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Report: Dolphins coaches asked Richie Incognito to toughen up Jonathan Martin

If the Miami Dolphins are done with Richie Incognito for allegedly bullying and harassing teammate Jonathan Martin, there might be a line of coaches following him out of the door.

According to Omar Kelly of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Incognito’s coaches asked him to “toughen up” Martin after he missed a voluntary workout last spring. It is unclear which coaches allegedly gave him those marching orders or how Incognito was expected to harden Martin, but Kelly does not indicate coach Joe Philbin's involvement.

Regardless, Incognito ultimately used racially incentive language and harassed Martin so much, the victim eventually left his team.

Here is a portion of Kelly’s story:

“Sources say that communication took place when Martin skipped two days of the team's OTA program, and Incognito was encouraged by his coaches to make a call that would "get him into the fold," one source said.

“Even though OTA workouts are voluntary, the NFL culture forces coaches to strong arm the team's leaders to make sure everyone attends. Sources say Incognito was doing his job, but they admit he crossed the line.”

That is an understatement.

Incognito has been indefinitely suspended by the team, while Martin remains away from the Dolphins. The NFL is currently investigating the situation surrounding Martin.

If these current allegations are true, the coaches involved will definitely go down with this sinking ship. They cannot get give Incognito those kind of instructions, but plead innocence after discovering he went too far.

In addition, these allegations could explain why Martin felt he could not speak with his coaches about this situation. If Martin believed they would not listen, an order from his bosses to toughen him up would prove those beliefs.

Incognito is out of the door, but it appears he is not going down alone.

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Anwar S Richardson

is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at NFLAnwar@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!