With bulk of offseason in the books, Philbin looks towards training camp

Working in the NFL - whether as a player, coach or even staff member - is a year-round job that doesn't have much downtime, except for a few weeks here and a few weeks there. For the Miami Dolphins, this is certainly no different and over the past few years, we have seen head coach Joe Philbin tweak with the schedule in various ways in an effort to get the most out of his players when it comes time for training camp and the regular season. This year in 2015, Philbin changed a few more things and is quite pleased with the results, especially in terms of team chemistry. 

“It just seems like in the NFL there’s always things that pop up. It’s a busy schedule, there’s not a lot of time to … you got to stay after it, continually. Our personnel department did a great job. I thought our coaching staff worked well with them and worked hard in the evaluation process and all those things. So it’s definitely a 12-month-a-year job," he said. “I just think the teamwork was exhibited throughout the organization. I think everybody contributed, everybody played a role, everybody had a voice. So I thought it was good.”

The players will now have roughly five weeks off to do whatever they would like before returning for camp on July 28. While it's their time and their choice to do what they would like, Philbin and the rest of their coaching staff hope they devote the vast majority of it to football and becoming a better player on and off the field.

“Well we got five weeks. There’s a lot of time for them. I mentioned it to them briefly today, there’s a lot of time for us to improve and develop by the time July 28 rolls around. So when you’re a professional football player it’s 24/7/365. And it’s not that you can’t have time for family or a little vacation. But everything they do impacts each and every one of us. Just like everything I do does. So we just remind them of those key things, if there’s a lot of time there’s time for development. Take a look at themselves, study themselves on tape and try to learn and improve.” 

The offseason is a scary time for all NFL front offices as their primary hope is that none of their players get arrested and/or none of their players suffer an injury in a freak accident. The Dolphins are no different and it's their hope that everyone will come in and be ready to go when July 28 rolls around on the calendar.

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