Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Philbin on Moreno-less Dolphins: 'We have other guys'

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Knowshon Moreno's season never really got started. Tuesday, it officially ended.

The Miami Dolphins placed the veteran tailback on injured reserve Tuesday morning, less than two days after he suffered a torn ACL against the Green Bay Packers.

With that, the Dolphins lose their probably-could-be No. 1 back, had he been healthy to begin with. He burst out of the gate with 134 yards and touchdown Week 1 but has been sidelined most of the time since.

Now, Miami is prepared to move forward.

“We have other guys,” coach Joe Philbin said, via MiamiDolphins.com. “We’re fortunate, we’ve got some good running backs on this team and we’ll see how it goes.”

By "other guys," he means Lamar Miller.

Miller is slated for an even bigger workload moving forward, as he's already been the leader in the backfield through five games, averaging 5.2 yards a carry. He has handed the bulk of work by default with Moreno missing time to injury, but now the team is prepared to be more or less all-in with the third-year player.

Miller is ready.

“I felt I could handle more,” Miller said. “But anything Coach (Bill) Lazor calls, I’m just trying to do anything to help this team win, whether it’s pass protection or catching the ball out of the backfield or running the ball. I’m just trying to do anything.”

Second-slash-third-stringer Daniel Thomas has shown flashes since returning to the team with a couple long catch-and-runs over the past few weeks. However, Moreno's permanent absence doesn't mean Thomas is in for a timeshare gig.

The backfield is now Miller's.

“It’s his third year, so you’re not sure when a season starts exactly how many opportunities you’ll have to carry the football, but we feel like he has a chance to impact the game in a positive fashion,” Philbin said. “He’s got speed. So he can do some things both running the ball and receiving. We look forward to him contributing a lot as we move forward.”

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