Ndamukong Suh made statement with his footwear at practice?
By Steve DelVecchio
Several Miami Dolphins players are reportedly unhappy with the scheme employed by defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle this season. Leave it to the highest-paid player on the team to express his frustrations in a childish manner.
According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Dolphins defenders had a closed-door meeting with Coyle last week to ask him to change his defensive approach. While Coyle was reportedly attentive, he stuck with the same two-gap scheme that a handful of defensive linemen dislike. One of them is Ndamukong Suh, who supposedly chose to protest in practice by not wearing the proper footwear.
And so when Ndamukong Suh, the team’s highest-paid player, wore sneakers to a full-padded practice during the week, other players noticed. They took it as a sign Suh was making a statement of dissatisfaction over the defensive coaching.
And why are players drawing that conclusion? Because a prominent handful of them are dissatisfied over the defensive coaching, too.
I asked Suh (after Sunday’s loss) what gear he wore to practice Thursday.
“Next question,” he answered.
I asked Suh if the Monday meeting resolved anything.
“Next question,” he answered.
If that’s true, it couldn’t be more childish. There have been more than a few indications that Coyle is on his way out the door in Miami, but Suh signed a $114 million deal with the Dolphins this past offseason. You’d hate to think someone who is making that much money and expected to be a leader would be that unprofessional over a difference in philosophies.
This isn’t the first we have heard about Suh acting out against Coyle, as he reportedly was defiant during a loss a few weeks ago. Things could get much, much worse in Miami before they start getting better.
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