Playing in the shadow of Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard had to be both inspiring and challenging for every other defensive back in the Miami secondary in 2020. Howard seemingly made an interception every week on his way to the first 10 interception season in the NFL in over a decade. For Byron Jones, the dynamics were especially complicated. Because Jones, in his first year as a member of the Dolphins, was paid more than Howard — a finer detail that has helped contribute to Howard’s current holdout from the team after skipping mandatory minicamp this week in Davie.
But a new year brings about a new opportunity for Jones to attack another season with bigger aspirations; and that’s exactly where his head is at entering his seventh NFL season.
“The dope thing about football is you really have to start from (step) one every single year. You’ve got to start with the fundamentals – breaking 90 degrees, 45 degrees, downhill, tracking the ball,” said Jones during a Thursday interview with the South Florida media.
“For me, I’d love to work on my technique more and just be more of a technician and not rely just solely on my athleticism; and I’d also like to be more of a playmaker and get my head around and take more chances at the ball. Instead of batting them down, take those boys back to the house like (Xavien Howard) did last year. Those are the things that I’m working on; but like I said, you really have to build from the ground up every single year.”
If you listen carefully to Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ messaging for his team, he’s constantly talking about getting better every day and has made references to taking joy in the process. As he told the team at the end of the 2019 season, “there’s joy in hard work.”
For Jones to talk about the fun part of football being rededicating himself to the process, it is easy to see why Jones is a fit in the Dolphins’ locker room. And if Jones can live up to his own aspirations of more plays on the football, the dynamics of the Dolphins’ secondary will be a little less complicated in 2021.