GREEN DOESN'T DESERVE FULL BLAME
According to the Herald's Armando Salguero, Trent Green doesn't deserve the blame for his poor performance on Saturday night in which his passer rating was a 24.3. Here's some of what he says:
But to blame Trent Green now is simply wrong.
And it is actually ignorant.
Green, you see, was thrown into a gun battle armed with nothing more than a nail clipper.
So why does Green get a free pass according to Salguero?
The receivers who are supposed to be in Rolex-synch with the quarterback? They still don't know what time it is.
The running game that must take pressure off a 37-year-old quarterback when he inevitably shows his age at times this year? It averaged 1.3 yards a rush.
Granted, Green didn't come out of the locker room playing like the quarterback who has eclipsed 4,000 passing yards three times in his career. But many of his struggles were caused by other players Saturday night.
Other players wearing his same uniform.
OK, fine. You can say that the line didn't block for him and that he was under constant pressure. That's true. You can say the receivers looked out of sync and flat out exhausted. And that's true. You can say the running game failed. And that's also true. But what's the excuse for Green's passes flailing like a one-winged duck? I know some will say that it's because he couldn't set his feet due to the pressure he was under, but I'm not buying that. Even in camp, we've heard reports of his passes struggling in the air. Let's just hope he's shaking off the rust and will bounce back nicely. A few good days of practice leading up to Thursday's game would be a good start.
CAMERON NOT CRAZY
You know, a lot of people wondered about why Cam Cameron said earlier in the week that he hoped his team failed. They wondered why he set this team up for failure on Saturday night. Well, Ethan Skolnick takes a look at that in his article and informs us as to why Cam Cameron is not crazy:
You, pining for progress after years of frustration, might wonder what kind of sadist and masochist H. Wayne Huizenga has hired, or is. What could anyone could have found fun about the first half's sloppy offensive display? The line? Leaky. Green? Rusty. Ronnie Brown? Shaky. You call it kooky that Cameron seemed so cheery about what his team had not accomplished.
Maybe you'll be right. Maybe everything that occurred Saturday night is a sign of what will transpire during Cameron's tenure. You know, just as Ray Lucas' 110.1 preseason passer rating was a precursor for his Pro Bowl performance during the 2002 season, and just as 2005 preseason receiving co-leaders Maurice Mann and David Boston started rewriting the Dolphins' record books that fall.
Or maybe everybody should just wait until the fake games conclude, and the new coach is giving his real plays to his real players.
Boo the NFL for serving this slop at full price. Don't dis the Dolphins for treating these like limited practices, forums for nothing more than failure and growth.
"I know you guys thought I lost my mind on Thursday when I said we were going to fail forward fast," Cameron said Saturday night. "How's about the guy gets the first punt of his career blocked? I was glad when I saw that, because now we've experienced it. I mean, it was all day getting that punt off. ...You've got to fail forward fast, and he failed right off the bat, and then he came out and banged one out of there and knocked a couple inside the 15. I love watching young players grow."
Am I the only one that really loves the mentality that Cameron brings to Miami? The man was purposely calling "pointless routes" so that Tren Green was stuck with the ball. That's hysterical to me. He really did want to see his offense fail on Saturday night. Why? He was using it as a learning experience. And you know what? The team, in the long run, is going to be better off for it. So all I'm going to say now is to disregard what kind of play you see until the 3rd preseason game, the game where Cameron is likely to play as if it actually meant something. If the first team offense fails in that perticular game as it did on Saturday night, then we'll talk about it. As for now, just enjoy the Cam Cameron show. I am.
LEMON TO START THURSDAY
Armando Salguero reported that Cleo Lemon was going to start against KC on Thursday. That has since changed and Cam has said it will likely be the same rotation. I guess that idea of a QB competition isn't true.
One other note from this blog entry by Armando. He also reports that Cameron would like to name the starter by the third preseason game, meaning this game on Thursday is Cleo's last chance to really make a case to start over Trent Green. But I wouldn't hold my breath.