Adam Gase played it cool with his initial public reaction to the NFL's reinstatement of Dion Jordan from a long suspension. It does him no good to play it ice cold.
Jordan might still be able to help the Miami Dolphins. That's what one would expect of an athlete talented enough to go No. 3 overall in the 2013 NFL draft.
Also, the other Dolphins are watching their new head coach and still trying to figure him out. Gase doesn't want to be so stern about a player's mistakes that others wonder if he will have their backs, but he also needs the team to take him seriously when he says that competition is the key to everything here, and that no one in training camp will get special treatment.
"I don't know him (Jordan)," Gase said. "I just know when he gets here, it's a fresh start with me, so I guess that's really all that matters."
Fresh is a word that doesn't fit Jordan so well anymore. His reputation is worn and frayed by multiple violations of the league's substance abuse policy. His career stats are diluted by missing the entire 2015 season, and his participation in this summer's training camp comes with conditions, too.
Arrangements must be made, according to the NFL press release, regarding Jordan's "clinical resources" in South Florida. He'll need more babysitting, in other words, and more testing and, eventually, an evaluation later in the season to see if Roger Goodell has reason to regret letting the 6-foot-6 defensive end back take a shot at rebooting his career.
"I just want the best for him," Dolphins defensive tackle Earl Mitchell said. "At the end of the day, when he comes in, we're going to embrace him with open arms and we'll move on.
"He's a freak athlete. The tape says it. You see him covering guys like Calvin Johnson and Rob Gronkowksi, it speaks volumes about his athletic ability."
Sounds like the way that Ricky Williams was welcomed back to the Dolphins after smoking himself out of the league. Exceptional talent will always win hearts in professional sports.
Don't expect Gase to tiptoe around the issue much longer, however.
He has a team to bolt together over the next month or so and he doesn't need any loose screws.
Jordan's no kid that needs coddling. He's 26, which is way too old for a supposed pass-rushing specialist to have piled up just three career sacks.
The Dolphins' Reshad Jones has 8.5 career sacks and he's a safety. Defensive end Derrick Shelby has nine career sacks and he just left the Dolphins during the offseason for a four-year, $21 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
We don't really need to be talking about money here, though. Let the Dolphins' front office and the players' union squabble over whatever roster bonus may or may not be due Jordan in the coming days. His only concern should be showing Miami and the rest of the league that he's worth the trouble.
New Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso, acquired from Philadelphia, has no doubts. He and Jordan are best friends from their college teammate days at Oregon. He wants to be teammates again
"That guy is a hard worker," Alonso said. "I've never questioned his work ethic or his condition."
That's expecting the best from a player who has yet to show it. I'm in no mood for that. His latest suspension may be over, but not the suspicion.
It is good, however, to finally get the Dion Jordan question settled, one way or the other. His limbo status was never going to rise to the level of distraction that Chris Bosh's questionable availability is causing the Miami Heat, but Gase needs no distractions at all. He needs instead to be stingy with his roster spots, and with the energy he spends on filling them.
The Dolphins took a great step backwards in drafting Jordan. It was the last big swing-and-a-miss by former general manager Jeff Ireland and it didn't do Joe Philbin much good, either.
If Jordan's going to help the franchise take a big leap forward now, time is not on his side.
Miami has a good rotation of defensive ends already, with Cameron Wake back from injury and both Mario Williams and Andre Branch added to the pile. If Jordan played cornerback, a position of particular need, it would be easier to get excited about what he can do.
As it is, he's still a mystery, as always, capable of playing defensive end or maybe linebacker or maybe not capable of playing at all. The story didn't change with Friday's reinstatement.
All that's new is Gase's involvement in it, and his willingness to turn the page to see how it comes out.
Dave George writes for The Palm Beach Post.
About the Author
