Beck Water

Marcel LJ says Thompson is feeling more confident every day and with every snap Says that he feels he got a little taste of "Playoff Atmosphere" in their "win or go home" game at Hard Rock stadium against the Jets. I. Can't. Even. Playoff Atmosphere. Hardrock Stadium. Jets. Oh, dear.... More quotes here: https://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/34038/dolphins-rookie-skylar-thompson-leaning-on-jets-game-as-he-prepares-for-first-playoff-start Hola, Skyler. Came pretty damned close: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202201150buf.htm Oh, Skyler .......

Meanwhile the City of Miami:

So I just found this Well, All Righty Then.

"Boo-boo foot" = snide nickname for Sammy Watkins when he was on the Bills. In retrospect, probably undeserved because he was genuinely hurting, except IIRC he later admitted he caused his lingering foot problems by going against doctor's advice and training too soon. I just find it ironic that Watkins, in particular, who took a lot of heat including, apparently, from coaches who felt he was malingering, and who looks more like a TE than a WR at this point because he hasn't taken the best care of his body, is criticizing another player for not playing through an injury that could literally ruin that other player's career if he plays with laxity in his knee and blows it out.

Anyone else besides boo-boo foot?

I was struggling to say something like this and you put it really well. Thank you.

I think that locker rooms are a melting pot and in general more tolerant of differences than the general public. I mean, if it's true that 60-80% of the players identify as Christian, that means 20-40% don't, right?

Exactly. Emergency responders and doctors and nurses fight their hardest for everyone. Just imagine how horrid for someone to lose a loved one and have it implied there wasn't enough prayer or it wasn't high enough quality prayer or something.

The mocking Tim Tebow received had to do with him being a bad QB while making a huge public deal out of his Christian faith, and not about him being a Christian per se. The majority of football players are devout Christians according to their lights. A survey a few years back found that 3/4 of starting NFL QB were evangelical Christians. I think it was found there's a similar proportion of Christians (if not evangelical) among the rest of the players, 60-70%. One of the Bills players mentioned 'Chapel' when explaining his Saturday schedule before Sunday games, so we know the Bills hold regular services for the players the night before the game as well as having a chaplain available to them on the sidelines and at practices and just in the facility to talk. So I don't think anyone mocks players for being Christian per se, or ever has done. There are a lot of players who are forthright about being Christian - Kurt Cousins, Kurt Warner before him, Russ Wilson, on the Bills Dawson Knox, Cody Ford, Zack Moss, 'Zo Alexander held bible studies at his house, and so forth. Diggs used to wear tiny crosses as earrings. Von Miller dropped to one knee to pray the first time he walked on the field at Highmark before signing as a Bill. There are prayer circles before and after games. The thing with Tebow was he puffed it up a lot: the mission trips, the public "I'm a virgin" proclamations, the Bible verses on his eye black, "Tebowing" on the sidelines. He reportedly monetized it by charging $50,000 per engagement to speak at churches. Then it got to the point where no one could question him as a player (and the Broncos coaches had plenty of reason to question) without being called "anti-Christian" while ministers were attributing Broncos wins to "divine favor" because they were playing Tebow. When there are devout believers on both sides of the ball, does it seem right to believe that God picks sides? Give praise to God after a win, sure, but attribute? St Louis kinda went through this with Warner (who, by the way, was NOT mocked for being Christian) when his wife Brenda went on a local radio station and said her husband was being benched because the coaches were opposed to his Christian Faith. No, Brenda, the coaches were against your husband fumbling 6 times in Game 1 of the 2003 NFL season. It's hard to win in the NFL when you turn the ball over 4 times and luck that there weren't 3 more. Fun fact, Josh's GF started self-identifying as "Christian" on her Insta a couple years back. Her brother was part of the ministerial staff at a church somewhere in the SE for a while; his insta handle is "Jordan the REDEEMED". So I suspect this is something that's been moving around below the surface for Josh for a while.

