BY SEAN DONOVAN
A 3-1 start to the season has the Miami Dolphins in a good spot heading into the middle part of the season, but one notable Dolphin isn't satisfied.
Wide receiver Mike Wallace, whom the Dolphins signed to the tune of five years, $60 million this offseason, is distressed that he's not having the impact that he, and most people, expected him to have at this point in the season.
"I'm definitely worried about it because it's game four," Wallace told Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. "It's not the way I imagined my first four weeks going. Definitely not. I'm pretty sure it's not the way anybody imagined it going."
Wallace has 15 catches for 176 yards and a single touchdown on the year, putting the fifth-year veteran on pace to have his least productive season as a pro. The receptions and yardage both currently rank fourth on the team.
He was signed to be the deep threat that the Dolphins' offense lacked a year ago. So far, he's caught just one pass thrown 20 or more yards in the air, on just seven such targets.
In fact, the Dolphins have thrown the second-fewest deep passes of any team this season, a big reason why they haven't been able to replicate the deep ball success Wallace had in Pittsburgh, where he was featured in an offense that took a handful of long shots per game.
This means Miami's biggest free agent acquisition isn't being used to the best of his abilities.
"I got to make big plays," Wallace said. ". . . Starting with myself, [quarterback] Ryan [Tannehill] and coaches, we all got to do a better job and find a way to make it work."
The interview, which comes on the heels of a three-catch. 24-yard performance Monday night against the New Orleans Saints, conveys a sense of concern rather than panic or frustration with his team. But Wallace acknowledged to Salguero that if things don't turn around by the midpoint of the season, that could change.
"Then definitely something's wrong," he said. "And we're almost there. We only have four more games before that. We don't have too much longer to figure it out. We got to make it happen."
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