Miami Dolphins rookie Jonathan Martin got less than a ringing endorsement from coach Joe Philbin after his first exhibition game in a 23-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
The Sun-Sentinel reports Philbin tried to remain upbeat and positive with his rookie right tackle, but the words fell a bit short.
"He wasn't God awful. Wasn't like he got beat right off the bat," coach Joe Philbin said, describing one of the sacks Martin allowed.
"He had a bad holding call. A really bad holding call, and I thought he maybe could have got called for another one later."
The Dolphins' 2012 second-round pick was installed as the team's starter on the first day of training camp. He allowed two sacks and was penalized for holding and a false start. Martin is aware that it wasn't his best performance, and the Stanford product acknowledged growing pains in making the transition to the NFL.
"Everyone can tell it wasn't my best performance," said Martin, who also committed two penalties in the Dolphins' first exhibition loss to Tampa Bay.
"There are little things I've got to correct. I give the Carolina defenders a lot of credit, but I was beating myself out there."
Martin plans to study the film in preparation for the next exhibition game against the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 24.
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