Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
According to the agent of LaMichael James, he has signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins and will be put on the team's practice squad. James, who requested his release from the San Francisco 49ers prior to the season in hopes of landing a bigger role somewhere else, hopes to parlay this opportunity into a spot on the active roster, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Since 2012 when he was drafted by the 49ers in the third round,  James has averaged 4.5 yards per rush on 41 carries and has five receptions for 45 yards. However, James may make his impact on special teams if he is promoted to the active roster. Last season, he ranked 10th in the league in punt return average. Since 2012, he has an average of 28.4 yards on kickoff returns and an average of 10.9 yards on punt returns. In 2010, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy race and ranked 14th in NCAA history in rushing yards with 5,028 yards. 

Signing James gives the Dolphins six running backs, which means one will most likely be cut. The Dolphins haven't released an official statement but we'll keep you posted once they do.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
It’s time to clean out the notebook from Monday's press conference with remarks from the coaches in regards to various topics, such as Marcus Thigpen, Jarvis Landry, Dion Sims and more! Here’s what Joe Philbin, Bill Lazor and Kevin Coyle are saying about these players.

Joe Philbin on whether or not they will consider moving Marcus Thigpen to the active roster to take Jarvis Landry’s place on the punt and kickoff return team: “He [Jarvis Landry} is a young player. This kid is a football player. I like what he’s done as a football player. He has made plays. He’s a playmaker. Beyond that, I will use my other answer, if and when we make a change at any of those types of positions, we’ll tell you and we’ll inform the player first and go from there.”

Kevin Coyle on doing well against upper echelon quarterbacks last season such as Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck and Tom Brady: “Oh, I think certainly as coaches you love the challenge of defending the great players. You know, let me say this: each and every week, you guys hear us say this, but it’s hard to win in the NFL. Just look around every week and see the scores from yesterday and the week before. These teams are all capable and you’ve got to bring you’re A-game to be successful. But when you do play a guy like Aaron Rodgers and a team like Green Bay that has such a storied tradition, you get excited about it and I know the players do. They realize the challenge that’s presented to you. So I think we’ll be ready to play come a week from Sunday and we really look forward to it. It’s a big game for us.” 

Bill Lazor on Dion Sims and the increased playing time he got on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders: “We’re going to call what we think is best in the game. Some of it is how the game plays out. I think you’d find later in the game we probably used more yesterday. At the same time, I think Dion is an improving player. You try to give guys an opportunity to show you on the practice field what they can do and when they respond the right way you’d like to think you have a team where then you can show them with more playing time. If they don’t respond the right way that week, if you have the kind of team that you can show that and the amount of playing time they have, I think it’s a great motivating factor on practicing in the right way. I thought Dion had a really good week of practice. Hopefully, it helps all our players see that it worked out for him.”

Joe Philbin in regards to his overall thoughts of the team at this point of the season: “I’m looking for the consistency out of this football team. I see a lot of things on tape that I really like in every phase, but what we have to do is consistently put it together for 60 minutes. Again, last night really wasn’t really quite there yet. There was a lot of it points in the right direction and things that went well. I told the team after the game, there’s a lot of untapped potential still there. There’s a lot of room for improvement. Right now, we’ve got to be critical of ourselves and acknowledging things we did well and be honesty about the things we still aren’t doing very well, and work to correct them as quickly as we can. It’s a good group of guys, a good high character group of guys.”

Kevin Coyle on the defense and their ability to be consistent through the entire game: “I don’t think we’ve played in any of the ball games up to this point quite frankly a full 60-minute game from start to finish. There have been periods where we’ve been very very good and then we’ve had some lapses. Yesterday, I thought for the most part, they had the opening drive, they converted a couple of third downs on us and then, for the better part of the game, up until later in the game, when the game was really in hand, I thought we took control of the game. I think the encouraging think right now is the fact that we’re taking the ball away, which the interceptions showed up yesterday and hopefully we can build on that. I think we have as many fumbles recovered as any team in the league at this point through four games, which has been an Achilles heel for us over the last couple of seasons. So coupled with that, I think eight takeaways in the opening four games is a positive. We’ve got to keep building on that. 

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Although the Miami Dolphins defensive line only had two sacks on Sunday, they created plenty of pressure in the pocket with 5 quarterback hits and 7 passes deflected in the secondary. They’ve been the heart and soul of the defense for the past four weeks and Kevin Coyle praised their effort against the Oakland Raiders.

“I thought the guys up front did a nice job. I thought collectively the front seven did a nice job of attacking the run game. The fact that we were able to gain a lead and a substantial lead early made them get away from the run game. I thought overall we got off to a good start and I thought all of the guys up front and the linebackers did a good job.”

“I think we’re generating good pressure on the quarterback as we have done and I think we will continue to do. Our rush defense was better yesterday and hopefully, as we get some of our people back in the lineup, that will continue to improve as well. I think there are a lot of encouraging things. We’re going to analyze where we’re at after four weeks here as a staff during this week as well as getting onto the Green Bay game ahead of us. I think there is a lot of room to be optimistic that, if we can pull it all together, we’ve got a chance to be solid on defense.” 

