The Miami Dolphins got a heads-up from the most unexpected of places for a potential edge in Week 5—but not everyone thinks it really matters
One of the defenders hoping to stop the Miami Dolphins in Week 5 revealed a surprisingly specific detail that the Bengals are keying on Sunday. But does it matter?
The buildup to an NFL contest features several opportunities for players to stick their foot in their mouth. Or, alternatively, offer up some bulletin board material. As the Miami Dolphins brace for a Week 5 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, we haven’t gotten any silly goofs to date.
But we did get a fascinating tidbit from a Cincinnati Bengals defender on Thursday. Some think it could give the Dolphins offense a heads up to a major key for the Cincinnati game plan. Others think it’s much ado about nothing.
Bengals safety Jordan Battle reveals they’re trying to key Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis’ ball pat
““He has a little slight little tap before every throw though, so I feel like we could use that as a key to break on the ball. He likes to tap the ball before he throws it, or he takes his hand off, and that that gives the read the break.”
— Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle via Mike Petraglia
As you can imagine, some Bengals fans are steamed up. The idea here is that a potential competitive edge or focus has been revealed in the days before the game. If the Bengals felt they’d had a major key to success there, it’s obviously compromised now. But not everyone believes that a ball pat is the end of the work. As a matter of fact, several prominent quarterback coaches have spoken about quarterbacks patting the ball. They generally indicate it is a non-factor in successful play at the position.
The good news for Willis amid his general approach to throwing with a pat? He’s got the arm strength and velocity to hammer throws into windows with a shorter period of time. So even if defenses are capable of picking up on his trigger thanks to a pat of the football, Willis can still beat defenders with the ball when he puts gas on the football.
We’ll find out on Sunday if it ultimately helps the Bengals to keep the lid on Miami’s passing attack or not.
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