From Armando Salguero
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article148766714.html
There was a time in the spring of 2015 when Suh missing the Dolphins’ offseason conditioning program was a topic that raised eyebrows. Back then, the defensive tackle had just signed a new $114,375,000 (yeah, that’s a lot of digits) contract, making him the newest and highest-paid player on the team.
And then the newest and highest-paid player on the team blew off the new team’s conditioning program. And that was, as I wrote at the time, bad optics.
It wasn’t terrible in that Suh would not be in shape. But it was bad in that he would not be in the locker room, that he wasn’t showing leadership and making a point and doing all that chemistry stuff some people outside the team generally don’t understand.
Then-coach Joe Philbin didn’t like that Suh didn’t show up for parts of the program but there was nothing he could do about it. The program was then as it remains today, a voluntary thing.
Fast forward two years and Adam Gase and the Dolphins are generally fine with Suh missing significant parts of the program. And that’s fine because Suh’s time with the Dolphins isn’t about optics anymore.
He’s been around two seasons and everyone knows he’s going to be one of the best conditioned players on the team. Everyone knows he’s going to play more snaps than practically any other defensive lineman. Everyone also knows Suh isn’t spending his days at a beachside Tiki bar or laying in bed eating chips.
He’s in Oregon at the Nike facility availing himself to their equipment, which is reportedly as sophisticated as it gets. He’s not in South Florida getting in shape. He’s at Nike getting in shape.
So the bottom line is Suh is going to be in shape.
And what about the leadership and chemistry stuff?
Well, these Miami Dolphins aren’t quite as starved for leaders as the 2015 team was. The leadership on this team starts at the top and filters down. Philbin, bless his heart, was lacking in the leadership department. Gase is not.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article148766714.html