The Miami Dolphins have sent a message to Mario Williams.
After Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph slammed Williams in the media for his effort and play to start the season, the Dolphins appeared to bench the former superstar to start the Week 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post pointed out the situation:
Mario Williams has been watching from the Miami sideline. Adam Gase don’t play.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 16, 2016
To his credit, Williams responded to his coaches well during the week. In true veteran fashion, he took the criticism in stride and said he’ll improve, according to the Miami Herald‘s Adam Beasley:
“We’re an open book here,” Williams said. “… I want to be more, I guess, free to do different things and cut it loose a little bit. … And I’ve got to play faster and play harder … It starts with me.”
“It motivates me. Because, like I said, all this stuff is being translated in the meeting rooms, on the field, things like that. The way I take it is I just need to be me, be loose, don’t be uptight, don’t over-analyze every little thing because that only slows me down.”
Williams needed to acknowledge the situati0n and move on given the fact he has all of one sack for a 1-4 team at 31 years old. A supposedly stout front with him and Ndamukong Suh hasn’t impressed, with Williams more expendable at this point.
If the Dolphins are lucky, Williams will take Sunday’s benching in stride as well and use his veteran presence to better help the team and lead by example. If not, the relationship could turn sour and Williams could be searching for a new team again.
