Howard Moving Along, Ready for Preseason Debut

Things are pretty much back to normal as far as Xavien Howard is concerned, and the next step is appearing in a preseason game.

And it looks like that will happen Saturday when the Miami Dolphins face the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium.

Howard said after practice Thursday he anticipated playing against the Falcons after sitting out the preseason opener against the Chicago Bears along with fellow cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.

It has been an eventful summer for Howard, which began with him requesting a trade via Instagram because of his displeasure with his contract. The issue was put to rest when the Dolphins agree to restructure his deal by moving some money around and turning some 2022 bonuses into base salary.

Howard also missed some practice time with what was termed by head coach Brian Flores as an ankle injury, though he has been practicing on a full-time basis for about a week now.

Howard faced a good challenge in practice this week going up against Atlanta wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and he played a big role in rookie safety Jevon Holland getting an interception Thursday when he tipped a pass from veteran quarterback Matt Ryan.

So it's pretty much all systems go for Howard, who is coming off perhaps the best season ever by a Dolphins cornerback when he led the NFL with 10 interceptions and was named a first-team AP All-Pro.

“I’m just focused on getting better each year," Howard said. "I’m not focused on that right now. That was last year. It’s time to get better. It’s time for new goals and stuff like that.

“I feel great. Just getting back to it, I feel like this is probably my Day 3 of practice. I’m getting back to it and really just getting comfortable with the guys, knowing what guys’ strengths are and stuff like that. Like I said, our main focus is just getting around the ball and making plays on the ball.

"I’m just focused on just getting better out here, knocking some rust off and just getting back to the movement.”

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