The Dolphins were back at the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University on Monday obviously still disappointed about the last-second loss against the Indianapolis Colts, but Head Coach Adam Gase is confident his players will be looking ahead when they return to practice.
"The good thing about NFL players is once we hit Wednesday, they really don't care about last week," Gase said. "Which is probably better that they're like that compared to the coaches. We'll sit and think and dwell and all that stuff. These guys will do a good job of moving on and go to practice and work hard and get after it on Wednesday. Our focus just needs to be to one game. How do we win one game? It's probably good that we're at home. We've got a great opportunity just kind of get back to .500. We've just got to focus on ourselves, can't worry about anybody else."
The Dolphins (5-6) will return to Hard Rock Stadium next Sunday to face the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills.
It will begin the final month of the regular season, which this year includes five games—two against the Bills and others against the Patriots, Vikings and Jaguars.
Gase was asked what kind of December team he was anticipating the Dolphins would be.
"We'll find out," he said. "The guys that we've got will battle. I thought they played hard yesterday. It was unfortunate we lost that game because I really thought there was a lot of guys that did good stuff. It's just hard to see right now because everybody does the same thing. Everybody goes and looks at the result and all the good things get forgotten about. That's where we can't get lost in it as a team. We've got to focus on the things that we did improve on. The things that we didn't, we need to get better at. And then we have to figure out a way to win this week."
Tannehill talk: Gase said quarterback **Ryan Tannehill** came out of the game in good shape physically. Tannehill was 17-for-25 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first game since the Week 5 game at Cincinnati on Oct. 7. "I thought he played well," Gase said. "He executed what we asked him to do."
Injury update: Gase said wide receiver **Danny Amendola** (knee) and center **Travis Swanson** (ankle) likely won't practice until the end of the week and their status for the game against Buffalo might not be determined until the weekend. Running back **Kenyan Drake** and wide receiver **DeVante Parker** likely will wear red (non-contact) jerseys for a second consecutive week.
Big day for Durham: Rookie tight end **Durham Smythe** made his first NFL start against the Colts and also had his first two NFL receptions. The fourth-round pick from Notre Dame was on the receiving end of Ryan Tannehill's first completion in six weeks, catching a 21-yard pass on the second play from scrimmage. Smythe had a 6-yard reception to start the Dolphins' third drive. "He has been practicing well," Gase said. "He's been doing a lot of good stuff. The entire season he keeps getting better."
Crazy sequence: The last two minutes of the first half Sunday offered a highly unusual series of twists and turns. In particular was a seven-play sequence that included two touchdowns and three turnovers. After a Colts touchdown, kickoff for a touchback and a 1-yard gain by the Dolphins came the real fun. There was the 74-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to **Leonte Carroo**, **Xavien Howard’s** interception of Andrew Luck, **Mike Gesicki’s** fumble after catching a pass from Tannehill, and another Howard interception before Tannehill took a knee to end the half in a 14-14 tie. This was Gase's take on the three-turnover sequence: "I was happy about two of them; one of them I was not so happy. I felt good. I thought we were going to score there and just really flip the game, and then when we turned it over. That's just a killer."
Giving back: Dolphins players, staff and FOOTBALL UNITES™ community partners were scheduled to visit the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind to deliver four wearable artificial intelligence devices designed to improves the lives of individuals who are blind, visually impaired and have reading difficulties. The OrCam Technologies were purchased by the Israeli Consulate in Miami. The four recipients were Emily Bejerano, a freshman at Coral Park High School; Diandre Incera, who is in his last year at Fienberg Fisher K-8 center middle school; Marnel Jean, a senior at Michael Krop Senior High School; and Sebastian Torres, a transgendered client who lost his vision due to diabetic retinopathy.
