Rotation of players is now expected at certain positions under Philbin

Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin isn't one to shy away from conventional wisdom and we have seen that over the past 2.5 years. One staple under him is the fact that he likes to rotate players in and out of the game at certain positions on both offense and defense. This year, it's no different, with the running back and left guard position showing the most drastic rotation in all. 

Some may ask why Philbin would rotate someone such as Lamar Miller out of the game, especially when he seems to have the hot hand. He explained his reasoning the other day, saying that different guys do different things and it all depends on the situation of the game and where they are on the field.

“We like the different running backs we have. We like the kind of different skillsets. We feature certain guys different ways. That’s kind of how the snaps have worked themselves out. Really, I think the Detroit game, what did he get four carries maybe in that game or something like that. That one probably skewed things a little bit, but we want to get different guys involved and get their hands on the football as well. But we certainly like the contribution he’s made.”

At the left guard position, we have seen Shelley Smith and Daryn Colledge split snaps throughout the course of the game. While Bill Lazor has come out and said that Smith has deserved playing time and has a great work ethic, Philbin was more reserved, saying that coming into each game, they have a plan and if the situation is right, they execute it.

“We just liked it. We felt going in, that was our plan was going to be to do that. We thought that was fairly effective. Again, nothing is popping into my brain right this second. But I thought it was effective in the game the other day”
 
This rotation is to be expected by now and we will likely continue to see it happen throughout the rest of the season. At this point, it's better to accept it rather than question the thinking of Philbin and his coaching staff.

This story was written by Matthew Cannata. Follow him on Twitter: @PhinManiacs

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