Dolphins not thrilled about Hard Knocks
Members of the team express Displeasure
The Miami Dolphins will be the focus of “Hard Knocks” and Xavien Howard is not thrilled about it. The Dolphins cornerback was quite vocal about his negative feelings about his team being followed by HBO’s film crew during the regular season. The show already documented the Jets earlier this year, but only during the preseason. It will start following the Dolphins after their match against the Chiefs in Germany on November 5.
Howard expressed his strong disapproval of the show, saying, “‘Hard Knocks’ is bullshit, especially during the season. No, I’m serious. I’m not a fan,” as The Palm Beach Post reported. He also expressed his disappointment with the timing of the news. The announcement came after the Dolphins suffered a 31-17 loss to the Eagles on Sunday night. Howard believes that the show will create unnecessary distractions for the team, who are currently leading the AFC East division standings with a 5-2 record. He also thinks that the Dolphins have not done anything to deserve such attention.
Players want some privacy
“I feel like being around cameras and stuff like that — I feel like we’ve got to do better. We’ve got to beat teams with good records. So I feel like before we get all the little fame that’s coming right now. I feel like we’ve got to put in work,” he said.
When questioned about the situation, several players expressed concerns that having cameras inside the facility could change things and make it difficult to maintain a typical work environment. Wideout Braxton Berrios said that it’s impossible not to feel the presence of a camera and the team wants to keep their building as normal as possible. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa prefers to work in private and acknowledged that having cameras around could be tough for some of his teammates.
The coach doesn’t seem worried
Head coach Mike McDaniel admitted that “Hard Knocks” could be a possible distraction. However, he’s confident that any issues between the team and the production team will be resolved before the show airs. The Dolphins will be the third team to be featured on “Hard Knocks” during the regular season, following the Colts (2021) and Cardinals (2022). The Colts missed the playoffs after a 9-6 start while the Cardinals started 3-4 before losing nine of their final 10 games last year.
However, the Arizona Cardinals had a successful 2015 season despite cameras being present throughout the regular season. As the subject of the first season of “All or Nothing”, Bruce Arians’ team went to the NFC Championship Game before losing to the Carolina Panthers.