It is hard to imagine a day going much worse for fans of an NFL team than the way Sunday went for Dolphins fans. But after a woeful performance on the field on Sunday -- followed by perhaps an even more woeful performance in the media room after it -- help could be on the way for the good people in Miami.
Their coach may be getting fired?
It all began early -- very early -- on Sunday, when the Dolphins faced the New York Jets in London in a game that kicked off at 9:30 a.m. ET. The Jets out-gained the Dolphins by 199 yards, New York held the ball nearly 15 minutes more than Miami, the Dolphins turned the ball over twice, and Miami helped Jets running back Chris Ivory look like Curtis Martin (29 carries, 166 yards, one TD).
The end result? A 27-14 Jets win, and a 1-3 start to the season for Miami. Then came the fun.
First, All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh -- who signed as a free agent from Detroit this offseason -- took the podium at the postgame news conference. Claiming not to be an emotional player, Suh deflected each question with a simple yet terse "next question." Then, as he stepped off the podium and walked into the hallway, he seemed to make passing eye contact with a Dolphins staffer that elicited a rather amusing response.
You can see "highlights" of Suh's news conference and the reaction here. And here's a Vine of the reaction, as well.
We hope Suh doesn't catch a glimpse of that reaction … for that guy's sake.
Then came Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin. According to FOX NFL Insider Jay Glazer, Dolphins ownership is concerned that Philbin has lost his players, and that owner Steve Ross right now doesn't want to make any "knee-jerk reactions." You can see Glazer's report in the video above, as well as here.
So in London, Philbin was asked whether he was worried about his job.
"No, not at all. I'm worried about getting this straightened out and fixed and getting our team ready to play the Tennessee Titans," Philbin told reporters.
He also stood by embattled defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, whose job appears to be on the line.
"We still can't panic. It all seems like the walls are closing in on you," Philbin said via NFL.com. "We all realize that. We got to look at things, we got to be honest about where we are and what we're doing well, what we're not doing well -- correct those things, emphasize them, and obviously we're 0-12 on third down today. We got to get that area fixed. There's some things that need to be fixed, no question about it and that's what the next 14 days are going to be all about."
FOX NFL Insider Alex Marvez reported Sunday that indeed the coach's days in Miami could be numbered. And Philbin told reporters in London that he spoke with Ross after Sunday's loss.
Pro Football Talk went so far as to report Sunday a decision on Philbin's future is expected Monday.
The Dolphins have a bye next week before playing the Titans in Week 6. The question now is, will Philbin be on the sidelines to coach that game?
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