After giving up a long touchdown pass between Drake Maye and Kyle Williams in the third quarter, the Miami Dolphins had the ball with some decent field position and a 13-10 lead over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
On that possession, Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II gained five yards on second-and-10 that should've given Miami a manageable third-and-5 play to try to keep the drive alive. However, Gordon began jawing with the Patriots after the run and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That penalty pushed the Dolphins back and forced them to try to convert a third-and-20. Malik Willis failed to connect with running back Jaylen Wright on the following play, which led to a punt and a possession that New England took the lead on.
After the penalty, Gordon was fuming on the sidelines and was caught on camera interacting with both Willis and head coach Jeff Hafley. Following the final whistle, Willis revealed what he said to his running back.
"Ollie's a competitor, and he cares about the game a lot. I was just letting him know that in that situation, he was dead ass wrong," Willis said. "That's the honest truth. It'd be wrong if I didn't tell him the truth. If I had been like, 'Oh, it's OK, you're just trying to compete.' No. We went from third-and-5 to third-and-20. We did not convert. That was one of those stalled drives that I'm talking about. That's something that we can control, and that is wrong.
"I finished it by telling him that I'm on his side, and I'm with him. We're teammates, and we're in this together. He's going to go out and help us win this game, and we're going to fight the next play He's going to go back out there, but at the same time, I have to tell you you're dead wrong when you're dead wrong."
Willis is not known to be a vocal leader, but he does have this calming demeanor about him. He doesn't seem to get too high or too low. Gordon still seemed to be upset after his conversation with the quarterback, so it may not have worked the way Willis wanted it to, but at least he's trying to hold his guys accountable.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Malik Willis didn't hold back after Dolphins RB's costly penalty
