Dolphins
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel believes that RB De’Von Achane will step up now that the team no longer has veterans Raheem Mostert or Jeff Wilson on their roster.
“Year 3, I see a guy that understands a broader picture of not only how to be successful independently, but your independent success is helped by the collective success,” McDaniel said of Achane, via DolphinsWire.com. “Understanding the type of player he is and competitor, you hear his voice on the field.”
“I think being a professional football (player) and ascending as a player, you understand that there’s a lot of different layers to that and development in that,” McDaniel continued. “We’ve seen who appeared on the surface as a quiet kid from Texas as a rookie find confidence and develop different ways that he can impact the game.”
“I think that competitiveness that he has naturally to him and what I’m seeing day in, day out, through the five weeks that we’ve been together for this offseason program is a guy that wants to take his game to the next level by both his skills, but also by raising the level of his teammates and finding different ways to fulfill that role. I see him looking at himself as a leader in his own specific way,” McDaniel concluded. “What do leaders do? They bring it every day. You can’t take days off as a leader, and I’ve seen him bring it absolutely every day he’s been in the building.”
Jets
Chris Banjo is embarking on his first year as the Jets’ special teams coordinator following a 10-year playing career that ended in 2022 before becoming an assistant special teams coach with the Broncos the following two years. Banjo reflected on his time playing under HC Aaron Glenn when he was the Saints’ defensive backs coach.
“If I’m being completely honest and transparent, and I’m not just saying that because I’m fortunate enough to be a part of this new coaching staff,” Banjo said, via Jack Bell of the team’s site. “But when I was first got to New Orleans, back in 2016, he used to preach a lot of same things when we talked about some of that culture, and we were fortunate enough to kind of do some special things there. But it started with the seed that he planted, and I think he’s already done that here, and we’re very, very excited to see where that ends up.”
Banjo said he never anticipated becoming a coach earlier in his playing career, but that changed as he got older.
“I had no clue,” Banjo said. “I honestly used to talk a lot of mess about coaches coming up from high school, college, the NFL. ‘No, I’m never going to coach,’ whatever the case may be. But I was always fortunate enough and blessed to be able to get the tag of being a coach on the field or helping young guys come along. And I always took pride in that. So as I got older and as I’ve matured a little bit when people start to throw that around, I kind of can start to see it a little bit.”
Banjo said Glenn is fostering a very competitive environment in New York.
“It’s just competitive as hell,” Banjo said. “Competitive as hell. Sometimes I like to call it a lost art, because not many organizations really emphasize it. But I think we’re very, very fortunate to have a head coach who really believes in the approach of special teams, so when we step on the field, we just want to make sure we’re competing every single play.”
Patriots
The Patriots selected RB TreVeyon Henderson in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Rhamondre Stevenson said Henderson is proving to be an “explosive guy” and is quickly learning their offense.
“Explosive. Explosive guy,” Stevenson said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive. “He’s learning. He’s learning pretty quick and I’m excited for him.”
Stevenson wants to be an outlet for Henderson and give him advice as he embarks on his rookie season.
“It’s just football and the NFL. Football is football, but the NFL is a little different. So I think just the experience of me being here a little longer than him I can just give him tips and tricks of things that go on, on the field – reading defenses, things like that,” Stevenson said. “He’s a pretty smart player though. I don’t know how much defensive reading or IDing defenses he did at Ohio State, but I think he’s doing a good job. I think it’s just watching film with each other. We can all learn from each other, honestly – all the running backs in the room. I look forward to that.”
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