Miami Dolphins In Depth

Mike Sherman addresses various topics here

As Monday is the day the Dolphins make their coordinators available to the media, it stands to reason that you should know what Mike Sherman told the media today about his play-calling, his thoughts on getting two running backs hurt in the final seconds before halftime in the Houston and New York games, and about players such as Lamar Miller, Charles Clay, Anthony Armstrong, Legedu Naanee and others.

So here it is ... All that Mike Sherman said today:

(On where running back Lamar Miller is in his development) –“I’m fairly impressed with Lamar. He’s a very smart football player, takes the coaching real well. I think he’s right on target, where we expect him to be at this time."

(On if it’s normal rookie play to occasionally miss an assignment like the play Miller had yesterday where he and quarterback Ryan Tannehill were not on the same page) – “Well, we just had a meeting. We talked about that and no it’s not what we can expect out him. We expect him to know what to do all the time. There was a call there that made us repeat the play and we wanted to run it again and he just missed it. Although those things do happen, I remind him he’s now being paid to play football and it’s inexcusable to make those type of mistakes. I don’t think he’ll make it again.”

(On how Miller has been taking the coaching and negative criticism) – “Excellent. It’s not negative, it’s just constructive criticism. He takes coaching very well. He wants to be great and he wants you tell him how he can get there, but he’s been very receptive."

(On when running back Reggie Bush went out with an injury that affected his play calling) – “Not a whole lot. It didn’t affect the play calling necessarily. We expect those other guys to step in and to do certain things. Obviously, Reggie, the young guys aren’t quite at Reggie’s level yet. So certain things happen when Reggie’s in there that may not happen otherwise, but, as far as play calling, it didn’t affect it whatsoever."

(On if he wishes he had some play calls back from the game yesterday) – “I don’t think there’s a game that I’ve ever called ever that I don’t wish…You’re not going to, if you get 75 plays, you’re not going to have 75 great calls in a ball game. That’s status quo from week-to-week.”

(On if he feels like the offense was too aggressive on the final two possessions of the game yesterday) –“Not necessarily. You look at the last possession, we ran the ball twice and threw it once. The pass that I called was a stick route in the flat, which we had completed earlier. We ended up, Ryan ended up giving a signal to the outside receiver to go vertical because of man coverage. He though he had a clearer shot there, which is understandable. But no, I don’t think it was, I thought it was what was called for."

(On how Tannehill is doing with his deep passes)– “It’s obvious, we weren’t real good then. When the ball ends up out of bounds, it’s certainly not what we want to be. We want it to be somewhere between the sideline, halfway between the sideline and the numbers, in that general vicinity – an area that we work on, the red line. We missed on a couple of those. There’s no question about that. It’s something he’ll work on this week."

(On this being the second time this season a running back has been injured in the second quarter of a game this season) – “Yeah, I’m sure Joe (Philbin) and I will talk about that like we do every week. How do we want to finish the half if we’re in those positions? Certainly have never had that happen before. It’s kind of an anomaly, but definitely worthy of discussion, no question."

(On if he expected to get more out of Charles Clay and what needs to change with him to be more of a factor in the passing game)– “Yeah, I have high expectations of Charles. I think part of that is him, part of that is us putting him in the position to make certain plays. I can’t remember just a whole lot of times where he has a… he hasn’t dropped a bunch of balls. We’ve targeted him and he didn’t perform necessarily, but yeah, I would like to get him more involved. He’s a talented young man. This week, he was on the field more than he was last week, the first game more than the week before. I kind of go by how they practice on which direction you’re going to go, fullback or two tight ends."

(On his impressions of the Arizona Cardinals defense)– “They’re very aggressive, their defense. They’re playing extremely well. They play very hard, very physical. Some games they come at you with everything they’ve got, other games they mix it up on you. It will be quite a challenge for us. We’re looking forward to it."

(On wide receiver Legedu Naanee not having any catches this week and if he feels like the team has enough playmakers from a receiving and tight end stand point)– “I thought we spread the ball around pretty good the other day. We were playing against a pretty good defense that also has very good players. I would like (Legedu) Naanee to be an, us to get him in position to catch some balls. I don’t think he was targeted necessarily the other day. But by no fault of him or us, it just sometimes that’s the way it ended up. But yeah, I’d like to see him get some more balls. (He) works extremely hard. He’s done a great job on special teams. I think that puts pressure on me to make sure that happens."

(On if the offensive line is playing as well as it seems, particularly right guard John Jerry and right tackle Jonathan Martin)– “Yeah, usually with offensive linemen if you don’t notice things, they’re doing okay, but yeah they’re doing a nice a job, in particular against that defense, which has a tendency, because of its structure, to create some sacks and hits on the quarterback. I think we only had two hits on the quarterback the entire game and were able to rush for a good amount of yards. We still left some… We’ve got a lot of work to do. We left some yards on the field that we could have gotten that we didn’t get. As I told the guys today in our meeting, we shouldn’t have left it to a field goal kicker to win the game for us. Shouldn’t have left it to Dan (Carpenter’s) responsibility. We have our own responsibilities and it was on us to make sure that we didn’t put him in that position."

