Miami Dolphins locker room turmoil leads team into Wembley game against Raiders

Sep 26, 2014; London, UNITED KINGDOM; Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin at press conference at Allianz Park in advance of the NFL International Series game between the Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After beating the New England Patriots to start the season, you would think that everything in Miami would be fine for the Dolphins as they started off the season with one of the signature wins of Week 1. That hasn’t been the case as after losses to the Bills as well as the Chiefs by a combined 34 points things have been allegedly falling apart inside the ‘Phins locker room between the head coach Joe Philbin, the players, and upper management.

Jason La Canfora (who broke the Greg Olson story as well this morning) claims that executive Dawn Aponte and the locker room have been alienated by Philbin’s failure to stand behind starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill after the awful loss to the Chiefs last week. Philbin didn’t admit Tannehill was the first team quarterback for the Dolphins despite Tannehill taking the first team snaps this week. That is a big factor in what La Canfora describes as an inner fight between all aspects of the Dolphins franchise over Philbin pursuing the idea of benching Tannehill for veteran Matt Moore.

From La Canfora

"A year ago, the alliance between powerful Miami Dolphins executive Dawn Aponte and coach Joe Philbin, and general manager Jeff Ireland’s growing rift with Aponte, led to a front office overhaul. Now, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation, Aponte’s fraying relationship with Philbin is at the core of the team’s prevailing issues and leading to a sense that more change will be coming in 2015.Philbin further angered upper management and alienated the locker room last week by failing to acknowledge recent first-round pick Ryan Tannehill remained his starting quarterback, despite Tannehill continuing to take the first-team snaps. That created an awkward climate as the team departed for London to face the Raiders with a 1-2 record.Players are expressing significant concerns with Philbin, and his coordinators, behind the scenes, sources said, and Aponte’s hiring of longtime confidant and former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum as a consultant has also added to the tension-filled climate, as Tannenbaum’s primary job is as an agent representing coaches, including Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who interviewed for head coaching jobs last year and is likely to be a strong candidate again this season.Tannehill was drafted to be the face of the franchise as it struggles to solve its stadium issues, and he’s now caught in the cross-hairs of these macro issues, sources said. With former offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, Tannehill’s college coach at Texas A&M, let go, Philbin has been increasingly intrigued by the prospect of veteran backup quarterback Matt Moore running his offense. The idea dates back to the end of last season, according to numerous sources with knowledge of the situation, and, toying with the idea of playing Moore has only further added to the rift with the front office, who have sold Tannehill as the future of the franchise at a time when the Dolphins are struggling for their place in the local sporting economy."

This turmoil couldn’t come at a worse time for Miami as after getting an early head start on the AFC East with the win over the Patriots they enter their Wembley contest with Oakland in a situation where both struggling teams are in a must win situation. Getting to London late in the week and coming to Wembley Stadium with infighting between the team and the front office, things could be uglier on the Dolphins side of things than on the Raiders side come the end of the game this Sunday night across the pond