Will we see Ryan Tannehill running the ball more throughout the game?

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
On Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, Ryan Tannehill rushed 3 times for 49 yards and helped sustain a few drives by running and moving his feet. With his athleticism on full display, will we see more of Tannehill running the ball? Philbin says he himself doesn’t really know.

“It all depends what happens after the snap of the football. It’s possible. Everything happens really after the snap of the ball. There’s a possibility he could carry it a lot of times. There’s a possibility he might not, could be games where he doesn’t even carry it. It all depends. I wouldn’t rule it out. We’ll see.”

One major concern is the fact that an injury can happen at any time on the football field, especially with a quarterback running the ball. Once the quarterback passes the line of scrimmage, he’s like any other player and can be hit like any other player. However, even with that concern, the coaches aren’t telling him what to do one way or the other.

“No, just following our rules, the same stuff we practice every day,” Ryan Tannehill said. “Obviously, we look at the tape and study guys, how they look like they are going to play the zone read, so you have an idea going into the game, but you have to play what you see. Teams game plan for what we do. You can’t go in assuming I’m going to pull this or you’re going to be guessing and not making the right play. You have to play what you see.”  

Tannehill was criticized for not running the ball on second down on the last offensive drive of the game but Philbin defended him and said they were going for the first down in that situation before he decided to change his mind.

 “We’re still thinking we can maybe make a first down. Third-and-17 or third and whatever it would have been, he (Ryan Tannehill) was flushed from the pocket and it would have been third-and-19. Those aren’t easy.”

Philbin had mentioned earlier in the week that he was getting queasy and antsy thinking about what could happen with the ball if Tannehill had been sacked, which is why he elected to run on third down instead of going for the first down. As we all know now, that wasn’t the right decision.