AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Dolphins CB Noah Igbinoghene said that his summer is starting off well with the team, and reiterates that if he keeps working every single day, things will work out in his favor.

“It’s starting off really good,” Igbinoghene said, via Miami Herald. “We’re in OTAs right now. It’s an everyday process, so just keep going every single day and just get better. That’s really my main focus. If I keep working, it’s going to turn out in my favor…It’s a process. It’s not going to happen so fast. I’ve got to be patient with myself and this team as well.”

Dolphins CB coach Sam Madison said that Igbinoghene has been working hard, and is working on helping him fine-tune some of the intricacies of the position that will help him translate his raw ability into production on the field.   

“The one thing that I’ll say: he’s been here, he’s been working his tail off,” Madison said. “He’s here, the first one in the building, and normally the last one to leave. So, I really like that part from him. But, he’s working extremely hard. His time is going to come. With ‘X’ and Byron being down, it gives him an opportunity to go out there and work with the 1s. It’s just been really good just to be able to watch him and see how he’s asking questions and then just going and applying the things that I’m trying to tell him and still playing within the scheme of the defense. He has some talent. He has some speed. Now, we’ve just got to get him up to speed and hopefully be able to get him in some games, and hopefully those things can come out and show.”

Jets

For the first chunk of the season, Jets QB Zach Wilson looked like he was desperately trying to keep his head above water. Then he hurt his knee and had to sit out a few weeks, during which the Jets offense took off with Mike White and Joe Flacco doing a better job of efficiently running the scheme, including a win over the eventual AFC champion Bengals. Jets HC Robert Saleh says that actually marked a turning point for Wilson, as the time off gave him a chance to slow down and see how the offense was supposed to look. Saleh adds Wilson has built on that progress this offseason.   

“Where I think he’s really, really focused is on the more important parts of the game, rather than what he perceived the game to be a year ago,” Saleh said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “A year ago, it felt like he was trying to find ways to make every play, rather than just taking what the defense gives you—and the defense is always giving you something. It’s just a matter of taking it. He’s really learning about space, and he’s able to say, ‘Well, shoot, there’s space, let me get the ball to my athletes and my athletes will go make plays.'”

Patriots

Patriots LB coach Jerod Mayo isn’t sure what HC Bill Belichick plans to do this season when it comes to the defensive playcalling.

“Even though he’s older, I don’t even think he sleeps,” Mayo said, via PatriotsWire.com. “He wears multiple hats. He’s in everyone’s room. Sometimes he’s in the linebacker room. Sometimes he’s in the defensive unit room. Sometimes he’s on the offensive side of the ball. You never know where you’re going to find him. He’s a coach of football players. He’s not a defense or offensive coach. I think we get too much into that. It’s: ‘Can you teach someone something new and can you help someone get better?’”

• Belichick was asked if he would call the offensive plays and said he was months away from settling that role: “I’ve called them and I haven’t called them … we’ll see.” (Karen Guregian)