Miami Dolphins second-round draft pick, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, is already making an impression as the team moves into its second week of training camp. The rookie is aggressive during practice, making plays all around the field while multiple responsibilities are thrown at him. His attacking mentality, getting after the ball to make stops and force turnovers, is noticeable anytime he is in on a defensive repetition.
“I think just trying to play the game the right way,” Rodriguez, who met with
the media on Sunday, said of his attacking mentality at practice. “I think football is a physical game and it’s meant to be played that way. You have to be physical when you do it, whether you’re attacking a ball carrier or the ball specifically, it really doesn’t matter as long as you do it violently with the right technique and proper form. I feel like that’s how it’s got to be played.”
The Dolphins are looking to be a much more physical team in 2026 than they were in the past few seasons, and a player like Rodriguez could be the spark to make that happen. His impact could take another step forward on Monday when the team puts on pads for this first time. “Yeah, I’m very excited for that,” the rookie said Sunday. “I think what we’ve been doing so far has been great. It’s helping us a lot with technique and where to use our hands and how to do a lot of the ins and outs and stuff. But football is played, like I said, physically, and when football pads come on and shoulder pads and everything else with it, you start to get to play real football. And so there is a timing to a football play, and so that will just help us kind of get better as a team of playing football the right way and the timing of kind of each play.”
Learning from the veterans
Rodriguez recognizes he is a rookie with an opportunity to learn from Miami’s veteran incumbent linebackers, Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson, as he figures out how to be a professional football player and what works for him at this level. “I think just how they go about every day,” he explained of what he is taking from Brooks and Dodson. “I know like Jordyn and T-Dot and those guys have been in the league for such a long time. Like they know how to go about like day to day. They know what routine works for them and what doesn’t, so they’ve just been speaking on how to like create that. What might work for them, has worked for them for years, might not work for me. And so just trying to go out and figure out what works for me and stick to it.”
Forcing fumbles and the peanut punch
The Texas Tech product brought with him from college a reputation of forcing fumbles, forcing an NCAA Division-1 high seven in 2025. He has already shown that ability at camp, using the “peanut punch,” a move popularized by former Chicago Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman to knock the ball out of the arms of a runner as he is being tackled, during camp.
“I think it’s more something that you work on and now is the time to work on it,” Rodriguez explained of his training camp efforts at knocking the ball loose. “It’s in practices and OTAs [organized team activities] and now, and so if I want to take chances in a game of taking the ball away, I want to put myself in all the different positions that I can be in a game right now. And so, shoot, I’ve gotten a couple out, but that’s not counting how many I’ve thrown, you know? So no, it hasn’t surprised me, but I’m definitely looking for more. Definitely looking to try to create as many ball strips as I can.
“I actually got to meet Peanut Tillman, and so we talked for a little bit about how he does it. You always watch guys like [San Francisco 49ers linebacker] Fred [Warner] who, you know, play the game the right way and they punch on opportunity. I think kind of just, you watch it. It’s like anything else, like you study it on film and then you go out and try to practice it and then you bring it to a real-life situation. So it’s kind of that part to whole, that kind of stepping stone, that process to it.”
Does Rodriguez ever worry about breaking his hand when executing a peanut punch? “I mean, the worry is there, but like, you got to do it, you know, like you got to take a chance to take the ball away. And I think you see what you punch,” he replied when asked. “It’s like a boxer, like if you see the ball, you punch it. If you’re just kind of throwing a blind punch, then that’s when it kind of gets risky and like you could actually hit a face mask and actually break a knuckle or something. But if you’re seeing what you’re punching, it should be fine.”
Despite being a rookie, Rodriguez’s punching ability provides him an opportunity to serve as a teacher to other players as well. Are there any players who have asked him about adding the technique to their repertoire?
“I mean, some guys come like jokingly and then we’ll kind of get into a conversation about it, but like, I’m all about, shoot, everybody trying to go and take the ball away,” the 2025 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year explained. “Like if we can take three or more a game, what kind of stat that would help us to win, it would be unbelievable. So anything I could do to help everybody kind of take the ball away, not that I’m perfect at it or have it figured out, but I’ve just been fortunate enough to get a few.”