One of the things that Joe Philbin was most impressed with was the fact that Coyle was able to mix it up so much despite being without several key players on the defensive side of the ball. Philbin gave credit to the defensive line for getting enough pressure on the quarterback so they could get creative and do different things throughout the game.

“I thought we had a pretty good mix. I thought Kevin (Coyle) and the defensive staff, I thought the game plan was good. I thought we did bring some pressure. We were playing a young quarterback as we entered the game, so I thought we had a good package in there. But also we were able to exert some pressure when we were just, as you mentioned, bringing four guys. We all know if you can do it with four guys and then change up the coverages in the back end a lot, there’s value in that. Then there’s also value in at least forcing the quarterback to make a real fast decision because maybe you’re bringing one more guy than they have and do they have the exact answer versus that specific pressure and that specific coverage. I thought the balance between those two, from our standpoint, was very good.”

With Randy Starks coming back in week 6 and Dion Jordan coming back in week 7, the defensive line should continue to dominate their opponent throughout the remainder of the season.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
There is no doubt that the Miami Dolphins offense was a whole lot better on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders after being stagnant for the previous two weeks. Everything seemed to be clicking and while it was the Oakland Raiders after all, the offense was able to dominate and continue to put points up on the board almost every drive. That in itself is an impressive feat, considering how hard it is to do that in the NFL. With all that success though, the coaches still want to see improvement from various parts of the offense.

“I liked what they did. I thought the production was good. The balance was good. Again, I think the big thing was there were not a lot of third-and-longs. That’s always helpful,” Joe Philbin said. “I think going into the game, they were 12th in the league on defense. They have some good defensive players, they really do. We didn’t want to get into a game where they were getting into (their) comprehensive blitz package. I thought we were able to keep them at bay. We had some balance. We were ahead of the game in terms of the down-and-distance for the most part. We were putting pressure on them and alleviating those tough situations that you have offensively. I thought overall it was good. Obviously, I thought we had really overcome, we got a little sloppy in the second half. Let’s face it, we had some penalties. We had some giveaways. We overcame I think two penalties on the opening possession, if I’m not wrong, and ultimately fumbled the ball. Obviously, you can’t do that. You don’t want to do that on the two yard-line. Overall, I thought there were a lot of good things.”

The team averaged almost nine yards per offensive attempt and Bill Lazor said that when they were planning for the game earlier in the week, this is the way they envisioned the game playing out.

“One of the easiest things for me to gauge, standing on the sidelines calling the plays is, if I’m calling a lot of third and sevens, eights, nines, 10’s and 11’s as opposed to yesterday, when either the third downs are easier or there aren’t many third downs. That comes from having good first and second down plays. Like I said, I think for all of us, the way we had hoped this game would play out is how it played out. We’ve got some time here to try to do it again.”

Lazor said that with a 2-2 record, he still needs time to assess the overall offense but feels that time is coming sooner rather than later. Let’s hope they can continue on the same path that they were on against the Oakland Raiders when they take on the Green Bay Packers on October 12.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
The Miami Dolphins running game is amongst the best in the NFL and the primary reason why is the offensive line and of course, Lamar Miller. Miller is currently tied for second for the most runs of 20+ yards with four. Ahead of him is DeMarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys with 5. In addition, the Dolphins are fifth in the NFL with 569 yards and are also fifth with 5.0 yards per carry. Bill Lazor likes what he sees so far but still wants to see improvement.

“I think we are on track. I think we are about where we would hope it would be, which is still improving. But I believe our players know better now than maybe in the first couple of games of the preseason of exactly what it is going to look like, how it is going to go, what people are going to try to do to stop it. So I think we are gaining confidence and we are just gaining working knowledge of what we are doing. I think our backs are being decisive. It’s coming. I guess we will have a little bit more time to evaluate during this bye week the first four games. It will be a little bit clearer, but I think we hoped it would be gaining momentum, and it is.”

“There were some areas that the coaches who were here in the past felt like Lamar needed to improve in the offseason and he’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do, probably all those opportunities haven’t shown up yet, but, as they do, I think we’re very confident that he’s still an improving player and he’s very willing to do what we ask him to do. So I have great hope for him.”

One player who wasn’t even in the Dolphins’ plans this season until Knowshon Moreno got injured is Daniel Thomas and he is making the most of his second chance with the team.

“I’m happy with the production he’s had. I can think of at least one explosive run and obviously he had an explosive pass called back. He had another explosive pass that was a big third down conversion. Daniel has done a great job kind of picking up where he left off. I don’t know if he was in exactly the same shape, but I thought he picked it up pretty fast when he got back and we’re happy to have him back for sure.”

Joe Philbin echoed the sentiments of Lazor and said he’s been impressed by the way that Thomas has come back while not missing much of a beat.

