National Football League

Ryan Tannehill prepared to shoulder burden of success in third season

Published Sep. 3, 2014 6:33 p.m. ET

foxsports

Davie, Fla -- Ryan Tannehill is well aware of the pressure he's facing in his third year with the Miami Dolphins. Eager to reach the playoffs for the first time in his short pro career, Tannehill is preparing for the season opener Sunday against the New England Patriots with heightened expectations from outsiders. But more importantly, he has an inner drive to prove once and for all that he can be trusted to lead a team so eager for success.

"It's the same game, but it's just going out and playing consistently," Tannehill said after Wednesday's practice. "I'm at the point in my career now that progress has to be made fast and you have to be consistent. There's no more rookie or second-year mistakes. We're at the point where you've got to make the plays."

His coaches want him to be a more assertive leader and an improved verbal communicator this season. So far he's responded to the challenge during camp and in the preseason while adapting to new coordinator Bill Lazor's sped-up offensive system.

"You're talking about a guy that has the desire to be great and the desire to work at it, which is really important," Lazor said. "We ask him every single day to be the most prepared player when he walks out on the practice field. So the first thing it's going to be for the quarterback is work, off the field and in the classroom. I think he's done a great job with that."

But so far it's been a mixed bag for the third-year quarterback on the field. Some drills in training camp have showcased all of his skills, with little sign of the indecision that plagued him at times earlier in his pro career while learning the ropes. Other times he's made rash choices or telegraphed his passing, making it easier for players such as Cortland Finnegan or Louis Delmas to pick him off.

After an well-executed scoring drive to open the preseason against the Atlanta Falcons, Tannehill largely struggled to lead the first-team offense to the end zone in limited action during the subsequent pair of exhibition games.

Much of the offense's issues were self-inflicted, primarily as a result of unforced turnovers and penalties, but Tannehill accepts that he is the face of the team in the good, the bad and the ugly so as long as he's the one taking the snaps.

"That's the quarterback position," he said. "You can't play quarterback and have excuses. It's your fault a lot of times. Whether it looks like it is or it actually is, that's part of playing this position. You take on the responsibility and take ownership for the mistakes that the offense makes."

Lazor can't be pleased with the offense's early struggles, but he's confident that Tannehill will continue to feel more comfortable in his system with each passing day.

"We need Ryan to just continue to show mastery of what we're doing, decisions that he makes, making them fast, being accurate with the football, getting the ball spread around," Lazor said. "It just takes repetitions, it takes time. We try to put him in really hard positions in practice to get him ready to do it in a game."

Even as he prepares to face one of the tougher opponents of the season right from the start, Tannehill sounded eager to face the challenge head-on.

"When it comes down to it, in the fourth quarter on fourth down you have to find a way. And that's football. You're going to have those tough situations where someone is going to have to step up and make the play. I want that to be me."

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.