Dolphins Players Reportedly Told to Take It Easy on Ryan Tannehill in Practice
Daniel Kramer@dkramer_
Featured Columnist
The Miami Dolphins are dreadful.
They're 1-3 and in the AFC East cellar. They fired fourth-year head coach Joe Philbin on Monday. And reports continue to surface about an uninspired culture within the locker room.
Much of Miami's angst is rooted in its offense, particularly fourth-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has thrown five interceptions and a lost fumble through four games. And prior to his firing, Philbin reportedly told his team to ease up on Tannehill during practice so as "to not affect the young quarterback's confidence," in the words of Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
Apparently, Miami practice-squad players were "intercepting Tannehill and frustrating" the struggling quarterback.
According to Wilson, Tannehill was so rattled in a session last Saturday that he took jabs at those who picked him off. "Enjoy your practice-squad paycheck," he reportedly said. "Enjoy your practice-squad trophy."
On Wednesday, Tannehill said Saturday practices are supposed to be about "fast, crisp offenses, not necessarily hard defense," per Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post.
Tannehill also acknowledged Wednesday that he made the "trophy comment," per Abramson, but said he "never talked about paychecks," according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.
"Yeah, I'm upset. It's slanderous to report things I didn't say, to degrade my reputation, it's sickening to me," Tannehill added, per Jeff Darlington of NFL Network.
The quarterback's frustrations reportedly prompted Philbin to tell those players to take it easy on the starter.
Ed Werder of ESPN weighed in on the team's handling of the situation:
Tannehill went on to throw two interceptions in Sunday's 27-14 loss to the Jets, finishing 19-of-44 for 198 yards with two touchdowns. A day later, Philbin was out of a job.
Interim head coach Dan Campbell, the team's tight ends coach since 2011, addressed the Dolphins' culture woes in his introductory press conference, according to John Breech of CBS Sports.
"There may be some things that need to be moved and shuffled, I have to sort those things out, but we have enough to win," Campbell said. "We have to change the culture. I have to change the culture."
The Dolphins are a mess, but they have a bye this week to regroup before traveling to Tennessee to take on the Titans in Week 6.