The Miami Dolphins posted the first "W" of the season yesterday, but the players found themselves answering question about the almost fight with Brandon Marshall that ultimately resulted in cornerback Vonate Davis being left in Miami while the Dolphins traveled to Kansas City.
Everything started Saturday, when the Dolphins ruled Davis out for "non-injury" reasons. The third year veteran had been rehabbing a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Week 8 game against the New York Giants, but the non-injury classification piqued a lot of peoples' interests.
The initial report on the cause for leaving Davis behind came out yesterday morning. NFL.com's Jeff Darlington reported that Davis and Marshall had gotten into an altercation on the practice field during the week. No punches were thrown, but Davis had told people he was being left in Miami because of the incident. Darlington reported that the confrontation started as Marshall "trash talking" with Davis during the practice, before crossing a line that Davis reacted to.
As yesterday's game was winding down, bringing with it Miami's first win of the season, Darlington released an update to his initial story. Davis, reportedly, had spent the night before the practice out on the town with a group of player. However, Davis apparently drank so much during the night, he was unable to report to practice on time. When he finally did arrive, Marshall confronted him. The two eventually started yelling at each other, and Marshall, according to Darlington's sources, threw a football into Davis' face. At this point, Davis had to be restrained, and, as a source put it, "wanted to rip [Marshall's] head off."
The team has not released an official statement about the incident, but did say that Davis understands why head coach Tony Sparano chose to leave him in Miami.
After the game, several of the players and Sparano were asked about Davis, and the incident between him and Marshall.
Sparano was mum on the incident, simply stating, "What goes on (behind) those locker room doors will stay with me."
The players, however, weren't so tight lipped, although none of them actually explained what happened.
Marshall came forward and stated, "One of the reasons why we're standing here with a 'W' is because the guys in our locker room, we hold each other accountable. Vontae is a special player - he's one of our best players on our team. We look forward to getting Vontae back, hopefully next week."
Meanwhile, linebacker Karlos Dansby responded to the questions, saying, ""It's their situation. They're grown men, and that's something they have to handle.
"I wouldn't say (Davis) wasn't taking (his job) serious enough. He just made a mistake, and he has to learn from it."
Davis' closest friend on the team, fellow cornerback Sean Smith was likewise asked about his former roommate. Smith replied, "It's not as big as everybody is looking at it from the outside. He definitely wishes he could be here. I just told him, 'When we get back we got to get this thing rolling again, sweep it under the rug and let's go.' "
Davis has been a starting cornerback for the Dolphins since his rookie year. However, there were questions of how hard he works, and how serious he is about the game, going all the way back to his time in college. His official NFL.com combine profile maybe says it best, " Perhaps because the game seems to come so easy to him, there remain concerns about just how far he will develop."
Hopefully this experience, and missing the Dolphins break their 10-game losing streak, is the wake up call that Davis needs.