NFL: Ryan Tannehill set to keep job as Miami Dolphins quarterback
Friday 26 September 2014 18:55, UK
Ryan Tannehill is set to start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins at Wembley on Sunday after they finally arrived in England.
The Dolphins, who are facing the winless Oakland Raiders on Sunday evening in the first of three NFL games at Wembley this season, only landed in London early on Friday morning.
Tannehill and his teammates hit the practice field a matter of a few hours after touching down and it was his future as starting QB that dominated coach Joe Philbin's first press conference.
"Those guys are going to be starters until I announce something different," Philbin said.
"That's one way of answering the question, and that's the way it's going to be answered."
Tannehill added: "It's done. It was something we faced earlier in the week, but it's done."
The Raiders arrived in London on Monday, in a completely opposite way of dealing with the trip over the Atlantic, but Philbin is happy with his decision to bring the Dolphins over closer to kick-off.
It just kind of made sense for us to get the bulk of the work done and the game plan done back in Miami," Philbin added.
"On a normal Friday we would start our meetings at 10 o'clock if we were back home and we started them today at 11 o'clock, so we're really almost on the schedule that we'd be on if we had never come over here.
"You know you're going into a bye. You want to invest everything we have into this one particular game."
And Tannehill doesn't think jet lag will be a problem as he goes up against a tough Raiders defense that has received little in the way of offensive support so far this season.
They have given up just over 20 points per game in three matches, but their offensive output of a meagre 37 points is the lowest in the NFL.
"I think we'll be able to get past it," said Tannehill, who revealed the Dolphins players had been placed in first-class while their coaches flew economy.
I think we have to do a good job tonight and tomorrow night of resting up and letting our bodies catch up on sleep, but I think we'll be just fine."
