Are the Miami Dolphins featured on “Hard Knocks” again?
The Dolphins training camp is flat out an unscripted reality show that is reality. For those who may not know, “Hard Knocks” is a reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO. The show was first broadcast in 2001, and the current 2017 season is the 12th featuring the Dolphins opponent to open the regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Each season, it follows a National Football League (NFL) team through its training camp and covers the team’s preparation for the upcoming football season. The series shows the personal and professional lives of the players, coaches and staff, including their family life, position battles, and even inside jokes and pranks. However nothing has been funny and I wish there was just one prank in all of this. With one hand on my face, where do I begin?
Running back Jay Ajayi suffered a concussion during a scrimmage the first week of training camp leading him to be shut down for an entire week because he is in the NFL’s concussion protocol program. Ryan Tannehill (who I will get to in a moment) wears a red jersey to keep contact as minimal as possible. Starting running backs occasionally don’t play heavy minutes let alone at all in the preseason so why is your leading rusher who arguably saved your season last year getting banged up opening training camp? Ajayi went through the NFL’s concussion protocol program that has four stages; the fourth stage for example allows him to be hit, but he can’t suffer any medical setbacks before he is cleared for that. Days after the Dolphins preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons, Ajayi was cleared and is no longer in concussion protocol.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry entered camp with talks of a long-term deal coming to a conclusion with the organization. Landry did not let it become a distraction moreover was professional by not holding out. In the NFL, the team owners always have the leverage and the players association is letting it happen unfortunately for the next crazy amount of years they signed their recent deal. “He’s a great player. No question about it. I think he is handling himself well. He didn’t hold out,” Dolphins owner Steve Ross stated. The Dolphins have the leverage by franchise tagging him ($16 million in 2018) with potentially continuing the talks for a long-term deal. There have been echoes of Landry cutting off negotiations when the regular season begins. The two-time Pro Bowl pick participated in all of Miami’s organized team activities and minicamps then some soil was thrown on his rose.
The Broward County State Attorney’s office is investigating a possible domestic battery charge stemming from an incident earlier this year involving Landry and Estrella Cerqueira, who was his girlfriend. There were no arrests or charges filed. “I’ve been upfront with the team and the law enforcement,” Landry stated. In addition, he did nothing wrong.
Coincidently, the Dolphins were featured on Hard Knocks in 2012, and then-coach Joe Philbin informed Chad Johnson (formerly Chad Ochocinco) in an episode that he was being released from the team following his arrest for allegedly headbutting his wife. Coach Adam Gase shared he is “aware” of the situation. Cerqueira in statement shared she and Landry had a “vocal disagreement” resulting in the police being called but she was not harmed. Court records detail Landry is the defendant in an open paternity court case which Cerqueira filed in April.
When you have a reality show, there is always a star character. Ryan Tannehill, come on down. The Dolphins QB began training camp on his 29th birthday and like sand through an hourglass, these are the days of his life. Just rolling out to his right avoiding defensive pressure, Tannehill went down without contact in camp. An MRI revealed he did not suffer ligament damage, however the stability of his knee came into question. The same knee in which Tannehill sprained two ligaments in December, ending his 2016 season. The concern grew so high, there was rampant speculation that retired quarterback Jay Cutler would be called to potentially quarterback for the team. Tannehill sought the opinion of specialist Dr. James Andrew to determine whether surgery is the best option for the partially torn ACL. Miami, for insurance purposes, signed Cutler to act as Tannehill’s replacement. Recently, Tannehill agreed to have surgery to repair the torn ACL, officially keeping him out of the 2017 season. He was placed on injured reserve the following day.
Miami now moves into 2017 with Cutler who “remembers basically everything with the offense,” Gase stated. It is a hard-knock life for Dolphins fans.
