‘Feels good just to be in the mix.’ How Bradley Chubb has led by example this offseason
It was clear from Day 1.
The bounce in his step. The way he was first in line at nearly every drill. The big smile on his face whenever he removed his helmet
If one was made clear during the offseason program, Bradley Chubb is happy to be back.
“It feels good just to be in the mix, to be around the guys and be able to lead out in front,” the star edge rusher said. “Just trying to continue to get this thing going, man. We’ve got a lot to prove, not to anybody but to ourselves because we know what we can do this year, so we’re out there on the grass working it right now.”
For someone who hasn’t played a down of football a year and a half — nearly the exact amount of time since Chubb’s last snap that resulted in him tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus and patellar tendon — he looks as ready as ever. From being a constant presence in the backfield during scrimmage portions of practice to being the first to congratulate a teammate for a good defensive play, Chubb looked every bit like the most enthusiastic presence on every single work day seen by the media.
“This beautiful game that I coach, you guys cover, they play, your existence within it is finite so truly appreciating the little points,”McDaniel said June 10, calling Chubb a “living testament of real reality.” “You’re hard-pressed to roll your eyes and be like, ‘Ugh, another practice,’ when you go past Bradley Chubb who’s like, ‘What? I worked a year and a half for this practice.’”
Chubb didn’t have to be positive, either. The mandatory portion of the offseason program, after, is a glorified summer football camp. There’s no pads. No real contact. No way to fully showcase physicality.
Then there’s the pay cut that Chubb took in the offseason. With cap space tight, the Dolphins restructured his contract, a move that left roughly $9 million on the table though he can earn it back through incentives. Chubb, however, wasn’t worried.
“At the end of the day, I know that this a ‘what have you done for me now’ business,” Chubb said. “Yeah, I had a good year in 2023, but at the end of the day, I didn’t play a lick of football all of last year. At the end of the day, I could have gotten cut, had to learn a new system, had to move to a different city and do all this. I knew this is the team I wanted to be with, I knew the guys, the leadership I had from the background, I knew that these guys were the guys I wanted to be around to push and to push me. I knew what we can do here in Miami.”
As the Dolphins look to find their identity following the departure of key leaders, Chubb now has the power to show younger players that money shouldn’t be your sole motivation. This evolution has seemingly placed him in the shoes of 2018 Von Miller, a future hall of famer who helped a young edge rusher out of North Carolina State develop into two-time Pro Bowler during their time together on the Denver Broncos.
“It’s crazy you said that because I was just talking to Von and I just told him like, ‘Bro, I feel like I got dropped into your shoes completely,’” Chubb said, referring to his relationship with second-year edge rusher Chop Robinson. “Like Chop, he looked up to me as one of his favorite players coming out; I looked up to Von as one of my favorite players coming out. And how Von just kind of took me under his wing and showed me the way, a lot of how I operate now is kind of like emulative of what Von did and how I saw he went about his processes and how I saw about his chef, his house, how he did this, how he did that.”
Added Chubb: “I was around the same – Year Seven. Von was Year Seven when I came and I was Year Seven when Chop came in so it’s just crazy how life is a loop like that.”
A healthy Chubb could make the Dolphins’ edge rusher unit the strongest on the team. Prior to his injury, the then-27-year-old was en route to his third Pro Bowl with 11 sacks, a league-leading six forced fumbles and 73 combined tackles. Throw in a fully recovered Jaelan Phillips with Robinson, who had the second-most sacks among rookies, and the trio could terrorize opposing offenses in 2025.
“Sitting down with Chop, seeing when he started to turn it on, I’m just smiling from ear to ear because I know the potential we had,” Chubb said. “I know when ‘JP’ got back, once I got back, it was going to be a lot of thinking for the offensive side to do. I don’t want to put no number on what we’re going to do yet, but I feel like if we all stay healthy, all keep our heads on straight, it could be special.”
Health, however, isn’t a given in the NFL. The 2023 injury would be Chubb’s second major knee procedure since 2019. Phillips, meanwhile, has played just 12 games during the last two seasons due to a ruptured Achilles and an ACL tear.
While injury history certainly should be a bit of a concern, the potential of a Chubb-led edge rusher room is far too tantalizing to pass up.
“You talk about the work for the tackles, you talk about the work for the quarterbacks,” McDaniel said June 10. “Every time [that trio] bring their best to practice, that’s who’s getting better along with them influencing the defense you have. The best way to teach a quarterback how to play on time is have edge rusher production in practice because you’re like, ‘See? You’re dead here. Would you like not to be dead? All right, let’s play with timing.’ Those types of things, hugely impactful.”
