Two weeks into the Miami Dolphins' offseason practice regimen Authentic Fernando Rodney Jersey , first-round draft pick Minkah Fitzpatrick's running tally of interceptions is underway.
"Have I been counting them? Every DB counts them," Fitzpatrick said with a laugh after Tuesday's workout. "I've got two picks and a couple of pass breakups. Just doing my job."
Contact drills won't begin until training camp, but early indications are the Dolphins used the 11th overall pick wisely when they selected Fitzpatrick.
The safety from Alabama said he's not fazed by reports Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wanted to trade down on draft night rather than pick Fitzpatrick.
"I heard about it," Fitzpatrick said. "He's a businessman. He's going to see the business side of everything. This is extra motivation to prove I'm a worthy pick and deserve to be here."
The front office wanted a playmaker to upgrade a defense that ranked fourth-worst in points allowed last season, and so far Fitzpatrick looks as if he'll make Miami better.
"He has done a good job," coach Adam Gase said. "He has gotten his hands on a lot of balls. He seems to be all over the place. He has a great motor and a great work ethic. You can tell he takes this very seriously and puts everything he has into this."
The Dolphins' investment goes beyond a first-round choice. Fitzpatrick signed a $16.44 million, four-year deal last week.
But he said he didn't celebrate the contract, and doesn't have any plans for the money besides buying a place to live.
"Anytime you see your hard work paying off, it's a good feeling," he said. "But you've got to keep telling yourself it's not the end goal. I didn't come here just to be a first-round pick. I wanted to be a great player here and establish a great legacy."
Fitzpatrick said the Dolphins are dividing his practice time evenly among the strong safety, free safety and nickel back positions. He said he doesn't have a preference and is happy to move around.
"They trust me to do that," Fitzpatrick said. "They're not putting too much on me Youth Fred Warner Jersey , but they know they can put a lot on me."
Pro Bowler Reshad Jones is certain to start at one safety spot, and veteran safety T.J. McDonald also returns after starting the final eight games last season. Defensive coordinator Matt Burke may decide to play both along with Fitzpatrick at times, and June is a time for experimenting.
General manager Chris Grier has compared Fitzpatrick to a Swiss army knife because of his versatility. And wherever Fitzpatrick lines up, he's making his presence felt.
"He is flying around at practice," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "He plays aggressive and plays fast, and that's what you want to see out of a DB."
Fitzpatrick played for Nick Saban at Alabama, which may be why he hasn't found the demands of the NFL too daunting so far. In fact, the coaching styles of Saban and Gase are similar, he said.
"They're both very passionate coaches," Fitzpatrick said. "They're both real hands-on. The only difference is coach Saban yells a bit more."
At Alabama, Fitzpatrick had a school-record four interception returns for touchdowns. He's confident about quickly improving his professional pick total.
"That's going to keep going up," Fitzpatrick said. "As I get more and more comfortable B.J. Hill Jersey Giants , I'll make more and more plays."
In a story March 5 about the Super Bowl DVD, The Associated Press reported the site of NFL Films as Mount Royal, New Jersey. The correct site is Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
A corrected version of the story is below:
PHI-NALLY: An Oscar winner in Philadelphia?
Putting together a documentary of a Super Bowl season is an extensive and exhausting project
By BARRY WILNER
AP Sports Writer
Putting together a documentary of a Super Bowl season is an extensive and exhausting project.
Except when it becomes a labor of love.
For dozens of employees at NFL Films, the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles season was particularly special. Thus, the DVD that chronicles it and becomes available to the public on Tuesday – PHI-NALLY is how it is dubbed – wasn’t exactly work.
”We are in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is about 20 minutes from the Linc,” says Todd Schmidt, who produces such enterprises for NFL Films. ”So many of our people are lifelong fans of the Eagles, who have suffered for all those years. And that is something the becomes part of the film; we wanted people out there to understand what some of these people went through during that crazy game and this season.
”I would love for an Arizona Cardinals fan to get the same bang out of this as my 22-year-old son and a lifelong Eagles fan will, and I like to think that the story will do that. This is more than a story of a football season. It’s about why teams and fans don’t quit http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/ ... son-jersey , and that’s what Philly fans are like. They may get a lot of criticism, but there’s a reason Rocky means so much and showing the heart to never give up means so much.”