“I liked what he did. There were a couple of plays on the film where he kind of had both a little bit of patience where he didn’t rush it and then you saw some acceleration through the hole at the same time once he did make a decision. I thought he made a good contribution. I thought he ran a really nice route. I believe that was a third down play. It was well done. I thought he contributed nicely.”

With Moreno coming back in week 6, it will only help this running game. It’s odd to say but perhaps this team can begin to use a three-headed monster approach to the run game with Miller, Moreno and Thomas. If all three can continue to be successful, not many teams will be able to stop the Dolphins on the ground. 

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
There are always various moments during games where a team will gain momentum after a big turnover, a blocked kick or punt, a touchdown or a long field goal. After that, there are some teams that take advantage of that momentum by scoring or making a big stop on defense. 

However, there are also teams who do nothing with it and give it right back. The Dolphins found themselves in that situation against the Kansas City Chiefs and also for a brief few minutes against the Buffalo Bills. Against the Oakland Raiders though, they rode the wave of momentum throughout the entire game and Bill Lazor was impressed.

“I was encouraged yesterday in the first half. One of the things that stood out to me on the sidelines was the way that our receivers played. I thought you saw guys when they got the ball in their hands that were excited to have the ball in their hand. They were really working as hard as I’ve seen them work to do something with it. I thought they were physical blocking for each other on the perimeter. At times, you can include the tight ends with that. I thought that they started to develop an attitude of how they wanted to play with the football in their hands. I think there were times when I saw from our offensive line, I think it showed up in the Patriots game, the other win that you were talking about, the offensive line felt a kind of momentum that they could control the game up front. I think what we have to do as an offense is we’ve got to capture those moments, those feelings. But more important than the feeling, what led to it? What was the execution? What did we do correctly, and when that is not happening, why? We’ve got to pinpoint that. We’re all adults. We’ve got to talk about it, show it and make sure that we put our guys in position to capture that positive execution more often.”

Joe Philbin said they spent a lot of time talking to the team about capturing that momentum and running with it. With that accomplished, he hopes that it will continue for the remainder of the season.

“The one thing we did talk to the team about going into this game was momentum. How do you capture momentum? Then maybe more importantly, how do you sustain it throughout the course of the game? Certainly, even in the two losses we had, I would argue there were periods in time where we had momentum in the second half of those games, but we certainly didn’t sustain it. We didn’t complement one another, offense, defense, special teams. I thought after the opening kickoff yesterday, we just kind of kept playing. We grabbed some momentum and we never let up. We never gave it back. Yeah, consistency, that’s a great question. That’s one of the things we’ll pose to the ball club when we get back to work tomorrow."

"Now, we have to start playing at a consistently high level. It’s time. I told the team before the game that we’ve been at this thing since July 24th. You know what to do. You know what your job is. We haven’t changed a whole lot. Let’s go out and play football. Let’s play football.”

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Ryan Tannehill looked like a much different player against the Oakland Raiders than he had in the previous three weeks against the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. Perhaps it was the fact that his coaches called him out during the week or perhaps it’s the fact that he’s finally getting comfortable in the new offense. Whatever it is, Bill Lazor is happy about it and liked what he saw.

“Maybe it’s just me, I just take them each one at a time. I thought he was very accurate on the touchdown to Dion Sims on the run. He was very accurate in the pocket on the route throw up the seam to Brian Hartline. He was accurate on a number of the quick catch-and-throw screens he threw to the outside, which seemed like a little thing, but aren’t always that easy. So I think there were a whole bunch of them. As coaches, we just take them one at a time because, if we find one we need to work on, we’ve got to make sure we do.”

Tannehill also did a lot more running on Sunday, picking up 35 yards on 5 rushes, which is an average of 7 yards per carry. Lazor was asked if he’s tempted to use Tannehill in more running situations after seeing how successful he was.

“A large portion of the quarterback runs will be based on what the defense does. A large portion of the time when people think there’s a possibility of the quarterback running, he actually doesn’t have that option. Sometimes, when people think he doesn’t have that option, he does.”

One of the biggest things though was the fact that Tannehill completed passes to nine different receivers. Joe Philbin was very excited about this and knows that spreading the ball out like this needs to continue.

“That’s great stuff. That’s good. The more weapons you can have, the more guys that can do something once they get the ball in their hands. I’m all for it. I think it’s great.”

If Tannehill play on a consistent basis like he played on Sunday, he will easily push his way into the discussion as some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. It will be a wait and see approach though and we’ll find out more in just about 12 days when they take on the Green Bay Packers. 

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
The Miami Dolphins have been without several players for the past few weeks and several more were added to that list on Sunday. These players include Knowshon Moreno, Mike Pouncey, Reshad Jones, Randy Starks, Koa Misi and several others. The Dolphins were able to compile a 2-2 record without them and Kevin Coyle was impressed with the way the next man up stepped to the plate.

“I think I’m just happy that the players realize that we do have that next man up approach. We’re counting on every man in that room. They’re there for a reason. They’ve earned those chairs to sit in that room and to represent the Miami Dolphins. So when their time is called, we expect them to be ready to play. I think a lot of guys have stepped up during the first four weeks, but we have to play consistently better as a defense to get where we want to go.”

