The Miami Dolphins defense is clearly tired of all the attention being paid to the offense thus far in camp. They dominated the offense during a very run-heavy 11 on 11 section of Tuesday’s fully padded practice.
Bernardrick McKinney – who recently took a huge pay cut to bet on himself and restructure his deal to become a free agent after this season – was all over the field and making a ton of run-stuffing plays. He was consistently around the ball and was in the backfield seemingly every other play. I guess he is over the shoulder injury he suffered toward the end of last season. He seems poised to become the run-stuffing middle linebacker the Dolphins so desperately missed last season.
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Jerome Baker, on his chemistry with McKinney, “Oh its amazing, he is a big dude…he is willing to learn, he goes hard, he is a good communicator… I definitely love having him next to me.” He also added, “B-Mac, on the goal line, he was bringin’ it.”
Baker, who just signed a big extension with the Phins, is showing early on why this franchise wants to make him the long-term leader of this defense. He is noticeably bigger in stature and leading this young Dolphins defense all throughout practice.
Additionally, Raekwon Davis, Christian Wilkins, and Zach Sieler all showed up in a big way Tuesday. They are showing improvement in their technique and their ability to “blow up” running plays. All of this bodes well for a run defense that needs to be much improved in 2021 if the Dolphins have any shot of contending in the AFC as they expect to do.
