Holland Stepping Up As 'Young Leader'
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Not even the 90-degree weather combined with 76 percent humidity could stop Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland on Sunday.
The second-year safety from the University of Oregon was the only player to stay on the field for all 92 of Miami’s defensive snaps and four snaps on special teams in the team’s 21-19 victory against the Buffalo Bills.
Holland’s toughness was something his teammates talked about plenty during Monday’s media availability.
“I mean, that’s the main thing, the guy’s a dawg, man,” linebacker Jerome Baker said about Holland. “He doesn’t really care about anything. He throws his body in there. He will run 100 yards on one play. Whatever it is that our defense needs, he’ll do it. He really came into this year and he’s definitely been a leader for our team, our defense. So it’s just really, that’s the work he puts in. Now we just expect from him every game now. I’m definitely happy for him.”
Holland clearly means a lot to Miami’s defense both on and off the field, so it’s important to note he was listed as "limited" on the first injury report of the week, which was based on an estimation because the team didn't practice Monday. The Dolphins are on a short week as they play Cincinnati on Thursday.
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HOLLAND'S STRONG OUTING AGAINST BUFFALO
Holland’s 92 snaps were impressive regardless of how he played during the game, but he arguably was Miami’s best defensive player.
He finished the game with 10 tackles (good for second on the team), 1.5 sacks, one quarterback hit and two pass breakups. Holland gave up just 20 yards receiving on four targets, according to PFF.
He came up with one of the biggest plays on defense with his sack-strip of Josh Allen in the first quarter, which set up the Dolphins' first touchdown.
One of his pass breakups came during Buffalo’s second-to-last drive when Holland made a diving attempt at an interception near the right sideline but had the ball glance off his hands.
That potential interception was the first thing on Holland’s mind after the game, according to Holland’s father.
Holland’s previous career-high snap count was 73 last season against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 11 and against the Bills on Oct. 31.
Baker wasn’t the only Dolphins linebacker who was impressed by Holland's absurdly high snap count.
AN IMPRESSIVE SECOND-YEAR PLAYER FOR THE DOLPHINS
Duke Riley mentioned he doesn’t think he’s ever played more than 90 snaps in one game his entire life.
“Just having a guy like that, who can go that long and compete that long and who can stay consistent that long, it’s honestly a beautiful thing to see that we all don’t even really appreciate as much I think,” Riley said. “But I think that he’s a great player, a great man, a great teammate. I love playing with him and just to see him do that and not come out. It’s like I didn’t even know he was tired during the game because he never said anything about it. Usually, somebody’s like, ‘Man, like it’s hot out here.’ The whole time he was like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to lock in.’ It’s great to see, man. A young leader in our eyes. He’s got that ‘C’ on his chest for a reason.”
“Locked in” is probably the best way to describe Holland.
During Holland’s 96th and final snap, he didn’t even notice the crowd counting down the clock as Buffalo failed to spike the ball for a game-winning field goal attempt, he was just getting ready for snap 97.
“I did not hear any of that,” Holland said after the game. “I was locked in. I didn’t know what was going on. I thought they were going to get a play off, and I then looked up and it was 0:00 on the clock. It felt great.”
