Coach Mike McDaniel isn’t worried about former Dolphins player DeShon Elliott questioning the Miami’s mental toughness.
Steelers safety DeShon Elliott, appearing on the Punch Line Podcast, called the Dolphins “soft as fuck” in reference to a 56-20 loss to the Ravens late last season. The Dolphins would have won the AFC East by beating the Ravens but instead ended the regular season with a loss to the Bills, too, to hand the division title to Buffalo.
Elliott left in the offseason to join the Steelers, who play podcast host Marlon Humphrey’s Ravens on Sunday.
“There were some guys who were tough, but the majority of the [Dolphins] were not mentally tough individuals,” Elliott told Humphrey on the podcast. “So to be on a [Steelers] team with a full team of mentally tough guys going against a mentally tough team . . . this is going to be fun.”
McDaniel declined to directly address Elliott’s damning claim.
“I am supremely only concerned with the 2024 Dolphins, for sure,” McDaniel said, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “Our team played a tough-fought game the past three weeks and ended up finding a way to win this past week. That’s not the easiest thing to do.
“I just worry about this year’s team. He said it on a podcast? Cool podcast.”
The Steelers and Dolphins do not play during the regular season.