The Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets on Sunday 30-0 at Hard Rock Stadium, and the large gap allowed for some inexperienced players to get opportunities that they normally wouldn’t.
One player who benefitted from the 30-point lead was cornerback Ethan Bonner, an undrafted rookie who was elevated for the contest and was making his NFL debut.
The former Stanford Cardinal played 11 defensive snaps and 13 on special teams, earning the fourth-highest PFF grade (81.7) for any defensive player with at least 10 snaps.
Bonner’s highlight of the day came on New York’s second possession in the fourth quarter. On second-and-9 with just under four minutes remaining, Jets quarterback Trevor Siemian tried to complete a pass to Allan Lazard on the right sideline. However, Bonner was there to break it up.
The support from his teammates on the sidelines was truly an awesome moment.
Look at the reaction by everyone on the sideline after rookie CB Ethan Bonner got his first career PBU😂 pic.twitter.com/R3kJgYKhdh
— Finscentral (@finscentral) December 19, 2023
All of the coaches were jumping around to him, and Channing Tindall, Christian Wilkins, Duke Riley and Bradley Chubb ran over to the cornerback to congratulate him on the great play.
Miami has some depth at cornerback, but they’ve been dealing with injuries to Xavien Howard, who missed Sunday’s contest, and Cam Smith, who left in the middle of it. If either of them are questionable for Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, Bonner could get the second elevation of his career.