Mike Pouncey had not played a game in 10 months so, yes, he was nervous on the eve of his season-debut against the Green Bay Packers.
“I was nervous. I woke up that morning like at 4:30 in the morning," Pouncey said Wednesday. "I had a bunch of family in town, so I just expressed to them how nervous I was. I felt like I was a rookie all over again. But once I got out there after that first snap, it was just great to be back out there. I felt back to normal."
No.
Not back to normal.
Normal for the past three seasons has been playing center. Normal has been getting in a training camp and preseason. Normal has been not waiting until October (Week 6 of the season) to play in a season debut.
And that's really good. Because as Mike Pouncey's season becomes, shall we say, more normal, we might see his level of play become much better -- maybe to the Pro Bowl heights we saw at times in recent years.
Remember, when I first wrote about Pouncey possibly making a change from center to guard on Sept. 28, he told me he could be a Pro Bowl guard. Well, let's go ...
"I did all right," Pouncey said of his performance. "But I hold myself to a high standard and I’ve got to play a lot better than I did."
Pouncey's history suggests he will be better. And that is where I think the Dolphins can turn this into a part of a season-helping (saving?) idea:
Look, Even when the right guard spot was an abyss -- with one mediocre guy playing for a while until he got hurt and was replaced by another mediocre player -- the Dolphins were running the football pretty well.
The team is No. 3 in rushing yards per attempt at 5.0. The team is ranked No. 6 in rushing yards per game at 136.2. And these impressive rankings despite the fact the team is No 15, or middle of the pack, in rushing attempts per game at 27.4.
So you know what I think?
With an improving OL, because Pouncey will likely be better with every passing game at RG and rookie RT Ja'Wuan James is improving as well, with Lamar Miller so far showing he deserves more carries, and with the passing game being mostly inconsistent, I think the Dolphins should run the football more.
Much more.
They should be run-first, if that's what it takes.
Obviously, what they've been doing in mixing more passes than runs hasn't exactly worked to a great degree. Why not do what you do better more often, especially when your personnel to do that thing you do better is, well, getting better?
It is just an idea.
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