improved performance in the third game, winning 13–10 over the Tennessee Titans who had the second to last ranked defense in the NFL. However, the next week the Houston Texans with the last ranked defense in the NFL won their first game of the season against the Dolphins. At this point the Dolphins were 1–3 and their opponents were 1–11 when not playing Miami. After the Houston loss, Saban noticed Culpepper having trouble in practice due to a nagging bruised shoulder injury and decided to rest Culpepper for a couple of practices. During that Friday's practice, Culpepper and Saban got into a loud, heated argument during practice. Saban had decided to bench Daunte until his shoulder recovered and he got more of the mobility back that he lost due to his knee injury. On November 30, 2006, Culpepper underwent arthroscopic surgery on his previously injured knee to remove a piece of loose cartilage that was causing Culpepper difficulty. On December 12, 2006, Culpepper was placed on injured reserve, officially ending his 2006 season. Saban stated that although Culpepper was making progress in his rehabilitation, he and the medical staff felt it would be difficult for Culpepper to play in the next three weeks. On December 25, 2006, Steve Young appeared as a guest announcer during the Dolphins’ second to last game and criticized Culpepper's work ethic. Culpepper saw this on TV from his box suite at Dolphin Stadium and immediately walked down to the ESPN booth and waited for Steve Young to finish, then Daunte confronted Young about it and said he has not missed any meetings and that's not who he is. Young apologized and said though he heard Culpepper had been missing meetings he should have checked with Daunte first before repeating it. After the season Saban left for a head coaching job at the University of Alabama. On January 21, 2007, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that despite public assertions by Saban, his decision to bench Culpepper actually had little to do with his knee and more to do with his head. End of Culpepper era In the absence of Culpepper, the Dolphins relied on quarterbacks Cleo Lemon and Gibran Hamdan, both of whom were considered unproven, and had, up to that point, combined for only a single regular season start. In the Dolphins’ initial mini-camp under first-year coach Cam Cameron, both the players struggled to move