The Miami Dolphins are still waiting for Ryan Tannehill to start looking like a franchise quarterback worthy of Dan Marino's throne. Tannehill understands his performance must improve.
"I just haven't been putting the ball in the right spot," Tannehill said Wednesday, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "I haven't been at my best and it's got to change, and it's got to change fast."
Tannehill has struggled in Miami's first two games. The third-year quarterback has completed 49 of 81 passes (60.5 percent) for 419 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He is ranked 29th in passer rating (76.1) and 28th in completion percentage.
That's not going to cut it, especially coming off a disappointing finish to last year's 8-8 season.
"It's not discouraging, it's frustrating," Tannehill said. "I'm upset at myself the way I've played, so obviously I want to get it corrected. But we've got a long season ahead of us and it starts with this week. You flip it around in one week and you play well and then you start stringing good games together."
What makes the situation especially frustrating is how good Tannehill looked in Bill Lazor's new offense during the preseason. Tannehill blames poor footwork on recent issues with accuracy. The quarterback has regularly missed open receivers and continues to find little success on his deep-ball connection with Mike Wallace.
"I feel good," Tannehill said. "I want it to change. I'm not sitting here happy with how I'm playing, but I go out and I think I play confidently, I step in the huddle with confidence. That's the job of a quarterback, to go out there and be confident with the communication of the play, in the huddle and with my play.
"You can't go out there and play scared. If you play scared, your decision making slows down and that's when you run into more trouble."
The Dolphins have a capable backup behind Tannehill in Matt Moore, but expect the organization to give its starter every opportunity to work his way out of his current funk. The Dolphins are in deep with Tannehill. They need him to pan out.
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