Joe Philbin is now entering his fourth year as a head coach in this league and 4th year with the Dolphins. He is no longer a rookie head coach anymore and if the Dolphins want to make the playoffs then it is not just going to be because of an improvement in the players on this team, but also from an improvement from the head coach.
One thing Philbin is already going to change up is the scheduling for the Dolphins in-season practices. In the past three years Philbin has tinkered with the season practice schedule by giving his players off on Monday’s or sometimes on Fridays. However at the end of each of the last two seasons, the Dolphins have collapsed and have actually looked worn down. We all know that even though there are only 16 games in the NFL season, the 16 games take a toll on the player’s bodies and it is very important to keep them as fresh as possible at the end of the season.
With the help of the Dolphins sports science department, Philbin has now finally decided to go back to the old way of give his player’s off on Tuesdays. In the days of Don Shula and Jimmy Johnson, having Tuesday off during the season was standard and it is ironic that now even sports science is agreeing with the old ways from the past. Like the old saying goes “If it is not broken, then no need to fix it.”
So now this season instead of having Mondays off they will come in Monday, but it will be a very light day that will mainly consist of reviewing tapes from the previous Sunday’s game. Then the players will be off Tuesday, which basically means Monday and Tuesday will be physical off days, which means the players will have one less day of practicing on their feet. The hope is that this extra day a week off each week during the season will help the players stay fresher at the end of the season when its crunch time.
Personally I believe this small change could actually make a big difference. When I played football, we practiced very hard before the season started and then once the games began then our practices become less physically demanding and focused more on mentally performing for each upcoming game. We would watch tapes on our own previous games and on our upcoming opponents. The season wears on one’s body and it is important for the coaches to realize this and keep their players as fresh as possible. This extra day off a week has the chance to really pay off when the Dolphins are playing in the fourth quarter, and in December. What does the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans think about this new change in Miami’s In-Season practice schedule?
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