FRANKFURT – Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel was a history major but is applying math skills to try to downplay the significance of Sunday's heavily anticipated matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in Germany.
McDaniel suggested on Friday that beating the Chiefs at Deutsche Bank Park would merely amount to a “cool regular season win," even though there are potential AFC playoff implications in a clash of two 6-2 teams.
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“Quite literally, this is one-17th of the season. That’s how important it is,” he said at a press conference before practice. “If it was Major League Baseball, it would be 10 games. That would be five games in the NBA.”
It's most important to progress through the season, he added.
“Does seven wins get you into the playoffs? Probably not,” McDaniel said.
The Chiefs have marketing rights in Germany and are hoping to win over local fans, but McDaniel is doing a pretty good job with an international charm offensive of his own.
His first comments in Germany earlier in the week were a social media hit, and he seemed surprised that he was the inspiration for some Halloween costumes.
McDaniel was asked if he'd be interested in being coach of the U.S. flag football team at the Olympics: "I'm just trying not to get fired at my current job.”
The second-year Dolphins coach encouraged a French reporter who asked a question in English not to apologize for having an accent “when you’re speaking your second or third language. Hats off to you. I know one, and I’m not very proud of that.”
Coaching in the first regular-season NFL game in Frankfurt is an honor, he said.
“It’s an exciting opportunity. I’ve never been to Europe — I’m a history major. This is awesome. Maybe I’ll get to see a sight here soon,” McDaniel said.
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Left tackle Terron Armstead could return from a knee injury sustained in Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills. McDaniel said he's “optimistic” about activating Armstead off injured reserve.
Armstead's progress has been “very encouraging” but they planned to assess his status after practice. He was questionable for Sunday.
WR Braxton Berrios (hamstring) was also listed as questionable. McDaniel was confident the veteran will play.
“He felt a little something. It wasn’t a full injury so we’re going to test it out today and see how it goes. Optimistic with him,” McDaniel said.
OL Rob Hunt (hamstring) was ruled out. CB Xavien Howard (groin) and TE Durham Smythe (ankle) were both limited in practice and questionable for Sunday.
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