Jamar Taylor will need to step up to the challenge tonight

Written by Matthew Cannata 9:10 AM EST | Twitter: @PhinManiacs

With Cortland Finnegan out for tonight’s game against the Buffalo Bills, second year player Jamar Taylor will be called upon to start in his place. Taylor, who was injured for most of last year, has had a rollercoaster season thus far and will look to find some stability against the Bills receiving corps.

“He’s much further along [than last year],” Joe Philbin said. “He obviously has much more game experience now than he has. Last year was very minimal exposure out there in games, so he’s been in the fire so to speak. He’s shown some good things. Now, I want to see some production on a consistent basis on the course throughout the course of an entire game.”

Taylor played in 24 snaps against the Detroit Lions and had an overall grade of (-) 3.0 per Pro Football Focus. However, Taylor thought he played well despite some mistakes that he may have made.

“I think I played good. I made some mistakes that I learned from and am just trying to get better every day and just try to put better stuff on tape every weekend. I’ve been put in that position a lot this year, a lot. The coaches do a good job of keeping me and Will (Davis) ready. Cortland (Finnegan) does a good job at staying with me late every day and making sure I’m up on it. When the opportunity presents itself, you just have to go out there and play fast because the other 10 guys expect you to play fast.””

In the last drive against the Lions, Taylor allowed a costly reception on an underneath route. However, he said that this is something that he has never seen before in practice or a game and vows to learn from his mistakes.

"Yeah, I had a pick route I went too fast on. He ran an under route, but it’s something I had never seen before in a game. I’ve never seen it at practice either. I’ll learn from it and, if I see it this week, I’ll be ready for it. I think we did a good job the whole game. We just have to finish off better. We’ve had two games like that so far. We can’t make it an ongoing thing.”

Taylor didn’t play much against the Bills earlier this season, only seeing 4 snaps so this will essentially be his first time on the field playing this team. Taylor says he’s ready for the challenge and won’t back down from anything.

“I cover the man in front of me. It comes down to me covering whoever I’m covering. If they run the ball, once it’s a run, I run to the ball with a complete effort. If they pass the ball, I’m staying on my guy trying to make a play,” he said. “I just thank God. Every game is a blessing. I’ve been thrown in the fire a few times. I’m just blessed to be put in situations like that. I’m just going out and just trying to play my game the way my coaches coach me up.”

We can only hope that Taylor truly is learning from his mistakes and is able to do his job tonight. If not, it could be a long day for the Dolphins defense.

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