One of the things that can plague a franchise are problem children, thugs, hoodlums, and criminals.  In this case with Chad Johnson, the Miami Dolphins as a franchise are prepared to release him and rid themselves of the "distraction" that the media paints as the true problem with having a player with this type of personality.  However, Chad is not this type of distraction in the sense many fans are accustomed to seeing.  He's a first time offender in the NFL.

As a coach, Joe Philbin has some serious issues to sort out other than who the quarterback is of the team.  Facing Philbin, is the real possibility that what he does going forward is setting a precendent for every player on this team.  If Philbin decides to let the situation go with a non-threatening sit down, then Philbin risks loss of the locker room.  However, if Philbin takes the approach of wait and see and then makes a decision after a week has passed, Philbin will be doing the critical and right thing by not treating this as a knee jerk reaction.

At this point, Chad Johnson probably has more to lose than Miami does.  At stake is his contract for 925,000 if he makes the team, his name and reputation, and a chance to play NFL football. 

The Miami Dolphins have to do what is right and just in this situation.  They need to do their homework and they need to have a chat with Chad Johnson.  Surely, the Dolphins as a business have every right to cut him in the next few days.  Not to mention, the product that is being represented by Chad Johnson lacks productivity on the field.  In addition, Chad Johnson as a marketing icon has passed it's prime. 

On the other hand, taking an opportunity to rehabilitate Chad in the sense that extending out a hand to a guy that is hurting emotionally, might be a very difficult thing to do, but perhaps being human is important.

In no way should Chad's actions be a sign of being an isolated incident.  Chad is a person and is fallible.  He needs help.  Likewise, he doesn't come away from this positively one way or the other.  If he's cut then he has 29 teams to ask for a chance.  If he stays, he has to live with the stigma that comes with allegedly physically bringing harm to a loved one and be magnified on every newspaper and tabloid.

One of the things that the Dolphins must do is first evaluate what is important:  winning games or being a model franchise by taking a difficult stand.

This evening, the unthinkable happened, Chad Johnson formerly known as Chad OchoCinco was arrested for alleged domestic violence.  According to Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post, Chad was play fighting with his wife Evelyn Lozada.  However, something turned serious and Chad head butted his wife on the forehead and she called police.  Details appear to be personal in nature.

This is new territory for Chad Johnson, in that he has never been arrested as an NFL player. 

Any arrest, especially dealing with the possible domestic violence charge looming, could constitute being cut from the team and or be suspended a number of games.

Frankly, this is a sad chapter if the accusations are true, and sad for the hometown favorite Chad Johnson.

More to follow as the details of the story are announced.  However, Chad Johnson has been arrested and he might soon be on the street as an ex-Dolphin player.

Back in April, the buzz in the media circles had the Dolphins looking at defense with the first pick of the draft. Some pundits figured the Dolphins would take a QB in the second round of the draft or even later.  Afterall, the offensive line, especially at right tackle and guard was a swinging gate allowing over 34 sacks and needed to be shored up.  However, in April, Jeff Ireland reversed course and selected the best player on the board and the future of the Miami Dolphins in Ryan Tannehill.

Despite the early growing pains in complaining about reps in minicamp and the difficult handling pressure, Tannehill has improved leaps and bounds between signing his contract on the 28th of July and making his debut last night in the middle of a typical South Florida downpour.

Tannehill was extremely poised, demonstrated a mastery of the offense and threw 14-21 for 167 and a TD. Even though Tannehill showed he can carve up a second and third team defense, he did it in front of a pleased crowd that cheered and somehow forgot about last year's 6-10 mark.

With earlier news of David Garrard's upcoming knee surgery, it was Matt Moore's turn to convince both Philbin and Sherman that he was the clear cut starter. However, Moore threw for a paltry 79 yards and did not put the Dolphins in the redzone. Moore threw an interception and didn't trust his receivers enough so he defaulted to his favorite Tight end target in Anthony Fasano.  However, Moore did move the ball down the field, but when it came to precision of carrying the offense to the redzone, he didn't get close.

