Can Dolphins’ Poyer help Miami against nemesis and ex-teammate Josh Allen? He explains

For years, as Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills repeatedly tormented the Dolphins, there was one current Dolphins employee who relished every minute of it.

But after seven seasons in Buffalo, safety Jordan Poyer is now a Dolphin with a new perspective on this bitter AFC East rivalry.

And when the Bills visit Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday (8:20 p.m./Amazon, CBS 4), Poyer will be charged with helping slow a quarterback who has been a Dolphins nemesis more than any other NFL player during the past decade.

Allen has torched the Dolphins for years, winning 10 of 12 games against them. His 33 touchdown passes (opposite just seven interceptions) are his most against any opponent. So are his 3,363 passing yards. So are his 638 yards rushing (on 7.5 per carry).

So does Poyer have any inside information on nuances in Allen’s game that could be useful to his new teammates?

Poyer on Monday suggested he does, before adding “they exist on every player. We’ll keep those within the team. Great player. Seen him do crazy things over the years and really excited for my first opportunity to play against him.”

Poyer and linebacker David Long Jr. said the notion of a player sharing secrets about his former team is overstated. Long said there’s no need for Poyer “to give us a blueprint” because the Dolphins know the Bills so well.

“I’m sure there’s not a whole lot they haven’t seen playing tape,” Poyer said. “We’ll continue to talk throughout the week.”

Poyer, 33, began his Dolphins career Sunday by playing all 53 defensive snaps in a 20-17 win against Jacksonville. His six tackles were second most on the team (behind Long Jr.’s eight), and though there were two completions (for 23 yards) in his coverage area early, there were signs that this Jevon Holland-Poyer safety pairing will be a good one.

Poyer is deeply appreciated in Buffalo for his seven excellent seasons there, which included first-team All-Pro recognition in 2021, a Pro Bowl in 2022, 22 interceptions, 48 passes defended and 11 sacks. He started most of his 107 Buffalo appearances alongside Micah Hyde, who remains an unsigned free agent.

“Still have a good relationships over there,” Poyer said. “Thankful for all my years in Buffalo. We are excited to play.”

He said that he and Bills players “absolutely” exchanged in good-natured trash-talking during the offseason.

“Boys know we coming; I know they coming,” Poyer said. “It’s going to be a fun Thursday night.”

Poyer said “one of the reasons I came here is I’ve seen this [Dolphins] team over the last seven years grow and become who they are, and I wanted to become … part of that stepping-stone of winning the AFC East and [make] a run in the playoffs. This is just part of that. What a cool opportunity Thursday night.”

Poyer raised eyebrows in July when he spoke of his perspective playing the Dolphins as a member of the Bills. “I think just sharing the experience playing against this team over the past few years, you get a sense of, you know, if you get on top of this team, they might fold,” Poyer said in July.

Asked Monday if he received blowback from teammates about that comment, Poyer didn’t answer directly but said Sunday’s Dolphins’ rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit was a good step.

“There were a lot of people who could have counted us out and we stuck with it,” Poyer said. “I’ve been saying this for years. Every game, keep playing and it will always come down to the last series. It’s about handling the moments.”

The Bills admire Poyer for playing through injuries. In his only Pro Bowl season in 2022, he sustained a hyperextended elbow in training camp, a sprained foot in Week 2, rib injuries that included a punctured lung in Week 4, a torn meniscus in Week 15 and a concussion in a Bills playoff loss..

As The Athletic’s Tim Graham chronicled: “The punctured lung kept him out of one game. Because air pressure prevented him from flying a week later to Kansas City for the grudge match at Arrowhead Stadium, the Bills hired a driver to transport Poyer and his family for 15 hours in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. He started, played all 67 defensive snaps and made four tackles.”

Center Mitch Morse, now with Jacksonville, succinctly summed up how teammates feel with Poyer with this comment: “You see Jordan Poyer play football, he only knows one speed and only knows one way, and that’s to put his nose into it. He plays with such passion and such competitive drive... Six days out of the week, he’s very Zen, very in tune with himself and everything and then come Sunday, he’s a lunatic.”

On Thursday, Poyer, Holland, Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller will need to be at their best against a Bills offense that has scored at least 25 points against Miami in 10 of their last 12 meetings.

The Dolphins limited Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence to 139 passing yards but allowed a TD pass to Brian Thomas Jr.

“That was a good throw,” Poyer said. “There are a couple of things we can do better on the back end that are super easy fixes. In the second half, we showed pretty good.”