There are those that can’t believe Joe Philbin didn’t know what went on in
Joe Philbin
his (Miami) locker room and why something wasn’t done about it. At the 2014 Scouting Combine today in Indianapolis, Philbin took to the podium and accepted responsibility for what went on in the locker room.
Philbin said, “I’m the one who’s in charge of the workplace. We’re going to do things about this. We’re going to make it better. We’re going to look at every avenue and uncover every stone. And we’re going to have a better workplace, I promise you that.”
Philbin said little when asked to provide any news on the future of Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. He did say that owner Stephen Ross would meet with Martin sometime soon.
The Dolphins have already fired offensive line coach Jim Turner and athletic trainer Kevin O’Neill after the 144-page Ted Wells report came out last week.
Philbin said he would have stepped in if he knew the magnitude of the situation.
Philbin knows he can’t look back but instead try to move forward. He said, “There’s a common decency that people need to have toward one another. When that gets violated, it’s an issue. I certainly wish I would have seen some of it. I could have intervened quicker.”
Philbin said he planned to be in the locker room more and have more of a presence. But it’s not that easy.
When Mike Holmgren coached in Green Bay, he tried to be around the locker room when he could, but more importantly had good leadership in his locker room and he had a network of people who would inform Holmgren of anything that might pop up that could be detrimental to the team.
Philbin needs to start there. He needs to find people he trusts and have them help out. But even before that, the Dolphins need to have better people inside their locker room because this isn’t an issue with better people and better leadership.