Waddle sizes up season and Tua return. And Chubb on ‘scary’ possibilities with Phillips
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Wednesday:
▪ Jaylen Waddle displayed impressive growth in his second season, leading the league in yards per reception (18.1) and finishing seventh in receiving yards (1356) and 27th in receptions (75).
But the way his season ended left him expecting more from himself.
His playoff game in Buffalo included a drop on a well-thrown deep pass from Skylar Thompson early in the game, and an inability to catch another pass that was well defended. He had three catches (on seven targets) for 44 yards.
Does he wish he had some of those plays back? “Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Definitely.”
How would he assess his season?
“I feel like it was OK,” he said. “It was OK for me, personally. I definitely didn’t end the season how I wanted to. I can take steps forward in so many aspects of my game, for sure.”
▪ Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips likely will be the Dolphins’ starting outside linebacker tandem for years to come. They shared a moment hours after Sunday’s loss in Buffalo.
“I know me and ‘JP’ talked last night,” Chubb said Monday. “We understand that we just have to [hone our] craft, make sure we’re leading the pack and make sure we’re doing everything we can do to help this organization take it to the next step.”
What can that Chubb/Phillips combination become?
“It could be real scary, man,” Chubb said.
Phillips had 44 pressures in nine games with Chubb, 33 pressures in nine games without him, as Dolphins.com’s Travis Wingfield noted.
Chubb, who battled through hand and ankle injuries in the final two games, said the way the season ended - with numerous injuries on the team - was “a little unfortunate. All the things that this team went through this year and the position we were in, we still had an opportunity to make noise and just came up short.”
But… “There’s a lot of things we can build off of: The offense, how they exploded; everybody saw their growth. The defense, when I came, everybody felt the added bolt of energy. We started playing a little better as a unit.”
Though Chubb had 2.5 sacks and just 13 tackles in eight games in Miami, he forced a Josh Allen fumble on a sack in the playoff game.
“When Bradley came in, our analytics ran steady for us and we moved into like the top 10 or top eight of six of our 12 metrics we evaluate for defense,” general manager Chris Grier said. “Just his impact coming in. And that’s run and pass. In the exit meetings [Monday], some of the defensive guys were talking about how cool he was, what a good guy, work ethic, toughness, leadership.”
NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger tweeted about Phillips: He “was the best defensive player on the field in this epic playoff game. If Phillips was a stock I would be loading up!”
▪ Players were excited to hear that the organization remains committed to Tua Tagovailoa as the starter.
“You’ve got to be excited,” Waddle said. “Tua is a great player, a special player. So having him out there is always good.”
▪ Mike Gesicki, speaking to South Florida reporters for likely the final time on Monday, looked back at his time in Miami fondly:
“Been here for five years and have loved every second, the good and the bad. So if my journey brings me back here next year and I’m back here in April, I’ll be here with a smile on my face.”
That seems unlikely; he will assuredly find another team that will be able to pay him more and utilize his receiving skills more often.
Becoming a free agent will “be interesting for sure,” he said. “I don’t really know how it all works. I’m going to meet with my agent at some point in the near future. I’m going to go upstairs and talk to Chris and Mike [McDaniel] and gauge their expectations and what they’re thinking moving forward to see if I got to keep cleaning out this locker or not.”
Gesicki and tight end Durham Smythe, who are close friends, discussed the possibility that Sunday was their final game together.
“We definitely talked about it,” Gesicki said. “I got his jersey back here. That’s my guy. Love playing with him, growing these last five years with him. It was awesome. He’s only got one year left on his deal. So if I go somewhere next year, he’s coming right behind me. We’ll see how it all plays out. But if that was it, we went out having fun.”
▪ Christian Wilkins, due to make $10.8 million next season on his fifth-year option, appears in line to get a new contract this offseason. Talks on a multiyear deal are expected. But he shrugged off that possibility during a media session on Monday.
“I’m not paying attention to that,” he said. “I’m not in control of that. That’s up to the powers that be – my agent, whoever else.”
Wilkins became the NFL’s first defensive lineman this century to record 98 tackles in a season.
“It was rough for me my rookie year; I just work tirelessly every day because I love this football stuff,” he said. “I love my teammates, I love Miami, I love this organization.”
▪ The Dolphins signed seven members of their practice squad to futures contracts, giving them rights to those players for the upcoming offseason and beyond.
The seven: defensive tackle Josiah Bronson, offensive lineman Lester Cotton, cornerback Tino Ellis, linebacker Cameron Goode, wide receiver Braylon Sanders, tackle Kion Smith and defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman.
Goode, the Dolphins’ seventh round pick last April, flashed in training camp, spent the year on the practice squad and was never elevated for a game. He said the team told him that they viewed this as a developmental season for him.
Sanders, undrafted out of Mississippi last April, was elevated the maximum three times by Miami and caught two passes for 17 yards, with a drop. The Dolphins like his upside.
Smith also was elevated the maximum three times this season, as insurance for an offensive line that sustained numerous injuries. He didn’t appear in a game. He went undrafted out of Fayetteville State in May 2021.
Cotton, who went undrafted out of Alabama in 2019, made his second NFL start in the playoff game against Buffalo, filling in for Liam Eichenberg. His previous start came for the Raiders.
Bronson spent the 2022 season on Miami’s practice squad and was elevated once, playing in Miami’s Week 17 game at New England. He played in seven NFL games in 2021– six for New Orleans and one for Cleveland.
Ellis has been on the Dolphins’ practice squad since Oct. 10. He had an interception in nine games for the USFL’s Michigan Panthers last spring.
Twyman, a sixth round pick of the Vikings in 2021, joined Miami’s practice squad on Oct. 10. In 2019, he became the first interior lineman to lead the Pittsburgh Panthers in sacks (10.5) since Aaron Donald had 11.0 in 2013.
NEWS NOTE
Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell declined opportunities to interview for the offensive coordinator jobs with Washington and the Jets, per NFL Network. For now, he plans on staying with Miami.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 1:23 PM.
