-high defenses pay. His 75 forced missed tackles rank second in the nation.

23. EDGE FELIX ANUDIKE-UZOMAH, KANSAS STATE

Anudike-Uzomah is a bendy edge rusher who will test the upfield shoulder of any tackle. He’s got tremendous balance, which shows in several ways, most frequently in how he can close easily to quarterbacks.

24. WR JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA, OHIO STATE

A hamstring injury has derailed JSN’s junior campaign, but he’s still the same guy who put up 95 catches for 1,595 yards and nine scores a season ago. He’s an uber-reliable slot option with plus YAC ability.

25. T BRODERICK JONES, GEORGIA

Jones has passed his early tests in his first full season at the Bulldogs starting left tackle but still has a few to come in the SEC. He’s allowed no sacks, no hits and only four hurries on 295 pass-blocking snaps. He’s the former top tackle recruit in the 2020 class and finally getting his chance to show what he can do.

26. S ANTONIO JOHNSON, TEXAS A&M

Johnson is a unique safety at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. He’s a long, rangy tackler who operates out of the slot for the Aggies. He may not be the best pure coverage safety, but he knows how to find ball carriers in space.

27. EDGE ISAIAH FOSKEY, NOTRE DAME

Foskey hasn’t made the same leap this season as he did in 2021. He’s still the type of player who’s built more for the NFL game than the college game, given his ability to set the edge and push the pocket consistently.

28. LB TRENTON SIMPSON, CLEMSON

Simpson is everything you are looking for in a modern coverage linebacker. After playing the slot last season, he’s kicked into the box this year, where he’s not looked out of place. He’s allowed only 18 catches and 144 yards across 28 targets in coverage.

29. EDGE B.J. OJULARI, LSU

Ojulari may never be your do-it-all run defender at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, but he’s got a full toolbox to attack opposing quarterbacks. And that’s all he’s done since arriving at LSU. In three years, he’s racked up 1117 pressures, including 39 this season.

30. T ANTON HARRISON, OKLAHOMA

Harrison’s mirroring ability at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds is what earns him this spot on the list. You see the natural athleticism in every pass set he takes, even if his technique isn’t quite dialed in yet. He earned an 85.6 pass-blocking grade last season.

31. WR JOSH DOWNS, NORTH CAROLINA

Downs brings to the table what every offense is looking for nowadays: electricity. I don’t care who he is going up against, corners are not going to be able to mirror him before and after the catch. His 5-foot-10, 175-pound stature will obviously limit his stock, but he’s athletic enough to overcome it.

32. CB CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ, OREGON

At 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, Gonzalez has the kind of size everyone is looking for in a boundary corner. He’s already had a career year in terms of ball production, with three picks and six pass breakups.

33. G O’CYRUS TORRENCE, FLORIDA

Torrence transferred from Louisiana to Florida this offseason and stepped up his play in a big way. He earned an 88.2 overall grade for the Ragin’ Cajuns last season, but obviously the level of competition was a concern. This season that’s been erased facing an SEC slate, as he’s bumped his grade to 89.1 overall.

34. CB JOEY PORTER JR., PENN STATE

Porter is a long, physical outside corner who’s in the middle of a career year. Through nine games, he’s broken up nine passes and allowed only 13 catches and 123 yards across 28 targets.

35. T OLU FASHANU, PENN STATE

Another Penn State breakout star, Fashanu played all of 85 career snaps prior to 2022. This season, he’s been one of the nation’s best pass protectors, having allowed no sacks, one hit and only six hurries on 299 pass-blocking snaps. He’s not a particularly high-end athlete, but he’s a smooth mover with easy anchor ability.

36. CB CLARK PHILLIPS III, UTAH

Phillips always seems to be around the football and already has five picks on 49 targets this season. At only 5-foot-10, 183 pounds, his size will be his biggest concern coming out.

37. DI SIAKI IKA, BAYLOR

Ika is a hulking 6-foot-4, 358-pound nose tackle. He’s one of the rare athletes at that size who can still affect the passer. Ika has racked up 45 pressures since the start of the 2021 season.

38. CB GARRETT WILLIAMS, SYRACUSE

Williams has been starting ever since he was a true freshman for the Orange and has played nothing but quality football over that span. He’s racked up 14 career pass breakups and four picks in two and a half seasons.

39. CB KRIS ABRAMS-DRAINE, MISSOURI

Abrams-Draine is a former wide receiver turned cornerback. After playing primarily in the slot in 2021, Abrams-Draine has been solely an outside corner this season and is still excelling.

40. C LUKE WYPLER, OHIO STATE

Despite his young age, Wypler is already one of the most consistent centers in the country. On 286 pass-blocking snaps this season, he’s allowed a total of three QB hurries.

41. LB DREW SANDERS, ARKANSAS

Sanders is a former Alabama on-ball linebacker. The 6-foot-5, 232-pounder has maintained that pass-rushing prowess in an off-ball role after transferring to Arkansas and flourished playing in space. He’s racked up 28 pressures on 109 pass-rushing snaps this season and forced four fumbles. He just needs to clean up his tackling, as he’s missed 18 of 84 attempts so far this season.

42. IOL ANDREW VORHEES, USC

Vorhees is as steady as they come along the offensive line. He earned a 90.1 overall grade last season between left tackle and left guard for the Trojans and has earned an 84.2 overall grade through 10 weeks this season.

43. TE DALTON KINCAID, UTAH

Kincaid blends receiver-esque route-running ability with tight end size at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds. He’s still on the smaller end for the position, but with his willingness in the run game, he can get by at the next level.

44. EDGE WILL MCDONALD, IOWA STATE

McDonald is an explosive, undersized edge rusher who’s been miscast in Iowa State’s defense. When you see him work on the edge, you see the natural pass-rushing ability that has helped him rack up 65 pressures since the start of last year.

45. DI CALIJAH KANCEY, PITTSBURGH

At 6-foot, 280 pounds, Kancey may not tick the physical boxes from the defensive tackle position, but I still want this guy rushing the passer. Even though he’s undersized, he’s still a high-end athlete for the position who can likely overcome those concerns.

46. WR KAYSHON BOUTTE, LSU

Needless to say, things have not quite gone how Boutte had hoped this season. We saw the flashes in Week 7 of why he could be so special, with six catches for 115 yards against Florida. Before that, though, he had only 17 catches for 130 yards.

47. EDGE BYRON YOUNG, TENNESSEE

Young has taken a circuitous route to becoming a top prospect. He wasn’t even playing college football until he saw a flyer for Georgia Military College’s open tryouts while working at Dollar General. Four years later, he leads the Vols with 33 pressures on the season. He’s a twitched-up 6-foot-3, 245-pounder who’s been improving on a weekly basis.

48. TE LUKE MUSGRAVE, OREGON STATE

It’s unfortunate that we’ve only gotten to see two full games of Musgrave this season because he looked like he was on his way to something special. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder had 11 catches for 169 yards through that span and looked like a special athlete for the position.

49. QB HENDON HOOKER, TENNESSEE

Hooker has skyrocketed up draft boards with his performance this season. Once known more for his rushing ability, Hooker has made leaps and bounds as a passer since transferring from Tennessee. He’s seen his grade improve every year as a passer all the way up to 85.8 this season. His playmaking ability and downfield accuracy will draw attention, even if he is on the older side.

50. EDGE ADETOMIWA ADEBAWORE, NORTHWESTERN

Adebawore is a unique specimen who has bridged the gap between edge-rusher and 3-technique in Northwestern’s defense at 6-foot-2, 280 pounds. He’s racked up 27 pressures and 16 stops in nine games this season.