On the second day of training camp Friday
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It’ll be different Saturday, when the Dolphins put on pads for the first time and conduct contact drills.
”That’s what middle linebackers live for,” McMillan said with a grin, ”so I’m ready for all of that.”
Especially since McMillan hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact in the NFL. The 2017 second-round draft pick from Ohio State won raves and a starting job in his first few months as a pro, but on his first play in the first exhibition game, he blew out his right knee covering a punt.
”First injury I’ve had ever – college, high school, little league
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The torn ACL sidelined McMillan for his entire rookie season. He participated in offseason drills this spring still mindful of his surgically repaired knee, but is now more confident it’ll hold up.
”On the field I don’t really think about it much at all,” he said. ”In OTAs I was still thinking about it. I was still worrying about whether it was strong enough, or if it was ready yet to take every snap. I finally feel like I’m back to where I was.”
That sounds good to coach Adam Gase, who considers his evaluation of McMillan incomplete only because the former Butkus Award finalist has yet to play in an NFL game.
”Everything else tells us he’s exactly what we drafted him to be,” Gase said.
A year ago, McMillan impressed coaches with his aptitude and leadership skills, and he thrived in contact drills.
He’s expected to bolster a defense that needs him after ranking fourth-worst in the league in points allowed last year. The upgrade parallels the return of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who’s back after suffering a season-ending injury one week before McMillan was hurt.
The veteran QB and rookie linebacker rehabbed together
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”They did a good job of pushing each other,” Gase said. ”You hate to say it was good they had each other to go through that with, because it hurt us not to have them. But it was good for those two guys to have that other guy.”
McMillan said Tannehill helped him cope with the frustration and physical challenges of recovery.
”Throughout the whole rehab process, Ryan kind of walked me through what I was going to feel, how I was going to feel and some of the pains I was going to have, and how to get through them,” McMillan said.
He began to envision a career as an NFL middle linebacker when he first arrived at Ohio State and discussed his future with head coach Urban Meyer and an assistant coach.
”They sat me to the side and told me that was going to be the best position for me, for my future and for my family,” he said. ”So I took that and ran with it.”
On the night the Dolphins drafted McMillan
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Many questions have been (and will be) asked about the decision of the Raiders to ship defensive end Khalil Mack to Chicago in lieu of paying him. Here’s one thing that needs to be asked about Chicago’s decision to do the deal.
Why now?
The “why” is easy. They want a great pass rusher, and they’re willing both to pay him accordingly, and to give up a bunch of draft capital to get him. The harder part is the “now.”
Mack isn’t the missing dance move toward a Super Bowl shuffle. In his four NFL seasons, the Raiders made it to the playoffs once, and they lost their only playoff game during Mack’s career. It’s wishful thinking and then some to think that Mack instantly transmogrifies the woebegone Bears to a true contender in a conference chock full of them.
So why now? Why make the investment one week before the start of the regular season, writing a check for $40 million and committing $60 million total at signing (plus plenty more to come) for a guy who will be plugged in to play in a decidedly non-plug-and-play sport?
The same draft picks would have been invested if the deal had been done next March, and the money would have gone to a player who would have spent the full offseason program
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So what’s the point in giving up so much money and so many draft picks for the privilege of being forced to get up to speed an admittedly great talent who has fallen out of the sky a week before a trip to Lambeau Field? Whatever the Bears are doing now they could have done six months from now, getting Mack for roughly the same picks and roughly the same money, especially since there’s no other high-end defensive players who would have pushed the bar higher than Aaron Donald did one day before the Mack deal was done.
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