Kelly: Is Robbie Chosen Being Put on Ice by the Dolphins?
Some players in the NFL have the deck stacked against them.
The game they are forced to play usually isn’t fair because of their contract, or their age, or an off-the-field situation. Or maybe it’s someone on the team having a superior draft standing to them.
That’s just the reality of professional football, if not all of professional sports. If we're being honest, it's just part of life.
Not everyone is going to start the race at the same point.
Receiver Robbie Chosen, who had a breakout 95-yard performance on two catches during Friday’s practice, seems to be in one of those situations during the early period of training camp with the Miami Dolphins.
For unknown reasons that haven’t been specified, there have been undrafted receivers who have taken more snaps during 11-on-11 work than Chosen, an eight-year veteran who has started 86 NFL games.
While all 11 receivers are being worked in with various quarterbacks, Chosen usually is watching practice’s most important drills — 11-on-11s — from the sideline.
In the first eight practices he’s only been included in the action for a handful of snaps despite routinely showcasing the speed that helped him accumulate 4,596 yards and score 29 touchdowns on 375 receptions.
Accomplished vet receiver rarely gets reps
Has he lost a step?
Does Chosen, who signed a one-year deal for $1.31 million this offseason to achieve his goal of playing for the team he cheered for as a child, not know the offensive plays?
Is Miami giving younger receivers like Erik Ezukanma, Braylon Sanders, Freddie Swain and Daewood Davis move opportunities to showcase themselves?
That’s a question fans, media and players on the team have been whispering as roles are being carved out in training camp.
Based on Chosen’s strong showing in the offseason program, where he handled a significant amount of reps because Tyreek Hill sat out and Jaylen Waddle and Baxton Berrios were seemingly on a pitch count, the prevailing thought was Chosen has done enough to compete for the No. 3 receiver role.
However, it seems that battle is between Berrios, a slot receiver; Ezukanma, a 2022 fourth-round pick; and Cedrick Wilson Jr., who is guaranteed $5 million of his $7 million salary in 2023.
Wes Welker addresses Robbie Chosen's situation
“The opportunities will present itself as camp kind of goes on,” Dolphins receivers coach Wes Welker said Friday, minutes before Chosen’s role was seemingly elevated because of an undisclosed injury Ezukanma suffered in practice, which forced him to sit out Friday’s work.
“It’s always tough when you’re talking about reps. We've got to get Jaylen on this, Braylon Sanders, or whoever it is as far as those deep threats. He’s actually been going deep. We just haven’t thrown it yet,” Welker said. “[Chosen’s] been doing some good things and when he’s gotten his opportunity he’s done a nice job. The ball just hasn’t necessarily come his way yet. Sometimes that happens. You’ve just got to stay with it, and stay patient.”
Coincidentally, facing this type of adversity isn’t new to Chosen. He’s done it his whole life because of poor choices he’s made, which forced him to work twice as hard to make people overlook.
That’s what happened when he got kicked out of Temple because of academics and fought his way back onto the Owls roster.
It’s what happened to Chosen when he joined the NFL as an undrafted rookie and worked his way into a starting role as a rookie with the New York Jets.
And it’s seemingly happening to him again.
“I’m not worried about that. We’re all here to get better,” Chosen said when asked about his limited opportunities,” said Chosen, who started seven games last season for the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals, who traded for him.
“I’m thankful,” Chosen said. “I’m blessed and very appreciative to be home. It means a lot to me.”
Is he worried about his standing with the team considering it could cost him a roster spot seeing as how the Dolphins will only keep five or six receivers on the 53-man roster?
“I don’t worry. Worry is a wasted thought. I’m not concerned about things like that,” Chosen said. ”I’m just here to contribute to us winning the Super Bowl and winning games. That’s it.”
