MIAMI GARDENS — When Miami Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones punched the football out of New York Jets running back Braelon Allen’s grasp before he crossed the goal line for a fumble that was recovered by safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on Monday night, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver let out maybe the most emotion he’s shown on the sideline of a game since joining the team.
He enthusiastically fist pumped and shouted an array of expletives out of excitement as he greeted his players back to the sideline from the field.
“Yeah, I might have been a little edgy,” Weaver said to laughter in the room Thursday as he recalled the Monday night moment.
It was the Dolphins’ first forced turnover of the season. It came after the Jets were marching down the field for 76 rushing yards on a long opening series.
It also came after his impassioned plea last week for his defense to play with violence. Jones provided it in that moment with a punch.
“I think we saw some results of that, which is important,” Weaver said.
The defensive coach had a story about how he handed safety and special teams ace Elijah Campbell his phone.
He told him: “You cannot drop it because you’re holding the hopes and dreams of the football team and a community in your hands.
“You’re going to hold on it for dear life. If I’m going to get that from you, I’m going to have to violently take it from you, and that’s what we needed to do in the game.
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“It’s no different with the football. That’s what ball carriers are being told, right? They’re constantly drilling ball security, making sure we don’t put it on the ground. And, in order for us to get it, we’re not going to be able to just pickpocket it all the time. We’re going to have to take it.”
The emphasis on forcing fumbles was not just said but put into action this week, with defenders working on drills for it specifically.
“As a defense we made a concerted effort last week of really, really everybody taking ownership in focusing on that and you saw that show up in the game,” Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo said Thursday. “So there’s a formula there. … That formula works, and we need to make sure we continue to put into that formula to continue to get the results out of it.”
The Dolphins recovered three fumbles. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson also forced one on quarterback Justin Fields, recovered by outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, and rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. forced and recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half.
It wasn’t all positives in violently forcing fumbles. The Dolphins did not exert physicality, especially early, in run defense Monday night.
New York, outside of one 5-yard pass, strictly utilized the ground game to get all the way to bordering the plane of the goal line on that opening series.
“Fortunately, Jack turned the tides, but we had about an inch to work with,” Weaver said.
The Jets ran for 197 yards as a team, with Fields taking off for a 43-yard touchdown scamper in the second half.
“Yeah, I expect people to try to run the ball,” said Weaver, as his defense ranks 30th against the run. “Most coordinators, they look at you statistically, see how people are trying to attack you, and it’s a copycat league. And until we stop it, that’s what we’re going to see. I have the utmost faith in our ability to do that. It’s got to start this week, and we got to start the game faster.”
Fitzpatrick thought the Dolphins, in part, responded to Weaver’s challenge but still has room for improvement before facing the Carolina Panthers this Sunday.
“I think we responded well,” he said after the Monday night game. “I think we still got to do some things better. We can’t let them move the ball like that on the first drive of the game. We got to start fast. We can’t warm up to it. I think we definitely played a more physical, downhill game.”
It was interesting, from that standpoint, that Weaver started Monday’s game with a 4-4 defense — four defensive linemen and four linebackers with just three defensive backs. Weaver said it was just about matching personnel with a heavy Jets package to start and “certainly not” about any early message of stopping the run.
One of the reasons the Dolphins are struggling up front is their rookie defensive linemen still haven’t quite lived up to their billing, namely first-round pick Kenneth Grant.
“Nobody puts more pressure on that kid than himself,” Weaver said. “So I try to exercise caution and just, let’s not judge this kid after four games. He’s going to be a good player in this league because of his work ethic and his want-to. … KG, he’s a tremendous talent, but until we match that talent with the necessary technique and fundamentals, it won’t be reached.”
Veteran defensive tackle Zach Sieler started showing some flashes last game, with two tackles for loss after struggling in his first three games surrounded by the youth on the line.
“When he was trying to help so many other people, we weren’t giving him the opportunity to (make plays),” Weaver said. “I think now with some of the maturation of the younger guys around him, maybe playing not both rookies with him and trying to take some of that off him at times, that’s going to allow him to be him and take some of the stress that we had on him early in the season.”