Dolphins hoping to get a lot out of Daryn Colledge

Written by Matthew Cannata
Daryn Colledge signed with the Dolphins less than a month ago after the news broke that Mike Pouncey would miss several weeks of the season after undergoing durgery. Colledge, who spent his first eight seasons in Green Bay and Arizona, is penciled in as the left guard with the first-team offense. The left guard position is what he has played throughout his entire NFL career. Colledge has started 124 of 128 games and has yet to miss a game since being a second-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2006.

“I think it’s a lot of luck, a lot of hard work, and then you’ve got to be able to play when you’re not 100 percent,” Colledge said after practice Saturday. “There’s a lot of guys that find their way in the training room, find their way off the field. I’ve always been a guy who’s able to not stay in the training room too long. That’s helped me stay on the field. It’s also a lot of pride. I feel like I’m getting paid to be out here. I feel like the players are relying on me, coaches rely on me. I’ve always wanted to be one of those guys where coaches can say, all right, Daryn is there, let’s worry about some other spot.” 

One of the reasons why Colledge was thrown right onto the first team despite not knowing the offense can be traced back to his history with head coach Joe Philbin, who was the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator during his five years in Green Bay.

“He’s a real professional,” Philbin said. “(He’s) very smart. He’s very durable. He was very professional. It was important to him. He came to work every day, showed up, practiced every single day. He did some good things. He contributed an awful lot.” 

Colledge is coming in expecting to be the starter when the Dolphins open up against the Patriots on September 7. 

“Any guy expects to come in and be a starter,” he said. “Anytime that you don’t come in and try to be a starter, I think you’re cheating yourself. I’ve got a lot of games as a starting left guard, so I want to come in here and compete as the starting left guard. If Coach decides that somebody is better and I’m the sixth man and that’s the best opportunity for me to be on this roster and that helps them the most, then so be it. But I promise I’m going to fight for that spot until they tell me I don’t got it anymore.” 

Colledge will compete throughout camp with third round pick Billy Turner for the starting left guard position. It is also possible they move him over to the right side if Dallas Thomas can't hold up once the pads come on. 

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