I don't like when coaches with struggling QB, or lacking more talent on the OL or at WR basically say, 'the players are good enough' and just need to execute. That's sidestepping the question. Our team has less talent than the Patriots. Clearly. And for our offense to score it has a tiny margin for execution error... so clearly it would make a big difference to our chances of scoring and winning to have better players... much better chance. This sounds like the old Sparano mentality of, hey if our players perfectly all execute every time then a play will work. Know what talent does for you? Even when things are not PERFECT they can still succeed. We give ourselves no margin for anything but improbably perfect execution. Now I get that Philbin can;rt exactly say "Our players suck" or he is backstabbing the players and then they could 'not buy in' to Philbin anymore and feel betrayed. But really, I prefer the Mike Sherman approach. If someone is crap, say they are playing like crap and if they don;t perform better we will have to find a better player to replace them. Truth. It worked for Lombardi. Why do coaches now say their players aren;t the issue when they ARE. BETTER players will execute BETTER. So yes, this is a player issue.
I don't put any stock in it. He's just being PC and not bashing the current players on our roster that'll likely be gone or are on the bubble. I'm sure Sherman is in his ear constantly about getting better players on offense anyways
It's kind of vague. Perhaps he's not referring to the unit as a whole but is thinking about specific players like our talented young QB, Bush, Clay, and some pieces on the oline.... and even Bess & Hartline in the right complimentary roles can effectively help you move the ball down to get within scoring range. If I'm a coach and I'm high on Tannehill's future and someone asks me if I think I have the players needed for the offense to thrive, I'd say yes b/c of Tannehill even if he doesn't have the complete surrounding cast yet.
It's vague because he probably doesn't really feel like talking to the media. Like most coaches I would think.
Not publicly but as we know from Hard Knocks...they aren't above telling the players the hard truth to their faces. ie: Sherman to Egnew.
I think he is saying what he believes is the path of least resistance. I dont think he wants to give the media anything while appearing to be forthcoming. I agree it is a combination of both. RT is a rookie that is going to have to progress and hit plays that are there, we have to have guys like Bush be consistent and execute, not dance in the hole and lose 5 yards trying to gain 20. We need a game changer at WR, a go to guy. I would have love Reggie Wayne to come down, all the talent not quite the diva and a vet that has been through it. Defense needs cover guys plain and simple and another pure pass rusher. I would also like to know what is going on with Wake, is just a pass rusher now? If so then we abdsolutely need an every down DE that can get after the qb. I dont think we are very many players away but we need a few. As far as the quote IMO it is what I would expect from Philbin
That's our problem. We havnt got any players short term to replace them. Phins have not got great depth. No point telling them they suck if they can't be replaced by players AT LEAST as good as.
There's nothing vague about his answer at all. "Absolutely" is about as clear and direct an answer as one can give. You may not believe it. You may not believe he believes it. But he may. And the fact that there will be some roster turnover in the offseason, as there has been for every team in history, does not mean he was lying. I see no reason to call him a liar.
Yeah, he should totally list everything he actually thinks about each player. He should then illustrate a detailed and specific 10 step plan for how to fix it going forward. We should then be given a list of FA & Draft targets going forward. And by next season he should publish his gameplan for the next opponent in the paper. That way he'll be like every other coach instead of the fort knox of info he has been to this point. Sigh.
"To be honest, We are garbage - I mean, we have no one that can consistently catch or run the ball, and this is assuming Ryan has more than 2 seconds to throw it or get it out without eating dirt. I'd love to replace half of this offense with atleast partial competence." - Joe Philbin Give it a break TBH. he is giving a default "coaches" answer to the press, like ANYONE else would. Why in the hell would he point out specific flaws in positions or players games mid season for the presses sake? To kick the beehive?. Fact of the matter is the regardless of the glaring lack of 'talent', it should never be a point blank, black&white reason for non-execution, and thats the truth. This is the NFL. He atleast brought up the 19 points a game stat, which is the only general truth that needs to be brought up. It's not like the HC is oblivious to the team he has.
