AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Dolphins’ HC Brian Flores knows that football can be very similar to a chess match, and he views rookie WR Jaylen Waddle as a piece that can create issues for opponents.

“If you’ve got guys who can run on the perimeter, if you load the box, there’s more opportunity for one-on-one matchups and opportunities downfield. Defenses have to make that decision when you have those types of players on the field,” Flores said, via Cameron Wolfe of ESPN. “If you don’t load the box and you play for those big plays, then there’s less people in the box and less people to block, and I think it really becomes kind of a numbers/math game. When you have guys on the perimeter and guys who demand some attention — that kind of attention — then there could be more space. … It’s a chess game and obviously the run game and how you attack the run game, that’s part of it.”

Waddle himself noted the many comparisons he receives to Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill.

“I get a lot of comparisons to Tyreek, just because of my small size and being able to be a runner,” Waddle said. “But I want to be my own player and try to play the game that I play and try to do my own style and not try to emulate someone else’s style. I’m going to try to be the player that I always have and try to make plays for the team.”

Jets

The Jets will take the field Week 1 against Sam Darnold and the Carolina Panthers. While the game is being tabbed as Darnold’s revenge game, people in newly-minted Jets QB Zach Wilson‘s circle believe he will be up for the challenge, reports ESPN’s Rich Cimini. 

“He looks forward to opportunities like this,” said former NFL QB John Beck, Wilson’s longtime personal coach. “Because people kind of snubbed him young, meaning he wasn’t heavily recruited [in high school], he could see these as opportunities to prove something.” 

Beck states that Wilson will not crumble under the pressure of the New York spotlight, instead, he believes he will take the challenge in stride, and says that’s just part of who the rookie is.

“To him, it’s not him versus Sam Darnold. In Zach’s mind, it’s him taking the stage at his first regular-season game. To him, that’s what this stage is about. Because of that, he wants to play really well in that situation. I think that type of challenge excites him.”

Patriots

• ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes the Patriots are working through the logistics of potentially having joint practices with the Eagles and Giants during the preseason this year. 
• New England had CB Dre Kirkpatrick and G Alex Redmond in for workouts last week but Reiss says no deals are imminent.