(On trying to take too much advantage of the Jets secondary when cornerback Darrelle Revis went out)– “I think we ran the ball. How many runs did we have in the game? … There wasn’t an intentional shift if there was. I can’t honestly tell you that I purposely had an intentional shift at that point. There was an awareness that he was out of the ball game, which may have affected some calls, but not the frequency of calls necessarily in my mind."

(On if there is a big gap between receivers Naanee and Anthony Armstrong and the younger receivers)– “I think the gap right now is… I think (Davone) Bess and (Brian) Hartline have separated themselves obviously and I thought Bess had a great game, really performed well this week and last week. I think we’re still looking for that guy to step, the next two guys to step forward. I would agree with what you’re leading onto."

(On if he expected his running game to be ranked fourth in the NFL based on being last in preseason)– “I think part of  these things happen, but the other part of it is, in the preseason, I knew we could run the ball pretty effectively in practice cause we’re going to against one of the better rush defenses in football every single day and I think that helped make us a little bit better. In the preseason, we threw the ball an awful lot, an inordinate amount of times compared to where we are right now and what we’re doing offensively in trying to have an assessment on the receivers and the quarterbacks and what not. I don’t think the preseason can be an indication of our run game at all in relation to (now). Plus the fact, in the preseason, you’re mixing and matching guys. There’s different groups going in there. Until that offensive line is one cohesive unit, you really don’t start having the protection you need to have from that position."

Get your Miami Dolphins Monday update here

This is what's happening at this hour:

As I first reported Sunday afternoon, the injury to Reggie Bush is not serious. Bush had an MRI exam this morning and the result showed swelling but no structural damage. He might miss some practice time this week if the swelling does not go down sufficiently.

The worst-case scenario is Bush misses Sunday's game at Arizona. Best case? He's back in the lineup this weekend and forward we go.

The play-calling is a big topic of media conversation today. I wrote my entire column about that topic in today's Miami Herald. Coach Joe Philbin admitted today that, on second look, he would have made some play-call changes during Sunday's game.

“Sure," he said. "You always examine everything. Look I mean we had a first and ten on the 35, I think or something like that. We ran the ball on first and ten, got a couple of yards, not as many as we would have liked. We threw it on second down because they played a specific coverage so we took a shot. Geez would it have been better if we could have completed a seven or eight yard crossing route? Yeah, absolutely. And got a first down? Sure. But credit them; we thought we had a good call and they played that situation better and we weren’t able to get a first down and make it an easier kick for Dan (Carpenter).

"Those are the facts. There are always calls that, again, I’ve never seen a NFL player play a perfect game or a coach coach a perfect game. There are always calls you want to have back, all three phases. But that’s football, that’s the way it is. You have a plan, sometimes you have to adjust it, but I’d be lying if I told you (otherwise). I’ve been in a few games (like that). I don’t think the calls were bad. The result wasn’t what we wanted. Sure we wanted a first down. I thought we had some good calls.”

Frankly, the Dolphins face an interesting philosophical question soon. You see, they're pretty good at running the football. They do it as well as anyone in the NFL so far this season.

But they are not very good passing the football.

Their problem? They want to be balanced. They want to be "aggressive," as one coach told me privately. They want to throw the ball because this is a passing league.

I would say this to the Miami Dolphins: There are only three undefeated teams at this hour in the NFL. Not one of them has had a 300-yard passing performance so far. Not one. (Matt Ryan has come close but still hasn't done it.)

I'm not saying it's not important to pass. It is very important. But if you aren't equipped to be a pass-first team, if you aren't good enough at it, find what you do well and do that instead.

Philbin addressed some of these issues at today's press conference.

He was asked what is the identity of the offense. My guess is the identity is Wait 'til next year. Philbin cannot say that. So he said this:

“The way I’d like to be is protection the football number one, which we’re not there right now, okay. We have what six giveaways in the three games. Is that accurate? So two-a-game is way too many. 32 that’s not going to cut it. That’s the first thing we’re off the boat on. The second thing is we’d love to be an explosive offense that can make big plays. I think we’ve been excellent in the running game with explosive plays, not as good in the passing game, but we’re getting better as an explosive offense. I think we had eight (explosive plays) yesterday. I think we had nine last week. We didn’t have as many in Houston. Then, the other stuff is okay, let’s have balance, let’s have flexibility, let’s be multiple formation wise, let’s kind of take what they give us type of things. But that’s all kind of fluff. What the real stuff is, is let’s hold onto the football, let’s make some big plays and make first downs, get into scoring position and all of the other stuff that sounds good we can do later."

Protection of the football is a big deal. Well, then why are you passing from your own 6 yard line with a rookie QB against that secondary when you're leading?

If protection of the football is a big deal, why was Daniel Thomas your back of choice in the fourth quarter and overtime after he fumbled for the second time in two games? Philbin, by the way, said Thomas has two fumbles in three games. Actually, he's only played two games because he missed the Oakland game with a concussion. So Thomas is averaging one fumble per game.

