Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor has recently been outspoken in his criticism of how the players have been performing. He's talked about how lazy they have been in practice. He's called out the players for production on the field. He's refused to allow the team to fall into the 2007 mentality.
And, yet, nothing has changed. Well, one thing has changed. Jason has changed.
Taylor seems to have finally been beaten down by the Dolphins' and their performance this year. I think he has finally realized, no matter what he says, this collection of coaches and players have quit. And, their play on Monday night proved it.
For the first quarter, the team was amazing. They could move the ball anyway they wanted - unless it was into the endzone. The defense dominated the Jets. They finished the quarter with over 170 yards, while allowing the Jets just 10 yards on 9 plays. It was great. It looked like the bye had done its job.
But the Dolphins were losing 7-6 at that point. And they never scored again.
Suddenly, everything fell apart faster than a Matt Moore to Brandon Marshall pass falls to the turf. And, with it, I think, went Jason Taylor's excitement.
Below the jump is the entire transcript of JT's post game press conference via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Mike Berardino:
On if this loss is tough to swallow: "Every loss is tough to swallow."
On if losing to the Jets makes the loss more difficult: "It does not matter who the opponent is. They are all tough to swallow."
On preparing for the Broncos on a short week: "The short week is not important. You have the same time off."
On if during the game he felt a sense of "Here we go again": "I never feel that way."
That was it. And, by that point, it was obvious Taylor was done, and so was the media. There was nothing left to say.
So, goes the 2011 season.