AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Dolphins RT Austin Jackson mentioned that he’s been receiving advice from recently signed LT Terron Armstead this offseason.

“I told him mentally what I was looking for and obviously a guy like that with his experience, I took everything he said to heart,” Jackson, via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. 

Jackson feels that he executed well during the team’s joint practices against the Buccaneers this week. 

“I think I was able to transition the intensity and my execution of the course of two days,” Jackson said. “I had a good first day, finished off with a great second day. That’s what I want to maintain. That’s what I will maintain.”

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa thinks that their offensive line has progressed a lot since last season. 

“I think we’ve come a long way and I think the guys would also say that we’re not close to where we want to be, but shoot, it’s exciting for the guys,” said Tagovailoa.

Jets

• Jets LB Quincy Williams on his late hit on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: “I should’ve slowed down. It was dumb on me. That was really it. It was like one of those learning moments. Just let up. I wasn’t paying attention to where the sideline was.” (Rich Cimini)
• Jets HC Robert Saleh on veteran QB Joe Flacco: “Everyone knows how I feel about Joe … He’s got a lot of juice left in the tank.” (Zack Rosenblatt)

Patriots

Patriots HC Bill Belichick said rookies like first-round G Cole Strange, second-round WR Tyquan Thornton, third-round CB Marcus Jones, and fourth-round QB Bailey Zappe have “a long way to go” and have developed since joining the team. 

“They’ve all got a long way to go, and we’re just scratching the surface here,” Belichick said, via Chad Graff of The Athletic. “We’ve got a lot of work to do with everybody, but they’re better than they were certainly back in May. Just a day-by-day process.”

Belichick said CB Myles Bryant is showing good tracking ability, quickness, and decision-making. 

“He’s shown a good ability to track and catch the ball,” Belichick said. “We know Myles has good quickness, and we know he’s a good decision-maker, which is a lot in that position. He made a couple nice plays. He’s worked hard for that opportunity, earned it, and then did something with it — all encouraging things. But that’s kind of typical of Myles. That’s kind of the way he is and the kid he is. He’s a very diligent, hard-working kid who always gives you his best effort. He’s a smart, instinctive football player in a lot of different roles.”

Belichick mentioned that WR Tre Nixon is proving to be “one of the hardest working players on the team.”

“Hard-working kid, tough kid, looking for an opportunity,” Belichick said. “Nobody works harder than he does. He’s one of the hardest working players on the team.”

As for Zappe, Belichick thinks he showed calmness when playing in Thursday’s preseason game and was able to make some plays. 

“I thought he was calm all night,” Belichick said. “Again, we’re all going to learn from things. He’ll learn from things. He made some good plays. There are some other things that are part of the learning process.”