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One of the big stories coming into this season for the Dolphins was head coach Adam Gase’s plan to give quarterback Ryan Tannehill more control over the offense at the line of scrimmage than he had under Joe Philbin the last four years.

That shift in responsibilities played into the idea that this season would be a referendum on whether Tannehill was the right man for the quarterback job in Miami and midseason suggestions that he’s a game manager would be viewed by many as a negative. After all, the term is usually used as a negative way to describe a quarterback who isn’t talented enough to carry an NFL offense.

Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen doesn’t see things that way. Tannehill has taken a back seat to running back Jay Ajayi in the last three games, averaging 201 yards per game through the air while Ajayi has been running for 176 yards per contest. The Dolphins have won all three games after opening the year 1-4, which means things have been managed pretty well.

“No quarterback should be offended,” Christensen said, via ESPN.com. “It should be a compliment, but it kind of has this derogatory term of making you a non-playmaker [and] you just manage the game. Absolutely not. … I think game manager for a quarterback falls in that one that has this negative connotation, but not inside the coaching rooms it doesn’t. Not at all.”

Tannehill may not be the absolute ideal when it comes to quarterbacks, but they don’t make nearly enough of those for every team to have one. Even the ones who might fit the bill as the absolute ideal need to manage games to win consistently, however, and the last three weeks have seen Tannehill avoid turnovers while his team won games. That’s what the Dolphins need, whatever words you use to define what he’s been doing.