Byron Jones recorded an interception in two of the Dolphins' final four games last season.
That may not sound like a big deal, except that Jones, a Pro Bowl talent, hadn't recorded an interception in his previous two Cowboys seasons.
"Everyone’s slapping you on the head and on the butt, and you do your little dance on the sideline and whatnot," Jones said at the conclusion of Miami's minicamp. "It’s fun."
The biggest adjustment Jones had to make in his first season with the Dolphins was going from the Cowboys' mostly-zone defense to Miami's mostly-man coverage.
And as the season progressed, Jones figured out how to use it to his advantage.
"I think I learned that I can stay more square at the line of scrimmage and fight receivers a little bit longer than I’m used to," Jones said. "We’re long, we’re athletic corners, so that’s been a big lynchpin in our defense is being able to play effective man coverage and being aggressive at the line of scrimmage."
Jones is a phenomenal athlete. But after using a trail technique in Dallas in which he often had his back to the play, Jones needed some time to develop the proper Dolphins' muscle memory.
"Just repping it over and over again so that when it comes to game day, it’s just second nature at that point," Jones said.
That's cause for optimism as Jones heads into the second season of a 5-year, $82.5 million contract.
Of course the contract comes up. Yes, Jones makes more than Dolphins' star cornerback Xavien Howard, who wants a pay adjustment.
For the record, Jones said he'd like to see Howard re-join Miami, after his bookmatch sat out voluntary organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.
"We balled out," Jones said. "Obviously what (Howard) did was completely special and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and those skills are – we love those skills in our defense."
Jones did add of the contract situation: "It's none of my business."
Dolphins coach Brian Flores says he found Jones to be as advertised.
"I knew he was smart, knew he was tough and knew he was talented and cared about the game and was competitive and was team-first," Flores said. "Just spending more time with him, I think it just reinforced a lot of the things that I already kind of knew during the evaluation process, so we’ve been happy with him. Very happy.”
Flores said Jones improved throughout the season.
"He was more comfortable towards the middle-end part of the season with the techniques, with the fundamentals, with the environment," Flores said. "I thought he played well."
Jones is a Dolphins' NFLPA player representative. He was involved in discussions with Flores that led to a revised spring football format.
Basically, Flores agreed to scale back a bit of the intensity. And Jones felt it went well.
"I think the adjustments that ‘Coach Flo’ made in the offseason program were incredible," Jones said. "It speaks to the type of coach he is, but the type of man he is. Just the fact that he was willing to work with us and kind of describe out exactly what he wanted to get done and how he wanted to do it. He was very clear and transparent, and it was very valuable to have a coach like that."
When training camp begins on July 27, Jones says he plans to continue to work on his technique and become more of a technician, relying less often on his athleticism.
Jones says it's important for him to be a strong communicator and to help younger players. He also says he's determined to create more turnovers.
"I’d also like to be more of a playmaker and get my head around and take more chances at the ball," Jones said. "Instead of batting them down, take those boys back to the house like ‘X’ did last year."
