Veterans get a shot to prove resolve

Thin defensive line turns to Woodard, Malveaux

DAVIE — There are moments in games where an NFL career is either forged or foiled, and Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals will provide those unique opportunities for two Miami Dolphins players recently elevated to the 53-man roster.

Nothing has been handed to defensive linemen Jonathan Woodard and Cameron Malveaux during their football careers. Not in college, and certainly not in the NFL, where so far each has established themselves as end of the roster talents.

So when you see them on the Dolphins defensive line on Sunday understand they deserve to be there, even if they are both viewed as injury replacements.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Miami is at that point on the defensive line one month into the season.

Cameron Wake is battling a knee injury that has him doubtful for Sunday’s game and might require the Pro Bowl pass rusher get even more rest.

Andre Branch is battling a similar knee injury that forced him to miss last week’s game, and makes him questionable for Sunday.

William Hayes’ season has concluded because of the ACL injury he suffered two weeks ago, and the Dolphins released disgruntled defensive lineman Jordan Phillips earlier this week.

As a result, what was once the Dolphins’ deepest unit has become the thinnest in the span of two weeks, and Miami’s coaches are forced to dig deep for replacements.

Woodard and Malveaux, two defensive linemen the Dolphins have been developing on the practice squad since last season, will be forced to play significant snaps against the Bengals.

Their contributions at the line of scrimmage will likely determine the outcome of Sunday’s game because a Dolphins defense that can’t stop the run or pressure Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has no chance to beat one of the NFL’s most potent offenses.

Gase acknowledged that all of Miami’s injuries on defense could force defensive coordinator Matt Burke to get creative with how he uses his personnel.

“I’ve never been one to stop them from trying anything. I’ve always told Matt, ‘Be as creative as you want to be. You can do stuff nobody else tried. I’m not going to say no.’ I’m all about how ever we can stop a team and get them off the field,” Gase said. “I don’t care how we do it.”

Woodard contributed four tackles in his first NFL game last week. He played more snaps against the Patriots than Charles Harris, the Dolphins’ 2017 first-round pick, who has contributed one tackle all season.

“It was pretty surreal,” Woodard said of his first game. “I had to not let the fact I was playing against people like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski overshadow what my assignment was.”

Woodard has learned plenty of lessons about life and himself from his NFL journey, which began as a 2016 seventh-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars and has included a stop in Atlanta.

“I think I’m even more determined than I thought I was, being able to persist through failure, and being let go, and being told I wasn’t good enough. I kept fighting through that and kept working,” said Woodard, who signed with the Dolphins last December when Malveaux was called up to the 53-man roster. “The only time you fail is when you stop pushing through.”

Malveaux was on a flight to Arizona for a tryout with the Cardinals last week when his breakthrough arrived. That’s when the Dolphins called with an offer to put him back on the practice squad. Malveaux spent the first week of the season on Miami’s practice squad, but got released a week later when the Dolphins need a practice squad spot for long snapper Lucas Gravelle.

He spent two weeks out of the NFL and worked out for the Cowboys and Colts before the Dolphins needed his 6-foot-6, 275-pound frame to help stop the run. He was promoted to the 53-man roster earlier this week.

“The road wasn’t as easy as it looks. It was extremely hard,” said Malveaux, who contributed five tackles and a sack in the five games he played last season. “I’ve never thought, ‘I should be in this position, or that position,’ because it doesn’t really do anything for me.

“I just go out and work. That’s all I know.”

Malveaux also knows how to fight for his NFL future.

The Dolphins hope that attitude, and tenacity shows on the field this Sunday, and rubs off on the rest of the team.