MIAMI GARDENS — During the turning point in the Miami Dolphins’ 24-19 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday evening, running back Ollie Gordon II made a critical mistake.

The Dolphins, who previously led by 10, just had the Patriots score a touchdown against them to make it a 13-10 game in the third quarter. They’re trying to put together a drive for a response.

At the end of the second play of that series, Gordon started jawing at Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane, and it drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Miami was bound to have a third-and-5 after Gordon’s 5-yard run on second-and-10, but instead, it ended up being a third-and-20, eventually leading the team to punt the ball back to New England.

Another Patriots touchdown was scored. Then, the Dolphins turned the ball over. New England scored again. And, as Miami unraveled, it was a completely different ball game in the fourth quarter.

“It’s just one of those things where I got to keep my mouth shut and walk back to the huddle,” Gordon said after the game Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. “I feel like that’s one of the things that I need to work on the most, especially in that situation. It just can’t happen.”

Gordon wasn’t entirely understanding in the moment.

He pleaded with officials over getting flagged. He made his case to coach Jeff Hafley on the sideline. The CBS broadcast showed him visibly agitated as quarterback Malik Willis tried to calm him down.

“Ollie is a competitor and he cares about the game a lot, and I was just letting him know that, in that situation, he’s dead-ass wrong,” Willis said. “I mean, that’s the honest truth. And it would be wrong if I didn’t tell him the truth. If I was like, ‘It’s okay, you were just trying to compete.’ Like, no, we went from (third-and-5 to third-and-20), and we did not convert.

“That’s something that we can control, and that is wrong. I finished it by telling him I’m on his side, I’m with him and we’re teammates and we’re in this together, and he’s going to go out and help us win this game and we’re going to fight the next play and he’s going to go back out there. But at the same time, I got to tell you that you’re dead wrong when you’re dead wrong.”

Hafley kept his conversation with Gordon internal but offered perspective.

“I’ll keep our conversations private,” Hafley said. “But Ollie’s a young player who has a lot of fire to him. He has a lot of energy to him. I need to do a really good job of teaching him how he has to react in situations. And, really, I’ll continue to work with him on that.

“I know he cares. I know he loves his team. I know he loves playing football. He’s a young player.”

At the same time, Hafley appreciated the message Willis had for his passionate running back.

“I think it’s good leadership,” Hafley said. “I think telling people the truth and being able to have honest conversations is really important. And for a player to tell a guy how he feels in the moment, and for the player to respond in a non-antagonistic way, I think is a really good sign. It shows good leadership. Good leadership is telling people the truth, and I respect and appreciate Malik doing that.”

Going forward, it’ll be a learning opportunity for the second-year running back not to put his team in a difficult predicament by letting his emotions get the best of him.

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