
Dolphins QB Malik Willis is working on building chemistry with his new receivers in Miami, and reporters have asked TE Greg Dulcich and WR Tutu Atwell about their experiences with Willis so far.
“He’s a stud. He can rip the ball. Sees the field great. Obviously, he’s mobile, but he’s got great pocket presence as well,” Dulcich said of Willis, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “That (touchdown pass to Sims) was exactly what I was talking about. Great vision. Ben had a great heads-up play, got his head around, Malik saw it, put it on him and yeah, it was sweet.”
“It’s a fresh start for real, everybody is new,” Atwell mentioned. “It’s a different environment, different organization, and I’m just taking it day by day. Just learning how they run things here, do things here, but overall it’s great coaches, great teammates. I’m just happy to be here and be home.”
“I think all of them have been doing a great job from top to bottom,” Willis said. “Everybody has the right mindset to come in and work and just do the best that they can to show what they can do. I feel like it’s an opportunity for all of us. It’s a bunch of new faces, whether it’s rookies or guys that have been here, but we’re all in front of new guys for the first time, and we got to try to continue to show what we can do.”
Jets OL Joe Tippmann said he was happy to finally get his contract extension done with New York.
“Personally, it means a lot,” Tippmann said, via the team’s website. “It’s the Johnsons, the Jets organization, the people that were willing to take a chance on me three years ago, and I thank them for that. … Knowing I can continue to grow in this organization is a great feeling.”
Jets HC Aaron Glenn was happy to see Tippmann remain with the team and said that his focus has been on building the team through the trenches.
“It was outstanding for us to get that done,” Glenn said. “What that does is it stabilizes our offensive line and builds continuity. That’s something that I’ve always talked about when it comes to D-line, O-line, make sure you can do that, so we feel really good about that. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while. And congratulations to him, too, because he deserved it.”
Glenn added that Tippmann’s willingness to man the right guard spot after G Alijah Vera-Tucker went down went a long way in his eyes and embodies the type of player he wants in the locker room.
“Joe was more than willing to move over to the guard spot and take on that job,” Glenn said. “He didn’t complain, he just said, ‘Coach, what do you need us to do?’ Man, he’s one of those guys you want to be around for a long time, because of how he is as a person and how he’s going to be as a player. He took on that role and did a damn good job for us.”
Many have speculated that the Patriots will sign CB Christian Gonzalez to an extension before the start of the season, which is well deserved given his performance down the stretch in the playoffs. Gonzalez himself noted that he simply wants to be rewarded for his play.
“I hope we get something done,” Gonzalez said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “I’ve said this multiple times: I’ve been drafted here; I want to be rewarded as a Patriot. I love this city. So of course I want to be here.”
“We have a long time to the season. We’re still pretty early in the offseason,” Gonzalez added. “I’m focused on being here for the team, fulfill my role and what I’m here for this week, and focus on that.”
More must-reads:
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!