Miami Dolphins LB Lawrence Timmons left team for 'personal nature'

Miami Dolphins linebacker Lawrence Timmons was held out of Sunday's game after leaving the team without notice for a "personal nature."

Timmons returned to the team Sunday, but Dolphins coach Adam Gase made Timmons inactive against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Two days after Timmons went AWOL, Gase was non-committal on Monday whether he expects Timmons to remain with the team or play this Sunday at the New York Jets.

"Nothing to add, for what I have right now," Gase told reporters. "Really just gathering a lot of information. I've got a few other things I have to deal with the guys who played yesterday."

Gase said Monday he has not talked to Timmons and has "no idea" if he was in the Dolphins' facility, according to the Miami Herald.

Gase was asked if he has a lot of rules and he responded, "Be on time and play hard. I don't know if that's real hard."

Then a reporter asked Gase what his tolerance level was when those rules are broken, answering, "What do you think? You've got two rules. It's not hard."

Timmons' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was on WSVN-TV in Miami on Sunday night and said the personal matter caused Timmons' absence. Rosenhaus said he expected to talk to the team on Monday, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.

Rosenhaus said he is not sure Timmons would play this week for the Dolphins.

"I don't know. It's a private matter,'' Rosenhaus said on the Sunday night show he does with WSVN's Steve Shapiro. "I'd love to be able to shed some light on it, but I'm not. It's of a personal nature of Lawrence. When he gets back to Miami and we get together and converse with the Dolphins, then we'll have a joint statement."

Timmons was scheduled to meet Monday with doctors to try to figure out what is wrong, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The 31-year-old Timmons is "doing much better today and wants to resume playing immediately" with the hope that he will practice this week, one source told ESPN.

Timmons, entering his 11th NFL season, was dealing with his personal matter Saturday and returned to the team early Sunday morning before the Dolphins decided to make him inactive against the Chargers in Carson, Calif. His streak of 101 consecutive starts was snapped.

The team was concerned enough to file a missing persons report when Timmons was not in his hotel room Saturday night at bed check, TMZ reported Monday.

After making calls to those close to Timmons, the Dolphins asked police to intervene. He reportedly was found by police at the Los Angeles International Airport, where he was attempting to fly back to Pennsylvania to attend to a family matter. A representative of the Dolphins met Timmons at the airport and left with him.

Backup Chase Allen started in place of Timmons against the Chargers in the Dolphins' 19-17 win at the StubHub Center.

After the game, Gase would only say that Timmons did not play Sunday due to a coach's decision.

The Dolphins signed the 6-foot-1, 242-pound Timmons to a two-year, $10 million contract in March. He spent his first 10 NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, recording 677 tackles and 35.5 sacks.

The Dolphins practiced in the Los Angeles area last week after being displaced by Hurricane Irma.