'I’m old school' — Dolphins defense gets a fiery new message from the top as they search for a breakthrough in Week 4

"Hopefully, those lessons (from last week) carry over this week and they understand what it takes to play connected team defense. And to build on that, whether it’s takeaways, stopping the run — I’m old school — I may sit up here, I’m a nice guy. I smile, I do all those things, but all of our problems that we need to solve can be solved through violence. Yeah, they want to legislate it out of the game, but we play defensive football. Defensive football at some point you draw a line in the sand and you say, ‘I’m going to set the edge. I’m going to stick my helmet under this guy’s chin and I’m going to set the edge. I’m going to violently take the ball away.’ And that’s what we need to do. With a steely-eyed focus, with resolve, with resiliency, and we’re going to stop people. And I am determined, we are all determined for that to happen.”

— Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on how this team continues to improve

The quote in text alone frankly does not do it justice. Anthony Weaver has, for a year and a half, offered such a calm and stable presence at a podium — yet you could physically see the switch inside him flip midway through this answer. Weaver was, once upon a time, a 98-game starter as a defensive lineman in the NFL. He played under Rex Ryan. And amid a start that's been a little too docile a little too often for Miami? Damn it, it's nice to see a little fire going.

Whether or not Weaver's message ultimately hits home or not is going to have to wait for us on the other side of the weekend. But given the temperature check — and an out of character one at that — that Weaver offered his defense in front of the cameras, it creates a new storyline to watch for on Monday Night Football. I, for one, will be watching to see who is playing with that message at top of mind against the Jets.

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