Dolphins’ Willis enters NFL debut with ‘big chip’ on shoulder after going undrafted
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Wednesday:
▪ Gerald Willis assuredly wanted to break the routine of playing a season and then not playing a season, an every-other-year pattern that had been his reality since 2014.
And on Wednesday, Brian Flores took steps toward changing that. The rookie defensive tackle learned he was being promoted from the practice squad when Flores announced that, and other roster moves, in a team meeting before practice.
Willis’ promotion to the 53-man roster was a watershed moment for a player who went overlooked during the draft and is now determined to make 31 teams regret that.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Willis said Wednesday. “One of the days I’ve been waiting on since the draft. I was always taught never to give up. That’s what I did.”
He said being bypassed during the draft left “a chip on my shoulder always. Even when I go on the practice field, I try to show it every day. It’s a big chip and it will be a big chip going in on Sunday.”
Willis played the 2014 season at Florida, sat out 2015 after transferring to UM, had 19 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks for UM in 2016, sat out 2017 because of an undisclosed personal matter, was a second-team Sports Illustrated All American in 2018 (when he had 18 tackles for loss) and sat out the first 10 games this season while spending most of that time on the Dolphins practice squad, after his Labor Day weekend release from Baltimore.
Even while on the practice squad the past two months, there was “a lot of disappointment, a lot of negative thoughts. I had to stay positive, keep telling myself to stay positive, wait on your time, keep doing what you’re doing on the practice field. Film don’t lie. I know the coaches see it.”
And sitting out two years at UM was “very difficult. Seeing those guys make plays, celebrating with the guys, it was very difficult. I will have my chance Sunday. I’m excited for it.”
He said defensive line coach Marion Hobby has made some changes to his technique.
“Coach Hobby taught me a lot. I started to know how to play the run better ... how to use my hands better. I am starting to have a better get off than what I had.”
▪ Safety Adrian Colbert, the other former Hurricane who was added on Wednesday, has started more NFL games at safety (12) than any player on the 53-man roster.
He played safety at Texas - where Manny Diaz was his defensive coordinator for a time - and then cornerback in his one year playing for Diaz at UM in 2016. A seventh-round pick of the 49ers, Colbert started six games for San Francisco in both 2017 and 2018 before he was injured and eventually released.
For factors largely beyond his contract, the 49ers were 6-0 when he started in 2017, 1-5 when he started in 2018.
“He’s got great range in the middle of the field,” defensive coordinator George Saleh told 49ers.com after the 2018 season. “He’s a professional safety, can go red line to red line and cover you.”
Colbert said he views himself as a free safety who can also play corner. The Dolphins are using him at free safety.
He points to his strengths as “speed, instincts, tackling, just being versatile. [I’m] open minded about playing different positions. In this organization, they move their defensive backs around.”
He was happy when he got word Tuesday that the Dolphins had plucked him off the Seahawks’ practice squad. He had been with the Seahawks for the past two months.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I was waiting for an opportunity for anybody to call. I was happy the Dolphins did. I played here [in Miami] a year. I got real accustomed to being in the 305. I’m in a good place and healthy.”
▪ Willis and Colbert both expressed appreciation for what they’ve learned from Diaz.
“It opened my mind about playing different positions,” Colbert said. “He likes his players to be able to play fast, not think too much.”
Willis said what Diaz taught him, and still resonates today, is “be relentless in everything you do. Get to the quarterback and be relentless. That’s something I always think about when coach Manny Diaz comes up.”
▪ Even though the Dolphins lost one Hurricane player Tuesday when Mark Walton was released following his arrest, they now have five on the 53-man roster with linebacker Trent Harris, tight end Clive Walford, receiver Allen Hurns, Willis and Colbert. Guard Danny Isidora is on injured reserve.
“It was good to see G [Willis] and Trent and Allen [though I] didn’t play with Allen,” Colbert said. “Miami boys have to stay together.”
▪ It’s clear that Eric Rowe, who started Miami’s first five games at cornerback, likely will need to play safety the rest of the season amid Reshad Jones and Bobby McCain going on injured reserve.
They haven’t told him that in so many words, but “it seems to be going that way. Hey, so I’m at safety.”
As expected, Rowe and Steven Parker worked with the starters at safety on Wednesday.
McCain’s communication in the defensive backfield will need to be replaced, but Rowe said “everything Bobby was doing I was doing with him - giving out personnel and down and distance. Now with him gone, me and Park have to call out whatever calls are made. I’ve got to overcommunicate with Bobby and Reshad” no longer playing this season.
Rowe said he has a “pretty good comfort level” at safety. The big challenge was “getting the run fits down. That’s something as a corner you don’t really do.”
Rowe met Colbert for the first time Wednesday. Rowe noted “more than 80 percent of the secondary wasn’t even here in training camp.”
▪ Left tackle Julien Davenport, who started Sunday’s game against Buffalo but sat out the final 17 of Miami’s 69 offensive snaps with a knee injury, said an MRI revealed no damage.
“I was definitely scared from the rip,” speaking of the hit he took and the sound it made. “It’s a little sore.”
Sunday was Davenport’s first game back after missing eight games because of a leg injury sustained in practice.
Davenport was limited in practice on Wednesday, as were four others: defensive end Taco Charlton (missed the Buffalo game with an elbow injury), quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (right shoulder and right forearm injuries; Brian Flores has said he will start against Cleveland), linebacker Raekwon McMillan (missed the Bills game with a knee injury) and cornerback Ken Webster, who sustained an ankle injury in the Oct. 28 Pittsburgh game and returned to practice Wednesday for the first time.
Here’s my in-depth look at the six roster moves made Wednesday.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 3:41 PM.
