AFC Notes: Braelon Allen, Davon Godchaux, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

• Dolphins FB Alec Ingold was fined $11,817 for Unnecessary Roughness (low block), DB Kader Kohou was fined $5,528 for Unnecessary Roughness (facemask), and LB Duke Riley was fined $16,883 for Unnecessary Roughness (blindside block) in Week 3.

Jets

Jets HC Robert Saleh said RB Braelon Allen began to separate himself in training camp as New York’s primary backup to Breece Hall.

“I would say once we put the pads on, he separated himself,” Saleh said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “It was clear that we had to get this dude on the field… It was a whole new level of football. So he’s earned this, and we’ll continue to build it.”

Hall praised Allen for wearing down defenses and expressed confidence in the rookie running back. 

“With my running style, I feel like I have a little bit of everything,” Hall said. “I have the finesse and the power to break it long. For him, he comes in and he’s just wearing the defense down, wearing them down, wearing them down. … So it’s cool to just know that when I come out of the game, I know he’s going to produce when he comes in.”

Allen was drafted out of Wisconsin, where he joined after graduating high school early following his junior year. Jets C Joe Tippmann was Allen’s teammate in college, recalling how the running back ran over several defenders during his first practice as a teenager. 

“I remember him showing up, he was 17 years old,” Tippmann said. “He was someone who was supposed to be going into his senior year and then reclassified. Nobody knew what that meant. So him walking in there, we’re like, ‘All right, whatever. This guy thinks he can just skip his senior year of football.’ First practice, we step out there and I think he ran over three or four dudes and immediately everything switched.”

Patriots

Patriots DT Davon Godchaux was not a fan of the team being the biggest underdog of the week against the 49ers.

“Carolina came into Vegas last week and everybody was saying ‘Vegas is going to win this game easily.’ Same thing with Cincinnati against Washington on ‘Monday Night Football’ — everybody thought Washington was going to be smoked. So what happened? Jayden Daniels put a whipping on Cincinnati. Andy Dalton did the same thing to the Raiders. This is the NFL,” Godchaux said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “The game still has to be played in between the lines. I get it, people have to make the lines, the bets, and all that. But it doesn’t matter what someone else says. It matters what the team believes in — the three phases, and the 11 guys that are on the field at that moment.”

Godchaux went on to note the team had many mistakes in their loss to the Jets but thinks the defensive unit will be able to correct theirs going forward.

“We had a lot of missed tackles. Too many missed tackles. Uncharacteristic by us,” Godchaux added. “The [touchdown] pass [Aaron] Rodgers threw near the goal line to Allen Lazard, we missed the tackle at corner. Those are things that we have to be better. And we are better than that. “Not making an excuse for a short week. But we had 6-7 [tackles for a loss] where we just missed the tackle on the running back or the receiver. We have to be better at fundamentals first of all. I think once we do that, we’ll be OK.”

• Reiss reports that LB Oshane Ximines was diagnosed with a torn ACL after Week 2 and is waiting for swelling to subside before scheduling surgery.
• Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt said rookie QB Drake Maye has looked good in practice and getting time in Week 3’s loss to the Jets was beneficial for him: “Really good. He’s continuing to grow. I think the game experience helped him.” (Chad Graff)
• Van Pelt on RB Rhamondre Stevenson having a fumble in each of the first four games: “It’s like yelling at your child. You love the guy and he does the right thing the majority of the time, but it’s an issue and you have to sit down and address it. He’s more embarrassed about it than anybody else. He’s a prideful guy.” (Reiss)
• Stevenson was fined $11,255 for Unnecessary Roughness (facemask) in Week 3.