Things are heating up for the Miami Dolphins' - at least at practice. NFL.com's Jeff Darlington reported yesterday that Vontae Davis and Brandon Marshall nearly went to blows at practice this week.
With Davis being rules out of today's game against the Chiefs, not for his injured hamstring, but for "non-injury" reasons, speculation has increased that he is being punished for breaking team rules - most likely, trying to fight with Marshall. Davis has fueled that speculation, telling people close to him that he believes he's being held out as punishment for the incident. A source, meanwhile, denies this is why Davis is out, stating Davis knows exactly why he did not travel with the team.
Sources close to Marshall told Darlington they hadn't even heard about the incident.
Reportedly, things got heated when Marshall began trash talking during practice. At some point, Marshall "crossed the line," and Davis had to be held back. Darlington's source wouldn't go in to specific about exactly what Marshall said, but did state, "Vontae was about to rip his head off."
No punches were ever thrown during the incident.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins' franchise are doing a better job of defending a quarterback than the offensive line has done all year. Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller went on 640-AM's Big O' Show Friday. During the show, Miller said he believed Dolphins starting quarterback Chad Henne "packed it in" when he had season ending surgery earlier this year, rather than play through the pain of a separated, non-throwing shoulder.
Miller explained that Henne knew the Dolphins were going to move on from him at the end of the year and, rather than risk a long term injury, decided to shut it down and wait for a new team next season.
The Dolphins immediately released a statement defending their injured quarterback:
"The report that Chad Henne should have played with his injury is totally false and the speculation of the nature of that injury is not correct.
"The medical staff made it clear to Chad that he could not play with his injury and that his only option was surgery."
To be fair to Henne, he did actually seek a second opinion, away from the team's medical personnel, simply to see if he could play this year. With the team telling him he was done, and the second opinion confirming that diagnosis, Henne decided to have the surgery.
While Miller is entitled to his opinion, getting the facts before you spout off about a player's injury might be a good idea.