Miami’s large rookie class
Rodriguez is one piece of a huge rookie class for Miami this season, including 12 other drafted players. What is it like to have so many young players on the roster? Rodriguez embraces the opportunity to not only grow with the group, but to be a part of the team as a whole. “Yeah, it’s great. I think all of us are so eager to play and do as much as we can, but I think a big thing we talk about is just doing your role the best. Right now, it kind of doesn’t even feel like it’s just kind of us rookies, it feels like everybody; we’re all in the hotel, we’re all getting up here early and staying late and we’re all in it together. So it’s not just us rookies, it’s kind of everybody, but it just feels good to be doing hard stuff with people.”
The media asked about fellow linebacker, Miami fourth-round draft pick Kyle Louis, with Rodriguez responding, “So Kyle is goofy all the time. That’s why he plays so well. It’s because he plays free and he just has fun, and his life is about football. That’s how you love guys in the locker room to be, so it’s nice that he’s in our room and we get to hang out a lot, but knowing him from the whole recruiting experience until now, it’s been fun to get a closer relationship with him and have a good time. But no, he’s definitely kind of more of a goofy guy who just loves to play free and fast so it’s something we like to see on the field.”
Jeff Hafley’s defensive system and the roles of linebackers
The Dolphins are introducing a new defense this year, with head coach Jeff Hafley bringing the system he ran as Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator to South Florida. The system has been asking for a lot from the linebackers already, with them filling multiple roles as blitzers, run stoppers, and in pass coverage. Rodriguez is embracing the system being installed and the multiple responsibilities he is being asked to fill.
“I think just playing with your feet in the ground,” he explained of the pass-coverage role. “I think a lot of times if you start crossing over, if you pick your feet up, you just have both feet on the ground with your eyes on the quarterback and just ready to break. I think the more efficient breaks that we can get, the distance that we can cover before the ball is caught is kind of what we’re looking for, and then we go play ball from there.”
He continued, looking at all of the different roles and responsibilities he has in Hafley’s scheme. “Yeah, I think just being able to get a good skill set of everything. Like we will be out on the boundary covering the back man to man or we’ll be blitzing up the middle, blitzing on the outside, or we’ll be hook dropping; like it really doesn’t matter what we’re doing, but we’re doing a lot of it, so that way we get as much work on everything as we can. Stuff that we’ll do as the weeks come and go and the more reps we get on everything, the better it will be, but a lot of stuff they tell us now is just try it. Like, if you’re hesitant about doing something, do it. Like see where your fence is and see what your limitations are and just kind of go out and do it. And so we have those plays called for us to do what we have to do, just have fun and play free.
As for the system putting linebackers in position to make plays and get their hands on the ball, Rodriguez told the media, “I think just guys doing the right thing. It’s kind of where we want the ball to get funneled to. Whether that’s in the run game or the pass game, we kind of want edges to be set. That’s how you play good run defense, is you got to set tight vertical edges. That’s how we want the ball to be funneled back into the guys who are coming to fit the box, but same thing in the pass game. We kind of want stuff to be funneled either on a specific play outside and we’ll run and chase it or inside and we’ll be right there waiting for it. It really just kind of depends on what he calls and I think our scheme is unbelievable. And as I’m still learning it and still trying to get comfortable in it, and it’s different from what I’ve done, but it’s a lot of fun. I think it makes a lot of sense and it’s something that’s going to be, it’s going to help us a lot. It’s going to help us win games for sure.
Rodriguez’s first purchase with his NFL money
What was the first thing Rodriguez bought with his NFL money after signing his contract with the Dolphins? He went fairly simple, but straightforward, with that purchase.“ I went and got a bed,“ he said, laughing. “I went and got a mattress. So, you know, in college for a little bit, when I was a walk-on, I slept on the ground in my brother’s apartment. And so like, I’d never slept good when I was 13 and on, and so then I moved to the college like three inch mattress or whatever. So I never bought a mattress until I was (drafted) because I always said, you know, my first purchase is going to be a bed. So I bought a nice Tempur-Pedic.”
He did not go over the top with the purchase, however, balking at the idea of buying an adjustable bed or a Sleep Number style. “No, it’s not that nice,” he stated. “No, it’s not, it’s just a hybrid Tempur-Pedic. It’s nice. Sleep good.”
