Dolphins coach Joe Philbin might want to become a poker player.
Over the weekend, Philbin said that he wasn’t sure that the team would stick to its plan of naming the starting quarterback before the third preseason game of the year. So, naturally, he started his press conference on Monday by announcing that rookie Ryan Tannehill will be the team’s starting quarterback this season.
The signs actually started appearing at Dolphins practice on Monday when Tannehill got every snap with the first-team offense as the team started doing more game planning in advance of this week’s game against the Falcons. Philbin said that he informed Tannehill and Matt Moore of the decision before the practice to inform them of his decision and praised the professionalism of both men.
“This is the best decision we can make at the given time,” Philbin said.
Philbin cautioned that he once called David Garrard the team’s starting quarterback, implying that things could change at some point during the regular season. Injuries can happen, of course, but it would be surprising if the Dolphins pulled Tannehill from the starting lineup as a rookie when they obviously believed in him enough to make him the eighth overall pick in April.