Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Grandma, how about little slack?
Miami’s Vontae Davis received a late-night phone call from his grandmother.
Adeline Davis had watched the premiere episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins.
“‘Get in shape, baby. It’s going to be a long season,’ ” Davis said his grandmother told him. “I said, ‘I know. I’m working every day.’ ”
Davis didn’t come across too well in the early episode. Miami’s first-round pick in 2009 told a teammate during practice he was tired. Defensive backs coach Lou Anarumo told Davis he needed to play harder, and Coach Joe Philbin asked him if he was done leaving practice for bathroom breaks.
The show came one day after Davis, who started 27 of his 28 games the past two seasons, was listed second on the depth chart at cornerback behind free-agent acquisition Richard Marshall.
“I didn’t watch it, but I heard,” Davis said. “They say the coach got on me about being tired. It’s why I’m here at training camp. Got to work hard to get better every day.”
Philbin, who didn’t watch the show either, said it’s inaccurate to suggest Davis is in the doghouse or has fallen out of favor.
“We think he’s actually been practicing a little bit better as of late,” Philbin said. “He’s one of the 90 guys. There’s not one player, there’s not one coach on this team who doesn’t need to improve and keep working and do a better job.
“Once a player arrives here, it doesn’t matter to me whether he was a first-round pick or not. I said to Vontae, aside from even the bladder conversation, ‘Look, if nobody was on you, you should really get concerned.’ I think he understands that.”