McDaniel Brings Back the 'Ramsey Rule'

The Miami Dolphins head coach isn't putting timetables on significant players

Jaelan Phillips / Al Pereira/GettyImages

There's going to be a lot of attention devoted over the next few months to the progress of Miami Dolphins star pass rusher Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, but there will no predictions from head coach Mike McDaniel as to when they might be ready to play.

McDaniel made that clear this week he has no interest in projecting or proving a timetable for either of the front-line Dolphins defenders.

The approach is similar to what McDaniel did last summer after Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey sustained a knee injury early in camp. Media speculation had Ramsey being out until maybe as late as December; instead, he made his return to the lineup by the end of October.

"Remember that line that I was talking to you guys about all season with Jalen Ramsey about no timelines?" McDaniel said at the NFL owners meetings this week. "So, after action report, since you guys didn’t want to bring it up, I think that worked well. No timelines. He came back faster than you guys thought.

"It’s also from a psychological standpoint. You don’t want people to chase the wrong things. I bring Jalen Ramsey up because both of those two individuals, Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, are extreme versions of, ‘Hey, we need to make sure they aren’t chasing a timeline because as competitors, they will achieve that timeline and it might be at the worst for their bodies.’ So relative to timelines, we specifically don’t have those for those two."

CHUBB AND PHILLIPS PROGRESSING WELL

Chubb and Phillips were key members of the Dolphins defense last season and certainly figure prominently in the 2024 plans, particularly after the offseason departures of Christian Wilkins, Andrew Van Ginkel and Xavien Howard, among others.

To that end, it's obviously a case of the sooner, the better when it comes to both players and their return to the lineup.

There no doubt will be speculation and reports in the months ahead regarding their progress and an anticipated return date, but those aren't likely to come from McDaniel.

He did, however, say that everything so far has been positive.

"They have been doing phenomenal," McDaniel said. "Those two in particular, We’ve had to mandate that they have a week off of rehab just recently, both of them, because they literally live there. They have a pseudo-tape on the floor parking spots for their little scooters that they’ve graduated from. They’re both really doing exactly what you’d expect from those two individuals, which is absolutely attacking that process, but doing it from a perspective that they don’t want to get healthy for one week, they want to get healthy for the whole season. So that’s what they’re working towards.”