One of the biggest pieces of the defense will be back on the field against the Green Bay Packers and that is middle linebacker Koa Misi. Coyle knows that Misi makes the whole team better.

“Like I said, I think we’ve helped ourselves tremendously and the fact that our depth is better now, we’ll have some options to look at and packages to consider as we move forward. I’m real excited because, having a healthy Koa Misi makes our team better, there’s no question about it.”

The Dolphins will be certainly much improved when they take the field against the Packers on October 12 and it will be nice to see what the team can really do with all of these players back and fully healthy.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
If you look at various articles, tweets, Facebook posts and more, you’ll often find people referencing stats and grades. This can be anything such as grades from Pro Football Focus, specific stats from ESPN, trends and patterns from Pro Football Reference and more. Often, people use these various stats and grades to make an argument about something. However, what do the coaches think about them? Kevin Coyle was asked that and here’s what he had to say.

“I think it’s a matter of consistency. I think you may want to check your stats there, starting with the first one. The stats sometimes mean something and sometimes they don’t. I think, if we can pull it all together collectively, we can be a very very good defense, just like we said at the onset of the season.”

Bill Lazor said that instead of looking at an overall picture, he looks at one play at a time and then looks for trends and patterns over time.

“I think, as a coach, you grade and evaluate one play at a time. You try to string them together and see bursts of play that hopefully give you some insight and the best things to do with the guy. We just go one play at a time.”

So what’s the final verdict? There is none. Each coach analyzes things differently and each coach uses grades and stats in different ways. However, it’s important to note that every grade and every stat out there is just a small piece of a giant puzzle and they all have different meanings and impact on and off the field.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
It's been a crazy few weeks for most of the Miami Dolphins rookies but against the Oakland Raiders, many of them came back from injuries and contributed a variety of ways. Leading the way was safety Walt Aikens, who had 1 tackle, 1 pass defended and 1 interception, which he returned for 43 yards.

"He’s starting to play faster. I think the one thing you are always a little bit leery of when you are playing a young player is what’s the play speed like. Is the game a little too big for him or if the motion checks or the formation checks in empty, how do they function with all of those pieces are moving at one time," Kevin Coyle said. "Not uncommon like a lot of guys, I think it’s getting better and better and better. Yesterday was kind of an example of the play (his interception) you spoke about. I think he’s improving, so that was exciting to see.”

Another one was defensive lineman Terrence Fede, who had one tackle. Although Coyle said he was a bit rusty after not playing for several weeks, he still contributed and helped move the pocket. 

"They were arguing in the locker room after the game because, not arguing, but discussing the fact that Derrick (Shelby) got to the quarterback and Terrence got there almost simultaneously. Probably a hair behind him and they were giving Terrence a hard time being a rookie that he wasn’t going to get any of that sack. I think he’s just going to keep getting better. He’s a young talented player that has a great attitude and a lot of upside.” 

Finally, linebacker Jordan Tripp made an appearance on special teams and then again towards the end of the game. He racked up two tackles between special teams and on defense.

"Jordan got out there and helped out on special teams. Then, at the end of the ball game, (he) did a couple nice things in coverage. Having him back is another plus. Having those two young players (Tripp and DE Terrence Fede) coupled with the vets that will be back in the fold I think is very positive for us as we move forward.” 

With many players coming back from injuries, the rookies will continue to develop and some may even begin to outplay their veteran counterparts. We'll see how the season progresses but hopefully, they can all continue to play at a consistent level.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
With Reshad Jones returning from his four game suspension, the Miami Dolphins will have a decision to make in regards to Jamar Taylor and Will Davis. This is because Jimmy Wilson will be moving back to the slot cornerback position and one of those players will become the fifth cornerback. Both have been inconsistent so far but Taylor has slightly been more consistent and solid while covering receivers. Kevin Coyle says that the offensive package the opposing team comes out in will play a big factor in deciding who plays more throughout each game.

“I think we try to continue to develop those young players. I think that’s important for us. I think we’ll have packages that we can utilize them. Obviously, if you look at Green Bay, they’re a team that spreads the field, has had a lot more success this year throwing the football than they have had running the football and they’re going to present a lot of four wide receiver looks and things. So there may be opportunities to get a lot of those guys on the field. We’ll see how it goes as we prepare.” 

Taylor and Davis split reps against the Raiders in the second half but Coyle said they had planned on playing both of them throughout the game and the fact that it was pretty much even was just a factor of how the game played out. The coaching staff will have an extra week to figure out who they prefer in tough situations and we’ll find out on October 12. 

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Joe Philbin was a coach with the Green Bay Packers from 2003 – 2012. He started off as an offensive line coach and then became the offensive coordinator in 2007. There, he coached Aaron Rodgers and several others who are still on the team now. With that in mind, will the Miami Dolphins have an advantage when they play them on October 12 because of Philbin’s familiarity with their strengths and weaknesses? If you ask defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, he’ll say probably not.

