Plenty to figure out
Time will tell if defense can adjust to new scheme
DAVIE — Just how dynamic is the new Miami Dolphins’ defense Brian Flores hopes to run?
The variations of defensive looks could be endless if Flores and his assistant coaches can keep imagining them.
Through the first two weeks of Dolphins training camp, the Dolphins have worked on a variety of defensive sets — inspired by Flores — to confuse opposing offenses as much as possible.
Remember last season’s Super Bowl, when Flores’ defense helped the New England Patriots hold the high-octane Los Angeles Rams offense to just three points?
That’s the idea now on the practice fields in Davie.
But strengths do have their weaknesses.
One area where the Dolphins could struggle, even as they continue to hone their new scheme, is if opposing offenses don’t allow them to do what they want to do defensively.
The Dolphins want to make pertinent adjustments defensively based on downs and distances, as well as based on matchups.
And they will open the season hosting the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 8 and the Patriots on Sept. 15, facing two offenses that could choose to play no-huddle offensively to prevent the Dolphins from making substitutions they need to execute their scheme.
It’s one reason Flores’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on Thursday listed substitutions as one of the many priorities he will be focusing on during the Dolphins’ practice scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“I’ll start with this: Substitutions, making my sure, in my mind, in terms of the situation, as a first-time play-caller, making sure I’m seeing the situation, deploying the right guys out there for our defense,” said Graham, who worked alongside Flores on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England from 2009-15.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is already known for his lively play that could cater to as many linebackers and defensive backs on the field just to catch him when he takes off for a run.
And if there’s any quarterback that will be ready for Flores’ defense, it will be Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who may be able to dissect it simply because he’s faced it in practice in recent years.
If Brady or Jackson, or any other quarterback the Dolphins face this season, employ a no-huddle, tempo offense at points during their games this season, the Dolphins’ defense could be at a disadvantage.
How do the Dolphins plan to deal with this possible deficiency?
“We’ll see,” Graham said as Dolphins defensive coaches met with media for the first time during training camp.
“We’ll adjust. We’ll do what coach wants us to do, and we’ll try to get the job done.”
That is, of course, if opposing offenses (including Baltimore and New England) even have the ability to seamlessly run a no-huddle offense to affect the Dolphins.
Throughout the offseason and training camp, Dolphins players and coaches have gone to great lengths to not describe the intricacies of their new defense.
What we do know is this: It’s far from the traditional 4-3 or 3-4 scheme football fans are used to.
“We’ll be 1-10 if you want us to be,” Graham said with a smile.
The Dolphins’ defensive line could feature at least three or four players with linebackers from the second level crowing their way toward the line of scrimmage.
There could be two, three or four linebackers on the field ready to shore up the middle of the field and/or ready to rush off the edge while defensive linemen apply pressure up the middle.
There could also be some defensive sets where five, six, seven or even eight defensive backs roam the secondary.
All of these scenarios, of course, are dependent on the Dolphins keeping the correct number of players on the field at all times.
It may not have a defined name or be as black and white as traditional NFL defenses go, but the Dolphins players and coaches understand it.
“I know this: When we put our defense out there, there’s a whole lot of grass behind us. And based on the situation, we have to figure out how those 11 guys are going to defend it,” Graham said.