Dolphins

Before their Week 5 meeting, Bengals S Jordan Battle suggested Dolphins QB Malik Willis tapped the ball before throwing as a tell, then picked him off twice in the game. Willis was asked about this and went into detail about his picks, saying neither had anything to do with the taps. 

“That’s not a tell, he caught tipped balls. Good for him, that’s what defenses are supposed to do at this level,” Willis said, via Pro Football Talk. “They battled a ball down and the second one was a scramble drill mishap. That has nothing to do with tells. I don’t think I patted either one of those. I don’t think those are correlated.”

“I didn’t think much of it. Everybody pats the ball. That’s funny. Really funny.”

Jets

Jets CB Azareye’h Thomas is in his second year after being a third-round pick in 2025. Thomas said the game has slowed down a lot for him, while his confidence level has increased. 

“Just the game slowing down way, way, way, way more,” Thomas said, via Jack Bell of the team’s site. “Like my confidence level. Last year I was kind of hesitating. This year I’m seeing things. I’m going. I’m hitting it, and that’s one thing I’m proud of. And my coaches have put me in some great positions to go out there and make plays, have put us all in great positions to go out there and make plays, and so that’s the biggest jump for sure. Speed of the game.”

Jets HC Aaron Glenn said Thomas can play man and zone coverage. 

“I think when he first came out and I spoke about AZ, that was one of the things that I talked about, that he’s able to go up and play man coverage and play press man coverage,” Glenn said. “But also, he has the intelligence to be able to go out there and play zone. He understands what the landmarks are. He understands where his help is. And man, the more reps that he gets, the better and better he’s getting. Also, I like exactly where he’s at, he’s a big man [6-1, 197] that can run, and again, he’s intelligent enough to be able to play man and zone.”

Thomas praised their coaches for putting him in great positions to succeed. 

“My coaches put me in great positions, and this has started since OTAs going through installing our playbook, just getting us all comfortable in the scheme and the system,” Thomas said. “You can play fast.”

Patriots

• Patriots HC Mike Vrabel provided an update on OLB Harold Landry, who remains on the PUP list: “Well, of course, the plan would be for him to return at some point. I mean, when he’s ready to go. Harold’s been around. He’s working extremely hard and just isn’t ready to go yet, and so we just have to be patient and continue with what he’s doing, which is coming in every single day, doing his part to be around the team in the morning, and then go and do his rehab, and just not ready yet. And so we’re not going to put him up there. But of course, when he’s ready, that would be the plan.” (Kyed)