Around the AFC East, the conversation this week ranged from tells and tendencies to discipline and depth, with each team offering a different glimpse into where things stand.
In Miami, Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley brushed off the idea that Bengals safety Jordan Battle had uncovered some huge edge after saying he noticed Miami quarterback Malik Willis’ tap before throwing the ball. Hafley didn’t view that as some game-changing giveaway, but he also wasn’t dismissive of teams pointing out what they see.
“If there was something big, like he told us every time our left guard was in a 3-pt stance, we were running the ball, I’d be like, All right, we got to fix that,” Hafley said, via Isaiah Smalls II. “It’s a timing and rhythm thing with a lot of guys, and there’s a lot of them that do that, but any opponent that wants to share our tendencies with us, we’ll take any time.”
Over with the Jets, Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott offered a vote of confidence for head coach Aaron Glenn, saying he believes Glenn can eventually figure it out and pointing to what he saw in Detroit.
“Sometimes you have to go to dark places, and that’s tough,” Lott told ESPN. “When they get it right, it’s going to be special.
It’s when everything starts to click, and it feels right. He knows what it feels like and what it smells like.
He’s been around it in places like Detroit.”
Lott also zeroed in on the challenge Glenn faces in changing the mindset around losing.
“One of the most difficult things is, how do you get people to not accept losing anymore?” Lott added.
“Aaron, knowing what I know about him, is trying to accomplish that. Some people can get it done.
Some people can’t. I hope Aaron gets it done.”
Glenn also had praise for rookie pass rusher David Bailey after his performance, saying, “I would say he’s still learning; he’s still growing. He’s going to be a damn good player in this league.”
The Jets also dealt with some league discipline, with DT Darrell Jackson fined $6,683 for unnecessary roughness, S Dane Belton fined $19,389, and S Minkah Fitzpatrick fined $17,911.
In New England, Mike Vrabel had plenty to like after a 45-17 win over the Raiders, but he made clear the Patriots still have work to do. His biggest issue was the sloppiness.
“I mean there’s a lot to improve on, there’s a lot to work on. The penalties are ridiculous. We’ll have to focus on that… Figure out things that we can improve on, which there will be a lot of,” Vrabel said, via Chad Graff.
Vrabel also talked about the way his receivers handled Week 5, when four different players topped 50 yards. He pointed to the group’s unselfish approach as something he wants to spread across the roster.
“They all care about each other. Those receivers, they don’t care who catches the ball.
They don’t care who catches the touchdown. They’re just as excited for the next guy if it was them.
And I think that that’s truly what we want to build around here. And I gotta get it to be the entire team.
I gotta get the entire team to look at it like that,” Vrabel said, via Mark Daniels.
Vrabel also addressed WR A.J. Brown on Monday morning, with Brown eligible to come off injured reserve this week.
“I don’t know whenever he’ll be back he should help us. I hope that he’s going to help us.
But that remains to be seen yet when he’ll be back. So, we’ll see how he does today and move from there,” Vrabel said, via Doug Kyed.
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