Howard wary of Green — and being ‘Mossed’ again
CB recalls getting burned two years ago by Bengals WR.
DAVIE — Two years ago, Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard was watching ESPN when he saw a video of Bengals receiver A.J. Green catching a deep pass against him.
“He got an opportunity to make a great play on me,” Howard said Wednesday. “I thought it was a push off.”
Howard said it was a deep pass play, though not a touchdown. But what hurt most was it was featured on a segment with Randy Moss.
“I remember it in the back of my head,” Howard said. “Because I saw it on ‘You Got Mossed!’ So I got a little bit of heat on that. I was like (my gosh). I’m ready this week, though.”
Howard gets another shot on Sunday as the Dolphins travel to play the Bengals. Green is second in the NFL with five touchdown catches.
“He’s got history, man,” Howard said. “He plays against a lot of guys and does great things. We have to be ready for the challenge. They also have John Ross and Tyler Boyd. So they’re doing something great out there. Good receiving corp. Nice quarterback, too. So we’ve got to be prepared.”
Howard did not have a strong game at New England, allowing a touchdown and picking up two penalties during the 38-7 loss.
What’s the point of emphasis for the Dolphins defensive backs this week?
“Stick together,” Howard said. “Communicate on that back end. Make sure we don’t have any busted coverages. Stick together. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know that what you put on the film the opposing quarterback and offense sees. So you know we’ve got guys like (Cordrea) Tank(ersley) and Torry (McTyer) coming in.”
Lewis on lookout for trick plays: The Bengals and Dolphins aren’t that different. Both head into Sunday’s matchup in Cincinnati atop their divisions at 3-1 and both have quarterbacks who are playing pretty well.
As Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has studied Miami this week, he’s focused as much on the recent debacle at New England as he has on the first three games. He sounded more concerned that he’d get the early version of the Dolphins.
“They’ve done a nice job of playing on time, taking advantage of opportunities in field position, they’ve driven the ball with the run game,” Lewis said Wednesday. “They used some gadgets and (end) arounds and things like that in the win versus Oakland to provide big plays and spark. That’s a part of what they do. They utilize the speed of their offensive football team.”
While Cincinnati will look at some of the ploys New England used — of note, the Patriots loaded up with seven defensive backs much of the game and were still able to get pressure on Ryan Tannehill — Lewis doesn’t necessarily expect the Dolphins to approach his defense the same way they did last week.
The Bengals’ offense should be a solid challenge for Miami, meanwhile, especially coming off a tough weekend against New England.
Cincinnati ranks No. 12 in passing offense, and quarterback Andy Dalton has a 95.9 passer rating. The Bengals put up 34 or more points in each of their three victories.
“The quarterback’s playing at very high level,” Lewis said. “The quarterback does a great job of orchestrating the offense.
“In the running game, we’re doing a nice job getting to the spots and playing fast and putting our heads in the right spot. The only thing that’s holding us back there are some careless hands. In the passing game, the guys are getting to the right spots for the quarterback and that’s key.”