ALSO INSIDE
Longtime friend Christensen praises team’s vow to help.
■ Christensen stands up for departed Foerster,
DAVIE — Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen delivered a passionate defense of former offensive line coach Chris Foerster on Thursday and commended the organization for pledging to help Foerster.
“Just how this organization handles stuff like that,” Christensen said in mentioning owner Stephen Ross, executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum and coach Adam Gase. “They do the best they can to take care of their people. I’m amazed at that. I said that to you through the storm (Hurricane Irma), how they handled the families. I don’t think anyone will kick him to the curb.”
Christensen has known Foerster since the mid-1990s. He resigned Monday after a video surfaced that showed him snorting lines of a white powder. Christensen said he saw no change in Foerster’s personality.
“The answer is no,” Christensen said. “I’ve been good friends with him and his family. I have a great love for him and his family for 25 years — for a long, long time. That hasn’t changed. Now it’s just a friend who is dealing with some struggles and will stay a friend and we’ll pray and keep pulling. There’s no other option but to overcome this thing for him. There’s no other good option. You don’t let that (drugs) win. That’s the way it is.”
Christensen was upset that some former colleagues have taken anonymous shots.
“Any player, any ex-player,
any ex-coach who would say something really derogatory about coach Foerster would be an outlier,” Christensen said. “Not that we all don’t have people who are sour, but overall ... a very popular coach. That’s the truth of the matter.”
Christensen said the Dolphins can’t afford to wallow.
“You can’t take three personal days to deal with some grief or some hardship and stuff,” Christensen said. “It’s just one of those jobs that it keeps coming and we just move on. We’ve got to go.”
Landry on fans, Cutler: Wide receiver Jarvis Landry said he was not happy that fans chanted “We want Moore” in favor of backup quarterback Matt Moore last Sunday. He said the team stands by Jay Cutler.
“It’s not about who’s the quarterback,” Landry said. “Jay is our quarterback. And you know we stand by him regardless of the fact. And we find ways to make plays for each other. That’s what it’s about. We don’t buy into the fans, who do they want to be the quarterback. If
they could be the coach, they would want to be the coach, too. They would want to change the coach. They would want to change the players. And we can’t buy into all that.”
Landry was frustrated with fans who chanted for Moore last season when Ryan Tannehill started.
“I believe it’s disrespectful,” Landry said. “A man that comes out here and works his (butt) off, and for people to not really understand what’s really going on or to not even have touched the field before, to say we want somebody else to be playing, they don’t understand the situation or know what’s going on.
“They just want to be on Twitter. They just want to start a damn chant, and it’s embarrassing as a player to have fans like that.”
Landry did not like it when a reporter suggested he appeared “angry” during Sunday’s game, a 16-10 win over the Titans.
When the reporter rephrased the question with the word “frustrated,” Landry said: “That’s a better word.”
“It happens,” Landry said. “When you’ve got competitors, it does get frustrating. But for us, we have to find ways to combat that and make plays to make it right. But having the struggles that we’ve had, trying to find a way to help, it does get frustrating. We’ve just got to continue to show the trust that we have for each other. And make plays for each other.”
Injury update: Wide receiver DeVante Parker (ankle) was not seen during the portion of practice open to the media Thursday. But he has not been ruled out of Sunday’s game at Atlanta.
Running back Jay Ajayi (knee) and center Mike Pouncey (hip) had what appeared to be rest days Thursday.
Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (ankle) participated; cornerback Byron Maxwell (foot) did not.
Defensive coordinator Matt Burke said Thursday that both players were scratched from the last game for two reasons: injury and coaching decision. He indicated Phillips is likely to play Sunday.