The Dolphins were shut out by the Saints last Sunday and they scored on the last play of the game against the Jets in Week Two to avoid another zero, but head coach Adam Gase didn’t hesitate before swatting away the notion of making a change at quarterback after the Saints game.
Gase faced further questions about Cutler Monday and didn’t waver from his feeling that there’s no reason to panic. He said criticism of Cutler “drives me nuts” and pointed to issues other than the quarterback that are holding the offense back.
“I know where the ball is supposed to go,” Gase said, via the Miami Herald. “I know who is supposed to do what on every play. If we protect him and give him a second to throw the ball, we’ll be all right. If he is going to get hit from start to finish, I don’t care who you put back there. We need to do a better job of protecting him and being where we’re supposed to be. There are somethings footwork wise he is going to better at. He knows where to go with the ball. We’re going to keep working on protecting the football when things break down in the pocket. We can’t just let him take hit after hit after hit after hit and expect him to stand in there. It’s not going to happen.”
If the Dolphins had total faith that Matt Moore was the right answer at quarterback, they wouldn’t have signed Cutler away from his broadcasting job after Tannehill was injured this summer so it’s not too surprising that their view remains the same after three weeks. More of the same in the next few weeks will make that view a tougher one to defend, even if Cutler isn’t the only one falling short of expectations in Miami.