AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

  • In an agent survey by the Athletic’s Ben Standig, the Dolphins were a team a number of the people polled identified as having one of the best offseasons this year: “I liked what the Dolphins did between adding quality free agents and bringing in guys that (HC Brian Flores) is familiar with from the Patriots system. Byron Jones is a really good corner. I mean, their secondary is strong now, and then their draft, I thought, was spectacular.”
  • NFL Media’s Marc Sessler picks Dolphins first-round QB Tua Tagovailoa as his breakout candidate to make their first Pro Bowl in 2020. 

Jets

Jets STs coach Brant Boyer praised third-round S Ashtyn Davis‘ effort as a return specialist. 

“A lot of people that I watch on tape, those returners will run out of bounds right there and they won’t fight for extra yards,” Boyer said, via the teams’ official site. “There is no quit in this kid at all and that’s what I really like about him.”

Boyer also commented on Davis’ speed and toughness on the field. 

“He is really fast. And I’ll tell you what else I like is his toughs,” Boyer said. “I would have loved to have played next to this kid.”

Patriots

New Jets G Greg Van Roten worked to protect Patriots QB Cam Newton the past few seasons while both were with the Panthers, so he has an up-close perspective on what Newton can bring. While most of the injuries that have the NFL as a whole skeptical of Newton’s future occurred while Van Roten was a teammate, the veteran guard saw enough of Newton’s potential to wish the former MVP didn’t land in the same division with Patriots HC Bill Belichick

“What does he bring to the Patriots?” Van Roten said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “It’s definitely terrifying to think if Cam Newton’s healthy and he’s in Belichick’s offense, you know, in my division, it could be a long year for the other teams, because he’s a game-changer. He came into the league, you know, he’s a league MVP, brought a team to the Super Bowl – he’s just built differently than a lot of quarterbacks. And he’s a headache to game plan for. So when he’s healthy, you can stop the run from him, but then you gotta defend the pass. If you can stop the pass, well then you’ve got to account for the run. So, it’s basically, pick one thing and he’ll do the other. And then you couple him with Belichick, who only cares about winning and Cam really wants to prove himself, so it’s definitely a recipe for disaster for the rest of the league if they can figure it out.”

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