‘See what the team’s got.’ Amid adversity, it’s time for Dolphins to prove who they are

Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey is often a man of few words.

So ahead of Monday night’s showdown against the Tenesseee Titans, where he will lineup for the 13th time against All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins, the Miami Dolphins captain didn’t say much.

“I’m sure he’s had some good ones against me, I’ve had some good ones against him,” Ramsey said of the upcoming matchup. “Monday will be another opportunity for us to do what we do — compete.”

In a sense, Ramsey’s sparse response should mirror the team’s ethos heading into Monday night: enough talk, it’s now time to show.

“We just got to keep growing overall,” Ramsey added. “I don’t think we should talk about one thing. We got to keep growing overall.”

Despite entering 2024 with Super Bowl aspirations, the Dolphins’ season certainly hasn’t gone as planned. A last-minute victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars to start the season gave way to back-to-back losses and yet another concussion for Tua Tagovailoa that will sideline him for several more weeks. Subsequent injuries to backup quarterback Skylar Thompson, All-Pro right tackle Terron Armstead and starting left cornerback Kendall Fuller means that the Dolphins will come into Monday very banged up yet with a whole lot to prove.

“It’s not fun being on the short stick of a bad offense,” Tyreek Hill said Thursday. The Dolphins have totaled just 33 points through the first three weeks of the 2024 season, a far cry from their 29.2 per-game average in 2023. Hill, however, remains optimistic. “I’d rather us go through adversity early, figure it out and then begin to gain momentum towards the end. Usually we start off hot. My first two years here with coach [Mike] McDaniel and staff with the Dolphins, we started off hot every year and we slowly begin to slowly trend down. Now we have a chance to start slow and then build momentum up towards the end.”

Sure, the odds are against them. Hallandale High’s Tyler Huntley will be tasked with running an offensive system less than two weeks after being signed. In addition to the aforementioned injuries., leading tackler David Long Jr. likely won’t suit up either with a hamstring injury. And the defense, which should be relied upon heavy amid the offensive struggles, has been gashed by big plays that seemingly leave the unit defeated as of late. Still, a victory against the winless Titans could be a huge confidence boost especially considering how Tennessee’s Week 14 comeback victory over the Dolphins in 2023 essentially ruined their season.

“We got to exorcise those demons to an extent, but every year is different,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said Thursday. Though Weaver wasn’t with the Dolphins at the time, he still understood the importance of the Monday’s game. “There is a bunch of us that weren’t a part of it at all, but the guys that were here, we know that we want to go make it right this week. They have a new team, new staff, new coordinators, new players – same thing here, but those two logos, we know what this means.”

With Huntley at the helm, there’s a bit of uncertainty surrounding the offense. The Dolphins’ offensive system is notoriously complicated and the Titans rank fifth in total defense through three weeks. McDaniel, however, believes in Huntley’s ability.

“I think one thing that was supremely obvious to the team since he got here and then even more so this practice week is Snoop has started multiple and many big games,” McDaniel said, later adding that Huntley “has done a very good job with understanding what we emphasize and being able to cater his game to that.”

Huntley’s teammates think very highly of him too.

“Since he got in, he’s been awesome,” Braxton Berrios said Saturday. “Very personable, great dude and he’s just fully invested obviously. He’s in it, we’re bouncing things off of each other really after ever practice, every time we come back to our lockers, after meetings – ‘Hey, did you see that? What did you think?’ So obviously, all positive and he’s locked in.”

“I love ‘Snoop,’” Hill said Thursday. “I had the chance to hang out with him at the Pro Bowl. Tremendous guys, tremendous work ethic. He’s real quiet. For me, I’ve seen it; I’ve been watching film of him since he’s got here, I’m like, ‘This dude can make every throw. This dude is special with his legs.’ He’s a special talent.”

Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s involvement will definitely be key. The duo had one of their worst performances (a combined seven catches for 66 yards) since teaming up in 2022 against the Seattle Seahawks. On defense, they’ll have to do much better against the run and force Titans quarterback Will Levis, who already has five interceptions, into bad turnovers to limit the involvement of the veteran receiver trio that includes Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. It will be difficult but certainly not impossible.

It’s “frustrating because we know we’re better than what we’re putting out there, but I think it’s good for us,” Waddle said Tuesday. The Dolphins have had “a whole bunch of hype” since McDaniel’s arrival, he continued, yet adversity can be eye-opening. “It’s only the third week and our back is up against the wall, so we’re going to see what we’re made of pretty early, see what the team’s got.”