MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins second-year left tackle Patrick Paul is a tall man with a tall task ahead of him in Sunday’s matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
The 6-foot-7, 326-pound Dolphins lineman will have the primary responsibility of blocking elite Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
“As competitors, you want players on your team that look for the competitive challenge of attacking some of the league’s best,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.
Paul, a consummate competitor who has had a strong sophomore campaign as a first-time full-time starter, is up for the job.
“Definitely, he’s an excellent player and I’m really excited to go against him,” Paul said Monday. “You could watch him, a tackle could be in great position, and he still wins. He’s a very, very good football player, so this is going to be really fun and I’m very excited.”
Paul, late in his rookie season, was inserted into Miami’s late-season win at Cleveland last year and had to block Garrett when veteran Terron Armstead exited the game at halftime.
“He was able to play against him last year and knows all the problems that he can present,” McDaniel said.
Garrett is a six-time Pro Bowl selection and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. He has four sacks in six games this season, among 106 1/2 career sacks.
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It won’t all be on Paul. Garrett could possibly line up on either end of the line, and the Dolphins are likely to use help to make sure Garrett is accounted for from whatever spot.
“You spread that over a unit when you’re dealing with a player of that magnitude,” McDaniel said. “You have to understand that it’s no single person’s job when you’re talking about one of the best players in the league at any position. And it may take a receiver adding an extra bump to his pass rush, or a chip to help Pat block him. Or it may take the appropriate receiver route and quarterback timing to block him and to beat his pass rush by timing, or it may take a turn, or we may account, on one play, three guys on him.”
Miami also can’t overcommit to Garrett with other pass-rushers ready to benefit off extra attention going his way. The Browns have rookie first-round pick Mason Graham on the defensive line, and fellow defensive tackle Maliek Collins has 3 1/2 sacks.
“I think that’s part of the challenge of this particular defense and why they’re playing so well,” McDaniel said, “because if you overcommit to one player, you leave yourself extremely vulnerable to the other players not focused on and this group has a plethora of really, really good defensive linemen.”
The Browns rank third in total defense and run defense while they’re seventh against the pass. Their 14 sacks are tied for 11th in the NFL.
Injury report
Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson is approaching clearance through concussion protocol, but he wasn’t quite there at the time of McDaniel’s Wednesday morning presser before practice.
“I don’t think officially yet,” he said, “but I think I haven’t heard anything that would have me be skeptical of whether or not that will occur, so no bad news on that front.”
Dodson had already returned to limited practice last Friday before missing the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dolphins players not seen during a media viewing portion of Wednesday drills were center Aaron Brewer, fullback Alec Ingold, tight end Darren Waller and safety Elijah Campbell.
Brewer played through a pectoral injury against the Chargers. Campbell missed the game with a quadriceps ailment. Waller has been nursing his hip but playing through it, and Ingold’s reason for absence is unknown with an injury report still to come.
