AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

The uncertainty from the pandemic last year prompted Dolphins WR Albert Wilson to take the opt-out option. Though the season went off fairly well all things considered, Wilson doesn’t have any regrets. He was pretty banged up by the end of 2019 and says the year off helped his body recuperate. 

“I wasn’t comfortable doing things that [2019] year [but] I feel great right now — my whole body, including the hip,” Wilson said via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do out there. It’s exciting going into the season feeling fully healthy and knowing you can do whatever you want out there.”

Jets

Jets RB Tevin Coleman feels he has “a lot left in my tank” at 28 years old and pointed out that he’s still fast. 

“Oh, yeah, I feel like I’ve got a lot left — a lot left in my tank,” Coleman said, via Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press. “I’m a fast guy, I’m a strong guy, I’m big. So I’ve definitely got a lot in my tank to prove myself.”

Coleman said he’s fully recovered from shoulder and knee injuries that he dealt with last season. 

“I’m back to 100 percent,” Coleman said. “I definitely had a lot of things going on from last year with my knee, my shoulder and things like that. But yeah, I’m 100 percent and everything’s going good.”

Coleman believes he’s had an easy transition to Jets OC Mike LaFleur‘s system given he played under LaFleur in 2019-2020 with the 49ers. 

“It definitely been a good transition, a pretty easy transition,” Coleman said. “The offense has been kind of the same as San Fran in that they’re doing different things to make sure we get the ball and we can make plays in the offense.”

Coleman added that receiving out of the backfield is a “big, big part of my game” but can also block and run the ball. 

“That’s definitely a big, big part of my game, running out the backfield and catching the ball out the backfield,” Coleman said. “I see myself that I can I can do it all — I can block, I can run and I can catch the ball out the backfield. So I’m definitely pretty comfortable with that.”

Patriots

Patriots WR Matthew Slater was happy to see the team spend a lot in free agency.

“Well, you know, it was an exciting time because I think we acquired some fantastic football players, but more importantly we got some great men that are going to be great assets to our locker room,” Slater said, via Sean T. McGuire of NESN.com. “But I understand just as well as anyone else that spending money doesn’t equal results.

“For us, it’s going to be about coming together, executing, respecting the process of trying to get better, of trying to work with one another, and winning each and every day,” Slater continued. “So it is exciting, to an extent. But excitement only gets you so far. At some point you have to go out there and work and earn it and prove it.”