The Miami Dolphins respect the Patriots’ star DBs — but plan to challenge them
It’s hard to say what was more surprising about the Dolphins’ Week 17 upset victory in New England last season — the final score or the way Miami won:
By targeting — and exposing — the league’s best defensive player.
Eight months after Stephon Gilmore got lit up by DeVante Parker (eight catches for 137 yards) and Ryan Fitzpatrick, he’s probably tired of hearing about it.
“The good thing about football, every year starts over. So, you know, you’ve got a chance to prove yourself every year,” Gilmore told New England writers Tuesday.
Gilmore doesn’t want to get embarrassed again. Parker, meanwhile, is out to prove last winter’s Patriots-Dolphins game was no fluke.
And Fitzpatrick — the Dolphins’ Week 1 starter for the second straight season — hopes to keep his job by playing loose and unafraid.
“There’s definitely calculated risks,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. “I can’t give you all my secrets, [but] a lot of it does come down to that. Their best players are going to be on our best playmakers. And the way these games go, do their guys make more plays or do ours?
“In going into matchups like this, I just want to make sure my guys know I have the ultimate confidence in them,” Fitzpatrick added. “I’m going to give them opportunities to go out there and make plays. And that’s no secret to the defense, and that’s no secret to my guys. But that’s how well figure out who’s going to win the game. If our big playmakers show up, I’m going to give them the ball.”
Translation: Scared money don’t make money.
And while the Dolphins would be wise to respect coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots, there’s no reason to fear them.
The Patriots lost their Hall of Fame quarterback to the Buccaneers, had eight players opt out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns and watched several of their best defensive players sign big-money contracts elsewhere, Miami included.
In short, these Patriots are diminished.
But their secondary still should be among the league’s best — even with safety Patrick Chung taking the year off — and provides a fascinating Week 1 matchup for the underdog Dolphins.
Gilmore — the 2019 NFL defensive player of the year who led the NFL with six interceptions — is back. So are defensive backs Jason and Devin McCourty. And J.C. Jackson is out to prove that last year’s breakout season was no aberration.
And yet ...
“They have a good system, good coaching,” said Dolphins receiver Preston Williams. “They’re a tough team. But if we play our game, it’s going to be a challenge. Whoever they throw at us, if it’s Week 1, Week 2, but at the end of the year, we’re going to be ready for whatever. We know they’re a good team, but every team’s good in the NFL.”
Williams wasn’t on the field in Foxborough four days after Christmas — when Fitzpatrick carved up New England for 28 completions and 320 yards on 41 attempts — because he tore his ACL earlier in the season.
He’s on track to play Sunday, just 10 months removed from surgery. That was his goal all along, saying that if he weren’t ready for the opener, “then in my head I probably didn’t work hard enough.”
Still, Williams acknowledged Tuesday that he is not 100 percent.
“It really don’t feel good until a year after your injury,” he said. “That’s when it really feels normal again. I know what happened. I know I’m still 10 months out. I can feel it. But I’m used to feeling like this.”
Williams has been on a load management program during the preseason, getting the occasional day off to minimize risks of a setback. But the season has arrived. Expect him to have a big role Sunday — and if he is the slightest bit open, for the ball to go his way, no matter who’s in coverage.
“They’re experienced in the back end,” Fitzpatrick said. “So for us it’s trying to throw to the open guy. Pick the best matchups. They do a great job of making sure that everything is contested and challenged on every play. So we’ll have to play our best. Whether it’s receivers, tight ends, backs, the way that I’m throwing the ball, everything is going to have to be on point in order for us to move the ball on these guys.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 3:05 PM.
