Sunday, September 23, 2012

Philbin: Jets' run game varies more than people think

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin thinks there's a "misconception" that the New York Jets are one-dimensional in the run game.

"... everybody says they’re just a gap-blocking team," Philbin told the media Friday. "... Again, I think that's a misconception."

"I think they have a good balanced attack in the running game. They run the ball inside well. They have a good perimeter attack. They have some good runners individually, but their scheme’s more varied than everybody paints it out to be. They do a good job."

Philbin will get his first taste of AFC East action when Miami hosts the Jets Sunday. With that, he'll experience a hard-nosed battle in the trenches, something these teams have grown accustomed to in facing each other twice a year.

The first-year head coach expects multiple looks from Gang Green's rushing offense.

"They have some, a nice one-back run game, two-back run game, multiple-tight end game, multiple tackles in the game," he said. "It’s a varied run game. It’s good. It’s very comprehensive and they do a good job and obviously it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

The Jets are led on the ground by the mostly underwhelming Shonn Greene. Greene is capable of having an occasional elite-level showing before falling back into mediocrity for a few games.

Second-year tailback Bilal Powell has shown some upside in limited action, but only time will tell if the Jets truly have a competent rotation in the offensive backfield.

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