Darlington: "It's Not The First Time" Mike Wallace Checked Out
By WQAM Staff
In finishing 8-8 for the second consecutive season, missing out on the playoffs for the sixth straight year, frustration within the Miami Dolphins' roster appears to still be climbing.
NFL Network's Jeff Darlington joined WQAM this morning to share some insight regarding Mike Wallace's bizarre behavior during Sunday's Jets-Dolphins game, when the highly paid receiver reportedly checked himself out of the game in the first half after Ryan Tannehill found Charles Clay for a touchdown.
"Mike Wallace said that he did not want to play in the game anymore, that he was done," Darlington said on the Joe Rose Show. "He did not want to play anymore. By the way that's not unusual. It's not the first time, according to my sources, that that has happened. But it is the first time where Philbin has involved himself...
"Now Wallace made it very clear before Philbin came over that he did not want to play anymore and Philbin very clearly obliged him in having him not play anymore."
Darlington went on to describe how Wallace's teammates were frustrated with his actions on Sunday, feeling like he abandoned them. With only four receivers active for the game, it meant the remaining three wideouts had to play in all three-receiver sets for the rest of the afternoon, hampering the Dolphins' depth on the outside.
On Monday, Wallace denied taking himself out of the game, instead saying he was benched.
"I found out when I was going back on the field," Wallace said. "I was just told that I was done for the second half."
The question now is whether the Dolphins will consider moving on from Wallace. While he is under contract with the team next season (and was the NFL's highest paid receiver in 2014), they could save as much as $6.9 million in salary cap space by releasing him in the offseason.
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