‘Flush it out': Raheem Mostert, Dolphins aim to rebound vs. Jets days after collapse

MIAMI GARDENS — A short week and a long injury list are a bad mix for any NFL team. For the Dolphins, it’s not just how many players are injured but who (Tyreek Hill) and where (nearly everywhere on the offensive line). Things have gotten so dire, it’s possible that it was only days ago that Tua Tagovailoa was introduced to the player who will be snapping to him in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

Which may not be the half of it.

Hard as it is to conceive, the physical challenge the Dolphins face might be exceeded by the mental test.

“You’ve got to flush it out at some point,” running back Raheem Mostert was saying, and no one needed to be reminded of his context.

Mostert, of course, is looking to flush away Titans 28, Dolphins 27, which just happened Monday night. It’s the kind of shocking collapse that will linger in infamy a year or a decade from now, worthy of a place alongside the “Monday Night Miracle,” a Jets comeback from a 30-7 deficit to beat the Dolphins in overtime in 2000.

More: Tyreek Hill, deep on kickoff return? What were Dolphins thinking? | Habib

Maybe, from that perspective, it’s just as well that the Dolphins are playing on a short week. No time to mope. No time to feel sorry for themselves. In fact, coach Mike McDaniel said if not for the physical realities, he wouldn’t have minded sending his team out on an even shorter week. A faster flush, you might say.

"I see a team that is eager to play football again," McDaniel said. "I sensed the first time I talked to them this week, they wished the game was that day. I know their bodies didn’t, but you want to wash that out. What I’ve seen thus far is guys focus that frustration into the game plan and preparation for this opponent. I think on the surface, you’re generally kind of worried about that. For me, this team, this week, I’m not.

"Because like I said, they’re eager to go make some things right."

Tua Tagovailoa: We can't be emotional about this

On a team with this many veterans, the stakes are well known. The Dolphins can come out against the 8½-point underdog Jets and make a statement. Or they can let their funk of the closing minutes Monday night snowball.

“I think that the thing for us as a team to regroup from something like this is not to be emotional about it,” Tagovailoa said. “We don’t want to come into the game thinking we need to do this, we need to do that. We just need to play within the rules and principles of what that play entails for us to do. And we have to go out there and execute. That’s all we should be worried about.”

In other words, “get it going,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said.

“Get out there and practice and prepare for the next opponent,” Fangio said. “And not sit around and just think about the last game.”

It sounds simple. But players aren’t machines. There is no “delete” button to wipe from memory the fact that no team in the previous 767 situations squandered a 14-point lead in the final three minutes and lost.

“There’s no time for feelings, right?” receiver Braxton Berrios said. “You have to take everything for what it is. And from those objective things, you have to learn your lessons. Losses come in all shapes, sizes, forms, as do wins.”

It’s what you do with those losses, Berrios said.

“Losses always magnify things a little bit more,” he said. “And you look a little bit closer.”

Alec Ingold says keeping an even keel is critical

Fullback Alec Ingold put Monday night in the category of other “gut-wrenching” losses he has suffered in his five NFL seasons. His approach this week is not unlike what it was after that historic 70-20 blowout against Denver: keeping an even keel.

“You never want to be conditioned to be OK with losing,” Ingold said. “That’s never in your DNA as a competitor. But at the same time, you have to be able to take tough lessons. When you’re in a results-based industry and it’s black and white, there is a whole lot of gray in that film. If you can continue to condition yourself to look towards improvement and not get sick of it, not get tired of it, I think that’s what gives you the best chance to win.”

Mostert said heartbreaking losses are tests of a team’s ability to adapt and overcome.

“I mean, if you see what good teams do — that’s what they do,” said Mostert, who needs one rushing touchdown to break the team’s record of 16 set by Ricky Williams in 2002.

By Mostert’s barometer, the Dolphins weren’t good enough last year. They went to San Francisco on a five-game winning streak and lost 33-17 to trigger a five-game losing streak. These Dolphins can’t afford that. A week ago, they owned the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Now, Baltimore (10-3) has a one-game edge over Miami in the race for a first-round bye.

It was only three weeks ago that the Dolphins easily handled the Jets 34-13 in New Jersey. But if the Dolphins come into this game trying to forget their last outing, the Jets are in the exact opposite mode. New York routed the Houston Texans 30-6 last week as much-maligned Zach Wilson threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

The Dolphins go into the game having listed 12 players on the injury report, including safety DeShon Elliott (concussion) and guard Rob Hunt (hamstring), who are out. The offensive line is a big question mark with left tackle Terron Armstead (knee, ankle), right tackle Austin Jackson and center Liam Eichenberg (calf) all questionable. So, too, are Hill, running back De’Von Achane (toe) and safety Jevon Holland (knees). If Eichenberg cannot go, it's possible newly signed Jonotthan Harrison, who hasn't played in four years, could be Miami's center.

As if the Dolphins needed more to test their resolve.

“Whenever you have adversity, you can either run from it, hide from it, or you embrace it, learn from it, grow from it, become stronger from it,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “I think so many guys on this football team, that’s kind of who they were and how they got here. I think a lot of us when we go through games where we had our expectations not met, it’s time to go back to work. That hunger and that fire as a competitor, I mean for me, I know how I feel.”

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

Sunday's game

Jets (4-8) at Dolphins (9-4)

1 p.m., CBS; NFL+, Paramount+, Fubo and YouTube Sunday Ticket outside South Florida

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins try to ‘flush' loss away by beating Jets