A day after getting arrested after a domestic dispute with his wife, Chad Johnson has been released by the Dolphins.

Joe Philbin met with Johnson yesterday and made the decision within hours that Miami was better off without the distraction. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, this was Joe Philbin's decision and was backed by management "unconditionally".

It's a shame that Joe Philbin had to deal with this so early in his Dolphins career, but if he thought it was over once Johnson was cut, he was wrong. Philbin now has to deal with the collateral damage in the locker room.

"It's going to be a bigger distraction because we let him go," Defensive Captain Karlos Dansby said, according to Dave Hyde. "He didn't get that third strike. That's just me personally. We've been through worse. We've seen worse. That's not Chad."

Managing this situation with the media and the locker room will be a huge test for Philbin. One that he doesn't deserve to have to deal with this early, but it's one that he MUST handle authoritatively. 

Based on his performance on Friday, reports from training camp, and the performance of some of the young WR's recently, I don't get the sense that Johnson will be a big loss on the field. He was likely Miami's 3rd best WR, at best, and the gap between him and those just lower than him on the depth chart was shrinking.

Hard Knocks definitely got a lot more interesting this week.