DAVIE, Fla. -- Adam Gase is wrapping up his first losing season as head coach on Sunday when the Miami Dolphins host the Buffalo Bills.
There are a lot of reasons why the Dolphins are 6-9 with one game remaining, but Gase isn’t interested in making excuses. Miami’s head coach made it clear this week that he fell below expectations and let down Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
“I know what his expectations were and they’ve always been the same where he wants to win,” Gase said of Ross. “He wants to have a chance to play in the tournament and we didn’t really get that done this year. I’m sure that’s disappointing for him. He does everything he can to be supportive to us and give us everything we possibly need. For me, and I know (executive VP of football operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (general manager) Chris (Grier) feel the same, you feel like you let him down. He’s given us so much and we have to find a way to be more consistent throughout the season, and we have to find a way to put ourselves in position.”
Indeed, Ross has put an immense amount of resources into the Dolphins. He has a state-of-the-art sports science department, done a lot to invest in players off the field and spent a lot of money last offseason for extensions to players such as safety Reshad Jones, linebacker Kiko Alonso, defensive end Andre Branch, receiver Kenny Stills and safety T.J. McDonald. Ross also used his private plane during Hurricane Irma to send players, coaches and their families to California to avoid the storm.
On the field, the Dolphins could not find consistency. They started the season 4-2, then lost five games in a row. Miami also is currently on a two-game losing streak.
“I feel like we’ve let a lot of things slip through our fingers and that’s where we’ve got to understand, when you’re a young player, sometimes you forget how valuable every game is,” Gase said. “We do have a lot of young guys that have to learn how to prepare each week, because you never know when that’s going to be the week that changes your season one way or the other.”