HONOLULU -- Call it quarterback envy. Call it playful jealousy.
Whatever you call it, Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall has caught a serious case of it during this week's Pro Bowl practices in Hawaii.
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"Hey man, listen, I'm out here at the Pro Bowl, and I'm not getting no balls thrown to me!" Marshall joked with NFL.com on Friday. "I need a quarterback. You've got Big Ben throwing to (Mike) Wallace, you've got Philip (Rivers) throwing to (Antonio) Gates and Vincent (Jackson), you've got Andy (Dalton) throwing to A.J. (Green). I'm the only guy out here, man!
"We'd love to have that tandem out here."
And from the sound of it, Marshall thinks he might just know which soon-to-be free agent could be the guy to provide the other end of the combo. The Dolphins wide receiver said he has reached out to Packers quarterback Matt Flynn and talked about the prospect of teaming up with Aaron Rodgers' backup.
"You've got some guys in the draft, but there's not too many guys out there just walking the streets," Marshall said. "Matt is available. ... We've talked. I reached out to him. I get it from Ray Lewis. Around this time of year, players talk to players."
As Marshall noted, it's not tampering for players to talk to players about such possibilities (the team doesn't know he did it, he said). The league confirmed that it's not a violation of any rules.
Marshall also praised the work of quarterback Matt Moore last season, saying he did an "outstanding job" and deserves to compete for the position in training camp. But he also noted that it's clear this team needs to find someone to take the Dolphins to the next level.
"Obviously, Matt had a great year," Marshall said. "You don't want to take anything away from Matt, but I think we really bring in somebody who can compete and make the team better.
"We need someone who is going to grab a hold of our offense, hold everyone accountable and be that leader."
Marshall said he's heard nothing but great things about new coach Joe Philbin, who served as Flynn's offensive coordinator in Green Bay. But Marshall is also waiting anxiously to see who will be his position coach. He has one candidate in mind: D.J. McCarthy, currently the wide receivers coach at LSU. McCarthy was Marshall's coach at Central Florida, and he also has ties to Flynn, who was at LSU with McCarthy.
"The reason why I'm here is Coach McCarthy, so I'd love to see Coach McCarthy get an interview," Marshall said. "Unfortunately, the past six years, I've had a different receivers coach. I haven't had any chemistry with any of them to take me to the next level. I'm looking forward to working with a coach who can fine-tune my game and recognize my weaknesses. Coach McCarthy has proven that."
Follow Jeff Darlington on Twitter @jeffdarlington
