Firm messages to Tagovailoa and Hill and news from Grier/McDaniel Dolphins presser

Quick hits from Tuesday’s season-ending news conference for Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel:

▪ Will the Dolphins’ accommodate Tyreek Hill’s stated desire to play elsewhere and trade him?

Grier: “Mike and I had conversations with Tyreek, productive conversations. I will keep those between us. In a frustrating season, he was very emotional” after the game and felt “frustration.”

Grier said Hill did not backtrack in his comments but not did ask Grier for a trade. In another encouraging sign, Hill on Tuesday restored a photo of himself in a Dolphins jersey on his X account after removing that photo on Monday.

Hill removed himself from Sunday’s game even though he wasn’t injured. McDaniel said that behavior is unacceptable.

“We met for an hour,” McDaniel said. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest. Discussed multiple things including it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated. He embraced accountability.”

McDaniel said Hill will remain the team’s No. 1 option if defenses “are not doubling him.”

▪ Grier, on Tua Tagovailoa, who missed six games: “He needs to be available and control what he can control. Not being available for taking chances and risks is unacceptable to us. He needs to know how to protect himself. Don’t be Superman; throw the ball away. The sooner he understands that,” the better.

Grier said there’s no longterm concern with Tagovailoa’s hip injury that sidelined him the final two games of the season. Grier said doctors told the team it was a “very unique” injury.

▪ Grier, on the season: “Disappointed [with] 8-9. It’s not the standard here. It won’t be. We will be better, everyone from myself to Mike, the coaching staff, players. We had expectations created by the excitement the past two years [and they weren’t met]. It’s unacceptable. Nobody is happy. We will get this fixed.”

▪ McDaniel said he will not accept players being tardy, which several were multiple times this season. He said some players in particular were at fault.

“One thing I learned is fining guys didn’t particularly move the needle in the way we need to,” McDaniel said. “I’ll adjust as I should as a head coach.”

The fact players need to stop being late was one of the themes of the team meeting Monday.

“They heard the message,” McDaniel said. “We [have] zero tolerance for” tardiness.

Grier said “players have to be accountable to each other” because they cannot be policed by coaches and staffers “24-7.”

Grier said: “Mike’s message to the team was very well received” that players cannot be late to meetings or anything else any longer.

▪ Grier said Stephen Ross is “frustrated” and as is always the case, Grier will review everything with the owner. Grier will retain his exact same power and responsibilities.

Grier on Ross: “He wants to win. He deserves a winner and it’s our job to do it.”

▪ Grier said backup QB will be a priority.

He said “we were in for a couple of top flight backup QBs” last offseason but because of financial consequences with the cap or compensation due to other teams, they couldn’t get them.

“It’s a position we did not take lightly,’ he said. “We were working at that the entire offseason.”

He said “every stone will be unturned” at backup QB and it’s important that the right player is signed.

▪ McDaniel noted the team must improve its physicality in short yardage. “That’s a part that can and will improve.” But “there will physical components I was very happy with, including our zone defense vs. check downs. There was tremendous physicality that showed its face from the middle of the season on.”

▪ Do the Dolphins need to increase their emphasis on the track record of a player’s durability in making personnel decisions?

Grier: “It’s a fine line. There’s a 100 percent injury rate in football. We always look at it. There is always risk in signing players but you don’t want to miss the opportunity of adding a good player to your roster because you’re scared of something that happened a couple years ago.”

▪ Grier said “we are going to have to invest in the offensive line now. We are older there now.” Grier said he and Terron Armstead have spoken this week and “will have more conversations” about his future. “This is the time to start investing in some offensive linemen.”

Grier explained that the reason he said he wasn’t concerned about the offensive line last offseason is because he was “just supporting” them publicly because “they’re the hardest working group in the building.”

He said “we ran it back with a lot of those guys while adding [center] Aaron Brewer” because the team ran well in 2023. He said tackle Patrick Paul and Andrew Meyer “are good pieces. [Right tackle] Austin Jackson was a huge loss. When he went down, it was a slow bleed out the rest of the year. [Tackle] Kion Smith was a huge loss. We had teams trying to trade for him. Isaiah Wynn was a setback; we thought he would be back much quicker.”

▪ McDaniel said one problem this year is “we have to take advantage of what defenses are not taking away” when they consistently take away deep balls by playing two safeties deep. “We didn’t start seeing normal defenses until the Raiders game.”

▪ Grier, asked about interest in retaining free agent Jevon Holland, said conversations with his agent ended when the season started in order to focus on the season:

“Jevon has been a good player. We will go through everything and talk through this year and see what happens.”

▪ Grier suggested that the team’s trouble winning in cold weather is not a roster construction problem, but a problem with self-inflicted wounds:

“We are always looking at how to beat [Buffalo]. In those cold weather games, it’s been self inflicted wounds. Until we figure out a way to stop doing it, it’s not going to change. The guys can play. We can play in [cold weather]. Self inflicted wounds seem to show up at the wrong time. Until the guys figure it out, nothing is going to change. We work tirelessly and talk about it constantly.”

▪ McDaniel said the team “remains best served by me calling the plays.”

▪ Why has the six-year rebuild not resulted in playoff success?

“It’s a fair question. The last two years, around the playoffs, didn’t win games, which is not the goal. We are in there to compete and get to Super Bowls. Our biggest [thing] is the quarterback, when he misses 6 1/2 games. To me, that’s the difference there.”

He said this was a “hard year. A lot of lessons were learned. We feel good about the core players that are here. To me, the fact Zach Sieler and De’Von Achane didn’t get Pro Bowl [invitations] is [expletive].”

▪ Grier said Calais Campbell hasn’t indicated if he’s retiring; they spoke this week.

Grier said: “If he decides to play, he [indicated that] he loved his time here and it would be a strong consideration. And we would welcome him back with open arms.”