Ingram Wins AFC September Award

Miami Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month

Talk about making a quick impression.

Veteran linebacker Melvin Ingram, who joined the Miami Dolphins in the offseason, was named Thursday as the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September.

In his first three games with the Dolphins after years with the Chargers and splitting time last season with Pittsburgh and Kansas City, Ingram came up with big play after big play to help Miami get off to a 3-0 start this season.

Ingram is the only player in the NFL to record a sack and score a defensive touchdown so far this season. He returned a fumble for a 2-yard score in the Week 1 win vs. New England.

In three games, Ingram has seven tackles (six solo), two sacks, one pass defensed, two quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He’s also the only NFL player to have multiple sacks and multiple fumble recoveries so far this season.

In the 21-19 Week 3 victory against Buffalo, he helped clinch the victory by tackling wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie in bounds, after he first had pressure on quarterback Josh Allen, allowing time to expire before the Bills had the chance to try to set up for a game-winning field goal.

"You can’t tell me nothing bad about Melvin Ingram ever in life," teammate Christian Wilkins said after the game. "After seeing what he did on the last play, he has the ultimate respect. An 11-year pro beating a rusher, missing a sack, then making a play 10, 15, 20 yards down the field, that’s just a dawg mentality. That’s leadership. That’s ‘want-to.’ That’s will."

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DOLPHINS AND PLAYERS OF THE MONTH

Ingram being honored marks the second consecutive time the Dolphins have had the AFC Defensive Player of the Month because Jerome Baker was the last recipient for the 2021 season.

The last time the Dolphins had back-to-back AFC Defensive Player of the Month recipients was in 2002 when Jason Taylor won it for October and November.

The Dolphins' last AFC Special Teams Player of the Month was Jason Sanders when he also won back-to-back awards in October and November 2020.

The last time a Dolphins player was AFC Offensive Player of the Month was all the way back in 1993 when quarterback Scott Mitchell was recognized for his play in October 1993 after replacing injured starter Dan Marino.

Tua Tagovailoa certainly would have had a legitimate case to earn the award for this month, but the AFC Offensive Player of the Month was Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.