Second Pro Bowl Even Sweeter for Howard
Xavien Howard has been selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in three years, but this one might be more meaningful for the Miami Dolphins cornerback for a couple of reasons.
One is that this accolade comes with the team in the thick of a playoff race, with Dolphins finding themselves two wins away from making the postseason in 2020.
The Pro Bowl rosters in 2018 were announced two days after a 41-17 loss at Minnesota left the Dolphins with a 7-7 record.
The other reason is that Howard's two Pro Bowls were sandwiched around a forgettable 2019 season that saw him land on IR after seven games with a knee injury that required surgery.
“I feel like, yeah, after everything I’ve been through with the knee surgery and everything, it means a lot," Howard said Tuesday. "But there’s a lot of things in store for us, for me and the team. If we just take care of what’s in front of us right now, everything will pay out.”
Howard called news of his Pro Bowl selection cool, but not surprising, which makes sense considering he leads the NFL in interceptions with nine, one more than the total of Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson.
First-year defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander, whose five-year NFL playing career included two games with the Dolphins in 2011, mentioned the work Howard put in to get himself back to top form as a big reason he was happy for Howard earning that Pro Bowl selection.
"I know that he had a significant injury last year and it was something that he really battled through to get himself back healthy and get himself back to playing at a high level," Alexander said. "For him to be able to go through that and reap the benefit of his hard work and the way that he’s played this season, you can’t be happier for a guy like that who’s battled through that kind of adversity.”
Howard joined Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison and Brent Grimes as the only cornerbacks in team history with more than one Pro Bowl invitation, and he's also got a shot at becoming the first to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.
He was the third-favorite for the award last week, according to BetOnline.ag, behind Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt.
“That’s definitely a goal of mine," Howard admitted. "But we take care of the Raiders this week, everything else will take care of itself.”
Howard started a bit slowly this season as he continued to deal with the aftermath of his knee problems, but took off once he got his first interception against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Week 3 Thursday night game.
His nine picks have come in the past 12 games, with streaks of four and five consecutive games with an interception.
He added a forced fumble against the New England Patriots on Sunday and appeared to have a fumble return for a touchdown until it was overturned after review.
“He’s a real playmaker," safety Bobby McCain said. "He attacks the football, that’s one of the biggest things. He’s attacking the football in man-to-man coverage and that’s elite. He’s definitely in a elite company of people and he certainly deserves everything he gets.”
Said Alexander: “It doesn’t necessarily come as a shock that he’s playing at the level that he has been playing at this year because he’s done it before. I’m just getting the chance to obviously look through it from a different lens. It’s a special thing that he’s done and we’ve needed every single bit of his play and we will continue to need that as we continued to go forward throughout the season.”
