National Football League

Davis receives call from grandmother

Published Aug. 8, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Miami's Vontae Davis got a late-night phone call from his grandmother.

Adeline Davis had watched the premiere episode of ''Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins.''

''`Get in shape, baby. It's going to be a long season,''' Davis said she told him. ''I said, `I know. I'm working every day.'''

Miami's first-round pick in 2009, Davis didn't come across too well in the early episode. He told a teammate during practice he was tired; defensive backs coach Lou Anarumo told him he needed to play harder; and coach Joe Philbin asked him if he was done leaving practice for bathroom breaks.

The show came one day after Davis, who started 27 of his 28 games the last two seasons, was listed second on the depth chart at cornerback behind free agent acquisition Richard Marshall.

''I didn't watch it, but I heard,'' Davis said Tuesday. ''They say the coach got on me about being tired. It's why I'm here at training camp. Gotta work hard to get better every day.''

Philbin, who didn't watch the show either, said it's inaccurate to suggest Davis is in the doghouse or fallen out of favor.

''We think he's actually been practicing a little bit better as of late,'' Philbin said. ''He's one of the 90 guys. There's not one player, there's not one coach on this team who doesn't need to improve and keep working and do a better job.

''Once a player arrives here, it doesn't matter to me whether he was a first-round pick or not. And I said to Vontae, aside from even the bladder conversation, `Look, if nobody was on you, you should really get concerned.' I think he understands that.''

While Davis was willing to address the ''Hard Knocks'' HBO episode, wide receiver Chad Johnson refused to discuss it.

The outspoken Johnson was a star in the season premiere. One of the many segments featuring the veteran wide receiver involved his press conference early in camp. The press conference made for entertaining television, but its profanity didn't sit well with his coach.

Philbin later told Johnson that he needed to watch his language when talking to the media. Philbin maintained that stance on Tuesday.

''Everybody has an obligation to get on board with the program,'' Philbin said. ''We're not going to be a great football team if we've got 51 guys who are doing it a certain way and we've got two guys who are on their own program. It's too hard. We've got to get guys who think the same way. If somebody doesn't want to buy into the program, yeah, that's a problem.''

Johnson didn't take any chances on Tuesday.

''I don't do media anymore,'' he said after the team's walk-through in the morning.