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The Miami Dolphins will have their hands full this week as the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) come to town. The Dolphins (1-4) endured a major roster overhaul in which guard-tackle Dallas Thomas, a 2013 third-round pick, guard-tackle Billy Turner, a 2014 third-round pick, and guard-center Jamil Douglas, a 2015 fourth-round pick, were all cut on Tuesday.
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Coach Adam Gase said he wasn't trying to send a message with those moves.
"I think it was just we wanted to change a few spots and a couple of those guys were offensive linemen," he said. "...It's just that what we thought was best for our roster at the moment."
However, it's clear players took notice.
"I think it sends a pretty clear message," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "Obviously, it's a tough part of the business. (They are) guys that you spend a lot of time with - good people - but it sends a message to everyone on this team that, 'You've got to get your job done, or we're going to find somebody who can.'"
Added right guard Jermon Bushrod, "Any time you let guys who were here in the past, three of them, go it sends a message loud and clear - we've got to go out and get the job done. We're paid to win games and if we're not winning and things unfortunately things like that happen."
Gase said the Dolphins had been thinking about such moves for a while.
"It probably started on Sunday night," he said. "We started talking about if we wanted to make some changes and discussed it Sunday night, Monday, went through the morning on Tuesday, and we decided to make some moves."
Perhaps Gase's roster moves produce a better performance against the Steelers on Sunday (1 p.m., ET).
It seems players already knew the deal.
"If we aren't getting the job done (then) we can get replaced, easy," said reserve center Kraig Urbik, a seven-year veteran. "It's just the name of the game. If we're 1-4 and we're not protecting well enough guys are going to get replaced for sure."
And it also seems Gase might not be done. Asked if any pother such moves were planned, the first-year coach was non-committal.
"Every week's a new week," he said. "In the NFL, it's hard to keep those seats in that room. There's a reason why you go through this whole process throughout the season and it's about trying to figure out who are your guys that you want in this organization, who are the guys you want to build with and create something good."
--Specifics haven't come out on how rookie left guard Laremy Tunsil sustained the ankle injury Sunday morning in the shower that caused him to miss the Tennessee game, and Gase is reluctant to share what he knows.
"I don't know," Gase said when he was asked again. "I didn't want to get too deep with him on it. I just know he didn't play on Sunday."
Told it seems a strange way to sustain an ankle injury, Gase remained vague.
"I don't know," he said. "I mean, ask him."
Asked whether he asked Tunsil, Gase again played defense.
"I might have," he said, "but maybe I was like, 'I don't want to know.' I started to ask him then I was like, 'You know what? I just don't want to know. I know you didn't play.'"
--Although the Dolphins are clearly struggling at 1-4, Gase didn't have any special messages for Tannehill this week.
"Really, it's, 'We've got to get the ball out quick (and) do a good job of processing what's going on," Gase said. "Make good decisions. We've got to play turnover-free football.'
"That's going to be key for us - the entire offense - and we've got to create turnovers on defense," Gase said. "That's going to be a big factor for us this game. Obviously, we can't give them short fields, because it's tough enough to defend this offense as it is. We have to do a great job on offense making sure that we hold on to the ball."
