Adam Stites
After a Miami Dolphins training camp practice Tuesday, the team was observed huddling around Jalen Ramsey for a lengthy speech. The seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback had a message for his teammates: no more getting pushed around.
“Jalen Ramsey just talked about it for about ten minutes after practice,” Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks told reporters. “I think there’s just a mentality. You have to have that mentality on defense, because we are reacting to what the offense wants to do which really makes it harder in my opinion, to play defense because they know exactly what they want to run already.
“If we can be the initiators, we can be the bullies, I think that makes you a dominant defense to where you’re proactive rather than reactive. … That was one of the biggest things: just being a bully on defense.”
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The Dolphins finished the 2023 season No. 22 in points allowed despite finishing top 10 in yards allowed. Late in the year, Miami’s defense had some of its worst performances, allowing 964 yards in the last two regular season games and another 409 in the postseason.
While injuries played a significant role in that collapse, newly acquired safety Jordan Poyer admitted earlier this month that the Dolphins had a reputation as a team that would fold under pressure.
The defense wasn’t the only unit to take Ramsey’s words to heart Tuesday.
“We’re going to be a physical team,” Dolphins offensive lineman Robert Jones said. “Just like guys say, this year we’re going to be the bullies, and that’s what we’ve got to keep focusing on and that’s exactly what it did.
“We just want to be dogs. Go out there, play hard, we don’t care about the outside noise. We just want to go out there and be the most physical team on the field.”