“I think that’s overrated myself. I’ve been in that situation on opposite sides. Ultimately, the players have to play. You can know something about Aaron Rodgers, but if you watch him play, you never know what he’s going to do and where the ball is going. Just take a look at the game yesterday and see some of the throws he made against Chicago. The guy has an uncanny ability to make split-second decisions on the run, on the move and the receivers compliment him in a nice way. When they’re throwing on rhythm, they’re very difficult, but they’re most dangerous when he starts to take off and look down the field and those guys know it and they do a great job of uncovering down the field. I don’t think that’s going to play a major role in this game. I think it’s just us going out and out-executing this team.”

There is some coach speak going on here but in the end, Coyle is right. No matter how much the coaches tell the players about Rodgers, it’s up to them use that knowledge and then go on the field and execute. If they don’t, it won’t matter how much they know about Rodgers and will be a long day for the Dolphins defense.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
The Miami Dolphins will receive a big boost today when Reshad Jones returns to the team but should we be tempering our expectations that he will play right away when the Miami Dolphins play the Green Bay Packers on October 12? If that's what you want, then Joe Philbin said he's ready to listen to you and take your advice.

“We’ll see. If you want him in nickel, we’ll get him in nickel if that’s what you think is the best role for him. I’m just kidding. Yeah, we’ll see. I wouldn’t rule anything out, anything is possible.”

Of course, on a more serious note, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said that they will see how he's doing from a conditioning standpoint and then will move as quickly as possible to get him back in the mix.

“First, we see how he is from a conditioning standpoint and then as quickly as we can (get him back into the mix). He’s an outstanding player, a guy that’s made a lot of contributions to our defense and we’ll try to figure out how we can package certain groupings to our advantage."

"I think ultimately having gone through this, our depth is going to be better than it’s been with Jimmy (Wilson) having the experience that he has at safety, with Louis (Delmas) doing what he’s done, with Michael Thomas having played a role at different times. You saw Walt Aikens make a great play yesterday in the latter part of the game. Ultimately, with Reshad coming back, with Koa (Misi) getting back in the mix, the depth will certainly be better than it’s been. We want to get him up to speed as fast as possible. He’s a playmaker, he can be a difference maker for us.”

So it appears that if everything works out as it should, Jones will be starting against the Packers. That means Jimmy Wilson will move back to the slot position and either Will Davis or Jamar Taylor will move to the bench and the fifth cornerback spot on the team. 

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
We all know that Mike Wallace had a tumultuous 2013 season. There were times when he grumbled, wouldn’t fight for the ball, expressed his displeasure with the offense and even publicly talked about the disconnect between himself and quarterback Ryan Tannehill. This year though, things are completely different and we’ve seen a new Wallace, who is featured in the new offense under Bill Lazor.

Fans, coaches and others around the league have noticed how different Wallace is in 2014 and Joe Philbin couldn’t be more pleased.

“This may not be accurate, but this is what I see – I go back to the OTAs when the whistle blew in practice was over and he was at the JUGs machine catching 100 passes or 150 passes,” Philbin said. “That’s how my brain works. That’s why I think he’s doing some good things. I think his attitude has been better. His work ethic has been better. Sometimes, good things happen when you’re working at it, when you’re busting your tail. All of the things you said are true, but that’s kind of where my brain is on that.”

Bill Lazor agreed with Philbin and said that Wallace has been nothing but a leader on the offense and has shown the toughness this year that he may have lacked last year.

“When Mike comes to me on the sideline and tells me that he can get open, I guess it’s kind of a cliché that all receivers tell you that all the time, right? Right now, I think Mike is kind of putting his money where his mouth is. I can’t think of something so far that we’ve asked Mike to do that he isn’t able to do. I’ve seen him break tackles on the field. I’ve seen him try to run through people and certainly it was fun to watch him kind of barrel his way into the end zone yesterday. He blocked very well on some of the screens to the other guys. I think you see Mike be a very productive blocker. I’m excited about the leadership by example that Mike is showing.”

Wallace has caught 20 passes for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns, while averaging 12.3 yards per reception. His longest catch of the season has been 30 yards. As the season goes on and everyone gets more comfortable in the offense, his numbers should only improve and he should continue to be one of the top players on the team, if not the NFL.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Ryan Tannehill completed 23 of 31 passes for 278 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception while averaging 9 yards per completion on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. The coaching staff, who weren’t particularly impressed with Tannehill so far this season before then, changed their tune on Monday.

“I thought he played very well. The big thing, I thought his play speed was very good. His decision making was good. He threw the ball accurately, so I thought he played a very good football game,” Joe Philbin said. “He had a good practice week. We talk all the time about the transfer from the practice field to the game field, and I thought he threw the ball well. He had good velocity. The location was good. I think he was just kind of clicking. He was kind of getting the ball out of his hand. We didn’t have a lot of third downs or third-and-longs. I thought he made a heck of a throw, maybe the best throw he made was that opening drive of the second half. I thought that was an outstanding throw when he threw to Brian (Hartline) on the sideline. They blitzed and he took a shot as he threw the ball. It had excellent location. I thought he threw the ball well, he really did.”

Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor was in typical form on Monday, being careful not to go over the top with praise but giving just enough to show confidence in his quarterback and team.

“I felt like mentally he was really on top of what was happening. He wasn’t perfect, but he understood his mistakes. I believe he’s going to have a chance to learn from each of them. It’s just there is no substitution for experience. You can talk to a guy, teach him, walk through. But until he experiences some of the things that are going to happen on the game field, you are just not going to really learn it and take it in. I think every single thing that happened yesterday shows number one that the experience of the first three games plus the preseason is adding up for him, and number two the way he acted and reacted on the sideline tells me that he is going to continue to learn from what’s happening.”

Tannehill was criticized throughout the past week and there was a lot of drama surrounding him and the quarterback position. He came out though with a chip on his shoulder and proved to everyone that he can get the job done when it matters most. Now, he’ll have to keep that up in week 6 when they face the Green Bay Packers so he can continue to quiet the crowd.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Many people wonder what goes on with an NFL team during their bye week. Some think that the team gets close to two weeks off. Others think that the players don’t get any time off. Well, it’s something in between. This is because the collective bargaining agreement states that players must be given four consecutive days off during the bye week. For the Dolphins, the players had Monday off and will practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will then have Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off before returning to work on Monday.

For the coaches though, they don’t get much time off and will spend most of the bye week at the facility trying to find things to improve with themselves.

“We’re going to get together as a staff here once I leave. It’s hard to quote, ‘Fix everything.’ There’s some things we’re doing well. There’s some things we’re not doing specifically well. First part of the week is let’s take a self-scout of ourselves, with these four games. What are the tendencies like? What are the positives,” Joe Philbin said. “There’s things we’re doing well. What are the negatives? Is it red zone defense? Is it third down offense? I glanced at some of the stats just before I came down. Our third down offense isn’t great. (We) may have a little third down period, may have a red zone period. Two minute, we haven’t had a lot of two-minute opportunities compared to a year ago at this time where we had a bunch of them on offense. That’s something I know we want to work on. There will be other things. The second part of a bye week is let’s get a jump ahead at our next opponent who is an excellent football team.”

With an extra week, one may also think that it gives the coaches more time to prepare and get the perfect game plan in place. However, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said that’s not necessarily true.

“I think as a coach you lose a little bit more sleep, not that you get much to begin with. Yeah, I think there is. You may have the opportunity to install a couple of different looks that you may have not featured up to this point, not to say that we will, we have to really study them. We’re just getting into them heavy today. I think the players get more comfortable with the repetition in the game plan, they get a feel for what you’re going to call, you’ve gotten an additional day or two of working on what you perceive them to be and what they’re going to do. So I think there is a little bit of a comfort level and, if they do something unique, you’ve got a little bit more time to try to prepare for it.”

The Dolphins will no doubt get a lot accomplished during the bye week but probably the biggest advantage is the fact that they will have time to get injuries to heal and get ready for the next part of the season. Philbin believes that the bye came at a good time and is glad his team isn’t playing coming off a big win.

“It is a long trip. I don’t want to underestimate the trip. It’s a long trip, so I’m sure the guys are a little bit tired. I think the bye week comes at a good time. You can’t fret over that stuff. They make the schedule and, when the schedule comes out, you play the schedule that you have. I think it’s fine.”

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Miller rushed for over 100 yards and averaged over 7 yards per carry. This week, he rushed for 64-yards and had two touchdowns, while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Does this mean he regressed from last week or do you need to look at the bigger picture and look at the flow of the game? If you ask Miller, he thinks he did a pretty good job.

"I think I did pretty good. Obviously I fumbled the ball in a critical situation, and you can't have that. The offensive line did a good job. I just tried to use my speed and tried to break tackles to get positive yards. I give all the credit to the offensive line," said Miller, who has also caught 12 passes for 53 yards this season. "I've been trying to use my abilities to get positive yards."

Throughout the season, Miller has averaged 5.7 yards per carry on 49 carries. He has rushed for a total of 277 yards and has two touchdowns so far, all coming on Sunday. Knowshon Moreno is expected to be back when the Dolphins return from their bye week so it will be interesting to see what happens when he returns and whether or not the Dolphins continue to ride Miller.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
For many of the players on this Miami Dolphins roster, it was their first time playing in London. In fact, it was the first time that many of them had even been to London and just about everyone was in agreement that it was a trip and an experience that they'll never forget. 

Head Coach Joe Philbin was very impressed with the hospitality they received and also thanked the people behind the scenes who have planned for the past several months to make everything run smoothly.

“First, I want to say it was a privilege to represent the National Football League over in London. This is a world-cass stadium, Wembley Stadium. Every single individual that we met since the minute we landed has been nothing but helpful. It was a tremendous experience. I also told the team in the locker room after, they’re obviously the greatest resource we have, but a lot of people behind the scenes in our organization who put the trip together just did a fantastic job. I don’t think it could have gone any smoother. I think it had a big part in how well our team played.”

