Great read!!!! Everyone needs to read this article. Shows exactly the culture change in Miami and how I feel that Adam Gase is going to be the next Don Shula for the Dolphins.
But I would call it a mistake on the side of caution, at worst. Reality is that all players decline as they age. And older players coming off injury are most at risk for a rapid decline particularly if they're given too much of a workload before they're fully recovered. And obviously as we age we recover more slowly. One could argue that Wake had demonstrated that he was fully covered and that should have been noticed sooner, but in general I would hope that Gase makes the same mistake with most every player coming off of injury.
Perhaps the best thing I've heard Gase, or any head coach say was, "I messed up." Every team obviously has weaknesses and the only way to grow is identifying them as quickly as possible. That's what did both Sparano and Philbin in- they had a plan and refused to see anything other than what was right in front of them. But Gase is quick to take a step back, reevaluate his own beliefs and then decide what's best for the team- that's very rare in a leader and it's a fantastic quality. Our team may go 3-13 next season and I'd still be saying the same thing- Gase is one of those once in a lifetime finds and we are extremely lucky to have him.
Not playing Wake was not the cog that caused us to suck before the Pitt game. There were global reasons, but I know where he was coming from
If you're stubborn about it and the reasoning behind it is suspect. Neither of which was true in this case.
They made the playoffs. Any and all mistakes early in the season are good ones. Because it didn't affect their playoff chances.
I totally supported that decision. Wake had just come off injury like a major one. He thought the other DEs would step it up but they didn't. For any 34 year old mortal, it was the right decision. But it was Cam Wake.
you can't play the game like that imo..scared if you will..they obviously assessed the situation thru film review and saw that wake not being on the field in those starting down and distance situations hurt the teams chances to win on defense..
First I didn't mean you as in you Deej. I meant Gase. You said not starting Wake left Gase open for criticism. I'm saying if he didn't start Wake because of some off the wall reason or he was stubborn about not starting him, then yes he should be overly criticized. But he did have a good reason and he wasn't stubborn about it.
I understand what your saying, but you have to factor in the knowledge you have to make an accurate projection as to who should be starting and why.. simply making him come off the bench because he wanted to rest the player isn't a good enough reason, I understand it, and its not that ignorant, but wake is a special case in human genetics, I also believe his presence on the field affects situations and outcomes..I believed and stated that he would be ready to go {based on info and knowledge of the player} and that he should start..age and injury was not going to determine the players fate in this case..
Like Rafs I prefer erring on the side of caution with older players who have missed time in multiple seasons with injuries, and whom we really need down the stretch. They seem to be treating Pouncey that way right now... we'll see how it goes with training camp and pre-season.
This has turned into a Wake thread, which was never my intent. I feel my thread's been hijacked but on the topic of whether or not to start Wake, I simply say this... If he was medically cleared to play, then play him and evaluate his performance. If he seemed sluggish and slow..not aggressive as his past always demonstrated him to be, then pull him..don't risk re-injurying him. Gase RECOGNIZED this error and fixed it.
Heh? The guy was just injured and the season is long. I think he was using the information he had to make a good decision. The players are human not toys in a third graders toy box.
No, we do know that. You can only judge a call like that on the information at hand at the time the decision was made.
And that is the attitude that Wake is making. Saying he doesn't know if he would have been as fresh towards the end of the season if he didn't play sparingly in the beginning.
would be the same as you telling us that Wake would have been as fresh at the end of the year if he played the first few games, or worse telling us that he wouldn't have gotten injured. You don't know, just like we can't say how the game would have been impacted. It's a silly argument
No, I'm not saying anything like that. I'm saying you can't judge the decision by the outcome. You can only judge the decision by the information that was available to the person at the time the decision was made.
He admitted the mistake so, I think he feels that if wake started the games he didn't those games might have had different outcomes.. The information that was available and the decision made was not the right ones..something in his mind made him make the wrong decision, even though it wasn't a grave one, it still was one.
He's got his coaches back..anyways all good.. I guess the fact that he wanted to protect the player maybe even sacrificing some things goes a long way in its own right.
Ok, you're not understanding my point. I'm not saying Gase made the right decision. I'm saying he had a situation where both paths made sense. Neither was a bad call as each had their merits. In a situation like that, a person can't bag on Gase too hard. Now, if Wake had been healthy and younger and Gase made that decision, then yes, absolutely, blast him for it. But again, it wasn't a ridiculous call to use an old and coming off an injury player sparingly. Now if Gase had never realized he should be playing Wake more then bust him for that. Or if he did realize it and did start playing him but didn't;t take responsibility for the decision, then get him for that too. But none of that happened. i just don't think we should be sitting back judging people on a decision where both paths make sense and the one they chose didn't work out, but they stepped up and fixed it and took responsibility.
Wake is just saying that he doesn't know if it was an issue. That if he played a lot in the beginning, would he have so much energy at the end. I do not know. I think it is not an issue and seemed like the smart thing to do at the time. Sometimes the smart thing turns out to be the wrong thing, however, we will never know
I truly understand all the points you and Fin are making, respect them, but, I was really adamant preseason about starting him and explained and argued with many on the merits..we came out 1 and 4..all I'm saying..you can frame it how you wish, I call it a amistake that I won't hold against him..