Finesse team? Jeff Wilson's pep talk inspires Dolphins to flex muscle vs. Jets
MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins were about to play the New York Jets, but before they did, it was pep-talk time. Someone had to step into the middle of the circle and get some things off his chest.
There was little doubt who that someone should be: running back Jeff Wilson, who finally was off the injured list and off the shelf but very much on the money. The Dolphins won 34-13 as Wilson’s words helped set the tone perhaps for more than just one game.
Wilson and fullback Alec Ingold agreed Monday that one of the most satisfying aspects of the victory was the roll-up-the-sleeves, gritty fashion in which the Dolphins put away the Jets. They rushed for 115 yards in the second half, including a 15-play, 92-yard drive that swallowed 9:03 off the clock and gave Miami a 27-6 lead.
Finesse teams aren’t supposed to do that, but it sounds as if the Dolphins don’t want to be known as just a speedy, finesse team anymore.
“It takes everybody,” Ingold said. “It takes every little ounce of physicality, of finesse, of speed, of precision. It takes all of it, so you can’t have one without the other. And if you do, you’re going to be middle of the pack.”
It never has been a secret that you’d better be able to run the ball if you’re playing December and January football. The Dolphins are entering December getting healthier at running back than they have been all season, not only with Wilson back in the fold, but De’Von Achane possibly ready to contribute Sunday against Washington. Plus, rookie Chris Brooks might be a contender to come off injured reserve.
Wilson finished the Jets game with 11 carries for 56 yards (a 5.1 average), but coach Mike McDaniel and Ingold were just as impressed by the fire he brought before the game.
“The emotion there, I can’t replicate it,” Ingold said. “I’m not going to try. I don’t think anybody should or can.”
What did Wilson say?
“It was just kind of like a Black Friday feel to the speech,” Wilson said. “I mean, normally you hear Black Friday is so crazy, chaotic. Everybody’s all over the place, people taking things, and that’s kind of just what I told them. We want to come in here and we want to make it Black Friday for us on the football field. We’re coming in, we’re taking it home. We’re taking everything.”
It wasn’t out of character, based on McDaniel’s experience with Wilson.
“He kicked in the door, fast and furious, when he got here,” McDaniel said. “He’s emotionally charged in competitive moments to a degree that he can bring along other people. And he knew that it was his time. You know he’d been patient, as patient as anybody that we’ve seen on this team. But now he was going to get the ops regardless of how the game played out. And you know that those type of sparks are invaluable down the stretch of a season.”
Behind an offensive line that is hardly skipping a beat despite a constant shuffling of personnel due to injuries, the Dolphins finished with 167 rushing yards and a 4.5 average. McDaniel second-guessed even himself last year over times he drifted away from the ground game with his play-calling, but against the Jets, Miami ran 37 times and passed only 30.
Wilson believes the Dolphins can be a power team, too.
“With the explosive guys we’ve got on our team, it’s kind of hard — I mean, it’s not hard, it’s kind of easy to ignore or overlook those things because I mean, you’ve got Tyreek (Hill) on one side, you’ve got (Jaylen) Waddle on one side, you’ve got Tua (Tagovailoa) in the backfield. I mean, you’ve got guys everywhere and these guys make tremendous, remarkable plays on the field. So you know, it’s kind of hard sometimes to see the nitty gritty and the stuff that goes on under the surface.
“But to know that we’ve got this in us and running hard and physically, that has been my style. That’s been my way ever since I started playing football when I was 5 years old. That was kind of like my father’s motto, you know what I mean? You take no prisoners and you go out there and when you run, you try to take a man’s will.”
Offensive line still dealing with injuries
The Dolphins have played 10 offensive linemen and seven different starting line combinations this season, but they have allowed 12 fewer quarterback hits than Philadelphia, which is second on that list. They also have allowed 18 sacks, four more than NFL leader Kansas City.
The Dolphins will use this week to determine if left tackle Terron Armstead can play. Armstead left the Jets game in the third quarter with a quadriceps injury that McDaniel labeled as week to week.
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Offensive lineman Kendall Lamm has played a total of eight snaps the past three games. McDaniel said he’s optimistic Lamm can play despite a back injury.
“I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to be able to play this week,” McDaniel said. “However there’s some obstacles we have to get through.”
Although Achane came close to returning last week, McDaniel said he decided against it because of the opponent and the fact that the entire team was operating on a short week.
Without him, Raheem Mostert carried 20 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns. He’s second in the league in rushing to San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey with 785 yards and first in rushing touchdowns with 13. And the Dolphins are second in the NFL with an average of 145.2 rushing yards per game, behind only Baltimore (158.6).
Jaelan Phillips nears decisions on surgery
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Linebacker Jaelan Phillips will require surgery to repair his torn Achilles. McDaniel said Phillips is close to deciding which avenue to take. Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has reached out to Phillips to offer advice on how he has dealt with his own surgery, including a new procedure that could greatly speed up recovery.
“They’ve spent a lot of time consulting with a lot of different experts in the field,” McDaniel said, adding, “We’ll probably have the exact formula, the exact surgeon and place of surgery, here in the next 24 hours.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Finesse team? Jeff Wilson inspires Miami Dolphins to flex muscle
