Joe Philbin praises Cameron Wake and Jelani Jenkins

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
Cameron Wake is one of the best players in the National Football League and also one of the top five defensive ends Thus, it wasn’t much of a surprise when he had two sacks and two forced fumbles against the New England Patriots. Against the Buffalo Bills, he didn’t have much of an impact as he was double-teamed most of the game and was unable to break free. Despite what we see in the games though, Wake’s presence goes way beyond the football field and he drew the praise of Joe Philbin earlier this week.

“I was sitting in the defensive meeting today and one of the plays Kevin (Coyle) showed the entire defense was the last play of yesterday’s practice. There was a great picture, I believe we were in the third down period, and Cam came off the ball 900 miles an hour,” Philbin explained. “OV (Olivier Vernon) came off the ball hard. We had a twist inside. We had guys working real hard. It was a two-and-a-half hour practice, and I’ve showed the team the first week the last play of the New England game where he came off the ball. What did we play, 80 plays? I think he played 62 (plays) or something like that. The guy plays hard. He plays hard every snap and really it’s a great example for everybody, but younger players especially.”

One of the younger guys that has been influenced by Wake is linebacker Jelani Jenkins. Jenkins had a solid game the past two weeks while filling in for the various injuries suffered in the unit. Philbin had some nice words to say about him as well.

“He did a nice job. I think one of the things about the intelligence factor is that that allows you to play fast and decisive. I think the thing we really like, what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, is his play speed. If you have good play speed and you aren’t hesitating out there and you are a linebacker and you play in the inside, you are going to be around the ball. And he runs well anyway, so he’s been decisive, he runs well and he’s tackled well. We’ve been pleased so far.”

It would be great if Jenkins can continue his solid play and become a linebacker the Dolphins can count on every week. We all know what Wake brings to the table each week and hopefully, his work ethic and intensity can rub off on others on the team.

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