Tyler Thigpen

Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall hinted that he’s had issues with the Miami Dolphins’ conservative offensive play calling, especially how he was used in 2010, and some of it center on Chad Henne’s conservative approach to playing quarterback.

Marshall also outright admitted he and Tyler Thigpen, who replaced Henne against the Patriots, were improvising on a couple of occasions during Sunday’s 38-7 loss to the New England Patriots, a game where he caught five passes for 97 yards, most of which came in the second-half with Thigpen at the trigger.

Changing plays on the field led to Marshall having a heated discussion with quarterback coach David Lee, who didn’t like the fact Marshall and Thigpen were changing in-routes to go-routes based on the coverage Marshall was seeing.

One of those improvised plays drew a 32-yard penalty and set up the Dolphins’ lone touchdown. That pass interference was the second one the Dolphins’ Pro Bowl receiver drew all season, joining the one Jets linebacker Bart Scott committed in Miami’s 10-6 victory on Dec. 12th.

“We had a little discussion on the sidelines about keeping the route on,” Marshall said of his dispute with Lee, which centered on the type of press coverage New England cornerback Devin McCourty was playing him.

“They expect me to run an in-route, but me as a player, when we get singled with no safety over the top I want to take a shot and just converted it to a go….Seemed like an easier throw, easier play was the go route…. The quarterback coach was just doing his job. He didn’t know that me and Tyler were on the same page in terms of seeing the same thing out there.”

Marshall said he and Thigpen talked through the Patriots’ coverage often during the game. But sources tell me they changed some of Marshall’s routes in the huddle before looking at New England’s defense.