Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is intimately familiar with the 49ers, who host Miami on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. While he spent his five seasons in San Francisco as the offensive run game coordinator and offensive coordinator, McDaniel knows how effective the 49ers’ defense is.
He told reporters in Miami that defensive end Nick Bosa is one of the biggest problems the Dolphins will deal with all season.
“If Nick Bosa has a pulse, you’re concerned,” McDaniel said. “If he walks past you in the in the parking lot, you’re concerned. He’s one of the better players in the entire NFL. You could easily argue, many people have, and I think a lot of teams that have played him have, that he’s the best pass rusher in the NFL.
“You always will encounter really good players, or elite players, on really good teams. That never fails. And so you always have to get used to playing teams with exceptional players. He’s going to make his plays. You try to do your best to minimize those with various things. Every little detail, you have to be mindful of where he’s at and, and how he’s going about his business, regardless of who’s there. I think from an offensive staff perspective, you have to do your due diligence to try to minimize him as best you can, knowing that you’re never going to stop him and he lives and breathes pass rushing.”
McDaniel’s experience with Bosa as a pass rusher goes beyond watching him during games and seeing him in practice. The 25-year-old also has a penchant for practicing his pass rushing skills on inanimate objects.
“When I was around him in San Francisco, he would do pass rush moves on sanitizer. Like the little pods?” McDaniel said. “Like, if you see like an object like this podium, he would do a pass rush move on it. So that’s just who he is. But there’s always going to be challenges and I’m excited to go ahead and have our team go against really quality players and give it our best shot and see what we got.”
Bosa this season has wedged himself into the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. He has 11.5 sacks in 10 games and at least 1.0 sacks in five consecutive contests. His 13 tackles for loss are tied for the fourth most in the NFL. He’s No. 2 in pressures and tied for first in quarterback hits.
He’s a game-wrecking player, and it’s hard to imagine McDaniel’s concern about Bosa will subside at any point before Sunday.
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