The Top 10 Hard Knocks Episode 8 Moments

Jerome Baker and director of team security Drew Brooks were featured as well as the usual leading characters

The eighth episode of the "Hard Knocks" in-season series on the Miami Dolphins arguably was the best so far, as it featured deeply personal stories involving head coach Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill and director of team security Drew Books, along with the heartbreaking return of Jerome Baker to the lineup.

We count down the top 10 moments, from this vantage point:

10. THE POST-BALTIMORE SPEECH

As it usually the case, the early part of the show featured McDaniel's speech to his players to start the week, and this one was about getting over the disappointment of the loss at Baltimore with the AFC East title still on the line coming up in the game against Buffalo.

9. TIME TO BE BRAVE

The episode featured the obligatory practice scene, but this one seems a little more intense given what was at stake. Maybe that was reflected by this Jalen Ramsey comment: "Everybody's got fear but you can always be brave."

8. THE BUFFALO AFTERMATH

As we've said before, we always like the postgame hugs between opponents, and what stood out here was Josh Allen telling Tua, "See you in a couple of weeks, yeah?" And, yes, it could happen, but only in the AFC Championship if the Dolphins can win at Kansas City and Baltimore, and the Bills defeat Pittsburgh and the winner of Houston/Cleveland. And then there was the scene inside the Dolphins locker room with McDaniel addressing his players with a shot of a sullen Christian Wilkins sitting at his locker. “This team will not f---ing tap out at all. This one will hurt, but we will rectify our ails.”

7. LOOKING TO PAY BACK THE BILLS

This episode also featured the obligatory talk of the upcoming opponent, and it was focused on the Bills' dominance of the Dolphins in recent years. The whole thing was punctuated by McDaniel asking Baker to break down a practice and Baker talking about his Buffalo experiences.

6. THE HALFTIME LOCKER ROOM

Remember that the Dolphins were leading 14-7 at halftime against the Bills when Tua delivered these words to his offensive teammates, "It's right here, right at our fingertips." He then addressed the entire team with, "Let's dominate. Let's go get that hat and T-shirt."

5. PRO BOWL TIME

Very cool to see GM Chris Grier and McDaniel gathering the Dolphins' five offensive players selected to the Pro Bowl in an office to deliver the good news, and then watching first-time selections Tua, Alec Ingold and Raheem Mostert point that out to each other. Not exactly sure why fellow Pro Bowl selection Jalen Ramsey wasn't involved in this, though maybe he was in a defensive meeting at the time.

4. TYREEK HILL AND THE FIRE

One of the biggest off-the-field stories of the season involving the Dolphins was the fire that moved Tyreek Hill and his family out of their South Florida home last week, and "Hard Knocks" did a nice job covering it, from Tyreek telling his teammates the entire second floor was damaged to Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas telling Hill during the game he was glad that everybody was safe.

3. McDANIEL'S PERSONAL JOURNEY

Mike McDaniel overcoming a drinking problem that had him out of the NFL for more than two years over a decade ago is a story that already was known, but it was more powerful hearing it from the man himself. The anecdote about keeping the index card with 865 — the number of days he was away from the NFL — was especially interesting.

2. BROOKS' PERSONAL TRAGEDY

It's always cool to see behind-the-scenes figures get profile, and so it was with Brooks, though this story took a turn we didn't see coming. Between numerous shots of Brooks pulling McDaniel back on the sideline to avoid a penalty — he's the "get-back guy" on game day — Brooks told the story of losing his son at 12 years old, a year he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Brooks indicated that less than 50 percent of Dolphins employees were aware of his personal tragedy. And then he said, visibly emotional: "Tomorrow is not promised, so don’t waste that day. Don’t ever waste a day.” If that didn't touch you, there's something wrong.

1. THE JEROME BAKER STORY

Man, talk about a roller coaster of emotions here. Early in the episode, we see Jerome Baker talking about his work returning from a knee injury and then he's mic'ed up for the game and so is his mother in the stands. And you feel awesome for Baker when he yells "I'm back" after making a tackle and when his mother acknowledges his big tackle at the end of the first half with, "That was my baby!" But we all knew how this one would end up, though not with the detail of Baker's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, walking over after the game to tell his mother he had dislocated a bone in his wrist and his season was over. And then mother and son walk over to the car. Sad and powerful at the same time, just like the whole episode.

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