To borrom a quip from Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, it might seem strange to a lot of the team's fans and media members, but the offensive line has been on a pretty nice roll over the past month.

So the expected return of starting right tackle Austin Jackson after his long absence with a toe injury should just take the group to another level, right?

Well, maybe it's not quite as simple as that.

The Dolphins have been able to start the same offensive line for the past eight games, the team's longest such streak since 2012, and the continuity clearly has helped.

And yet, Jackson is the team's most accomplished right tackle, illustrated by the fact the Dolphins gave him a contract extension just two seasons ago, so it should be an automatic that he returns to the starting lineup whenever he's physically ready to go, which could be as early as this week, right?

But then what about the idea of moving current starting right tackle Larry Borom to right guard because he's got vast guard experience in the NFL, his performance has been a bit more consistent than that of current starting right guard Cole Strange, and wouldn't the Dolphins want to have their best five current O-linemen on the field (and James Daniels might not be available at all this season)?

To borrow another popular phrase, not so fast, my friend.

THE CURRENT DOLPHINS PLAN
McDaniel eventually may get to that point where he wants to have Borom and Jackson to the right of center Aaron Brewer on the starting offensive line, but he's not there yet.

And there are a few reasons for that.

The first is the need to keep Borom ready at right tackle because Jackson will be coming back from a toe injury that's sidelined him twice this season and he might not be ready to handle a full load right away, according to McDaniel.

The other factor is that McDaniel is pleased with the recent work of Strange, and moving Borom to right guard would mean making a change at two different positions at a time when the line is performing as well as it has all season.

“I was going to check with the league to see if we can play with 12 (offensive players)," McDaniel joked Monday. "If we can’t play with 12, I don’t think it’s as simple as coming back in Week 13 for Austin and him playing the entire game. I would forecast that Larry (Borom) would still play at that position regardless just by there’s only one way to get into football shape and that’s playing football; so I want to be cognizant of that.

"I think Larry has the ability to do that (play right guard). I think he has the mind and he has the size; however, I think what’s been kind of the under the radar is over the last handful of weeks specifically, we’ve gotten tremendous play out of our right guard and it may be strange to you, but it’s not to me. I think it’s not as easy as ... (Borom) does give us that utility, but I think you’re also – I’d be trying to solve a problem if I do that and I don’t have a problem on my radar to solve at this stage. We’ll see next week.”

The way it breaks down from here, it almost sounds as though McDaniel wants to be sure that Jackson won't be having any setbacks after returning before he even seriously considers the idea of moving Borom to right guard.

With the Dolphins having won three of four and the running game being a big factor in those victories, there really isn't a great need to do anything drastic on the offensive line just yet, so the strange plan (keeping Strange at right guard) certainly does make sense.

In any event, it's always better to have more options than not enough.