The day after the Miami Dolphins 22-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football, head coach Adam Gase didn’t put a lot of the blame on quarterback Ryan Tannehill but on his offensive line.
“I think we need to do a better job of actually blocking guys too,” Gase said.
On Thursday, Tannehill threw an interception and fumbled a ball against the Bengals. On the season, Tannehill already has five interceptions and four fumbles. While Tannehill is a big reason the Dolphins offense has been lackluster, he is far from the only reason.
Miami offensive line allowed five sacks against the Bengals. Rookie Laremy Tunsil, who started at left guard the first three games of the season, started at left tackle last night. While Tunsil made some mistakes against the Bengals excellent defensive line, Gase thought he did a good job on short notice.
“For the most part, he did a good job,” Gase said. “We had those couple mental errors that I’m sure he wishes he could have back. I know there were a couple that hurt us.”
On Friday, Gase said that barring a setback, center Mike Pouncey should be ready to return to the starting lineup against the Tennessee Titans on October 9. Pouncey has been out since August with a hip injury. So potentially getting Pouncey back at center should improve the offensive line.
“I thought he was going to choke me out on the plane on the way home last night,” Gase jokingly said. “We’ve got to see how it goes this week.”
In a shocking development before the game on Thursday, Gase decided to bench his No.1 cornerback Byron Maxwell because of his poor performances in the previous three games of the season. Miami instead started second-year corner Tony Lippett.
Gase said Lippett will remain the starter, for now, heading into Week 5 against the Titans.
“We’ll keep evaluating,” Gase said. “We’ll keep practicing. We’ll see what happens. I know this about (Byron) Maxwell: he’s going to compete. He’s going to come out and practice. He’s going to try to get better.”
Dolphins waive Douglas
Prior to Thursday’s game against the Bengals, the Dolphins promoted guard/center Jamil Douglas from the practice squad. On Friday, the team waived the second-year player, but the team can place him back on the practice squad once he clears waivers.
Douglas played in all 16 games in 2015 for the Dolphins as he started in six games, four at guard and two at center.
Twitter: @antwanstaley
