Jones feels the weight of expectations
ATLANTA Reshad Jones admits that he hadn’t felt like himself most of this season.
The confidence was there, but the elite player wasn’t.
It has been a long road back from the shoulder injury that limited the Miami Dolphins’ starting safety to six games last season.
But Jones’ performance in last Sunday’s 16-10 win over the Tennessee Titans proved that the skills which got him a five-year, $60 million contract extension this offseason are still there.
Jones, who is four games into his seventh season as a Dolphins starter, recorded seven tackles, half a sack, one quarterback hit and recovered two fumbles — one of which he turned into a 38-yard touchdown.
The former University of Georgia standout hopes to double down on his playmaking prowess in his Atlanta homecoming when the Dolphins face the Falcons at 1 p.m. on Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I’m going to have to play like that for our defense to be as good as we can be,” said Jones, who has 30 family members and friends attending the game. “My main focus is to remain consistent. I know I’m one of the elite-caliber safeties in this league. I have nothing to prove, but what I need to do is stay consistent so I can help this team win.”
By consistent Jones means producing gamechanging plays, like the 16 interceptions he’s pulled down throughout his eightyear career, and the four touchdowns he’s scored as a defender.
Turnovers, sacks, forced and recovered fumbles are how Jones, whose nickname is G5, judges himself.
Jones, who needs two sacks to surpass Yeremiah Bell (11) to become the alltime leader for most sacks in franchise history from a defensive back, realizes Miami’s young secondary leans heavily on his instincts and play-making ability, which often comes from improvisation.
And the Dolphins’ defense has been putting him in position to thrive.
“The fact that he’s a really good blitzer and when we pressure him, it’s something that he’s really made some money on,” head coach Adam Gase said. “Just having him back there, the intensity, the way that he goes about his business day in and day out, he’s a true pro. … Just having him on the field makes a big difference.” But Miami’s secondary needs to tighten up its coverage for Jones and the defense to make more plays. The Dolphins’ secondary is allowing quarterbacks to complete 73.3 percent of passes attempted. Only the Cleveland Browns are allowing a higher percentage (74.0) of passes to be completed so far this season.
And only 10 teams enter Sunday’s games allowing a higher yards per attempt average (7.3) than the Dolphins, which means Miami’s defense must play better in pass coverage if they want to be viewed as one of the NFL’s elite defenses.
Jones blames the struggles, which have led to opposing quarterbacks producing a 106.1 passer rating — the fourth worst cumulative rating in the NFL — on the need for tighter coverage from the cornerbacks and linebackers.
That’s the reason rookie cornerback Cordrea Tankersley will start his third game of the season against the Falcons. And Lawrence Timmons’ return from his suspension has helped.
“We’re letting guys run freely. We have to get our hand on guys and slow them down, stop the timing of their routes, disrupting the quarterback and receivers,” said Jones, who is second on the team with 26 tackles. “We’ve got to give our rush a little bit more time to get to the quarterback. If we can get our hands on guys and slow them down it will give guys like Cameron Wake, [Ndamukong] Suh, [Andre] Branch and all the guys up front time to get to the quarterback.”
Miami’s secondary will need the help against Matt Ryan, the reigning league MVP who is off to a slow start this season, but proved he’s one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks last year by producing a career-high 117.1 passer rating, and leading his team to the Super Bowl.
The Falcons possess the NFL’s third most productive offense when it comes to yards per game (388.2). But Ryan, who possesses a 87.5 passer rating, hasn’t been as efficient as he was last season as he has thrown the same number of touchdowns and interceptions (five).
Jones and company are focused on making sure Ryan doesn’t start to get hot against the Dolphins.
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