AFC Notes: Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins, Zach Wilson, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

Dolphins QB coach Darrell Bevell spoke to the media about working with QB Tua Tagovailoa in 2022.

“We’ll be able to do whatever we want to do,” Bevell said, via DolphinsWire.com. “There’s not really any throw that he can’t make. I think really a sense of timing and accuracy would be the first two things that I would say. Tua’s got, really, a great feel for both of those. That’s where I would say it starts. Each guy really has kind of a different set of leadership skills. No one’s guy going to be the same, but Tua definitely has it. The number one thing is when you go play well that helps you lead. He’s doing all those other things. He’s working on his game. He’s working on his team. He’s doing all those things to help him be a great leader.”

• Dolphins southwest area scout Chris Buford is leaving to join the Browns as a national scout. (Pete Thamel)

Jets

One of the worries about Jets QB Zach Wilson, when he was coming out of BYU, was durability. Wilson is listed at 6-2 and 214 pounds, which isn’t imposing for the quarterback position, and he had a little bit of an injury history in college. Among the many things he struggled with as a rookie, staying healthy was one of them. He’s hoping to address that by adding weight and strength this offseason. 

“It looks like he’s put on some weight,” Jets LB C.J. Mosley said via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “He’s been in the weight room. Maybe he went down to Miami and the [players who train there] got him right. I don’t know if they were lifting weights like that at BYU. But that’s the difference between Year 1 and Year 2. Your body starts to change, you get a little older and you figure out the dos and the don’ts. That’s part of being a pro and growing up.”

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says the word is Wilson is up to 220 pounds or so after focusing on adding weight and strength without losing twitchiness or athleticism. 

Patriots

Patriots second-round WR Tyquan Thornton ran the second-fasted 40-yard dash ever at this year’s NFL Combine, which certainly contributed to him going higher than many people anticipated. It’s an impressive athletic feat but doesn’t necessarily translate to football success, as a look at the rest of the top-ten 40 times will show. Thornton’s trainer who helped coach him at that time, XPE Sports’ Matt Gates, said he thinks Thornton is different, though. 

“When we started pre-testing, I was like, ‘Man, we’ve got something here,'” he said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “Super smooth. Super explosive. And honestly, for a guy that is that fast, you don’t typically see someone who can change directions and catch the ball well. A lot of times you’ll see straight-ahead wide receivers who can blow the top off it, but they can’t run a route. Tyquan can do all that — he’s got good hands, he’s smart, he picks things up quick.”

• Patriots DT Daniel Ekuale had an opportunity to join the Bills for the playoffs but elected to stay on New England’s practice squad.