Dolphins player sustains serious injury, new camp emphasis and encouraging day for rookie
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins on a Tuesday:
▪ Dolphins linebacker Vince Biegel sustained a serious left Achilles’ injury during Tuesday’s practice and he is expected to miss the 2020 season, according to a team source.
Biegel, who was carted off the field, became emotional and teammates stood around him praying.
“Vince brings energy,” safety Eric Rowe said an hour later. “Every day, it’s consistent. Even last year when we traded for him, he can be gassed out but he’ll still go 100 percent on the field and that’s what we need. We all know how hard he works. It has a trickle down effect.”
Biegel was arguably Miami’s most effective edge rusher last season. And even though the Dolphins have acquired players who might have reduced his playing time, his loss hurts because he epitomizes what Brian Flores wants: a player who plays with max effort and extracts every ounce of ability.
Acquired in a Labor Day weekend trade with New Orleans for Kiko Alonso, Biegel morphed from a special teams player with the Saints to a competent starter with Miami, producing 59 tackles and 2.5 sacks and one interception in 15 games, including 10 starts.
He led Miami’s edge players with 33 quarterback pressures, which was 60th best in the league, per PFF. He also intercepted one of only four passes thrown in his coverage area.
Biegel was competing with Raekwon McMillan, Elandon Roberts, Kamu-Grugier Hill, Sam Eguavoen and Andrew Van Ginkel for linebacker snaps alongside Kyle Van Noy and Jerome Baker, who are both expected to play most or every down.
Among edge players who are listed as linebackers, Biegel was specifically competing with Van Ginkel, another former Wisconsin player and the team’s fifth-round pick last year.
Eguavoen, an inside linebacker trying to make the team, was used more in a pass-rush role later in the season. It’s also notable that Voy Noy played strictly as an edge player for New England last season but split his time on and off the ball playing for Patriots coach Bill Belichick and then-de-facto defensive coordinator Flores with the Patriots in 2018.
Defensive ends Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaq Lawson and rookie Curtis Weaver also are considered edge players in Miami’s system.
The Dolphins and Biegel discussed a multi-year contract during the spring but never agreed to terms. Instead, he signed his restricted free agent tender, a one-year deal for $2.1 million.
He’s eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring.
▪ According to a team source, there’s no cause for alarm with wide receiver Preston Williams’ absence from practice on Tuesday.
The Dolphins are being cautious as he makes his way back from November ACL surgery. He looked very good in Monday’s practice.
▪ Last year, the Dolphins tried to motivate players with the TNT (“takes no talent”) wall.
This year, among the motivational tools is keeping a points system tracking who creates the most turnovers in camp.
The Dolphins had only 16 takeaways last year, third fewest in the league. Their three fumble recoveries were tied for the fewest.
“This year, we’re putting a huge emphasis on getting the ball,” safety Eric Rowe said Tuesday. “Getting an interception, batting the ball, tipping the ball to get a pick, how ever we have to get it. That’s our huge emphasis and it starts right now. We even have point board. Everyone has a point list; that’s how far we’re emphasizing it.’
▪ Rowe, entering his first full season at safety, was second among all safeties last season in quarterback rating against. The priority now is becoming a consistently good run defender at the position.
“It’s tough to work on [that] in the offseason with nobody around,” Rowe said. “For this training camp, [the goal is to] work on my run fits and kind of see the run quicker than I did last year.”
Rowe, who played some safety at Utah but had always been a cornerback in the NFL, was informed last October that he was needed at safety because of a flood of injuries at the position. Josh Boyer, then the cornerbacks coach and now the Dolphins defensive coordinator, suggested Rowe’s position switch.
“They saw I had really good knowledge of the defense and was making safety calls way on the island [at cornerback],” Rowe said. “Once I started covering tight ends, it was a done deal. The minute I heard [about being moved to safety], I wasn’t like thrown back but [instead said to himself], ‘OK, I’ve got to help the team.’ We were pretty low [bodies] at safety.
“Even though I did play it in college, I was mainly free safety. I was in the post a lot and didn’t really have to deal with run fits. In the transition, the most difficult thing was to pick up on the run game.”
One positive for Rowe in the move to safety: “I found it easier to cover tight ends. They’re not as quick as receivers in the league. Some were pretty fast but not all of them. Whichever one I covered, my goal was to dominate them.”
The Dolphins were so pleased with Rowe’s work at safety that they signed him to a three-year, $18 million contract last December.
▪ Rookie first-round cornerback Noah Igbinoghene made multiple plays in coverage on Tuesday, and Rowe said: “He’s got a lot of potential. He’s explosive, strong, quick and he works hard as hell.
“He doesn’t care he’s a first round [pick]. You can see in his eye he wants to be great from the start. He still makes rookie mistakes like everybody does. But I can tell his learning progression. He’s going to be a good guy in the league.”
▪ Tight end Mike Gesicki said rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa “has been great. He’s really just a kid, 22 years old. For him to come in here and really grasp the playbook, grasp the feel of the locker room and then go out there and make plays and put the ball where it needs to be, I’m super excited about his future. It’s been good to have him in the building and it’s been good to be around him. He’s a really good dude.”
SCOUTS HIRED
The Dolphins hired Olivia Passy and Joyce Harrell as scouts, making them the first women to have that job for the franchise.
Passy was the director of football operations at Bowling Green last year. Harrell had been working as a graduate assistant in football operations at Boise State last year.
Passy and Harrell will be based at team headquarters in Davie.
Here’s my Tuesday piece with Brian Flores’ updates on Xavien Howard, Malcolm Perry and more.
Here’s my Tuesday piece - with Adam Beasley and Armando Salguero - with a ton of highlights and notes from Day 2 of padded practices.
Here’s my Tuesday UM 6-pack.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:39 PM.
