JT Back to Call Dolphins Preseason Games, Talks About 2022 Outlook
It has been four months now since Jason Taylor took on his new role as a defensive analyst for the University of Miami football program, but he remains close to the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins made it official Tuesday morning that Taylor, the team's 10th Hall of Famer, would return as a color analyst on South Florida station CBS4 for the team's preseason games in 2022.
Taylor, who is not expected to continue working on Dolphins regular season games because of his job at UM, will join play-by-play man Steve Goldstein and sideline reporter Kim Bokamper for the preseason games.
The Dolphins' 2022 preseason games begins with a road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Aug. 13 (7:30 p.m.), followed by home games against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday, Aug. 20 (7 p.m.) and the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday, Aug. 27 (7 p.m.).
TAYLOR'S TAKES ON THE 2022 DOLPHINS
In conjunction with the announcement by CBS4, Taylor was asked for his thoughts on the 2022 Dolphins and he, probably not surprisingly given his career with the Dolphins and role on the team's broadcast team, sounded very optimistic.
On the preseason:
“I think you're trying to instill a new culture and new philosophy, obviously new schemes offensively and defensively, so you still won't see some of the veteran guys really go long in the preseason, you might get some guys inactive for the first game. It's gonna be interesting to see how McDaniel does this strategy of getting guys ready learning a new system but obviously as we get older we don't want to do a whole lot in August.”
On new head coach Mike McDaniel:
“I love that he's himself. He's not trying to be somebody else. And people will say, well, he's so different. His philosophy, his approach, the way he handles himself is so different than what you see the NFL coach do. But that's what players love. They love that authenticity, a genuine guy that's just willing to be himself, can be self-deprecating and laughing at himself. He doesn't take himself too seriously, but they all know it and respect that he is he's the boss. He's the head football coach, a very, very smart guy. Really a cool guy to be around. I've only been around him a couple of times, but I've enjoyed it and I know talking to the players, they have really enjoyed the … I don't want to say breath of fresh air because the previous coach was a good guy a lot. of ways too but it's just different. And maybe this team needs different and now it's you know, everyone's all in, is 10 toes down and trying to get ready for the season.”
On the addition of Tyreek Hill and Hill's relationship with Tua Tagovailoa:
“Well, they need to have that bond. I mean, obviously Waddle is a great player, had an amazing season last year and he's gonna be even better this year, I think. And Tua needs to find that guy outside of Waddle and obviously they brought in ‘The Cheetah’ for a reason. He's one of the most dynamic and electrifying receivers in the NFL, paid a lot of money to get him here. They're going to use him in a lot of different ways. I know Coach McDaniel is probably chomping at the bit to get him in the scheme and design to do all these different things with him and your quarterback needs to find his best receiver or 1A and 1B, Hill and Waddle, and take them to dinner. Do everything you need to do. If you need to buy him a car, need to buy him a house. They have to be best friends. And I think it's great that they're developing that rapport in the offseason, and again for all the things said about Tua, he’s still young and is he still going through his second full offseason and getting indoctrinated into being an NFL quarterback and I think the sky's the limit.”
On the defense:
“It can hopefully come out of the gate a little faster. They kept Coach Boyer here and they have the same defensive system, some really, really good football players as we know, obviously Xavien Howard. Two rookies that I was very high on last year, obviously Jalen Phillips and Jevon Holland, who I think is gonna be an All-Pro — both of those guys could be All-Pro players. There's a lot of talent defensively. I love the way they play. It’s A lot of risk, a lot of reward but the way they do it and how sound they are, listen, when you play zero you’ve got to get to the quarterback or they’re going to be striking up the band or lighting up the scoreboard and they did a really good job, especially the second half of the season of shutting guys down.”
