After a fight broke out during Tuesday’s practice at the Miami Dolphins training camp, players are taking this experience and using it for the better.
Running back Jaylen Wright got into it with cornerback Kader Kahou, causing some other teammates to jump in, and that prompted a lengthy discussion from Jalen Ramsey after practice concluded.
Miami Dolphins’ Jalen Ramsey: “We can be the bullies.”
The team was seen after practice huddling around Ramsey while he delivered a 10-minute speech, sending a clear message: No more mister nice guy.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill told reporters that it’s what the team needed in order to be successful this year, that hopefully this lit a fire under the players.
“I think the fight we had today was amazing. We need that. Teams that I’ve been on that won, those teams fought,” Hill said, via Kauchik Sampath of the Miami Herald. “They aren’t going to fight in the locker room. This is where you fight. Then right after the play, you calm yourself down, in between the whistle, you’re right back at it with no mental errors.”
Ramsey’s speech revolved around the topic of “being the bully”, after some have said that the Miami Dolphins have been a bit more of a softer team when they were caught in tough situations in recent years. Earlier this month, newly acquired safety Jordan Poyer told reporters that Miami has gained this reputation of folding under pressure, not being able to recover and come back stronger.
The cornerback said that they need to show that kind of fight during the season and not just during practice if they want to be taken more seriously.
“I think there’s a mentality,” Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks told reporters on Tuesday. “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.”
Not Just a Defensive Issue
While Ramsey might’ve been catering more towards the defensive players on the team, the offensive line also took Ramsey’s words and made something out of them.
“We’re going to be a physical team,” 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.”
The Miami Dolphins were frontrunners for the AFC East title until the Buffalo Bills came back and pushed the Dolphins out of that idea. Since 2000, the team has yet to win a playoff game. However, with a pretty productive offseason in terms of signing new players and extending quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, hopefully it’s a better year for Miami.