Part of me wants to scold the reporter to not ask questions he should never expect legit answers to, but at the same time Joe Philbin has been surprisingly candid on some topics in the past so there had to be at least a 5% chance the answer was going to contain some nugget of journalistic gold.
I think Philbin was simply speaking the truth, you are not going to win very often averaging 19 pts per gm. The rest is blah blah to me
I would pretty well think the same thing... He makes nice to the press and feeds them platitudes to give them something to write about in the 'outhouse' (read what you want into that!!!) statements. But this is after royally chewing the posterior of those who have failed to produce/progress in private. "Tell me, (Insert name of scapegoat d'jour), have you ever thought of a career with McDonald's? I hear they have openings in all parts of the country."
That "absolutely" came with a caveat. As in, "Absolutely, if our players execute perfectly we have a chance to win." Well, no ****. Every team in the league can win any game if they execute perfectly. So yes, it's coach speak.
So if he does say, yeah you're right, we need to replace some players, all the journalists go apenuts asking "Who?!?" like a freaking owl convention. Coachspeak or not, he's (smartly IMO) avoiding a giant can of pandora's worms in the box.... I need more coffee
I think its standard coach speak. I'm sure there's alot more to it though, but I dont think Philbin, or any coach for that matter will stand there and call out his players, and their lack of talent in a press conference. It would make for a sinking ship. Hell, the loud mouth idiot Rex Ryan I dont think would stand there and say how awful some of the players he has are. Perfect example actually... according to his press conference the other day, he thinks he has three QB's that can win in this league now, because McElroy helped beat the Cardinals 7-6 last weekend, so now all 3 of his QB's have won a game, so he's saying theyre capable of doing it regularly. It's coach speak, thats all it is. I doubt the players even pay attention to PC quotes, because Im sure they hear a completely different tune behind closed doors. Now if Philbin seriously does think he has the talent to win, week in, week out... then we should not only be looking for another GM, but another coach too What does amaze me about him though, is the fact that he's had this team, with its lack of talent in so many games this year where we should have been blown out probably. So, it leads me to believe he's a good coach, and this is a good staff, if they can get this group, to overacheive like they seem to be most of the time.
It's the same to me. He said there were plays that they didn't make. When players don't make plays they are not "playmakers". So basically he's saying they don't have a lot of playmakers on the team, which is obvious when they're averaging 19 points a game.
What else would you expect him to say? He's not going to criticize the GM or players on the roster to the media. He's a class act.
I heard Philbin say twice last week that his team had to execute and play almost perfect to win".." We can't afford to " was another phrase I heard. That tells me what he thinks he has. The man needs four highly talented players to compete legitimately..Receiver..Back..tight end..Tackle..
I was just talkin offense.. I'm not sure yet where I have pass rusher on this list..I know we need more athleticism when we rush the passer..I'm hoping to see what Vernon and Shelby can do this last quarter..and I'm also thinking about where that pass rusher should come from, should it be a replacement for Burnett, or an overall 3 down defensive end that replaces Odrick.. If its the d end to replace Odrick than I hate the idea of a first round pick relegated to the inside on a part time basis.. To me taking a DEnd early in the draft only makes sense to me if your getting rid of Starks and moving Odrick to the middle..Getting rid of Starks is not something I want to do.
What our defense does need is a ballhawk, whatever the position, be it LB, CB, or S. They just do not create enough turnovers, which as we know, may have the most critical correlation to wins and losses. Philbin certainly thinks so.
Maybe, but I think it's every head coach's job to convince his team that they "can't afford" to make mistakes because the margin in this league is so slim. Bill Belichick has been doing it with his team for a decade.
True, when I saw him say it it was just the impression I got from the way he delivered it..you could be right though.
And that's what matters to me. I want to believe Philbin knows better than to honestly believe his own coach speak. Heck, I still think there is some value in saying that if some guys don't pick up their performance they may not be around next year. Because that's the truth.
Two weeks ago he said something like he was putting Nolan Carroll on notice. That surprised me because it was out of the norm for a HC. I liked how he was making players accountable though and being direct about it.
