Byron Jones and Xavien Howard douse flame on any worries they are at odds
Byron Jones and Xavien Howard stood side by side and chatted as they watched from the sideline during parts of Friday’s practice at Miami Dolphins camp. Same scene repeated Saturday.
And those snapshot suggests all is well between the two cornerbacks amid a situation that could have easily turned awkward this week.
That situation obviously has to do with Howard publicly requesting a trade after the Dolphins have stiff-armed his requests for a contract adjustment. Agent David Canter. who represents Howard, has suggested various proposals since January and the Dolphins have not made any counter or offer of there own at any point, per a source.
So no agreement and that led to Howard’s trade request. In making that request public, Howard wrote on social media about being “the second-highest paid cornerback on my own team, and it’s not even close.”
And how he (Howard) is given assignments shadowing the opposition’s best receiver “with little help.”
With each of those comments, Howard was comparing his salary and ability to Jones, who is scheduled to make $14 million this year compared to Howard’s $12.075 million and who last year collected two interceptions compared to Howard’s league-leading 10 interceptions.
A more sensitive and perhaps insecure person might feel offended about having his name dragged into such a public, touchy situation.
Jones is apparently not that guy.
“I didn’t mind because truthfully, man, the guy is one of the best,” Jones said of Howard. “The guy had 10 interceptions last year. There is no secret to his impact on the defense and his impact on the team.
“When a guy has a season like that, he’s the freaking best. I understand what he’s trying to do. That’s my boy. We played a lot of hard snaps last year together. We’ve bonded close together, so I understand the business.”
Yeah, but, but ...
“I understand what he’s trying to do,” Jones insisted. “Obviously we’d love to have him here, but there are no hard feelings. I’m not scared of facts. The dude is the best. There is no question about that.
“Last year we gave him all of the hard covers and he showed up. Not only did he show up, but he also excelled at those, too. He didn’t get cupcake interceptions. He went and got those – with one hand, high-pointing the ball. He made his money. He earned it definitely.”
And asked to describe his relationship with Howard, Jones offered this:
“It’s healthy, baby,” he said. “Of course. We’re both trying to get better each and every day. We’re in the meeting rooms talking together. We do individual meetings with the coach, so it’s perfectly fine.”
Howard, meanwhile, is making sure there’s no misunderstanding that his displeasure is with the Dolphins. Not with Jones.
“Me and Byron have got a great relationship,” Howard said Saturday. “He’s going to support me. I’m going to support him. No matter what.”
That exhale you’re hearing is coming from the offices of general manager Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores.
Because it’s never a good look when a great player goes public with a trade demand that comes mixed with a good amount of bitterness. And when that player’s words implicate a teammate, that’s a recipe for locker room chemistry going bad.
But Jones saying what he just did and walking the walk — because he wouldn’t spend time together with Howard on the sideline if it wasn’t genuine — diffuses a potential time bomb.
That’s good news for the Dolphins.
Oddly, it’s not too great for Howard.
Howard’s camp doesn’t have a ton of leverage in this matter. Everyone understands that.
Yes, Howard is the best player on the team. Yes, he deserves more money than Jones. Yes, it would be right for the Dolphins to assuage matters by flipping Howard maybe $3 million this year or guaranteeing a bigger portion of his base salary next year.
That would effectively douse the flames of this potential fire.
But the Dolphins don’t have to do any of that. They have a signed contract.
They know Howard has no real leverage or recourse. Because, what is he going to do? Sit out the season and not get paid at all?
No.
Play poorly on purpose, thus seal his chance to make more next year?
No.
Fake an injury?
Everyone knows that’s not who Howard is and, besides, that still doesn’t get him more money guaranteed this year or next year.
The only real concern for the Dolphins in this whole matter would be Howard becoming a dividing force in the locker room. The problem would be him setting teammates against each other (such as him against Jones) or setting players against the team.
But as Howard and Jones are apparently good, that doesn’t seem to merit much concern right now.
So all good for the Dolphins regardless of how much or little bad publicity they might get locally.
That bad publicity, by the way, was threatening to go to another level before a last-minute change.
Saturday, you see, is the first day fans are allowed to be present at training camp practices and Canter said he planned to attend. And he said if reporters approached him there would be no reason he wouldn’t speak on his client’s behalf.
So the drama was likely to thicken.
But early Saturday morning the agent had to change course and decided not to attend any practice this weekend due to what he called “a family situation.” So another win gifted to the Dolphins.
Speaking of gifts, Jones is not exactly a slouch playing cornerback. Let’s settle that without doubt. He just isn’t as productive delivering big plays (interceptions) as Howard.
But he’s working at it.
“Obviously, turnovers have been a big thing for me in my career that I need to kind of improve on,” Jones said. “I took a little minor step last year, but obviously the step needs to be bigger this year. That’s the fun part. That’s the fun challenge in this camp.
“I’m working with [cornerbacks coach Charles Burks] in between periods every single day.”
One more thing Jones says he does every day. He talks with Howard.
“Oh yeah, we always talk,” Jones said. “We talk every single day.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 5:21 PM.
