MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins and their fans have two very different evaluations of safety Jordan Poyer.
There have been recent calls to bench Poyer after a series of costly mistakes, including a missed open-field tackle of Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers in Week 11 that allowed a touchdown.
But based on Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s comments here Wednesday, Poyer’s starting job seems safe.
Should Miami Dolphins Bench Jordan Poyer?
Bowers was able to get open for his 23-yard touchdown catch from Gardner Minshew because Poyer got picked by teammate Kader Kohou and couldn’t recover in time.
By the time Poyer got to Bowers, the rookie tight end was already past him and wasn’t about to be stopped by Poyer’s flailing arm-tackle attempt.
Brock Bowers stats today:
– 13 Rec
– 126 Yards
– 1 TD
– 9.7 Reavg
– 78 Yac
– 23 LNG pic.twitter.com/sr8qOKZaz0— Dawg Muse 🏆 (@UGAFanatic0) November 17, 2024
“They had an emphasis to get him the ball,” Poyer said Monday of Bowers, who had a game-high 126 yards on 13 catches Sunday. “He’s a good player. He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long time.”
The whiffed tackle came two weeks after Poyer’s unnecessary and reckless decision basically cost the Dolphins a game. His final-drive helmet-to-helmet hit on Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman kept Josh Allen on the field, and allowed the Bills to get in position for a 61-yard game-winning field goal by Tyler Bass.
Those high-profile mistakes — combined with Poyer’s struggles in coverage this year (he’s allowed 17.5 yards per completion, 10.8 yards per passing attempt, and a 111.1 passer rating) — have raised justifiable questions about whether the Dolphins would be best suited by sitting him.
McDaniel, during his Wednesday news conference ahead of the Dolphins’ Week 12 games against the New England Patriots, suggested such a move isn’t coming.
“There’s some plays that Po definitely has a higher expectation for himself,” McDaniel said. “I think the play you just alluded to is a prime example. It’s a play that he could have made to stop the bleeding. However, there was some other extraneous circumstances when you’re talking about the traffic and how, from a technique and fundamental standpoint, we could avoid that traffic issue with teammates.
“[While] there are some plays that he could be better at, I will say that I’m very happy with his play overall and what he brings to our defense, I think it’s hard to measure when, when you’re not working, day in, day out.”
While McDaniel didn’t want to speak for safety Jevon Holland — who works alongside Poyer in the Dolphins’ defensive backfield — he basically did just that as he continued his answer:
“I would imagine Jevon Holland would say he plays his absolute best when he’s alongside Jordan Poyer. And I would forecast, there’s multiple players that feel that way.
“And so there’s a lot of things that aren’t point of attack that he’s really, really doing a high-level job of. He’s making plays for us from a physical standpoint each and every week. And he’ll improve on the stuff because there’s a reason why he’s been in the NFL so long.
“… He’s had an unbelievable NFL career because he’s a great player that is very accountable and finds ways to improve within the season, which I expect him to do as well.”