Miami Dolphins secondary offers much needed versatility

Written by Matthew Cannata at 4:30 PM EST | Twitter: @PhinManiacs

The Miami Dolphins secondary is one of the best in the NFL and they proved just how good they can be when they shut down the dangerous Chicago Bears wide receiver corps. Part of the reason for their success is because just about every person in the secondary offers versatility, which is something that isn’t found on every NFL team. More specifically, Reshad Jones and Louis Delmas often switch up positions during the game.

“They both have good size,” Joe Philbin said. “It’s not like one safety is that much bigger than the other. Various teams across the league have different body types and they have similar body types. They both have good movement skills. They have good coverage skills. It gives us some flexibility in terms of who you want to bring down and on what occasion and for what purpose. That’s a nice part of their skillset that we can utilize.”

Another player in the secondary who offers that highly sought after versatility is Michael Thomas, who can interchange between playing safety and the nickel cornerback position. Against the Bears, Thomas started the game in the nickel page.

“We thought Mike did a good job. He really did,” Philbin said. “He brings a lot of energy to the football team. He plays hard. Everything he does, he does hard. He set the tempo in the opening kickoff. He did a fantastic job… I’ll be honest with you, I kind of missed the chip. I knew that was part of the game plan, but I wasn’t watching the chip. Then I saw him blocking the kicker after just on film. He just plays with a lot of energy and juice. It’s nice to see him do some positive things.”

However, don’t get used to seeing the same people in the same spots every play as the coaching staff likes to switch things up depending on the match-up and the package they want to be in.

“Sometimes, we can have different, five DB (defensive back) combinations. As an offense that is scouting us, it may look as if it’s four down-linemen, two linebackers and five DBs, but to us, it may be a specific package based on, again, who we are playing, what we anticipate, what the players do best, how we can utilize them in the best way. It all depends week-to-week, but you’re right, you can’t train everybody to go in there. You have to be smart about divvying up the reps because there is only so much time you can spend on the field.”

The Dolphins’ secondary will look to continue their dominant ways against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday before facing an even bigger test against the speedy San Diego Chargers offense.

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