The nice stories to emerge from Dolphins training camp, including two undrafted rookies
There’s a story on every 53-man roster, a player who overcomes odds and seizes a spot on the team after the grueling grind of training camp.
Rookies Robert Jones and Trill Williams are the quintessential such stories on these 2021 Miami Dolphins, players bypassed in the NFL Draft but good enough to beat out veterans (Jermaine Eluemunor, Cre’Von LeBlanc) who had far more experience.
“Two young guys who really made a lot of improvement,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said of Jones and Williams. “If we continue to work with them, they’ll have a chance.”
Williams, a cornerback, earned his spot by making several impressive plays in coverage in training camp (including multiple interceptions). The Dolphins were intrigued by a player who NFL.com considered a fourth-to-sixth-round talent.
Jones can play guard and tackle, and Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said this summer that he didn’t see much difference between his tape and 2020 Dolphins second-round pick Robert Hunt’s college tape and predicted Jones “will play in the league a long time” because he’s “physical and tough.”
The Dolphins immediately targeted both after the draft. They gave Jones $130,000 guaranteed and offered Williams six figures guaranteed — more money than New Orleans did — but Williams opted for the Saints partly because he thought he had a better chance to make their team.
But Williams ended up with the Dolphins anyway because the Saints — after signing him — wanted him to sign a waiver regarding his surgically repaired ankle.
New Orleans hoped to sneak him through waivers and re-sign him, not expecting any team to claim him and inherit his $100,000 guarantee. But the Dolphins pounced.
“That process was crazy,” Williams said. “I get [to New Orleans]; I’m only there three days. God works in mysterious ways. He put me where I’m supposed to be and I’m supposed to be here. I’m blessed to be here.”
Williams, 6-1, had four interceptions in 28 games at Syracuse and opted out after five games last season, because of a torn ligament in his ankle, which was surgically repaired in December.
Williams, who wore a red noncontact jersey Thursday while in the late stages of concussion protocol, began camp wearing 51 — traditionally a linebacker jersey number — but will switch to 6, his college number, when the regular season starts.
His given name is actually Atrilleon. “My dad had a dream one day and said that was my name in his dream,” Williams said. “I’ve gone by Trill as long as I can remember.”
As for Jones, the Chicago native received no Power 5 offers out of high school — his first FBS offer was from Tennessee Martin — and began his journey at Highland Community College in Kansas before transferring to Middle Tennessee State, where he started 18 games at right tackle. He has focused on guard in Dolphins training camp.
Friends and former teammates flooded his phone with text messages on Tuesday night when he made the 53.
“Everybody congratulated me,” Jones said. “I came so far. Nobody knew I would be in this position. I’m just trying to make them proud. Coming from JUCO it was hard [but] I kept my head down and kept working and took that with me to Middle Tennessee. I was lucky I had coaches who pushed me.”
The jovial Jones, smiling throughout his media session Thursday, said he spoke to the Dolphins only once before the draft, at the Senior Bowl. “I liked them and had a feeling they liked me,” he said. “I really liked their coaching staff at the Senior Bowl so I knew this was the place” when multiple teams pursued him after the draft.
Best part of playing the offensive line? “Just being able to go against another man and move him against his will,” he said.
But the two undrafted rookies aren’t the only nice stories to emerge on the 53.
For example: If the Dolphins were an episode of “Survivor,” and you were guessing months ago who would still be on the island in September, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have included Mack Hollins. After all, the Dolphins had 11 receivers already under contract when they re-signed him in March.
After making a critical late-game reception in a win against Las Vegas in Week 16, Hollins reinforced his value throughout this training camp. “Throughout my career in Philly and here, I’m always ready when guys go down,” he said.
How often do people bring up that big catch against Las Vegas, when Ryan Fitzpatrick somehow threw the pass with his helmet being twisted by a Raiders defender?
“It depends on my hair,” Hollins said. “If my hair is in braids, people don’t know it’s me. But if I have the Afro, people say, ‘That’s you with the [catch against the] Raiders.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s me.’”
Hollins cracked that “Fitz stole my thunder with the face mask. I get it. They ripped your head off, he threw it across your body. I feel I had a part in it. I should have caught it with one hand or done something cool to one up him.”
Defensive tackle John Jenkins and safety Clayton Fejedelem — both on the 53 — also seemed like slight underdogs to make it initially, because of Fejedelem’s high salary for a special team’s player ($2.3 million nonguaranteed) and the fact the Dolphins don’t keep a lot of graybeards. Jenkins, 32, and Jason McCourty, 34, are the only 30-plus players on the team.
“I didn’t know I would be here again,” Jenkins said when he walked into the Dolphins’ press conference room this week.
Williams and Jones didn’t know they would make it at all. “It’s a blessing,” Jones said.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 4:14 PM.
