Former Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins quarterback Ran Jaworski isn't letting anyone criticize his friend Vic Fangio. Because right now, Fangio is certainly getting criticized.
Fangio, the new defensive coordinator for the Eagles and former Dolphins DC, has been taking heat from former Miami players who weren't exactly upset to see him depart the Dolphins' facility for the last time. He and the team "parted ways" on Jan. 24, and Fins' defensemen Jevon Holland and Cam Smith sent posts on social media just moments after the news broke, essentiallycelebrating his exit.
That alone was probably enough for Jaworski to jump on the radio to defend Fangio, but then Drew Rosenhaus, agent for 11 Dolphins players, joined the pile-on with his own comment.
"There were quite a few players on the team that didn't necessarily get along with Fangio," Rosenhaus said to Miami-based sportscaster Josh Moser. "It wasn't a great relationship with many of the players. There were some guys that loved him, but there were quite a few that didn't. It definitely wasn't a unanimous positive relationship."
So Jaworski was more than ready to bite back at the criticism Wednesday morning when he went on Philly sports radio station 94WIP to chat about Fangio.
"Coaches coach," Jaworski said. "I have connections as well around this league and I hear another side of that story, that there were some players on that defense that didn't want to work. Didn't want to put the time in, didn't want to put the effort in, didn't want to make the commitment to be successful.
"Guys like to party at night and South Beach is really a great place to party. And Vic tried to get those guys and push those guys to become harder workers and better athletes, and more committed to their team. And he couldn't get through to those guys. Those were the guys that Vic was pushing and they're the guys that are whining right now."
As Jaworski mentioned, there are different sides to every story. But just because they're different doesn't mean they're new. Fangio is blaming his players for not working hard enough to execute his vision. The players are blaming Fangio for misusing or underutilizing them. The sky is blue. Water is wet. The sun is hot. We've heard this song before, and we'll hear it again. Just like death and taxes, the NFL blame cycle is inevitable.
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