Last Sunday, when the Miami Dolphins had a thrilling overtime win over the Washington Commanders in Madrid, linebacker Jordyn Brooks wore the number of tackles he had on his jersey.
Twenty.
It earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors — over teammate and cornerback Jack Jones, who tilted the international game in the Dolphins’ favor when he intercepted the first pass of overtime in Commanders territory, and over Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett’s four-sack performance in defeat against the Baltimore Ravens.
Brooks’ No. 20 jersey was all over the field. He’d elude blocks or defeat them to get to Commanders ball carriers, and his relentless effort and pursuit often had him cleaning up a play that went away from him that still ended once he was the one to arrive at the point of attack.
Brooks’ 20 tackles, which tied his career high, were the most by a player in the NFL this season, most in any of the league’s international games and most by any Dolphins defender since Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas tallied 21 in a 2006 game against the Buffalo Bills.
It’s only fitting that Brooks and Thomas are being mentioned together again.
When Brooks recorded 143 tackles in 2024, his first season with Miami after spending his first four in Seattle, it was the most by any Dolphins player since his fellow Texas Tech alum, Thomas, had 165 in 2006.
The two have been connected through their shared alma maters, professional teams and tackling prowess.
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“I actually had a great conversation with him over the offseason,” Brooks revealed to reporters on Tuesday of the team’s bye week. “He gave me some great advice. We talked about a lot. I appreciated his advice. We keep in touch here and there. He’s a guy that I looked up to since I stepped (in) Day 1 at Texas Tech and then obviously coming here. Anytime he reaches out, it makes my day.
“For us to share the alma mater and then obviously here with this franchise, it’s pretty cool, so I appreciate that.”
With a league-leading 125 tackles through 11 games in 2025, Brooks is on a torrid pace for 193 in the 17-game regular season.
The conversation Brooks had with Thomas before this season wasn’t the first between the two. He also told the Sun Sentinel late last year about how Thomas welcomed him to the Dolphins.
“It was a lot of things,” Brooks said of that conversation, “but the biggest thing was just, being the linebacker of the defense, everybody’s looking to you, as far as leadership. But first, you got to lead by action rather than words, and everything else will follow through.”
In his second season with Miami, Brooks earned captaincy for the first time in his career, a symbol of his growing leadership.
Before the Dolphins reeled off two straight wins heading into the bye, it turned out Brooks was the one to remove the Pop-A-Shot mini-basketball game from the locker room, as running back De’Von Achane revealed during the team’s week of practice in Madrid.
Brooks, on two occasions, has not been willing to discuss that maneuver with the media.
The weekly honor for Brooks was his second of the season, after also getting the Week 8 AFC Defensive Player of the Week crown, when Garrett had a five-sack game, by the way.
The Dolphins’ bye will provide some much-needed recuperation for Brooks, who said he slept well on the flight home from Madrid.
