The Miami Dolphins are hoping one rookie quickly learns to speak Jeff Hafley’s language this season—literally
The Miami Dolphins’ new green-dot defender is second-round rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez. He’s finding the devil is in the details.
Calling an NFL defense is no small feat. With a primary call, formation recognition, checks for motions, and more? It’s a storm of information in just seconds. And you need to get everyone lined up and ready to play. For the Miami Dolphins, that responsibility this season is falling onto second-round rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez.
The task is tall. And for Rodriguez, he’s quickly finding just how deep into the details his head coach expects him to dive. Jeff Hafley and Rodriguez are forming quite the bond — rooted in the smallest of details.
The devil is in the details for Miami Dolphins LB Jacob Rodriguez
“(Jacob) was in my office this morning going over the call sheet before 7 AM. And we’re talking ‘here are the calls that I like in this situation.’ ‘Here’s why I like it.’ ‘So if you hear me call it on this down and distance…’ We need to start thinking alike and I might tag it with this so you need to listen for this. We joke back and forth. Some of the calls get long and I’ll say ‘no, say it like this’ because there’s a cadence to it so it can come out. And he’ll say ‘well, I like it more like this!’, and I’ll say ‘well, we got to work on that stuff together!’ “
— Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley on LB Jacob Rodriguez
The flow and cadence of a call being in tune with one another is just one basic example of the level of detail that goes into Rodriguez’s new job. It’s going to be a process. Make no mistake about it. But the way Rodriguez has attacked it thus far is promising. So, too, is how Miami has been willing to pour into Rodriguez and fully commit to him being “the guy” at MIKE. Thankfully, we won’t need to wait long to see the first round of results. Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas lies as the first test. And Rodriguez is cramming alongside his head coach to be ready.
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