An update on two promising Miami Dolphins rookies, plus Austin Jackson chews the fat
More good insight from Thursday’s media availability with Miami Dolphins starters Andrew Van Ginkel and Austin Jackson:
▪ Rookies Jaelan Phillips and Liam Eichenberg — who are expected to see significant playing time in 2021 on the defensive and offensive lines, respectively — have already made an impression, just a few weeks into their NFL careers.
“It’s awesome,” Van Ginkel said of Phillips. “Just seeing him come in and he’s trying to take everything in, soak it up and just be the best version of himself. He’s here to compete and it’s going to be a good training camp just to work with him.”
Jackson, the Dolphins’ starting left tackle, said Eichenberg, the Dolphins’ potential starting right tackle, is “a great player, honestly. He always has been.”
Jackson added: “When you turn on [Eichenberg’s] Notre Dame tape — I came from USC so I always respected what the O-line was doing over there and what he was doing, especially after guys like Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson left. He stepped in and did a great job. We’re excited to have him with us. I think he definitely fits the culture of what we’re trying to build and I think he adds a good piece for us.”
▪ Jackson weighed in at 322 pounds at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. Fifteen months later, the Dolphins list him at 325.
And that’s apparently what his coaches want him to weigh, even after he was overpowered at times as a 21-year-old rookie.
“I wasn’t asked to put on weight,” Jackson said. “Every year, you want to kind of try to take off bad weight and add more good weight because muscle is heavier. Just working out and making sure my technique is consistent. It’s hard to pick one thing to work on because you’re pretty much working on everything. But I can say that knee bend and getting lower is something I’ve been working on — my flexibility. Strength and conditioning, torque power, turn power and all of that stuff, that’s something we as offensive linemen work on every day.”
Jackson has made changes to his diet to make sure his weight is the productive kind. Most notably, he’s cut out a guilty pleasure: Saturday night ice cream.
“In terms of good weight being put on, that’s just muscle,” Jackson said. “That’s just learning what your body digests well and what it doesn’t, maintaining your body for the long season.”
▪ Who is new offensive line coach Lemuel Jeanpierre? The 34-year-old former NFL center had been an assistant coach for the Seahawks and Raiders before joining the Dolphins’ staff as Steve Marshall’s assistant in 2020. When Brian Flores fired Marshall in January after just one season, he promoted Jeanpierre.
“He approaches teaching very well,” Jackson said. “We had him on staff last year so it’s not like he’s a brand new guy or we’ve never heard him coach before, stuff like that. He’s a great teacher and a great coach. We’re excited to have him. He does a great job with all of us, in general, making sure we’re on the same page. As offensive linemen, the front five have got to work as one. A big part of that is all of us being able to communicate and being on the same page. I think he does a great job with that.”
As for Flores, have Dolphins players noticed any changes in him as he enters Year 3 as their head coach?
“He’s hard-nosed and he’s going to make everything competitive and he’s going to push you to be the best you can be and come out there prepared,” Van Ginkel said. “So yeah, I’d say he’s been the same.”
