Miami offensive coordinator Bill Lazor seems to be finding his way as a first-time coordinator, but is he losing some of his players in the process?
According to NFL Media's Jeff Darlington, who spoke to several Dolphins players, Lazor's "abrasive" tenor with several starters has worn thin and has led to a growing rift in the locker room. Meanwhile, "An inconsistent identity on offense is internally magnifying the issue."
The frustration is understandable. Mike Wallace is being underutilized, and Ryan Tannehill isn't given any freedom to audible at the line. Some weeks, the team is able to air it out and put up almost 40 points, and some weeks they revert to a run-first philosophy that, on four different occasions, has seen the Dolphins come in under 200 passing yards in a game.
For now, the unhappiness seems to be self-contained. The Dolphins are 5-4 and despite the inconsistency, they know they possess the ability to blow out some quality teams.
Can they hone it for a five-week stretch where they face three divisional opponents in a month long span that will define their season? Or will they hear some of the same complaints with plenty of quality defenses -- Buffalo (whom the Dolphins face Thursday, exclusively on NFL Network), Denver, New England, Baltimore -- coming down the pike?
It could very well come to personify Lazor's first year in Miami.
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