Miami Dolphins must take former Bills safety Jordan Poyer's ‘fold' criticism seriously | Habib

MIAMI GARDENS — There was a word uttered as the Miami Dolphins opened training camp this week that cannot be ignored.

Maybe some will agree with it.

Maybe some will disagree and discount it out of hand.

That would be a mistake.

Safety Jordan Poyer said that as a member of the Buffalo Bills, they would go into games against Miami thinking the Dolphins might “fold” if they fell behind. Before getting into statistics that may or may not prove Poyer’s point, something ought to be clear.

It matters less than you might think if Poyer is correct. This is almost a case where perception is reality. If one team (the opponent) thinks the other team (the Dolphins) won’t get off the mat after getting punched in the mouth, that’s a problem. And circumstantial evidence (the fact the Bills have owned the division in recent years at the Dolphins’ expense) would seem to indicate the Bills had a reason to think the way they did.

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And nobody should need reminding how poorly the Dolphins fared against playoff-caliber competition last year.

“The past doesn’t predict the future,” coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday.

That’s the good news. So is the fact that not only is someone (Poyer) willing to dole out tough love but that McDaniel wasn’t defensive when asked about it.

“For Jordan Poyer to talk to his teammates … I think it's important to understand where things come from,” McDaniel said. “To understand when you don't win football games down the stretch, when you don't win playoff games, when you don't win Super Bowls, those things will be said. The challenge is ... actually doing something about it today."

To borrow from another set of words McDaniel is fond of mentioning, narratives are narratives until you do something about them. You give up what should have been a long-forgotten, late touchdown to the Tennessee Titans? You can forget about it and move on, or you can let one bad play become 10, lose the game and see your season spiral down the drain.

You can, as a man once said, fold.

Jordan Poyer has ‘leadership opportunity' with Dolphins

McDaniel added that Poyer was brought to Miami “because of the player he is and the leader he is. I think he recognizes the leadership opportunity he has here.”

In his eight NFL seasons, cornerback Jalen Ramsey has been on a championship team with the L.A. Rams and a three-win team with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Safe to say there isn’t much on the toughness scale that he hasn’t seen along the way.

“That doesn’t really do anything for me or move me any type of way,” Ramsey said of Poyer’s comments. “And then also last year’s team is different from this year’s team, in a lot of different ways — including having him on the team now. So I don’t even really think you can compare it in that way.”

Ramsey then turned his attention to the one thing everyone in camp can do about this.

“This is Day 1,” he said. “So we’ve got to build our identity. We’ve got to go through a lot of things during this camp, a lot of growing pains, hopefully some adversity, maybe even a couple of good fights and good things like that to bring us closer. So we’ll see where it leads us.”

Dolphins haven't had much luck when trailing late

Looking forward is good advice. Because when you look back, those statistics tend to say Poyer might be onto something. In 2023, the Dolphins were 7-3 when scoring first and 4-3 when the opponent scored first. OK, fine.

But: The Dolphins were 0-5 when trailing at halftime as well as after three quarters. In 2022, they were 2-6 when trailing at halftime and 2-5 when behind after three periods. So that’s 2-10 when behind entering the fourth quarter under McDaniel.

Ramsey, for one, seems to suggest that any change that may be needed would have to come from within the locker room.

“For me personally, there’s like nothing that a coach can tell me that’ll make me want to play harder or not play harder,” Ramsey said. “Like, it’s just kind of who I am, in my DNA.”

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Probably, too, in the DNA of all of Ramsey’s likely future peers in the Hall of Fame.

The best-case scenario: With players such as Ramsey, Poyer and Jevon Holland setting an example, nobody will question the Dolphins’ mettle soon.

The worst case, you already know.

Let’s see how this, well, unfolds.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com . Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins must take former Bills safety Jordan Poyer's ‘fold' criticism seriously | Habib