NFL Films had the good fortune of being able to place microphones on coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Nick Foles. The exchanges between them not only are insightful football-wise, they provide a window into the aggressiveness that was so critical to not only upending the Patriots in a classic Super Bowl, but in the Eagles putting together such a successful season.
Indeed, Philadelphia’s 41-33 victory in Minneapolis probably made for a much more enchanting story than had the Patriots won. After all, New England taking the NFL title is anything but new, and the Eagles last won it in 1960, when Norm Van Brocklin was the quarterback and Chuck Bednarik was playing linebacker and center.
So Schmidt opted to open the documentary with a shot of Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus – the site of that 1960 win over Green Bay. And he decided to close the film with the parade witnessed by more than 700,000 ”so you get a clear idea of what this meant to the city of Philadelphia, the people of Philadelphia, and to Eagles fans.”
NFL Films actually makes two 55-minute films annually. The 2017 version of the Patriots’ season ”will not see the light of day,” Schmidt explains. But it also would have had plenty of cachet.
”I think every team has a story Adidas Andrew Cogliano Jersey ,” he says, though how many viewers would be interested in, say, the Browns‘ 0-16 campaign is debatable.
”Had the Patriots won, it would have been a film of dominance; if they had won they would have been the `27 Yankees. It would have been magnificent if they had pulled out that game, two of the most amazing Super Bowls back to back. Tom Brady would go down as the greatest magician ever to walk the earth.
”We are storytellers and we would have made the elements we had work well.”
Still, the elements they had on Philadelphia’s side certainly seem more compelling. A team loses five key players, including late in the schedule the QB who appeared headed to league MVP honors. It’s an underdog in all of its postseason games despite being a top seed. Its history of falling short is monumental.
And then it wins a classic Super Bowl against an NFL dynasty.
”The Eagles story has a lot more historical context, which is red meat to a storyteller,” Schmidt says. ”The more context and unique elements of the story, the better the story. So I loved the Eagles story.”
As did so many of his co-workers.
—
.
"Have I been counting them? Every DB counts them," Fitzpatrick said with a laugh after Tuesday's workout. "I've got two picks and a couple of pass breakups. Just doing my job."
Contact drills won't begin until training camp, but early indications are the Dolphins used the 11th overall pick wisely when they selected Fitzpatrick.
The safety from Alabama said he's not fazed by reports Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wanted to trade down on draft night rather than pick Fitzpatrick.
"I heard about it," Fitzpatrick said. "He's a businessman. He's going to see the business side of everything. This is extra motivation to prove I'm a worthy pick and deserve to be here."
The front office wanted a playmaker to upgrade a defense that ranked fourth-worst in points allowed last season, and so far Fitzpatrick looks as if he'll make Miami better.
"He has done a good job," coach Adam Gase said. "He has gotten his hands on a lot of balls. He seems to be all over the place. He has a great motor and a great work ethic. You can tell he takes this very seriously and puts everything he has into this."
The Dolphins' investment goes beyond a first-round choice. Fitzpatrick signed a $16.44 million, four-year deal last week.
But he said he didn't celebrate the contract, and doesn't have any plans for the money besides buying a place to live.
"Anytime you see your hard work paying off, it's a good feeling," he said. "But you've got to keep telling yourself it's not the end goal. I didn't come here just to be a first-round pick. I wanted to be a great player here and establish a great legacy."
Fitzpatrick said the Dolphins are dividing his practice time evenly among the strong safety, free safety and nickel back positions. He said he doesn't have a preference and is happy to move around.
"They trust me to do that," Fitzpatrick said. "They're not putting too much on me Youth Fred Warner Jersey , but they know they can put a lot on me."
Pro Bowler Reshad Jones is certain to start at one safety spot, and veteran safety T.J. McDonald also returns after starting the final eight games last season. Defensive coordinator Matt Burke may decide to play both along with Fitzpatrick at times, and June is a time for experimenting.
