The Miami Dolphins have devolved into a complete mess, and it cost a man his job Monday.
Head coach Joe Philbin was fired in the middle of his fourth season after the Dolphins’ listless 1-3 start to the season, culminating with an embarrassing loss Sunday in London to the New York Jets. One report paints a pretty ugly picture for Philbin and the Dolphins in his final day.
Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post on Monday shared an uncomfortable story centering around quarterback Ryan Tannehill and, ultimately, Philbin. According to Wilson, Tannehill has played poorly in recent practices to the point where the Dolphins practice squad players started to get under the QB’s skin.
This, from Wilson:
“On Saturday during practice, Tannehill, after a couple of practice squad players forced turnovers, Tannehill made negative comments toward them, including saying: ‘Enjoy your practice squad paycheck, enjoy your practice squad trophy.'”
You might imagine the Dolphins would try and curtail that sort of interaction. Well, Philbin reportedly did — by telling the practice squad players to cut it out.
“Philbin told the practice squad players to take it easy on Tannehill to not affect the young quarterback’s confidence,” Wilson wrote.
Too bad Philbin couldn’t do the same for his opposition, as it likely would have saved his job. Tannehill has completed just 56.7 percent of his passes this season — including a 19-for-44 showing Sunday — and has five interceptions in the last two games, a pair of losses by a combined 40 points.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images