“Some of it was protection related," Philbin said of the work Thomas got later in the game at the expense of Lamar Miller. "We try to get moving a little bit offensively in terms of the tempo. We like to keep a, there’s a couple different schools of thought – sometimes, you can change personnel every play and sometimes you can keep the same group in for a while and try to play faster. We’re more of the less substitution more faster. We thought Daniel, pass protection wise, gives us a little bit more, bigger guy. Some of the matchups that we thought, that was really primarily the reason.”"

So let me get this correct: The running game is working exceedingly well. You are leading going into the fourth quarter. So then you sub in a back that is an inferior runner because you want to pass more and he's a better pass protector?

Idea: Run the football! It's been working!

I hate second-guessing. But when you have the same thing happening in multiple games, I have to bring it up. Yesterday the Dolphins had the ball in their own territory with 36 seconds to play. They weren't going to attack. So they handed the ball to Bush rather than take a knee.

He got hurt. Not injured seriously, as you just read, but he missed the remainder of the game. The second-guess is to simply take a knee.

Two weeks ago, the Dolphins were in a similar spot just before halftime. They weren't attacking but rather simply running out the clock to  get to halftime. They ran a play for Daniel Thomas. He fumbled. He suffered a concussion.

Time to rethink?

"It all depends," Philbin said. "You have to… Every situation’s unique. The fun thing about game management, whether right, wrong or indifferent, you certainly could argue we’ve made some mistakes or I’ve made mistakes. I should clarify that. Every situation’s unique. Yeah, you have to argue as a coach do you have faith in your players to execute a base play in your offense and run the ball or do you want to take a knee.

"Sometimes, I struggle with that a couple times, obviously already this year. We’ll have to examine it. We’ll take a look at it. We’ll discuss it. But I don’t know that there’s any hard fast, how are you playing at that particular time? Do you have any momentum? Do you want to get in the locker room and make some adjustments? You think you might be able to have a shot play that you’ve had that you might be able to take a shot and get into field goal range? How many timeouts do you have? How many do they have? There’s a bunch that goes into it. I don’t think there’s any hard and fast."

One more thing ... The Dolphins are still struggling to find wide receiver help -- no, not via trade but rather from their own roster. Anthony Armstrong, claimed on waivers from Washington, hasn't performed as hoped. He dropped a pass Sunday. He hasn't factored for Miami.

So while Davone Bess and Brian Hartline are mostly contributing, the Dolphins are apparently using practice every week to determine which other wide receiver gets work on Sunday.

“I think some of it is based on weekly performance, weekly preparation in practice," Philbin said. "I don’t think we’re locked and loaded by any stretch of the imagination."

The troubles with Miami's running game decisions

I didn't like the Dolphins offensive play-calling in the fourth quarter on Sunday. As I wrote in my column today offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, with approval from coach Joe Philbin, abandoned the running game that had been working quite nicely for three quarters.

Sherman abandoned it when Miami was leading in the game. He did so to the tune of some eye-popping statistics for run-pass ratio. And then there was something that was not in the column that the Dolphins did that made it all the more puzzling:

Not only did Sherman go away from the running game which was working well and is the team's strength but when he did run the football I believe the Dolphins were giving it to the wrong guy.

I told you nearly a month ago how disappointed I've been with Daniel Thomas. Well, so far this season Thomas is the third-best of Miami's primary ballcarriers. The trouble with that is Miami has three primary ballcarriers -- Reggie Bush, Thomas and Lamar Miller.

And yesterday, after Reggie Bush went down with a minor knee injury, Thomas was summoned to take his place. And Thomas promptly fumbled. The fumble, by the way, is troubling because it's the second for Thomas in the regular season.

Two fumbles isn't a lot but when you've only played two games as Thomas has, the one-fumble-per-game average is not good.

Anyway, the fumble caused coaches to turn to Miller. And Miller was good. He was averaging 5.3 yards a carry during the game, including a 22-yard gain.

But then in the fourth quarter, for reasons coach Joe Philbin explained as normal substitution patterns to share the work as well as groupings substitutions, Thomas was back in the game. And Miller wasn't heard from again.

"That," Miller said with a shrug afterward, "is the coach's decision. I can't do anything about that."

True. But it's puzzling why it happened in light of the fact Thomas finished the game averaging 3.6 yards per carry, the lowest average of any of Miami's three ballcarriers.

Look, I get that Miller is a rookie and when you want to throw the ball, you go with the slighly more experienced Thomas as the pass protector. But otherwise, it seems pretty self evident that Miller is the better back.

He gets more production out of every carry on average and he does't fumble while Thomas obviously has.

What am I missing? Oh yeah, nothing. Miller is going to be better than Thomas in the future and, truth is, every statistic shows he's there now.

Obviously, the Miami coaching staff has a different opinion. They leaned more on Thomas on Sunday. Doesn't mean they are correct.