This was brought up on locked on Dolphins with Kyle Crabbs. He brought up the point that Xavien Howard said he would play and Connor Williams was out for warms up but ultimately didn't play. For a while now it seems like our players always take longer to come back from injury then other teams with Jalen maybe being the exception. Lane Johnsons looked to have a very serious injury last week and is back for the game this week. Is the coaching/training staff holding these players out too long out of caution? Thoughts?
There does seem to be an abundance of caution with regards to this team and injuries. My take is that the reasons are twofold: one is because of all of the scrutiny last year with Tua and his concussions and second (and maybe more importantly), to have all our players healthy for the stretch run to avoid another late collapse.
I can see if the injury was a concussion being cautious but groin and other injuries shouldn't be treated the same. I can see Long being out multiple weeks with this concussion and he was just starting to play at a high level. *sigh*
McDaniel has said in multiple press conferences that the staff's job is to protect players from themselves when it comes to rushing back from injury. There's a chance X and Ramsey could have played last night and we might have won the game because of it. But our staff feels like the risk is not worth the gamble to these players' careers. As much as I would have had more starters last night, I appreciate the cautious approach since it's ultimately about protecting our players.
It might be the right/nice thing to do but when the rest of the league isn't following suit it puts us at a huge disadvantage week to week.
Well, yes and no. If our players stay healthy for the majority of the season because they got extra rest when their bodies needed it, then there's a net gain there instead of a net loss. The real goal is having your team healthy in January where every game matters, so hopefully this strategy pays off.
Speaking of injuries, Jevon Holland is in concussion protocol and Wynn is expected to be out for “weeks” with a quadriceps injury. On the plus side, Ramsey should get first team reps this week and Jones is close to a return. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story...mount-jalen-ramsey-mike-mcdaniel/71294201007/
It's a McDaniel thing imho. He does actually care about the health of the players, doesn't want to injure them more and feels next man up should be able to do the job. I get the feeling if Flores was still here then with his football "upbringing" so to speak they would have played as Flores is more old school, man up and do your job type of coach. This may actually work in the long run for the Dolphins as the goal is to be have your players healthy and be playing your best in January. Rushing X and Connor back for a game during October doesn't really help in the long run.
If the Dolphins were at a mediocre .500 with only a few weeks left in the season and you're fighting for a shot at the playoffs, I could see your mindset, but at 5-1...playing a non-conference game that really has no bearing this early in the season, it made sense to keep them out...to make sure we had them when it mattered most.
