Ingold's Delayed Debut Promising, But He's Looking For More

Veteran newcomer Alec Ingold make a solid contribution in his first appearance for the Miami Dolphins

Alec Ingold was able to make his Miami Dolphins debut in Week 1 of the regular season after a false start in the preseason finale, and it offered a glimpse of the fullback role in the new offense.

It was, by all accounts, a solid debut for Ingold, but hopefully merely a preview of better things to come.

"It was awesome," Ingold said. "It's what you live for, it was really everything. It was a challenging offseason. So to be out there with the boys Week 1, that was everything. It kind of gets you right back on track, gets you settled in, get you prepared for a full football season. So it's good to just start with the guys."

Ingold finished the game with one rushing attempt for 2 yards, one reception for 8 yards on two targets, but most importantly a lot of blocking at the point of attack.

When he converted a third-and-1 in the first half, Ingold became the first pure Dolphins fullback (not just somebody lining up at the position) with a running attempt since 2012 when Jorvorskie Lane had 13 carries on the season.

"I think you take pride in it, right, like to be a short-yardage guy, to be able to move the chains, have a role that you're accountable for and to strap it up and get that first down, draw a line in the sand, go get it type of thing?" Ingold said. "Like I think you take pride in that. And that's a reason I'm here for sure. Not the main reason. But it's cool to have different roles like that where you take pride in executing it every single time.

"This whole offseason, that was the plan was to be involved in the offense, running the ball and catching the ball. obviously blocking. But to see that early (the two targets) and often, I think it was really cool. So now it's just more opportunities, right? Like you put it on tape, and then you can work off of that, you can improve on different things. And then you add new stuff every single week."

INGOLD'S ROLE COULD EXPAND

That's exactly the plan for the coaches as well.

"I was fortunate to be there when we drafted Alec in Oakland the year before Vegas," first-year offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. "And we had him at the Senior Bowl. Getting to know him, you just understand him as a person and his high school coach was my high school coach. I’m from Wisconsin. So the exposure to who he is as a person kind of shows who he is as a player. So obviously being new into the system, coming off his injury, he’s done a fantastic job.

"He was a high school quarterback. Guys who were high school quarterbacks have normally a great understanding of the game and they understand more than just their position. So as he’s been now assimilated to the offense, I know Mike (McDaniel) and Eric (Studesville) both feel we’re just scratching the surface on what we’d like to do with him this year. And you saw it at the end of his time in Vegas with what they were asking him to do. You can see him playing all over the field.”

Nobody saw Ingold at all on the field in the preseason, though the plan was for him to suit up for the final game against the Philadelphia Eagles until those plans had to be scrapped 

But Ingold said he was prepared for action against New England because of the work done in training camp, so there was no apprehension or concern about taking that first hit in a real game.

"I mean, we we hit a lot in practice," he said. "So I don't know if it was so much the hit or the physicality. I think it was the whole routine of the game, the flow of driving to the stadium, going to a new stadium in Hard Rock and getting into the locker room, getting your pads on. I think that whole first-time process was pretty, pretty surreal for me."