Here’s how quickly best-laid plans can unravel in the National Football League:
As recently as Thursday morning, the Dolphins had a dependable front-runner in their quarterback battle and a talented, veteran receiver helping bring along their unproven young guys.
But by the dawn of a new week, David Garrard had a scar on his knee from a fresh surgery, and Chad Johnson had spent a night in jail.
Now, with Johnson gone (dumped unceremoniously by the team late Sunday night), Garrard sidelined for up to a month and members of his locker room openly critical, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin faces his first real dose of adversity as a rookie NFL coach.
Philbin met with the media Monday for the first time since jettisoning Johnson, and the room was packed. Hovering above his head while he spoke: Two boom microphones, a constant reminder that nearly every sound he makes gets recorded by HBO’s Hard Knocks.