New Dolphins edge rushers Bruce Irvin, Justin Houston flew to South Florida together
MIAMI GARDENS — Bruce Irvin and his 56.5 career sacks were sitting on a first-class flight from Atlanta this week when Justin Houston and his 112 career sacks boarded.
"He was one of the last ones to get on," Irvin said Wednesday. "He walked past my seat. But I knew he was coming because I had a little birdie."
Edge rushers Irvin, 36, and Houston, 34 were both summoned to South Florida by the Dolphins this week after season-ending injuries to Andrew Van Ginkel and Cameron Goode.
"The old eye test," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said, when asked how they gauge how much is left in a tank. "You put guys through a workout, see where they’re at. You standardize those workouts over time so you can have a relative appreciation for what guys are doing."
Can Houston and Irvin summon up some pass-rush magic on a frigid Saturday night in Kansas City?
"I'm a dawg," Irvin said. "I'm gonna' show you. I feel like I might be 36, but I don't move like it. So I can't wait to show y'all and have y'all tell me, dang, you were right."
Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said general manager Chris Grier made the roster decisions.
"I said, 'good, we gotta' have somebody," Fangio quipped.
Irvin is familiar with Fangio's scheme, which he believes will get him more quickly up to speed.
Did Irvin know he was signing on to play in -5-degree temperature with a -15 wind chill on Saturday night?
"I did not know that," Irvin said. "I knew it'd be cold, but I didn't know that."
Irvin is thankful to finish this season on the field. When he took a call about the Dolphins' interests, he was in his living room in Atlanta, preparing to take his kids to school.
"The game has been good to me, man," he said. "At this point in my career, I'm just playing for the love. It's not about money. It's about getting sacks. You'll never be able to replace that feeling, that high, of getting a sack and taking a quarterback out. So I'm just trying to ride it out however I can."
The Dolphins are taking fliers on two established pass rushers near the end of their careers. They also added Malik Reed to the practice squad. And late this season they added veteran sack man Melvin Ingram, too.
When Irvin walked into the outside linebackers meeting room on Wednesday, he noticed coach Ryan Slowik had written "243" on a board.
That's the total number of career sacks by Ingram, Houston, Irvin and Reed.
"There's a lot of knowledge in the room," Irvin said. "And you know, that's pretty dope."
Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on social media platforms @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bruce Irvin speaks about fellow Dolphins Melvin Ingram, Justin Houston
