Philbin: 'I'm responsible for the workplace environment'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin met with media members at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday and said the team will have a better workplace environment in the wake of the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito bullying scandal.
NFL independent investigator Ted Wells released the findings of an investigation last week and said that three Dolphins offensive linemen -- Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey -- engaged in a pattern of harassment directed at not only Martin, but also another young Dolphins offensive lineman and an assistant trainer.
In response, the Dolphins on Wednesday fired offensive line coach Jim Turner and head athletic trainer Kevin O'Neill.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Philbin said Thursday that he is "responsible for the workplace environment at the Miami Dolphins' facility. We're going to have a better workplace. I'm going to make sure that happens."
Philbin added that he didn't know the majority of what was happening with Martin and Incognito and if he had seen it he "certainly would have acted on it."
Martin left the Dolphins in late October before a Week 9 game against Cincinnati because of alleged bullying from Incognito, who was suspended in early November and didn't play the rest of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Some of the facts, the behavior, the language as outlined in the report was inappropriate and was unacceptable," said Philbin on Thursday.
"I'm going to be more vigilant, more diligent, more visible, and I'm going to have a better pulse (of the team)."
Philbin, despite the distractions, had the Dolphins in the playoff race late in the 2013 season. Miami, though, lost its last two games with its postseason fate in its own hands and finished 8-8 to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Dolphins are 15-17 in his two seasons at the helm.