Dolphins’ Brooks says cold weather factored in loss: ‘We were soft’

Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks blamed the cold weather at Lambeau Field for contributing to Miami’s 30-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

“I feel like we let the elements control the way that we played,” Brooks said postgame, according to Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “As a group, I thought we were soft. Simple as that.

“I don’t know if guys were too cold, I don’t know what it was, but I feel like the elements played a part in how we played as a group.”

Thursday’s result was Miami’s seventh-straight loss in which the temperature at kickoff was below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The Dolphins missed 20 tackles on defense throughout the contest, according to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post.

After Miami held Green Bay to a three-and-out on its opening drive, returner Malik Washington muffed a punt that gave the Packers the ball inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line. The Packers capitalized and scored a touchdown three plays later, helping them to get off to a 24-3 lead at halftime.

Miami inched closer in the second half, trailing 27-11 midway through the third quarter. However, it couldn’t get within one score, and a turnover on downs at Green Bay’s 1-yard line with just under 10 minutes left all but iced the contest.

“The weather and the cold, I didn’t really see that as much of a factor as playing football and technique and fundamentals and bringing our feet collectively and getting our hips into tackles,” head coach Mike McDaniel said about his team’s issues.

He added: “Eventually, you have to overcome it if you’re trying to do anything in this league. … Our guys will look forward to executing in the cold weather at the next opportunity. I think they know they can, so they need to and they want to.”

The Dolphins fell to 5-7 with the loss, two games back of the 7-5 Denver Broncos, who own the seventh seed in the AFC playoff picture. Miami faces off against the New York Jets in its next contest.

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