Couple notes I took: (not necessarily in sequence of the podcast) Skyler Thompson -struggling to process what he sees both before and after the snap -worked the wrong side of the formation based on routes vs coverage -unrefined as a progression reader -Dolphins tried to run in-breaking timing routes with Hill and Waddle which were Tua's "bread and butter" and he didn't hit them -pressure looks and late rotation in coverage seemed to give him problems -some mobility -will look to leave the pocket, and gain yards with his feet when play breaks down, have to be aware of that and keep him from running for 10 yds on 3rd and 8. -a week of practice as the starter will surely change what he can do and help him play better, but ? how much Dolphins offense -played 12 and 21 personnel total of >50% of the snaps against the Jets -use a lot of 21 even with Tua, McDaniel's background with 49ers who use 21 with Juszczyk >40% of snaps -"don't think that will get them the mis-matches they want with the Bills vs other teams" because the Bills live in Nickel and an "over" front (meaning 3T DT is lined up to TE side) -McDaniel is going to have to "manufacture" offense, so expect him to pull out all the stops like the flea-flicker to AJ Green AZ scored with vs. the 49ers Bills defense -had one of their worst games of run D against the Dolphins, allowed DTs to be "moved off their spots" and OL got to 2nd level and blocked Milano and Edmunds -Bills really need to clean that up -talk again about how Bills live in Nickle 99% of the time because Johnson-Edmunds-Milano allow them to be multiple in their looks and Johnson can play the run like a LB Bills offense -Brown asks if he thinks the Dolphins might play as the Patriots did to really limit Josh Allen running and keep him in the pocket -Cosell never really answers this but points out that the Dolphins did use a spy on Allen. Goes into a long discussion about how you can never predict when Josh will leave the pocket because Josh will leave the pocket for no particularly good reason and then make throws. Says it comes down to a balance between precision and instinct. Long discussion about Josh's interceptions and coaching him ensues. It was interesting but listen for yourself. Says the concern he sees for the Bills is if McDaniel manages to manufacture enough offense to get the Dolphins up by 10 points, the "feel" of the game changes and you start pressing (my word) instead of just "playing your game" (his words). Tasker agrees and says "yeah, you start trying feel like you need to do things you wouldn't ordinarily do, you start trying to hit a grand slam with no men on base". ---------------------- I thought the bit about the Bills run game was interesting, because my perception was that aside from Mostert's 67 yd run and 2-3 other 10-yd-ish runs, the Bills run D just wasn't that porous. I had to go to NexGen charts to check my memory: Obviously every play counts, but it's a bit of a different situation if a couple missed tackles allow a long run vs. if the team is really getting gashed over and over again for 8-10 yds a pop. And don't get me wrong, they were uncharacteristically porous, but I think most of the longer runs were outside the tackles.

I read this board. Even with a healthy bag of a Baker's Dozen in my "Ignore" file....Yes. I'm quite sure. You do realize part of what you bolded like I was saying it, was actually direct quote from Dawkins' Players Tribune piece? I guess he has angst. PS: some reason you edited out this part of my post?

Right, so was Beasley, as well as playing basketball. Executing plays is different.

Question: Do Dolphins have asses? I'd be satisfied if we hand them their flippers

That's a really good question. Someone referenced NFL regulations I've never heard of in regard to Tua and to Bridgewater - about maybe if you know a player will be out for medical reasons not concealing it? I have no idea. I woulda thought, like you, keep it under your hat as long as you can. As far as timeline, I think it's interesting to listen to Cole Beasley on this: "The first week, I was just trying to control the pace a little bit, trying not to do anything stupid like stumble over my feet or anything; the first week was tough. The second week, started feeling a little better. The third week was when I started feeling more like myself and how it had been." So this is a guy who is not rehabbing an injury, just trying to get back into playing shape; he's saying "took 3 weeks to really start feeling like myself".

