How Eastern medicine (and a little luck) might be cure to Dolphins’ coverage ills
Hamstring. Ankle. Groin.
If there’s a spot on Eric Rowe’s lower body, it has hurt at some point the last three years.
A promising career has been stalled by injury. The boundary corrnerback has appeared in just 21 of 48 regular-season games the past three years, and his last best chance to make his mark on the NFL might be this fall in Miami.
So what’s Rowe’s plan to stay on the field?
Stick himself with needles.
But not with painkillers.
His treatment plan is more holistic.
Twice a week, Rowe plans to visit a local acupuncturist, hoping the ancient Eastern medicine practice can keep him loose and limber.
“My body responds really well,” Rowe said Wednesday, following the Dolphins’ sixth practice of training camp. “They take a real small, thin needle. I don’t know the science of the points, but they know what points to hit. It kind of releases all the muscle tension I usually build up in my legs, groins, hamstrings. It won’t be tight when I get back on the field. It’s almost like a reset button.”
An ex-Patriots teammate turned him onto the practice, which targets key points of the body with needles to stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic.
After signing a $3.5 million, prove-it deal with the Dolphins this offseason, he was looking for a new acupuncturist. Kenny Stills gave Rowe his guy’s name, and Rowe has been seeing him regularly ever since.
“I don’t really like needles, so I was jumping all over the table,” Rowe said. “Now I’m boom, right in. The muscle contracts so your leg will like jump. That’s how you know you got the release.
“I’m looking forward to feeling that,” he added. “‘Shoot, I won’t be tight on the field.’”
If it works, the therapy would be a career changer. Rowe has always had talent. But he has just rarely been available. His muscles are prone to damage. Groin injuries have stunted each of his past two seasons.
“Past couple of years, I’ve been kind of been shorted,” Rowe said. “Both of my groins and having to have surgeries on both of them. Now, finally I got them fixed up. I feel like this is the year I can really make a name for myself.”
He looked just fine Wednesday in what might have been his best practice of training camp. Rowe, who is the front-runner for the starting cornerback job opposite Xavien Howard, didn’t give up any long completions and twice broke up passes in team drills.
Rowe has had some not-so-great days, too, but on balance he has been the best of the bunch competing for that job.
“I think Eric’s done a good job,” said Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who worked with Rowe in New England the past three years. “I think he’s a guy that we have some history with. I think consistency is the big thing for him, and consistency is the big thing for everyone on this team.
“We’re going to continue to work on his line-of-scrimmage technique, his tackling, his deep — finding the ball in the air, defeating blocks, his roles in the kicking game,” Flores continued. “I think Eric’s done a good job. He’s a hard-working kid. He loves the game, puts the team first. He’s a team guy all the way. He’s tough, he’s smart and I like Eric a lot. I’m looking forward to him continuing to grow and grow as a football player.”
Rowe, who has two interceptions in four NFL seasons, knows he needs to do more than stay healthy to see the field. While the feedback from coaches has been mostly positive, he admits he can get better at press technique.
But more than anything, Rowe wants to prove that he’s a really good player who’s just had some really bad luck.
“I feel like when I’m healthy and I’m confident, I can go out there and cover,” he added. “I feel good. I got to make sure I stay on top of that.”
One puncture wound at a time.
This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 3:27 PM.