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Miami Dolphins practice notes / talking points: Joe Philbin’s strategy for road trips, divulging information; how Wes Welker was wasted

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First, a report on Friday’s happenings: The Dolphins held their final full practice in the bubble Friday leading into Sunday’s opener at Cleveland.

It was a typical Friday, which is to say quiet. QB Pat Devlin was absent from practice and rookie corners Jamar Taylor and Will Davis worked on the side.

Afterward, coach Joe Philbin said he believes the team is “well-prepared” for the Browns. Part of that he attributes to the five exhibition games, including the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, which the Dolphins used as a dry run for the trip to nearby Cleveland.

Philbin


“We try to make things familiar,” Philbin said. “One of the reasons we had the extra game, we’re staying in the same hotel we were at. Familiarity is an important part of being successful on the road, being comfortable.

” … But there’s no magic to winning on the road. You’ve got to play good, sound, fundamental football. That’s what I told our guys. We’ve got to play fast, we’ve got to play decisive. We’ve got plenty of offense, defense and special teams. As I said to the team, we could play a doubleheader with all the stuff we’ve got in.”

Now, a word on information flow: A curious thing happened this week.

Philbin opted to give the team Thursday off instead of the traditional Tuesday. It was largely thought to be a matter of this being opening week, and that since the players didn’t play last Sunday, it would fit into Philbin’s plans better.

But then Thursday afternoon rolled around and the Dolphins re-issued their injury report, which by league rules must come out on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays during the regular season.

In the Thursday practice column: Did Not Participate in Practice: CB Will Davis, QB Pat Devlin, CB Jamar Taylor. Limited Participation in Practice: TE Dion Sims. Full Participation in Practice: (It lists five players, even putting the names of DE Vaughn Martin and CB Dimitri Patterson in bold print, which is supposed to indicate a change in their status from the previous day).

How can this be if the team was off Thursday? Good question, with few answers on this and several other matters.

Will Thursdays be a permanent off day this season?

“We’ll see,” Philbin said, adding he’ll “make a judgment at the proper time.”

Twice over the past couple of weeks, he was asked what is the team’s procedure for communicating with coaches upstairs on whether a replay challenge is in order.

“We aren’t going to get into that,” he said.

Philbin was asked about long snapper John Denney, who wasn’t at practice earlier in the week.

“I’d love to answer any question about anybody who was at practice today,” Philbin said, repeating what has become his mantra.

It turned out Denney was witnessing the birth of his child, the knowledge of which evidently would have given the Cleveland Browns a competitive advantage Sunday.

OK, so I’m in the media. No secret how I stand on this.

So I’ll give equal time to the flip side, courtesy of ex-Indy Colts GM Bill Polian, who became quite animated on the subject of providing injury information to the media, and therefore by extension, the fans. Usually when Philbin says he’s not going to talk about guys who didn’t practice, it refers to injuries.

“The public doesn’t need to know,” said Polian, a host on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “The league has a policy that is the most open and transparent policy in all of sports. I would venture to say that most general managers probably wouldn’t vote for it if they had an opportunity. But they don’t.”

Polian


Polian went on to point out recent examples, including Robert Griffin III and Santonio Holmes, of players being dissected every step of their rehab process by people “who don’t have any medical background whatsoever.

“Opining about injuries, and opining about how fast a player should get back or whether or not a player is doing his job … They simply do not know!” Polian said.

Polian then brought up Adrian Peterson and his remarkable comeback from a knee injury last season.

“People in your business — my business, I should say — automatically assume that everybody is going to be like A.P. and that is not the case,” Polian said. “But media people don’t point that out.

“Marv Levy used to say, and it’s a valuable lesson I learned my very first year in professional football, ‘The further you are away from the field, the less you feel the pain the players undergo.”

My take: I agree with many of Polian’s points. Everyone is different and my distaste for those trying to measure other people’s pain is matched by my distaste for critics dictating when professional athletes ought to retire. It’s their pain, their careers, so it’s their call.

Still, at least little more transparency — to use a Steve Ross word — couldn’t hurt.

What should have been with Welker: Seeing Wes Welker step into a Broncos uniform and not miss a beat with Peyton Manning had to make Dolfans feel ill again Thursday night.

Welker has been such a dominant force since being traded away from the Dolphins after the 2006 season that it’s easy to forget what happened while he was in Miami:

2004 season: 0 catches, 0 yards, 0 touchdowns (he did have a 10.8 average on punt returns and a 23.0 average on kickoff returns).
2005: 434 receiving yards, 0 TD.
2006: 687 yards, 1 TD.

Miami summary: Two seasons without a TD reception, one season without a single reception.
Patriots totals (six seasons): 8,647 yards, 37 TDs
Denver total (one game): 67 yards, 2 TDs

So yes, Welker has more TD catches in a Broncos uniform than he ever did in a Dolphins uniform.

So if you ever want to know who can shut down Wes Welker, the answers are Dave Wannstedt, Jim Bates and Nick Saban.

But the Dolphins did get two draft picks for Welker. They turned out to be OL Samson Satele and LB Abraham Wright.

Who were both gone within two years.


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