Brian Hartline, who led the team with receptions and 74 yards, plans to come back on vacation to get a better glimpse of the area.

“I’m definitely coming back,” he said. “This is my first trip. This is definitely on my to-do list on more of a leisurely capacity come next summer.”

Ryan Tannehill echoed the sentiments of both Philbin and Hartline, but he was especially impressed with the stadium and the atmosphere.

“The stadium is awesome,” he said. “We saw that yesterday. We came in and had a practice here yesterday. It was really cool coming in for the first time to see the stadium. It’s a really nice stadium. And the crowd today was great. It’s kind of funny seeing all the different jerseys as you drive in. You see every NFL team’s jersey coming into the game, which is pretty cool. You don’t normally see that. So it was fun. They were a lively crowd. They got the wave going I think there in the second half. Saw that a few times. It was a good time.” 


With the NFL working to have even more games in London, this probably won't be the last time these players have the opportunity to play overseas and will likely play at Wembley Stadium again within the next few years.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Ryan Tannehill came out against the Oakland Raiders and quieted the critics for at least another week, completing 23 of 31 passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Tannehill, who dealt with a lot of drama and controversy caused by his head coach over the past few days, was excited and proud of the way he performed.

“As the week went on and all the distractions, to finally leave the country, have a long flight and come over here and get ready for the game, I think I was more excited for this game than I’ve been for a game in a long time,” Tannehill said. “Regardless if people were writing or talking about me in a certain way, personally I still wanted to come out and play well. I’m a realist. I envision myself as a good player. I knew I wasn’t playing up to those standards in the first three weeks, so I wanted to come out and personally play better and my teammates need that from me. They expected me to play better and to finally be able to come out and do that, it felt good.”

Cornerback Brent Grimes, who had one interception that he nearly returned for a touchdown, echoed those sentiments.

“With all the things going on, all the talking, people trying to make turmoil on the team, for him to come out and play a great game like this shows a lot of his character. I’m very proud of him. I always knew he can make plays in the league; he’s done it before. So for him to come out amid all this negative stuff going on and have a game like this, it says a lot about Ryan Tannehill’s character.”

The Dolphins will have next week off before facing the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Tannehill will need to show that he can be consistent every week in order to truly take the next step as a quarterback.

Story courtesy of The Associated Press
All those distractions didn't seem to fluster Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins quarterback, who was in the middle of a storm all week because his coach declined to endorse him as the starter, led the way Sunday as Miami (2-2) beat the Oakland Raiders 38-14 at Wembley Stadium. Tannehill took advantage of a depleted Oakland defense, throwing plenty of short passes for big gains. The third-year quarterback completed 23 of 31 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

"I know I wasn't playing up to standards the last few weeks, so I wanted to come out and personally play better," Tannehill said. "My teammates demand that from me and they expect that from me, and to finally come out and do that felt good."

Tannehill threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace and an 18-yarder to Dion Sims. Lamar Miller rushed for two more TDs, and cornerback Cortland Finnegan ran back a fumble 50 yards for another. But the star was Tannehill.

"I thought he had good rhythm. He had good tempo. He had good command. He was very decisive out there," Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said.

The Raiders (0-4) scored on their opening drive but struggled after that. And starting quarterback Derek Carr was injured in the third quarter, replaced by third-stringer Matt McGloin. Oakland began the game without linebackers Nick Roach and Sio Moore, who were both inactive. Kaluka Maiava, who started in place of Moore, was then injured on the first Dolphins series, allowing Tannehill and his receivers to take even more advantage of the short pass.

The Dolphins opened the season with a win over the New England Patriots, but back-to-back 19-point losses to Buffalo and Kansas City put Tannehill's starting job at stake. Philbin was repeatedly asked who his starter would be against the Raiders in London, but he declined to utter the name "Tannehill." That only seemed to spur Tannehill on.

"I felt like, regardless of what people were writing or talking about me for whatever reason, I still wanted to play well," Tannehill said.

But it was the Raiders who jumped out to a quick lead. Carr completed a 30-yard pass to James Jones on the first play from scrimmage and soon after went ahead 7-0 on a 3-yard catch by Brian Leonhardt. The Dolphins took the lead for good early in the second quarter, with Tannehill completing six passes in a seven-play drive that culminated with Wallace's TD. Miller then scored the first of his touchdowns to make it 17-7, running in from 8 yards out, and Tannehill was soon at it again with the TD pass to Sims for a 24-7 halftime lead.

"Ryan is a guy who rarely shows any fluster, who rarely shows that he is out of his element," Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline said. "He handles everything on the go."

Things got worse for the Raiders when Carr injured his left ankle and knee in the third quarter and was replaced by McGloin. Backup Matt Schaub did not make the trip to London. On his second play, McGloin watched a bad snap fly by and then saw Finnegan snatch it up and run it in. The Raiders have lost 10 straight dating to last season, putting the pressure on coach Dennis Allen.

