When you are battling to keep your job, this is the kind of news you should not be making. But I guess Phillip Merling didn't get that memo.

The Dolphins' defensive end is expected to go in front of a judge today in court for allegedly hitting a pregnant woman, according to various reports. The official charge, according to the Sheriff's Office website, is aggravated battery on a victim he should have known was pregnant.

So it's not bad enough that he may have struck a woman. No, Merling has to go one step further and hit a woman who is pregnant.

While details of the incident itself are not yet known, I find it hard to believe that there's any way this could be spun to make it seem less terrible.

And now with combining this off-the-field news with his disappointing play on the field, Jared Odrick's chances of starting might have just gotten much better. It'll be interesting to see if Merling is on the field - though i doubt it - for minicamp that begins on Friday in Davie.

On a side note, is anyone else really irritated that so many players on this Miami roster just can't stay out of trouble? Is it really that hard not to get arrested? Enough already. I'm sick and tired of this. I hope the front office makes an example out of Merling.