FOXBOROUGH, Mass — Despite the Miami Dolphins' record, a divisional opponent always brings a challenge, especially as the Patriots will face them on the road. And despite last season's "road warrior" mentality, this season is not going the same way, as the Patriots are 1-3 when traveling, with their only win coming against the Buffalo Bills.
All focus has shifted to the Dolphins following their loss to the Chicago Bears, so here's what I'm hearing:
Preparing for the Miami Heat
While every team enjoys having the home field advantage, Miami gets an extra leg up due to the extreme heat and humidity. They are used to it, but for teams traveling from colder climates, it poses a challenge.
"They'll go on the ball a little bit. I'm not sure, but we have to be conditioned," Vrabel
said. "I think the better that we play, the more we possess the ball, the fresher we'll stay defensively. Hopefully we get the receivers into a rotation. The backs, we rotate. I don't think that the offensive linemen will necessarily rotate. We may play a couple guys based on who's available. That remains to be seen. The edge guys, we rotate. We try to rotate along the defensive line. We like to have our best players available to help us win."
Quarterback Drake Maye shared similar sentiments.
"They put us in the sunside as they should," Maye said. "So just knowing that you got to hydrate throughout the week, be careful with your body. Trying to start now, and not trying to wait till the night before or during game day.
"It's not super late in the season where we've been battling cold for a while up here, so not a huge change in temperature, but still, it's definitely a factor with the humidity," he added. "I'm a New England guy now. But knowing that you got to battle that, and especially guys that run a lot more, me running after a scramble, kind of doing the play call, little things that kind of catch you off guard. You just got to be thinking ahead."
Not overlooking the Dolphins following poor start
While Miami has started the season 1-5 under new head coach Jeff Hafley, they aren't a team to be overlooked.
"They play a tough schedule. They play a lot of people close as well. Play some tough offenses, some good teams," Maye said. "So I know that it's the NFL. You know, every week it's it's nothing that you can come in here and act like a record means something. I think Coach was very was just mentioning to us that this morning in the team meeting. That's not the NFL. You know, it's any given week, and you know, guys got good players that can play. And it's especially when you're on the road, you got to bring your best ball."
Carlton Davis set to play
"I’m ready to go."
Carlton Davis has been dealing with a neck injury that has sidelined him for a few weeks this season, but the veteran cornerback is set to make his return on Sunday against the Dolphins
“It’s going to be great having all the guys back," Davis told reporters on Wednesday. "Being at full power and being able to go out there and feed off each other and make plays together."
Star cornerback Christian Gonzalez also expressed his excitement at getting him back.
“CD is a great vet, somebody that I lean on a lot, able to talk to, pick his mind about certain things,” Gonzalez said. “He’s seen a lot of ball, so just having him back out there is amazing. So, excited to get all of us back. I think this is the first game since the first week it’s going to be all of us out there. So excited for that to get back on the field with all that.”
Getting TreVeyon Henderson more involved
It's been a slower season for running back TreVeyon Henderson, with Rhamondre Stevenson getting a majority of the carries. And then, there's Corey Kiner, who has also been getting more opportunities in games. So, on Wednesday, Vrabel was asked if there's anything specifically preventing Henderson from being more impactful on the field.
"We'll see what happens this week. We've got to go run the football; we've got to execute," he replied. "I think he's had some runs where he's helped us, and we all have to be better in the run game, not just one guy. But we'll have to go down to Miami and be able to run it. We'll have to be able to protect and take care of the ball."
Last season, the Patriots did use Henderson at times as a kick returner, so is that a possibility to put him back there?
"I think that that's probably something that we'll always consider and weigh the options," Vrabel explained. "I think that coming out of the Jets game, we were close on some returns. We had a couple that really weren't very effective against Chicago. We had one that was okay. But we'll focus here on Miami and what we feel like we need to do to be able to create some positive momentum in the return game, whether that's with Corey [Kiner] or Kyle [Williams], and then certainly take a look at anybody else."
Patriots appear to be getting healthier
Don't want to jinx anything, but things are looking better for the Patriots on the injury front. For the first time in a while, New England had nobody listed as did not participate on the injury report, and only had four players listed as limited: WR A.J. Brown (ankle, knee), OL Ben Brown (knee), DT DaQuan Jones (back), and OT Morgan Moses (foot).
As for full participants, it was T Marcus Bryant (ankle), S Kevin Byard III (chest), CB Channing Canada (hamstring), CB Carlton Davis III (neck), LB Christian Elliss (chest), LB Dre'Mont Jones (shoulder), QB Drake Maye (right shoulder), and CB Karon Prunty (hamstring).
For a team that has been very unlucky this season as it pertains to injuries, this was a good sign and proved that the team needed the mini-bye following their Thursday night loss to the Chicago Bears
Other notes
- Vrabel on Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon II: "Ollie's a big back. He's taken advantage of his opportunities, just like we always talk about in the National Football League.... So, he's doing exactly what we talk about and getting opportunities and making the most of them."
- Vrabel said that guard Greg Van Roten and safety Dell Pettus were not set to practice, as both are eligible to come off injured reserve this week.
- Maye on Rhamondre Stevenson: "I told him the other day, he's one of the best, even though we don't only use him on third downs, one of the best third down backs in the league. The way he can protect, the way he runs routes, and the way he's just fluid. You guys see him making cuts... He's a mismatch. He can beat you... So he's tough to deal with, and he's also smart. So it's fun to be back there with him."
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: What I’m hearing at Gillette Stadium: Wednesday word (Week 8)