General manager Chris Grier has compared Fitzpatrick to a Swiss army knife because of his versatility. And wherever Fitzpatrick lines up, he's making his presence felt.
"He is flying around at practice," quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "He plays aggressive and plays fast, and that's what you want to see out of a DB."
Fitzpatrick played for Nick Saban at Alabama, which may be why he hasn't found the demands of the NFL too daunting so far. In fact, the coaching styles of Saban and Gase are similar, he said.
"They're both very passionate coaches," Fitzpatrick said. "They're both real hands-on. The only difference is coach Saban yells a bit more."
At Alabama, Fitzpatrick had a school-record four interception returns for touchdowns. He's confident about quickly improving his professional pick total.
"That's going to keep going up," Fitzpatrick said. "As I get more and more comfortable B.J. Hill Jersey Giants , I'll make more and more plays."
In a story March 5 about the Super Bowl DVD, The Associated Press reported the site of NFL Films as Mount Royal, New Jersey. The correct site is Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
A corrected version of the story is below:
PHI-NALLY: An Oscar winner in Philadelphia?
Putting together a documentary of a Super Bowl season is an extensive and exhausting project
By BARRY WILNER
AP Sports Writer
Putting together a documentary of a Super Bowl season is an extensive and exhausting project.
Except when it becomes a labor of love.
For dozens of employees at NFL Films, the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles season was particularly special. Thus, the DVD that chronicles it and becomes available to the public on Tuesday – PHI-NALLY is how it is dubbed – wasn’t exactly work.
”We are in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, which is about 20 minutes from the Linc,” says Todd Schmidt, who produces such enterprises for NFL Films. ”So many of our people are lifelong fans of the Eagles, who have suffered for all those years. And that is something the becomes part of the film; we wanted people out there to understand what some of these people went through during that crazy game and this season.
”I would love for an Arizona Cardinals fan to get the same bang out of this as my 22-year-old son and a lifelong Eagles fan will, and I like to think that the story will do that. This is more than a story of a football season. It’s about why teams and fans don’t quit http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/ ... son-jersey , and that’s what Philly fans are like. They may get a lot of criticism, but there’s a reason Rocky means so much and showing the heart to never give up means so much.”
NFL Films had the good fortune of being able to place microphones on coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Nick Foles. The exchanges between them not only are insightful football-wise, they provide a window into the aggressiveness that was so critical to not only upending the Patriots in a classic Super Bowl, but in the Eagles putting together such a successful season.
Indeed, Philadelphia’s 41-33 victory in Minneapolis probably made for a much more enchanting story than had the Patriots won. After all, New England taking the NFL title is anything but new, and the Eagles last won it in 1960, when Norm Van Brocklin was the quarterback and Chuck Bednarik was playing linebacker and center.
So Schmidt opted to open the documentary with a shot of Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus – the site of that 1960 win over Green Bay. And he decided to close the film with the parade witnessed by more than 700,000 ”so you get a clear idea of what this meant to the city of Philadelphia, the people of Philadelphia, and to Eagles fans.”
NFL Films actually makes two 55-minute films annually. The 2017 version of the Patriots’ season ”will not see the light of day,” Schmidt explains. But it also would have had plenty of cachet.
”I think every team has a story Adidas Andrew Cogliano Jersey ,” he says, though how many viewers would be interested in, say, the Browns‘ 0-16 campaign is debatable.
”Had the Patriots won, it would have been a film of dominance; if they had won they would have been the `27 Yankees. It would have been magnificent if they had pulled out that game, two of the most amazing Super Bowls back to back. Tom Brady would go down as the greatest magician ever to walk the earth.
”We are storytellers and we would have made the elements we had work well.”
Still, the elements they had on Philadelphia’s side certainly seem more compelling. A team loses five key players, including late in the schedule the QB who appeared headed to league MVP honors. It’s an underdog in all of its postseason games despite being a top seed. Its history of falling short is monumental.
And then it wins a classic Super Bowl against an NFL dynasty.
”The Eagles story has a lot more historical context, which is red meat to a storyteller,” Schmidt says. ”The more context and unique elements of the story, the better the story. So I loved the Eagles story.”
As did so many of his co-workers.
—
.
