DAVIE, Fla. -- The Miami Dolphins' offensive linemen were popular interview subjects during the players' final media availability before scattering to enjoy their bye week.
Uh-oh.
"People usually don't know who linemen are unless they do something wrong," left tackle Jonathan Martin said Tuesday. "Right?"
Exactly.
The Dolphins (3-2) lead the NFL in sacks allowed with 24 through five weeks, which means they're on pace to surrender 76.8 the entire season.
That's a lot of down time for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who so far has gotten up from all the hits.
"I really don't feel a mental toll right now," Tannehill said. "Obviously, we have an issue. It's been well-documented. We've talked about it a lot inside the building.
"I'm not worried about it. Obviously, we want to get it fixed and I don't want to be taking that many hits. You're more susceptible to injuries if you're taking that many hits. Obviously all it takes is one, one really bad hit could be the one that does you in."
Although Tannehill's toughness is admirable, the linemen understand as well as anyone their QB is not invincible.
"He's tough as nails," right guard John Jerry said. "He's a competitor, he's great leader. We're real blest to have that guy standing behind us.
"He's the No. 1 priority for us as linemen. We have to protect him better."
Screen passes and rollouts could help buy time for Tannehill, but ...
"Blocking is still the foundation," Miami coach Joe Philbin said. "Pass protection in the passing game comes down to blocking, number one."
While protecting the second-year quarterback certainly is a priority, the Dolphins' line also needs to help put together more consistent drives.
"I think we either have good drives or bad drive, I don't think we have anything in between," receiver Mike Wallace said. "We have to do a better job of starting drives and at least getting something going. Even though if we don't score, at least flip the field for our defense and get them in better position."
One way to do that would be to improve a running game that currently ranks 28th in the league with 69.6 yards per game.
"We keep putting ourselves in bad situations," center Mike Pouncey said. "Instead of being second-and-5, we're second-and-15. We get behind our game plan and then we have to switch the whole game plan.
"Something we gotta do is starting our drives off better, putting ourselves in better third-down situations so we're not third-and-long taking our five- or seven-step drops. We gotta get in third-and-short and take our three-step drops so Ryan can get the ball out faster."
The blocking issues won't be fixed during this bye week, though coaches will, "look at every avenue possible to improve our protection," according to Philbin.
"It's small things, it really is a game of inches," Martin said. "I think we play well for the most part individually, it's just as a unit it has to come together. I think that's been our biggest problem.
"A guy has a bad play here, another guy has a bad play there. There's no particular person or issue. We just have to get it figured out and come together."
Philbin said he had no regrets about the construction of the line, which also includes left guard Richie Incognito and right tackle Tyson Clabo.
"I like the group of guys we have," the coach said. "I believe in the guys. They are an extremely hard-working group.
"They are accountable individuals. They understand that, and they are going to go out on this practice field, work hard every single day to improve and give us A-type effort. I expect they will improve."
For Tannehill's sake, they better.
Charlie McCarthy can be reached at mac1763@bellsouth.net or on Twitter @mccarthy_chas.
