Laremy Tunsil, the first-round pick out of Mississippi, wasn't elevated to starting left guard Sunday, two days after the Miami Dolphins' first-team offense struggled in their preseason opener. And listening to coach Adam Gase, it doesn't appear that Tunsil, who at one time was being mentioned as the No. 1 pick in the draft, is on the verge of becoming a starter.
"He's got a lot to learn," Gase said of Tunsil, who is making the move from left tackle to left guard. "We need him to keep getting better. His thing is, it's new for him.
"That (shift) inside, that's a different animal. He's learning and the thing I love about him is that he works hard."
Tunsil, the No. 13 pick in the draft, worked with the second team in Sunday's initial 11-on-11 period of practice, but he worked with the starters in the other two 11-on-11 periods. But it's unclear whether he's gained ground in his bid to become a starter.
Meanwhile, starting left guard Dallas Thomas said he's trying to disregard the criticism he gets on social media.
"It's pointless," said Thomas, one of the lowest-rated starting guards in the NFL last season according to ProFootballFocus.com.
"Social media gives people, what's a good word to say it? It gives them (the courage to say things) that they wouldn't say to your face."
So that's where things stand right now _ Thomas remains the starting left guard, and Tunsil is the backup.
Gase said he hasn't felt the need to speak with Thomas about speculation Tunsil will eventually become the starter.
"I feel like it hasn't been necessary for me to sit down and try to explain anything because he hasn't put anything towards me like he's concerned," Gase said. "He's been going out there every day and he's been working hard.
"I feel like he's focused on himself and not worried about anybody else. I think that's what I've appreciated about him is that he's not worried about what anyone else says. He cares about what his position coach says, he cares about what his coordinator says and he cares about what the head coach says, and that's all that matters to him."
Thomas had one notably poor play Friday against the New York Giants among the six official plays by the first-team offense (one play was negated by a penalty). Otherwise, he was pleased with his performance.
"I feel like I did good," he said. "I had that one bad play, but besides that I was fine."
Apparently the coaching staff agrees. Gase reiterated Sunday that all that the final decisions on starters will be made before the Sept. 11 opener at Seattle.
"I know everybody is really itching to fire everybody and bench everybody," Gase said. "(We ran) seven plays. I understand everybody's concern about every little thing, when certain people have history with guys that have been here in the past.
"But I said this right when we started this thing _ everybody has a fresh start with this crew. Our job is to evaluate what we see."
