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Who knew what and when? That's the question that everything surrounding the Miami Dolphins seems to be trying to answer right now. Did Jonathan Martin complain about his treatment from Richie Incognito? Did the coaches know something was going on? According to an ESPN report today, no, they didn't. And, the rumor that Martin approached Philbin with his complaint back in the spring, during the two days of OTAs that Martin reportedly skipped, are likewise false.
During his Monday press conference, Philbin gave a detailed timeline of the situation that led to Martin leaving the team and the suspension of Incognito. Included in that timeline was his getting a chance to sit down and talk to Martin over the weekend. He then added:
"Soon thereafter, we were contacted by representatives of Jonathan, and before I say that I should let you know that in all my discussions with Jonathan and members of his family, at no time were there any accusations or allegations of misconduct by any members of this team or organization. Later on Sunday, we were contacted by one of his representatives where they in fact had some concerns over player conduct that had occurred. We immediately took those concerns very, very seriously."
Speculation then started that either Philbin did not take Martin's allegations seriously in the spring, or else he did not pay attention to his tackle. However, Adam Schefter appears to have confirmed that Martin did not approach Philbin this spring. The opening sentence of the ESPN.com article from Schefter's report reads, "Offensive lineman Jonathan Martin did not approach Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin to voice his concerns about instances of alleged harassment."
Pretty straight forward.
While the question of should Philbin have known about the interaction between Incognito and Martin, and potentially any other issues that the NFL and Dolphins investigations into the locker room culture discover, is still valid, at least it looks like he acted decisively as soon as he was actually informed about situation.
[Hat tip FinsLife.]
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