Merling arrested for aggravated battery

Defensive end Phillip Merling is in the Broward County main jail this morning after being arrested Wednesday for aggravated battery on woman, according to the Broward Sheriff's office.

Details of the incident that led to the arrest are still forthcoming but this one is not good: The woman Merling allegedly hit is pregnant.

And the initial report says Merling knew or should have known that.

Merling is the fourth Dolphins player arrested since the end of the 2009 regular season. Will Allen (DUI), Ronnie Brown (DUI) and Tony McDaniel (domestic battery) were also arrested this offseason.

The Dolphins are still gathering information and have no comment at the moment.

This is never good news. But the news is worse when the player combines off-field problems with those on-the-field.

And Merling, it could be argued, has had problems on the field. After being drafted 32nd overall in the 2008 draft -- the 32nd pick is typically a first-round selection but was the first pick of the second round in '08 when New England lost its pick -- Merling has been inconsistent at best.

His practice habits have been internally criticized by coaches. Merling admitted as much to me last year. His performance in games has been better, but still not good enough to earn him a starting job.

Merling was working with the first-team defense in Miami's most recent OTA session open to the media. The Dolphins begin a three-day minicamp on Friday.

Comments

[ALoco]

AS FOR HOME , I LIKE TO READ HIS STUFF AND LEARN. HE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME FINDING THINGS .ALL YOU CAN DO IS READ HIM AND TAKE WHAT YOU WANT AND IGNORE WHAT YOU DON'T WANT,THAT SIMPLE .

[ALoco]

STEVEN SEAGEL IN (( ABOVE THE LAW )) ON AMC....GREAT MOVIE ,NO STORY LINE BUT STILL GOOD .

[DyingBreed]

I wonder what Merling hit his pregnant girlfriend with. "Aggravated" means you used something that can be at least "percieved" as a weapon.

[odinseye]

Dying Breed,

Usually Aggravated Assault requires some type of weapon.

The only variant that I'm aware of is the extent of injury.

The police and/or prosecutor use the reports and victims photos to determine what degree of assault took place.

It sounds to me like he must have lumped her up pretty good.

[Darryl Dunphy]

DyingBreed
I posted earlier what the State of Florida considered Aggravated Assault. You can check it out if you would like, it is on page 2. I think that in this case it was his hand that was the percieved weapon, if I understood the law correct.

[odinseye]

Sorry, I'm not sure that was very clear.

If you beat somebody to the point that they are defenseless and you continue to beat them some more, it can be considered aggravated assault whether you have a weapon or not.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Are imposter crab people called k-rab people?

[Bootang25]

The timing of the Torbor release kind of makes you wonder if Miami may be looking seriously at OJ Atogwe.

[THUNDERBOLT]

300 Lb 6'5 DLineman's fist is a weapon.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Bootang25- Do you think that OJ might be thinking San Fran? He has been rehabilitating in the Bay Area, and has a very close relationship with Singeltary, in fact he is dating his daughter. (that might play into our favor)

[Finfan23]

Merling is a coward for hitting a woman let alone His pregnant girlfriend and mother of his other child. Bet Jason is laughing his butt off in NY as we let Merling develop and not let Jason impede his progress. Jail wil be more than enough for that.

[Bootang25]

Darryl,

I Have read that, and I think it adds some intrigue to the situation. However, the 49ers have a lot going on at the S position already, I really like the kid Dashon Goldson, very underrated.

I think for us it will come down to the exact same thing with Atogwe it did with Ryan Clark. We have a number we think Atogwe is worth. How does that relate to what he feels he is worth? Statistically, he is superior to Antrel Rolle, and we saw the contract he got. Being this far into the offseason, and coming off a couple big injuries, Atogwe shouldn't garner that type of contract. That isn't to say that he agrees. How close what we think he is worth is to what he thinks he is worth will be the deciding factor, if he becomes available.

[Derek]

Bootang25/Darryl
The only consideration that MUST be considered with Atogwe is his adaptation in Nolan's Hybrid 3-4. If Atogwe excels in one system but is not as adept to another it can lead to a similar situation we had with Gibril Wilson. Perhaps not the same issues (Wilson bit HARD on play action) but in other areas. First one that comes to mind in calling the defensive sets, how much time will it take him to get his head around the defense? And, if that time is going to be spent on him, why not spend it on a younger, cheaper guy who will be a "Mold" of your exact specifications?

[Bootang25]

Derek,

Mando liked my point so much that he stole it, plagiarism. Lol I just beat him to it. The S making the calls in a 3-4 does have a little change in responsibility, but I don't believe it is that drastic a change. If Atogwe becomes available, it will have to do with money/injury concerns. The Rams won't be moving on because the guy isn't a player. Gibril Wilson was cut by the Giants and Raiders, in consecutive offseasons, the writing was on the wall.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Bootang25
Oj has been a very very good player when healthy. He has gotten plenty of snaps on defense considering the Rams are.... always on defense. But this is my opinion. If FS. was such a priority, why did we wait untill round 5 to pick one, when we could have stayed at 12 and drafted a premiere saftey. I will not second guess the trade we made because getting the second round pick was paramount, and the Odrick choice looks REALLY good today! Now the front office wouldn't be doing their jobs if they wern't exploring all avenues to make the team better. But perhaps the situation isn't that bad. I can't imagine that if FS. was such a priority that we would gamble on courting a free agent.

[Bootang25]

Darryl,

If you saw any of my posts leading up to the draft, noone beat the Earl Thomas drum more than I did. And he was available and we were on the clock. I do think we did better with Odrick/Misi than only Thomas. Remember, we met with Thomas 3 times, once was him meeting Parcells.

To answer your question as to why we waited until round 5, I truly believe it is as I said going into the draft, after Berry and Thomas, the dropoff was huge. I still believe Jones was drafted to replace Yeremiah Bell, if he sticks at FS between now and then, great. If not, we groom him for SS.

The guy they want is a ballhawking CF who can roam, OJ Atogwe is one of those guys. I believe we are seriously interested in him. It comes down to how much he thinks he is worth.

[superPHIN]

congrats merling, u just became the big ben of the house here in miami, must take a big man like urself to beat up a helpless pregnant woman...what she do??? call u a used up no good for nothin tackle,,,Here's some news for u....U ARE!!!!U PUT THE @ss IN CLASS****

[Darryl Dunphy]

Bootang25
Great points. AHH The days before the draft the golden era of the blog(so far this year)

Jones is a huge hitter, and I agree that he would be better suited to eventually play SS. I just wonder if like Sharper(who made it clear he wanted to stay in a system that where he could play mostly cover 2) If Atogwe isn't better suited for that scheme as well. It lets the Fs. have a lot more freedom to roam

[Bootang25]

Darryl,

What is baffling to me is why the Rams, who have won 6 games in 3 years, are willing to let one of their few bright spots walk? Makes me concerned about the injuries, because even if they're not interested long-term, why not pay him the one year high end tender, and then let him walk, a la the Cardinals with Dansby. Also, factor in it being an uncapped year. I think the injuries are worse than they appear.

[payuengsnwings]

I love reading when you all are talking football.Thats when you guy's are the best!(You know who ya'll are)lol

[Fan]

How hard is it to just stay out of trouble? Such a disgrace.