"Obviously, we did not play well," Allen said. "We turned the ball over; we did not stop them on defense. We gave up too many explosive plays."

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
After Joe Philbin was stubborn earlier this week by refusing to name a starting quarterback, Ryan Tannehill came out in his Wednesday press conference and told the media that he was bothered by the way Philbin handled the situation and he called it a distraction. This, despite the fact that Philbin had spoken with Tannehill on Monday and explained his reasoning and informed him that he was the starting quarterback.

Now, Philbin is upset with Tannehill and the rift could continue to grow even bigger as the season goes on. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, several people told him that Tannehill is becoming to grow weary of Philbin in the same way he did to Mike Sherman. This is not good.

To continue to pile it on, Salguero reports that Philbin was left shaking his head at how Tannehill reacted publicly to his approach. Philbin was confident that Tannehill was OK with his decision and method to handle the quarterback situation this way because Tannehill hadn't expressed any concerns in their meeting on Monday. Philbin, according to Salguero, would've much rather preferred that Tannehill speak to him privately about those matters instead of making it part of the media. 

All of this is ironic because Philbin is the one who created the distractions and controversy himself. Instead, it seems that he is putting the blame on others. We'll see how this team plays today but it's starting to not look good.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has had some gems this morning in his latest blog post and it really uncovers a messy situation that is currently going on within the Miami Dolphins locker room. This all came to a head earlier this week when Joe Philbin created a quarterback controversy by refusing to publicly name Ryan Tannehill the starting quarterback. Jackson got opinions from around the league and here's what people are saying.

CBS analyst Rich Gannon, the former Super Bowl MVP quarterback, told Jackson off air: “I’ve never heard a coach do that. Never. He better be careful. You start messing with the psyche of a quarterback, especially a young one, it affects his ability to lead and credibility with his teammates. I would not do that. The issues Ryan’s having now are the same as before - - accuracy, anticipation, moving through progressions more quickly. But it’s too soon to make a change. He’s really starting over, learning a new system. It’s one thing if you have this other young whippersnapper. But do you really think Matt Moore is an upgrade and if not, why make the move? You have to find out one way or the other about Tannehill.”

In previous meetings, Gannon had asked Philbin if he considered asking new coordinator Bill Lazor, after his hiring, to “adjust his system and verbiage and terminology so the quarterback and receivers wouldn’t have to learn a new system.” That would have made the transition easier, but Philbin said that was given no consideration.

Meanwhile, a Dolphins receiver said that there has been a huge learning curve with Lazor's offense as it requires them to be very detailed and precise in their routes. This player told Jackson that the routes are much different than Mike Sherman's.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
During the game last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Brian Hartline caught a touchdown pass and then celebrated by faking a golf putt with several teammates standing in a line watching him. He was flagged on the play for excessive celebration and as a result, the kickoff was moved back 15 yards. The Chiefs got the ball and ended up scoring a touchdown on that drive.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Joe Philbin was irate and told the players as much in a team meeting earlier this week. Philbin said it was a poor reflection on him and told the team it could never happen again. Brian Hartline said that it was silly that Philbin characterized it as a reflection on him.

In addition to that, Jackson reports that players appreciate the fact that Philbin told the team he wishes he handled the Ryan Tannehill situation differently but they also note the damage has already been done. This is just another example of a rift between players and coaches down in Miami.

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Things are starting to get ugly in Miami and if they lose today, the wheels may fall off the track. Many players on the Miami Dolphins are upset with a wide variety of things and several of them privately spoke to Barry Jackson and Armando Salguero this past week.

According to Jackson, defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle let his players know that he was very upset that the Miami Herald reported that players were furious about various calls and schemes of Coyle's strategy against the Kansas City Chiefs. Coyle came under the most fire after he let Olivier Vernon cover a tight end across the middle and he also let Cameron Wake and Jason Trusnik cover a running back out of the backfield. Both plays resulted in a touchdown. 

While several players voiced their concerns to the media, Coyle, in an angry tone, told his players that he doesn't want the media to know about any more of their complaints. Things may start getting very interesting soon in Miami.

The Miami Dolphins will take on the Oakland Raiders today at 1:00 PM EST. That means it'll be 6:00 PM in London when they kick the ball off. When the schedule came out months ago, many people would be happy to be going 2-2 into the bye week with predicted losses against the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs and predicted wins against the Buffalo Bills and today, the Oakland Raiders. 

However, as we know, things haven't quite turned out that way yet. The Dolphins took the NFL by storm in week one by easily defeating the Patriots. Then, they got embarrassed in Buffalo and then again by Kansas City at home in Miami Gardens. Today, they get a chance to right that ship by knocking off the Raiders and bringing their record to 2-2. If they lose, all hell will surely break loose and it will be doomsday for Dolphins fans for the next two weeks. If they win, things are better for now and we'll all be happy going into the bye week.

To get you caught up to speed on today's game, we've listed all of the articles, columns, podcasts and community events that have happened in the past week. Just simply click on the read more button below this sentence to your right to read up on anything you missed! Enjoy the game today and let's go Dolphins!