I will say that there are a number of challenges faced by McDermott here. Based on Dawkins "Letter to Bills Mafia Part III" I think there can be no doubt that some of our guys face this with a mixed heart. As Dawkins said "We’re keeping it SIMPLE this run. Because — straight up: It’s just football. You know what I’m saying? It’s JUST football!! And we’re better than these other teams at it, so let’s beat four of them and then have a parade." On the other hand, "But there’s no way to sugarcoat it: that what we do is f*cking scary. And at the end of the day?? I just want to get home, man. Just get home safe to my family….. that’s pretty much it. ..... We’re about to give these playoffs our WHOLE business. But sh*t weighs heavy right now — and I’m working through that." It can't be denied that we're going in there with several handicaps on D. We moved on from Dean Marlowe because he couldn't crack the starting lineup against Dr Poyer and Mr Hyde, and we wanted to develop Jaquan Johnson and Damar Hamlin as our backup safeties. Now Hamlin's out, I don't think anyone sees Johnson as a future starter at safety, and Marlowe is starting, and Poyer is hampered by injury. We signed Von Miller to the big FA bucks because he could be the "finisher" that we lacked on pass rush; it's true that he's far from the only change we made on DL, so we still may have improved interior pressure. It all depends on the young guys now, AJ Groot and Basham. Then there's the "WTF has happened to Gabe 'ToeDragSwag' Davis?" question. Miami is a good team and they're going to come out swinging. Coach McGeek will have the Dolphins prepared as well. As McDermott said "they have good team speed". People expecting a beat-down will be disappointed I think. But I do like our chances for the win.

It all depends upon the grade of the sprain. A grade 3 is a complete tear, and is not going to heal unless you put the ends in the same place (or take a ligament from elsewhere). A grade 1 or low-end 2, even for an ACL, would probably be treated with rest. I think the difference between the PCL and the ACL is the PCL is shorter and tougher, so it's harder to tear - but I think if it's torn completely or almost completely, it's just as bad (for an elite athlete) Again, I defer to the ortho types on here who know more about this, but I think a complete tear of any knee ligament would be treated with surgery for a pro athlete, especially one who makes his living by speed and agility. Anyway, Harbaugh does not sound happy

OK, You. In you go, into the sack.

No. You are Incorrect, whether they win or lose. But they aren't winning.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/12/lamar-jackson-my-knee-remains-inflamed-and-unstable/ I think it was Chris Simms (who does have some 'ins' with the players) who said earlier this week that he'd heard Jackson's knee was still swollen. For anyone curious, definition of Grade 2 and Grade 3 sprain: I defer to our resident Orthos here, but it seems to me that in a professional athlete, a Grade 3 sprain would 100% get surgery and a Grade 2 bordering on Grade 3 sprain would strongly recommend it for optimal recovery

Whoa, strong words from Boo-boo Foot. Watkins needs to pipe down IMHO. STFU and try playing your ass off to get open for Huntley. Watkins had his chance at a Superbowl in 2019 and 2020 with the Chiefs. I mean, sure, the Ravens are in the Playoffs so they have a chance at a Superbowl - but what makes Jackson so effective is his mobility. Ask RGIII if he regrets going out there for Washington on one leg and ruining his career.

That last one would indeed be the best hope for a long-term cure. May take multiple doses though.

Didn't I read up thread that Bridgewater would back up Skyler Thompson? So I would predict a lot of those "questionable" players will play McDaniel's pre-game pump up speech gonna be epic.

They didn't "wilt" against KC until the final seconds of regulation - which I will acknowledge, was an Epic CF They kept us in the game. They stopped KC 3x and held to a FGA 4x. You can't expect any defense to totally shut down a high-powered BALANCED offense. And, we won in KC earlier this season. So what is the source of the fear? Is it about losing Hamlin, or Von Miller, or ??

OK, just clarifying - you ARE saying that our coaches and FO are failures at player evaluation - all season for Shakir, and since Nov 26 for Smoke. So the same group that's managed the #2 offense in points and yards per game and top-10 in essentially every offensive category, sucks worse than you and some other fans here at player e v a l. Seems logical. Now you're doubling down. Who are these many players representative of the "many times" our current coaches and FO have failed at player evaluation and when were they playing ahead of "many better players"? I'll hang up and listen You bring the Bad Takes, you pack and carry them. I'm not gonna "lighten up" your load.