A look at three Dolphins who have been pleasant surprises. And personnel news
Though the Dolphins, organizationally, have taken two steps back this season, at least three of their players have engineered impressive bouncebacks from subpar seasons.
Consider:
▪ Among all NFL cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 40 times, Rasul Douglas has gone from producing the NFL’s eight-worst passer rating against last season with the Bills (123.7) to 13th-best this season (79.6).
And there’s this: Last season, 76.9 percent of the passes thrown in his coverage area were caught - the eighth-worst defensively, among all cornerbacks (minimum 40 targets). This year, it’s 57.5 percent, which is 17th best.
Cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo raved this week about how much he has enjoyed coaching him.
“Rasul is a veteran who wants to be coached like a rookie,” Araujo said. “He wants to get better. When he’s in the room, everyone lights up.”
There’s hope that Douglas will return on Sunday against visiting New Orleans (1 p.m., Fox-7) after missing the past two games with foot and ankle injuries.
Either way, Douglas has made a strong case for the Dolphins to re-sign him this offseason.
▪ The Dolphins’ addition of tackle Larry Borom seemed dubious in March, considering he had allowed 20 sacks over the past four seasons and seven in limited playing time last season.
But as Austin Jackson prepares to return from a Week 1 toe injury, Dolphins players and coaches have made a point to credit Borom’s work as an 11-week starter at right tackle, particularly his play in recent weeks.
Though Pro Football Focus ranks him only 54th of 80 qualifying tackles, his improvement in pass protection from a year ago, in Chicago, has been significant.
Last season, he permitted seven sacks and 22 pressures in 237 pass blocking snaps.
This season, Borom has yielded two sacks and 15 pressures in 371 pass blocking opportunities. Borom has said that Miami’s scheme better fits his skill set than Chicago’s.
“He’s been more than serviceable,” said offensive line teammate Daniel Brunskill. “I think he’s a legit starter in the NFL.”
The Dolphins say they have given no thought to moving Borom to guard when Jackson returns.
▪ Cornerback Jack Jones has salvaged his career in Miami, permitting just 17 receptions (in 30 targets) and posting a decent 90.8 passer rating in his coverage area.
That was necessary after last season’s struggles with the Raiders, when he allowed 10 touchdowns, a 115.8 passer rating in his coverage area and 12.6 yards per reception.
This season, he has yielded three TDs and 9.4 yards per reception, and his overtime interception in Washington (Miami’s first OT interception in 31 years) might have been the team’s most impactful defensive play of the season.
“This year I feel like I’ve been trying to tone down my aggression,” he said. “Just make the plays that come to me and don’t try to overreach. My eyes could be my weak spot.”
Araujo this week explained what he has emphasized to Jones:
“Everything with Jack and everybody starts with their eyes. Your eyes tell your feet what to do. When his eyes are right, he’s right. When his eyes are in the backfield, that’s where you see he can get himself in trouble.
“As a position coach, never take away from what he does great. His instincts, his feel make him Jack Jones. We can dial it in with his eye discipline and technique so it’s not make a play, give up a play.”
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver noted that “a lot of things we were asking Jack to do early on were …different, not necessarily things that he has excelled in throughout his career. ... There’s a little bit of discomfort and we wanted to make sure that we tried to push him through that.
“As he did, while he may have been frustrated at times, eventually he started to realize, ‘Oh, this stuff is starting to work,’ and it starts to click. It’s a credit to his professionalism and his willingness to just try something different. I love the kid for that, I love that he’s put his trust in us. We’ve always just allowed him to be himself.”
Being himself includes not only taking some chances on interceptions at times, but also acting emotional and animated at times, though he said he has made an effort to show more restraint in that regard.
Of Jones’ eight career interceptions, one came in OT (in the Spain game) and four others were returned for touchdowns. Jones said he has all five of those footballs and plans to display them at home.
THIS AND THAT
▪ While the Dolphins expect offensive lineman Andrew Meyer to play this season, Liam Eichenberg’s return from a leg injury this season seems increasingly unlikely.
“I wouldn’t say [he had] a setback,” McDaniel said of Eichenberg. “It was grinding through a labor-some process and trying to make sure that there’s not gigantic setbacks. Sometimes, the progression isn’t as fast as you hope for Liam. It was a no-win situation, in terms of his body wouldn’t respond to him as fast as he’d want it to. He’s working diligently, but I don’t have the Andrew Meyer optimism” with him.
▪ According to a source, the Dolphins are signing former Army linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo to their practice squad. He played one game for the Bills this season and was featured on this year’s “Hard Knocks” on HBO.
Ciarlo, who was released from the Bills’ practice squad on Nov. 14, signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in April 2024 but sustained a torn ACL four plays into his preseason debut with the Jets.
▪ Though Cameron Goode became Miami’s No. 4 outside linebacker after the trade of Jaelan Phillips to Philadelphia, his playing time increased only incrementally against Washington.
Bradley Chubb played 52 defensive snaps, Matthew Judon 38, Chop Robinson 37 and Goode seven.
“Obviously Chubb, Chop those guys are going to play,” Weaver said. “They’ve been impactful players for us. Cam Goode is a guy that I know exactly what I’m going to get when he’s on the field…. I know he’ll make a positive impact for us.”
Here’s my Monday piece with injury news and more from Mike McDaniel.
Here’s my Monday piece with quarterback coach Darrell Bevell’s blunt comments about Tua Tagovailoa and more notes.
