Dolphins Wednesday Notebook: The Good Guy Curse, Running Back Moves, Practice Squad Notes, More
The media landscape around the NFL has changed considerably around the NFL because of COVID-19 and the restrictions it has produced, but some guys still find a way to stand above others in that department.
For the Miami Dolphins this year, that was wide receiver Mack Hollins, who was a clear choice as the South Florida Pro Football Writers of America Good Guy Award winner.
"Seriously, that means a lot," said Hollins, who was presented a trophy before he began his Zoom media session Wednesday. "I try to be as open as I can with you all. It probably gets me in trouble a lot with Coach. (laughter) But I know the job that you all have. It’s not an easy one. I really appreciate you all showing love to me. It ain’t always easy being a good guy but I’ll take it if I can talk about the hair and the gators and give you guys something fun to write about every so often. (laughter) Thank you all so much, seriously.”
But if we're talking about the Dolphins Good Guy Award, we have to talk about the Good Guy curse, don't we?
What curse?
Well, check this out: Since the award was first given to Zach Thomas in 2001, there had been 22 winners before Hollins (co-winners in 2005 and 2012) and an astounding 12 didn't play for the Dolphins the year after they won.
That list (with the year the player won the award): Mark Dixon in 2002, Ricky Williams in 2005, Kevin Carter in 2006, Vonnie Holliday in 2008, Greg Camarillo in 2009, Ronnie Brown in 2010, Yeremiah Bell in 2011, Reggie Bush in 2012, Jared Odrick in 2014, Jermon Bushrod in 2017, T.J. McDonald in 2018 and Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2020.
So, of course, that makes us nervous about Hollins coming back considering he's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
I asked him about his thoughts on free agency Wednesday: "I don’t know. Honestly, thinking too far into the future has always ruined my game as a player. I feel like the reason I’m able to have a lot of fun when I’m playing is because I don’t worry about things too far down the line. Obviously that’s something that’s going to have to be thought about but I think I can give myself seven more days or six more days and then open my mind up to that type of stuff. I’m not really sure, honestly.”
Rest assured, if the media has anything to say about it, Hollins will be back with the Dolphins in 2022.
For the record, here's the full of Good Guy Award winners:
2001 — LB Zach Thomas
2002 — G/T Mark Dixon
2003 — DT Larry Chester
2004 — DE David Bowens
2005 — DE Vonnie Holliday/RB Ricky Williams
2006 — DE Kevin Carter
2007 — CB André Goodman
2008 — DE Vonnie Holliday
2009 — WR Greg Camarillo
2010 — RB Ronnie Brown
2011 — S Yeremiah Bell
2012 — RB Reggie Bush/G Richie Incognito
2013 — WR Mike Wallace
2014 — DT Jared Odrick
2015 — C Mike Pouncey
2016 — S Michael Thomas
2017 — G Jermon Bushrod
2018 — S T.J. McDonald
2019 — LB Jerome Baker
2020 — QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
2021 — WR Mack Hollins
RUNNING BACK MOVES
Malcolm Brown's first season with the Dolphins officially ended Wednesday, while Patrick Laird might be looking at getting another game.
Laird was designated for return and practice Wednesday for the first time since he sustained a knee injury against the New York Giants on Dec. 5. The Dolphins will have until 4 p.m. ET on Saturday to decide whether to activate Laird, whose special teams role might be enough to get him in the lineup if he's healthy enough.
As for Brown, his practice window after being designated for return ended Wednesday, meaning the Dolphins had to make a decision whether to activate him or keep him on IR, and they chose the latter.
With Brown scheduled to become a UFA in March, it's entirely possible he's played his last game with the Dolphins.
PRACTICE SQUAD NOTES
For the final time this season, the Dolphins designated their players to be protected from poaching off their practice squad and they were familiar names.
The four players were DT Andrew Billings, RB Gerrid Doaks, QB Jake Luton and WR Kirk Merritt.
Of the four, Merritt is the only who has been elevated to play in a regular season game this season, but Billings and Luton have been among the practice squad players protected every week since they joined the Dolphins.
The Dolphins protected 14 different players throughout the season, with Jamal Perry and Doaks tying for the team high with eight times, followed by Billings and Merritt with seven.
Four players who were protected ended up on the Dolphins' active roster — DB Jamal Perry, who then ended up on IR; WR Isaiah Ford; LB Calvin Munson; and LB Vince Biegel.
Munson took an interesting route because the New England Patriots poached him when he was left unprotected and signed him to their active roster and the Dolphins later claimed him off waivers when the Patriots released him.
On another practice squad note, running back Dexter Williams was signed to the Cleveland Browns 53-man roster, but then had to be placed on their Reserve/COVID-19 list.
DURABLE HOWARD
Since his 2019 season was cut short by a knee injury, Xavien Howard has done a good job of staying in the lineup, and it's about to pay off for him.
Howard will go into the regular season finale having played 90.7 percent of the Dolphins' defensive snaps, putting him in a position to max out the incentives that were put into his restructured contract in early August.
Howard already earned $1 million for being selected to the Pro Bowl, and has an escalating bonus based on snap percentage up to an additional $2.5 million for at least 90 percent (would be an additional $1.5 million for between 80-90 percent of the snaps).
After missing 24 games in his first four NFL seasons, Howard has missed only one the past two seasons — the loss against Jacksonville in London this season.
“Man, that’s one thing I said earlier in my (career), I didn’t have that availability, being able to get on the field and being able to perform due to injuries," Howard said. "I feel like that stuff is behind me now. I’m just trying to do what’s best for my team and just try to stay on the field.”
