When Dan Campbell was named the interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins after the team's 1-3 start, he had to turn into a psychologist.
"You're trying to get them back on the right track. You're trying to get them going again," Campbell said this week on a conference call with Philadelphia media. "You're trying to get them to feel good about what's in the building."
Campbell created headlines in the media when he put his players through Oklahoma drills during his first practice in charge. He revealed that they were not Oklahoma drills, just one-on-one drills with the entire team watching.
The reason was to increase the game-like intensity during practices. The changes worked initially as Miami roughed up Houston and Tennessee. But in the past two weeks, the Dolphins have lost back-to-back games to AFC East rivals New England and Buffalo. Neither game was overly competitive. The Dolphins gave up 266 yards on the ground last Sunday as Bills running back LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams each rushed for over 100 yards.
"Unfortunately, they got us last week," Campbell said.
The Eagles come into this game as the second-best rushing team in the league over the past five weeks, averaging 173 yards per game. Miami will look to improve its own run game, one that ranks 19th in the league but has two talented backs in Lamar Miller and rookie Jay Ajayi. Campbell knows that will be tough going against an Eagles defensive line that plays "textbook" run defense.
"It's impressive. It's hard to run on those guys," Campbell said. "They make you earn everything you get."
To hear Campbell thoughts on the Eagles' offense, the play of wide receiver Jarvis Landry and his own memories of playing the Eagles, click here or press play on the embedded video above.
