|
Ryan Tannehill and his better half!
On Saturday morning, the Dolphins presented first-round NFL Draft
pick Ryan Tannehill and his wife, Lauren, to South Florida media members. Then, they presented Tannehill with a No. 17
Dolphins jersey. Later, they presented him to fans at FinFest at Sun Life Stadium.
But the most important presentation
came Friday: the playbook to Tannehill.
Considering Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman was Tannehill’s
coach at Texas A&M, it bore the comfort of the known to the rookie quarterback.
“It was pretty familiar,”
he said. “I was excited. It’s been a while since I’ve seen those things … I guess a few months. I’m
really excited to get back into it. Yeah, there’s been some changes, but the foundation of it is all the same. I’m
excited to get into the new stuff that they’ve added in the past few months that we didn’t have at A&M and
to get on the field and start running the plays.”
Certainly, he’ll get that chance at the upcoming rookie
camp. Knowing the offense while veteran teammates still learn it might give the rookie an edge in establishing himself as
a team leader, even as he spends time behind Matt Moore and David Garrard for at least part of this season.
Like Chad
Henne, the 2008 second-round pick to whom Tannehill bears a resemblance in manner, face and hair, Tannehill said he’s
“not a rah-rah guy” who will be leading pregame chants at midfield.
“Every leadership style is different,”
he said. “First of all, you have to get the respect from your teammates. That’s done in a lot of different ways.
I want to get to know the guys. This is a new locker room, and I have to get to know everybody, so I’m excited to get
in there. I haven’t really gotten to meet anybody yet, so I’m excited to do that. You have to be able to make
plays on the field and get the respect, get to know them personally. A big part of being a leader is to be able to bring guys
together and make people better. That’s the biggest thing. A leader makes the players around him better. I’m going
to do whatever I can to help guys out. Familiarity with the offense should help that aspect a little bit. I’ve been
playing in this system. I feel like I can lend some things I’ve learned over the years.”
Also, like Henne,
some skepticism about Tannehill took root in his team’s results while he was a starter. After being the only quarterback
ever to start wins against Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma in one season (2010), Tannehill had the rudder for some hard losses
in which A&M couldn’t outscore their own porous defense.
They were 18 points ahead but lost to Arkansas 42-38
and were 11 up but lost to Missouri 38-31, scoring only three second-half points in each game. They also gave up halftime
leads in losses to Texas and Oklahoma. After the Aggies finished the regular season at 6-6, Sherman took the final sack of
the regular season.
“Well, I take the losses extremely hard. I don’t feel like it’s all my fault,”
Tannehill said. “I feel like I definitely could have performed better in those games. But I feel like I’ve learned
from those experiences. Not something where if something keeps reoccurring because we’re making the same mistakes. It’s
a team game. Obviously, I didn’t perform my best at some of those games, and I learn from those experiences. I’m
going to get better, and you can’t let the same mistake happen twice, so that’s all you can do and keep pressing
on.
|
|