Enter Ryan Tannehill, no picks, almost two touchdowns after one was overturned after Roberto Wallace caught the ball in the endzone and evidence of veteran poise in the pocket. Seems to be that Tannehill wants the ball more than Moore. Evidently, Moore might be holding the clipboard this season.

Key scratches in the game were Clyde Gates with a leg injury and on Defense Kevin Burnett. Of course the favorite to start the season, David Garrard is now that veteran quarterback on the outside looking in with Tannehill showing signs not seen here since Marino.

Things expect to be mighty interesting in Davie this week. Might interesting in the meeting and film rooms as Joe Philbin has to make a decision between Matt Moore and Rookie Ryan Tannehill.  His decision could stand to decide the already cloudy future of the Miami Dolphins.

Happy Pre-Season Football Everyone!

Oh boy !

Talk about not getting off to the greatest start. The first quarter and a half of the opening game of the preaseason was absolute torture.

Tannehill did cheer up Dolphins fans later on ( even if it was against the second and 3rd team) but was able to finish with a 106.6 passer rating and 14/21 for 167 yards and a touchdown.

That being said I am going to leave the post game write up to Mick and just leave a small recap of the good, the bad and the ugly of Week 1 of the preason.

     The Good



Ryan Tannehill - still has clear work to do but showed poise, confidence in his play, made some decent throws and left the fan base encourage. Jason Trusnick - quite the suprise but was all over the field including a fumble recovery, his road to redemption after a terrible year last year began last night.

Roberto Wallace - Wallace continued his strong off season and put a solid effort in.

Brandon Fields - already in mid season form


Charles Clay - looked sharp, and agile, can be a real x factor in the offense    


The Bad

Dan Carpenter - missing two 50 yard field goal and it wasn't really close

Chad Johnson - this might be a bit harsh as he only had one target, but that being said it was a pretty bad drop that would have led to a first down.

Matt Moore - Moore looked pretty similar to last year, not really doing anything terrible but also not really impressing. Moore didn't take advantage of the fact that Garrard is out of action and probably lost ground to Ryan Tannehill.

The Ugly


The secondary - Whether it was Sean Smith missing tackles, or Vontae Davis getting beat or safties not knowing how to play the ball, Kevin Coyle has a lot of work to do.




The start - The Dolphins just didn't appear ready to start this game, as they could not have played a worse first quarter.

Jonathan Martin - the rookie has a lot of work to do, got beat all night.

Nate Gardner - got injured YET again

The 2012 Miami Dolphins season is going just as planned, they have their starting vet QB in David Garrard and they are ready to hit the field running after a great camp. Phins Up and everyone let's get going !

Slow down.

Around 4:30 -5:00 this afternoon word broke up of a mysterious David Garrard knee injury. Well the word on the street is infact true and per multiple sources the number 1 QB on the depth chart will be out 2-4 weeks with a minor knee surgery from wear and tear during training camp. This injury came pretty out of the blue for Dolphins fans and makes it very clear to most that the QB race is now down to Matt Moore , last years MVP vs. stud rookie Ryan Tannehill.

Pat Devlin will also get more reps which will help him in his effort to earn the backup job. Garrard is confirmed to be out of the opening pre season game and at this point could even never take a snap for the Phins.

Evan Silva@evansilva

Garrard was signed to be placeholder QB at most. $1M guaranteed on 1-year deal. Reasonable to think he may never play snap for#Dolphins.

"David Garrard was expected to start tonight but suffered a mysterious knee injury that some Dolphins players still do not know about " - Adam Schefter. David Garrard's surgey is scheduled for this sat, per Jason La Canfroa.

At this point, most believe that Tannehill will secure the job as why delay the inevitable. Time will tell, but you would have to guess that Tannehill who would probably sell more tickets and create more fan excitement would have the advantage. Tannehill has also looked pretty sharp in camp and has a grasp of Mike Sherman's offense which bodes well for him.

Tannehill will need to impress in the preseason but if he does so, I believe it will earn him the starting job come week.