Marshall Calls Out Henne?

The Brandon Marshall that many expected when he arrived in Miami back before the NFL draft has been anything but.  A model citizen for a “Diva Receiva”. He has had a few moments through tough losses where he simply lost his head but nothing major.  Even his ball tossing antic to Jay Cutler, one of his best friends, was made more out by the media than it was a problem.

Now that the season is coming to a close and media questions tend to target next season, Marshall is opening up on the opinion front and Chad Henne seems to be in the cross hairs.

Brandon Marshall and other key members of the team were made available this week to the media.  Earlier the not-so-well spoken Chad Henne stepped up and said,

"“It’s definitely been a good ride…I mean not a good ride, but one to learn from and one to take in and in the offseason and just sit back and kind of just take everything in and understand what you need to get better at and what you did well and what you did get better at from last season”"

His lack of speaking ability won’t win him many points with his non-supporters.  It was Marshall however that got the juices flowing when he simply said that he didn’t know if he and Chad Henne could become great together.

Marshall opened up about the future of the team and his view of the coaches and of course his QB where he started.

"“We had some opportunities this year to do that and we didn’t get it done,” Marshall said, “so I guess we have to evaluate what we did this year and see what we can improve on. See if we can become good before we can become great.”"

Marshall and Henne did not work together throughout mini-camps, training camp, or pre-season but one would have to believe that they would naturally gain some continuity over the course of weekly practices and games in a 17 week season.  That’s not always the case and in terms of Marshall and Henne it has improved but apparently not to the degree that Marshall expects.

"“You just have to let it go,” Marshall said. “Don’t worry about the consequences, just throw it up and see what happens. Let’s live and die by it.”"

This statement was more towards Dan Henning than Chad Henne.  Marshall gave no endorsement of his offensive coordinator but several times eluded to the conservative approach.  He also never mentioned Henne by name either.  Marshall was exceptionally unhappy about the QB play late in the game after the two interceptions and according a report by Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post, was seen throwing his arms out into the air while talking with Henne and one point pointing to Tyler Thigpen.

This is where I start to lose some of my support in Chad Henne.  Not because I think he will be a bad QB but when you start losing the confidence of the players around you, it’s hard to get that back.  This was a similar situation for Steve Young in his early Tampa Bay days and had he not got out of Tampa when he did, he would never have made the Hall of Fame or accomplished anything.  That of course is not to say that Henne is or will ever be someone who will do enough to make a Pro-Bowl roster let alone the HOF.

Still, Marshall’s comments reverberate a little differently when the source is taken into account.  Marshall is a numbers guy, he wants to be the best and this year he wasn’t.  No Pro-Bowl birth, not 1,000 yard season or 100 catch season, no leads in Touchdowns.  The frustration from that has him repeating, “just throw it up there” in regards to Henne’s passes and Hennings’ play calling.

He did have one good thing to say during his short Q & A.

"“I’ve never been around a coach who gives me goosebumps in a team meeting during a week of practice … before football season even starts,” Marshall said. “His ability to motivate is amazing. I’m glad they brought me here.”"