Saints up to 15 COVID cases; Dolphins’ Holland on his virus experience. Tua self-critical
3:45 PM NEWS UPDATE: The Dolphins elevated wide receiver/returner Tommylee Lewis and center Cameron Tom to the active roster as COVID replacements. Lewis, who previously played for the Saints, handled returns for the Dolphins against the Jets last Sunday but did not play a snap on offense. With Greg Mancz on the COVID list, Tom will serve as Michael Deiter’s backup at center on Monday at New Orleans.
Also, running back Gerrid Doaks was removed from the COVID list and restored to the practice squad. And Spencer Pulley - who has started 26 NFL games for the Giants and Chargers - was signed to the practice squad.
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ As the New Orleans Saints battle a continued COVID outbreak in advance of their Monday night game against Miami, Dolphins rookie safety Jevon Holland detailed his brief bout with the virus.
“I was sick,” Holland said Friday. “I felt sick from getting COVID only the first day, Monday [Dec. 13]. I had a little flu. After it broke, after some good sleep, I was fine.”
Holland, who’s vaccinated, spent 10 days on the COVID list because he didn’t get a second negative test until Thursday. The Dolphins activated him last Saturday, hoping he would be available for the Jets game last Sunday. But Holland didn’t produce the necessary negative test.
“It was kind of frustrating because I felt fine but I didn’t want to get anyone sick,” he said. “It was like ‘Damn!’” when he kept testing positive.
“Sitting out made me miss it, really appreciate what I have. It was tough, I was frustrated.”
Meanwhile, the Saints now have 15 players on the COVID list, with four players added on Friday, including Pro Bowl special teams player J.T. Gray, standout right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, starting linebacker Demario Davis and running back Dewayne Washington.
The other 11: quarterbacks Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian, guard James Carpenter, linebacker Kaden Elliss, safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Jeff Heath, defensive end Jalyn Holmes, tight ends Juwan Johnson and Adam Trautman, offense tackle Jordan Mills and defensive tackle Christian Ringo.
The Dolphins have six players on the COVID-19 list, including five who were on the 53-man roster: linebacker Duke Riley, cornerback Justin Coleman, offensive linemen Robert Jones and Greg Mancz and tight end Cethan Carter.
Meanwhile, Saints coach Sean Payton has returned to the team after missing last week’s game against Tampa Bay because of COVID.
But according to Nola.com, assistant offensive line coach Zach Strief, defensive assistant Cory Robinson and defensive coaching intern Sterling Moore all tested positive for the virus on Friday.
On the Dolphins side, wide receiver Preston Williams - one of just a few unvaccinated Dolphins - said the recent surge in cases hasn’t made him reconsider whether to get the vaccine.
Williams said trainer Kyle Johnston and “the staff are being proactive. As long as I keep my mask on and social distance, I feel pretty safe. I’m OK.”
Aside from the COVID outbreak, the Saints also are dealing with several injuries. Starting left tackle Terron Armstead missed Friday’s practice with a knee injury. Defensive end Marcus Davenport (shoulder) and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith (shoulder) were both limited.
For the Dolphins, tight end Adam Shaheen (knee) and running back Phillip Lindsay (ankle) have both recovered from their injuries and practiced fully on Friday, along with every other Dolphins player who’s not on the COVID list or on injured reserve. Receiver Albert Wilson returned after missing two days for personal reasons.
▪ Cornerback Byron Jones became the latest Dolphins person to marvel at how Nick Needham handled playing safety last week for the first time in his life.
“The fact that Nik was able to do that within a five-day turnaround, that’s incredible,” Jones said.
“Nik is one of those guys where when I came in, I didn’t know too much about him but watching him perform and the way he approaches practice – there was at one point I told him, ‘The way you approach the game, you inspire me.’ He is a guy who was undrafted, didn’t have much of a shot but is fighting, scratching and clawing to be here. He’s been put in a lot of positions and he’s stepped up every single time.
“The fact that he was playing nickel throughout the entire year and has to hop back at safety and make all the calls is something that, as a team, doesn’t go unnoticed. I know fans probably overlook it but that’s an incredible adjustment to make in a week.”
▪ Tua Tagovailoa said after Sunday’s game that he isn’t producing as much as he could in the RPO (run/pass option) aspect of the game.
So what’s missing?
“I think decision-making for me,” he said. “There have been a lot of times where I could’ve handed the ball off where I didn’t. We could’ve gone for a lot more bigger runs this year. For me, I’ve been giving up premier looks so I pull it and I throw it and we gain six or seven yards. I think for me, just being 100 percent within my decision-making in the RPO world and it not being 85 or 90 percent.”
Tagovailoa received a random question this week about whether he does deep breathing exercises or meditation before games.
“I’ve never done any of those,” he said. “I’ve never had meditation. For me, it’s just making sure that I’m prepared whether it’s looking over the game plan again or really going over my third downs and making sure I’m good with that. I feel that’s what brings confidence for me.”
▪ Linebacker Jerome Baker offered perspective on what he has needed to learn in playing more outside linebacker and less inside linebacker in recent weeks:
“When you’re down there with the d-line and outside linebacker, your technique has to be very, very sound. At [inside] linebacker I can get away sometimes with just my pure speed or just being off the ball in anticipation sometimes.
“With outside linebacker, if you’re not worried about who is in front of you sometimes, it can hurt. Down there, it taught me that technique is really, really important. Your hand placement, getting off the ball – those things I’m not going to say you take for granted as a linebacker, but sometimes you can shy away from it.”
▪ Dolphins players are sounding more and more like Brian Flores, repeatedly re-directing questions to emphasize that they’re only thinking about the next opponent and the next day of practice and improving at “fundamentals and technique.”
Why are the players receptive to Flores emphasizing that?
“It’s one thing,” Baker said. “It’s all trust. We trust ‘Flo’ with everything. Every guy trusts him. We know his system works. We believe what he is talking about. I think we just had to truly see it. I think once we believed in us and him, things started to turn around. It’s a credit to him and our coaching staff and it’s a credit to all of us. We’re really just doing a great job of taking it one day at a time and taking it one game at a time and just doing our thing.”
▪ The 13.2 local television rating for Sunday’s Dolphins-Jets game tied the opener at New England for the highest rating for a Dolphins game this season.
That means 13.2 percent of Miami-Fort Lauderdale households with television sets watched the game, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Here’s my Friday Dolphins piece with news from Flores’ press conference.
This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 1:50 PM.
