Dolphins rookie’s Week 3 breakout takes a turn for the worse as he joins a list no NFL player wants to be on
Even the silver linings in Miami have their own black clouds as Ollie Gordon II’s breakout takes a turn.
Ollie Gordon II looked like a spark amid the Miami Dolphins‘ Thursday night loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3. Gordon, a sixth-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft, finally got a little bit of run for Miami’s offense after a strong preseason — and he promptly rewarded the team with some big-time conversions and a short-yardage touchdown. Those have been hard to come by in Miami in recent years!
Gordon’s night in Buffalo finished with nine carries for 38 yards and a score. Not a bad day at the office, which can certainly take some of the sting out of a third consecutive loss to start the season. But the NFL has added a little extra salt in the wound of Gordon and the Dolphins’ 31-21 loss. Nine days after the fact, Gordon finds himself on the list of fined players by the league in Week 3.
Week 3 loss to Buffalo gets even more bitter for Dolphins rookie running back Ollie Gordon II
Gordon’s carry came on the Dolphins’ opening possession and offered a punishing finish down inside the low red zone. It featured a heavy blow to a Bills defender upon contact — and now Gordon’s wallet is getting a heavy blow of its own. Gordon’s fine, which is for “unnecessary roughness,” clocks in at $5,045, which is no small amount. But for a rookie playing in his third game, it hits a little harder.
The total turns out to be approximately 10 percent of Gordon’s weekly game check.
Here’s hoping the guys in the locker room come together and set up a pool and help the rookie out. The fine could be argued as an infraction by the literal letter of the law, but this wasn’t penalized on the field and was in no way an egregious violation.
For a Dolphins team that’s been tabbed as “soft” and “unphysical”, they actually need more of this, not less. Now, Gordon and the rest of the Dolphins offense shift their focus to the New York Jets. Here’s hoping the late hit to the wallet doesn’t change anything about Gordon’s psyche with the ball.
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