1st day, 1st look at the Dolphins
Start of camp for corner Howard means the 1st look at what Dolphins’ defense can be in 2020
One. It’s just one. One day. One practice. And it wasn’t even one full practice Friday, considering Xavien Howard just returned from a knee injury and the coronavirus list and so worked only on individual drills.
So that was one. The Loneliest Number. And if this Miami Dolphins season goes as hoped — if it simply goes as planned over the offseason — the first thing to happen is Howard shows up to practice and games with such regularity everyone stops counting his appearances. As people counted Friday. “A first step,’’ coach Brian Flores called it.
Howard ran some. He sweated some. And so the Dolphins drew that much closer to getting the defense they envision on the field. Howard and Byron Jones are the start of everything, the richest cornerback tandem in the game (five years, $72.5 million for Howard; five years, $82.5 million for Jones) whose idea is to be the game’s best tandem.
The Dolphins, in some form, are following the New England Patriots by investing big money in the secondary and not elsewhere on the defense. The evolution of the game more than the importance of cornerbacks tells you why.
Cornerbacks, after all, have always been important. But they now represent two of the few positions that play every down on defense. So if you get two great ones? They’re on the field every play no matter the defensive alignment, no matter the offensive matchup, changing strategy for both sides.
“It goes really back to situation football — third down, red area, two-minute,’’ defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said.
“Those are, call it, ‘winning football.’ You really need to have guys that can cover and you can never have too many of them, especially the way offenses are constructed.
“Sometimes it’s three receivers, one tight end and a receiving back, and all of them are skilled receivers. Or it could be two tight ends, two receivers and a receiving back — and they could run the ball at your or they could spread you out and throw it. I think as many guys that you have on your team that can cover, it puts you in a more beneficial state as a defense.”
The Dolphins invested a firstround pick in Noah Igbinoghene. They have given good contracts to cornerbacks-turned-safety in Eric Rowe and Bobby McCain. So they’ve spent more than any team in football on the secondary for the reasons Boyd explained.
If the Dolphins are to become the team they want to be, three primary things happen: the offensive line’s additions must to
develop to run the ball; the defensive line’s new additions have to stop the run and rush the passer in ways they didn’t last year; and Howard and Jones have to line up every Sunday.
That’s a starting point. The portfolio of Jones says he’ll be there. He missed one game in his five Dallas seasons. He’s only 27, too, meaning he’s still in his prime at cornerback.
Howard’s history asks how lucky you feel. He’s played one full season in his four Dolphins years.
He’s missed 24 of 60 games. He’s had three knee surgeries and, while they’ve all been minor and he’s only 27, you still have to wonder: Do knees get healthier as you age? It’s unclear if he was ready to start camp when he tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Dolphins had a big Friday considering it was billed as a quiet day before Saturday’s scrimmage. They met on the field before practice and, one by one, players talked to the team evidently about the racial injustice protests in sports.
It ended with coach Brian Flores talking. Flores has a rare story for a
NFL head coach, as is known by now. He grew up in the Brownsville projects in New York and mentioned, almost in passing, of policemen having pointed a gun at him.
Howard grew up in the tough Fifth Ward of Houston. He’s battled his way into such NFL stardom he’s now the primary question of this defense. If he’s healthy, it looks like the team can be healthy. If he shows up every day, this defense can, too.
Not that anyone was counting. But Friday was one practice. Just one. You’ll know things are going as planned when it’s not news if he shows up.