Unlike Ryan Tannehill, Tom Brady rewards teammates who pick him off in practice

In the wake of the Miami Dolphins firing head coach Joe Philbin on Monday, a report emerged detailing some of the problems Philbin had as the Dolphins were dropping three straight games, including quarterback Ryan Tannehill lashing out at practice squad players who had intercepted him in practice.

The National Football Post story said Tannehill had gotten upset during the team's Saturday practice in London, and after practice squad players forced turnovers, said to them, "Enjoy your practice squad paycheck, enjoy your practice squad trophy."

The report has caused a stir, and does not reflect well on Tannehill, though he strongly denied on Wednesday that he mentioned players' paychecks.

It also caused at least one player who played with Tom Brady to note that Brady treats practice squad players far differently:

I talked to Stallworth, who played for the Patriots in 2007 and again in 2012 and remains close to Brady, to find out a little more.

"I won't say how much he paid them, but he'd pay scout team and practice squad guys if they picked him off," Stallworth said. "Not in an arrogant manner, but more, 'Let's work together.' He'd tell them, if you can read me, read the receiver, pick me off and I'll pay you.

"Tommy likes to have fun. He's a great teammate and he loves to compete. He's trash talking guys, they trash talk him. But it's all fun. He's insanely competitive."

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But Stallworth said he can understand why Tannehill would be frustrated. Saturday pratices before Sunday games are walkthroughs, held at half-speed, sometimes in a hotel ballroom, and unlike Wednesday and Thursday practices, are not meant to be competitive. They are the last time the offense will get to work on the game plan before the game, and likewise for the defense.

Stallworth added that likewise he could see why Tannehill would be upset if scout team or practice squad players weren't "playing honest" the other days of the week, because that's detrimental to the team. If that's what is happening, it's on the head coach or coordinators, Stallworth said.

"You don’t get to waste reps…if that’s happening in the week, that’s a differnet story. If they’re sitting on routes, they’re not helping. If they’re not playing honest defense, that’s hurting us. I undersntad Tannehill's position from that end, you’ve got to be able to give guys a good look and make sure they’re running the right routes. Same thing for offensive scout team, if [a player isn't] running right route, right depth. You need to give defense the right look."

But, "(Tannehill) shouldn't feel that way if they’re playing honest football. If they’re playing hoenst football, he shouldn’t be upset." 

Stallworth has lived in Miami for several years and as such has seen plenty of Dolphins games. Though as a career receiver he's rooting for Tannehill, a former college receiver, to succeed, he sees a big gap between Tannehill and the NFL's elite quarterbacks, like Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.

That led to him following up his Brady pays teammates tweet with this one:

Stallworth feels bad for posting that. It's his honest assessment, but he regrets hitting "tweet."

"I figured that was the best way to get it across in 140 characters. I'm blaming Twitter for that," he joked.