AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Sunday’s game between the Dolphins and Bengals turned into an extraordinarily chippy affair. First Bengals WR Tyler Boyd and Dolphins CB Xavien Howard were ejected in the first half after getting tangled up out of bounds. Then following a second penalized hit by Bengals WR Mike Thomas on Dolphins punt returner Jakeem Grant, the benches partially cleared for a fight. The aftermath included three players being ejected total from both teams and Dolphins HC Brian Flores having to be restrained by his own players. 

Jets

• The Jets fired DC Gregg Williams on Monday following his horrendous play-call that played a pivotal role in Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Raiders. Williams called a Cover-0 blitz that left UDFA CB Lamar Jackson isolated on Raiders first-round WR Henry Ruggs. Jackson bit on a double move and Ruggs scored the winning, 46-yard touchdown with five seconds left. 
• The move probably shouldn’t come as a surprise given some comments after the game. Per SNY’s Scott Thompson, Jets HC Adam Gase said: “Obviously, everybody’s disappointed. To lose a game like that — our guys work way too hard to go through this s—t.”
• Jets S Marcus Maye, who is a defensive captain, also called out Williams’ decision: “Just felt like it could’ve been a better call in that situation.”
• On Monday, Gase said it was his decision to fire Williams: “I just felt like that was the best thing for our team moving forward. Organizationally we had discussions this morning and we felt like that was the best move for us to make.” (Ralph Vacchiano)
• He met with Williams Monday morning to tell him the news: “Gregg and myself talked for close to an hour this morning. Obviously he wasn’t happy, like most of us are when this happens. But that’s our profession.” 
• Gase noted he wasn’t happy with the call when it happened but didn’t overrule it: “I mean, I wish I would have,” he said. “I wish I would’ve called timeout. But I didn’t.”
• Jets G Greg Van Roten (toe), third-round S Ashtyn Davis (foot) and DB Bennett Jackson (hamstring) could all be out for the season with their respective injuries. (Connor Hughes)
• In a radio interview with WFAN, former QB and CBS Sports commentator Boomer Esiason seemed to suggest his coworker at CBS, former Steelers HC Bill Cowher, could consider coming out of retirement to coach the Jets. (Pro Football Talk)
• Cowher retired in 2007 and has worked with Esiason since then. Esiason suggested Cowher might be feeling the itch to return to the sideline: “All I know is that yesterday, [Cowher] was showing me and Nate [Burleson] film of him coaching on the sideline where he was mic’ed up, and we looked at each other like, ‘Hmm, what does that mean?’ Is he sending a message? I’ve worked with him for 14 years and I’ve never seen that.” 
• Esiason said if Cowher does come back, the Jets job would be appealing to him for a number of reasons: “He was saying to me yesterday, he’s the one that told me the Jets job is going to be really attractive, and they could hire whomever they want, and he told me he loves [GM] Joe Douglas.” 

Patriots

• The Patriots plan to bring in WR Devin Smith and DB Dayan Lake for workouts this week. (Mike Reiss)