AFC Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots, Sony Michel

Dolphins

Dolphins’ LB Jason Strowbridge is hoping to make the 53-man roster this season after being a fifth-round pick by the team last season. He knows he is facing an uphill battle on a relatively young roster.

“It’s everything I’ve worked for in my life,” Strowbridge said, via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “Honestly. I always saw myself as being here [in the NFL]. I didn’t think I would be this close to home. But this is something I always dreamed of. It’s everything. It took a lot and it’s going to take a lot more to reach my potential.”

Strowbridge has posted three tackles and no sacks in the preseason so far, adding that that is essentially his resume to make the roster.

“That’s my resume right there, really,” Strowbridge said. “And so every game is about fundamentals and execution. And bringing one hundred percent every time. It’s kind of just being another example of what you can do when you put your mind to something. And so it’s really for my hometown and my parents. I have seen them sacrifice everything for me, to get me to this point. And that’s something that drives me.”

Dolphins’ LB Shaquem Griffin says he knows what it is like to live life on the roster bubble of an NFL team.

“I’ve been a guy who made the team, I’ve been a guy who’s been waived before,” Griffin said. “My whole thing is the only thing you can control is the controllables and that’s kind of the thing I teach the young guys is don’t allow decision-making that’s not on you to stress you out. Because that’s only going to hurt yourself mentally.”

Jets

Jets HC Robert Saleh said their offensive line’s protection issues during the preseason are overblown and points out that they plan on implementing several aspects to help the line. 

“There’s a lot of things that you can do to mitigate a pass rush,” Saleh said, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. “We’re doing some third down periods where offense isn’t exactly trying to scheme up protection to create space. (The quarterbacks) are not exactly trying to get rid of the ball. They’re working on things. There’s going to be a screen game, there’s going to be a lot of different elements to help protection. There’s the quarterback getting rid of the football.”

Saleh added that the Jets’ running game, play-action attack, and screen game will help Zach Wilson have more time to throw. 

“If you can work your play-action passes, your run game, your screen game, the little tricks and gadgets that you have, you have a chance to allow your quarterback to give them 15-20 opportunities to actually drop back, which will mitigate and eliminate some of the pressure that he does get. What’s happening at practice, there’s going to be people around his feet. It is what it is.”

Patriots

Adam Schefter says that the Patriots were comfortable with who they had at running back and had a change of heart about RB Sony Michel, which led the team to deal him to the Rams for draft picks.

“I think at that point in time, people around the league knew that the Patriots had a surplus of running backs because they really like Damien Harris,” Schefter said, via Danny Jaillet of Yahoo! Sports. “They like Rhamondre Stevenson, their fourth-round running back. They have James White. They have [J.J.] Taylor. They have backs. And so I think teams were calling about Sony Michel and the Patriots initially resisted offers from other teams and then somewhere around [Tuesday], I don’t know what changed, but maybe we’re getting close to the final roster decisions and New England began crunching numbers and saw that, ‘Look, Sony Michel is entering the last year of his contract, doesn’t have a future in New England, get two picks back for him, create a roster spot and you move on from him.”