Miami Dolphins reach new TV low; Heat, Marlins nuggets

A six-pack of Dolphins, Heat and Marlins notes:

• The Dolphins have played five games. And each one has had a lower local TV rating that the previous one.

Sunday’s Dolphins-Titans game generated just a 12.5 rating, the lowest in memory in South Florida. That means 12.5 percent of all Miami/Fort Lauderdale market homes were tuned in.

But the Dolphins rating eclipsed the 12.4 local rating for UM-FSU on Saturday.

• For Sunday’s game, Pro Football Focus gave its highest Dolphins grades to Jay Ajayi on offense and Donald Butler on defense. PFF noted that Billy Turner and Dallas Thomas combined to give up 13 quarterback hurries. (Turner also allowed three sacks; he was beaten by his man on a fourth, but that was a coverage sack, with no receiver open and Ryan Tannehill holding onto the ball too long).

PFF also says Ryan Tannehill isn’t playing as poorly as it might seem.

• Some notable snap counts from Sunday: Miami had only 44 snaps on offense (because five of its 10 possessions were three-and-outs), and Ajayi played 30 of them. Kenyan Drake had seven, Damien Williams eight.

Among receivers, Jarvis Landry had 42, DeVante Parker 36, Kenny Stills 35, Jakeem Grant one and Leonte Carroo none (on offense).

On defense, only linebacker Kiko Alonso played all 74 snaps, and cornerback Byron Maxwell played the second-most (70).

Cam Wake played 26, fewer than what Adam Gase has said is ideal. Among other d-linemen: Ndamukong Suh played 64, Mario Williams 53, Jordan Phillips 43, Jason Jones 42, Andre Branch 34, Chris Jones 21, Terrence Fede 15 and Julius Warmsley 13.

Among linebackers besides Alonso, Donald Butler played 45, Neville Hewitt 36 and Spencer Paysinger 29.

The front seven was gashed against the run, and the Dolphins didn’t have a sack in the game.

For our in-depth look this morning at the Dolphins’ offseason promises/expectations and where they went wrong, please click here.

• The Heat’s Justise Winslow shot 2 for 7 in the second preseason game (and is 2 for 6 on threes in preseason) but he feels the benefit of work with new shooting coach Rob Fodor.

His shot, he said, “feels a lot smoother, effortless. It feels I can shoot from anywhere on the court.”

Winslow showed incredible explosion on a dunk in the preseason opener and said explosiveness is one benefit of dropping his weight “from the low 230s to low 220s. I feel good.”

Pat Riley spoke to Winslow privately and told him, according to Winslow: “It’s your time now. Time to step up and be the player that I want to be and the player the Heat wants you to be and [show] why they drafted me.”

• Classy move by the Marlins to cover all expenses for Jose Fernandez’s funeral and his cremation. The Marlins also gave a donation to the church where the funeral was held.

• Our Clark Spencer and I were both told that former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez has been receiving strong consideration for the team’s third-base coaching job. Gonzalez, liked and respected around baseball, didn’t burn his bridges when he left.

Please follow me on Twitter: @flasportsbuzz

This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Miami Dolphins reach new TV low; Heat, Marlins nuggets."