But Clark clearly suggested he has no issue with Wilkins’ loquacious ways.
“ I think just general philosophy, and this is from our head coach, the guys need to be themselves,” Clark said. “We try to create that environment in the D-line room. I love the guy. If that helps him play better and that’s what it is, man, let’s give that (stuff) to everybody.”
COMPLIMENTS FOR CONNER
If rookie tight end Tanner Conner being able to make the team as a rookie free agent came as a surprise to some, maybe it shouldn’t have.
The truth is Conner showed his Dolphins coaches and teammates a lot almost from the moment he arrived as a converted wide receiver from Idaho State.
“It’s weird,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “It was funny when (TE coach) Jon (Embree) brought him up through the process, Josh Hill was out of Idaho State in 2013, a similar story, a spread out wide receiver converting to tight end in New Orleans, and man he was a great glue piece for us. And Tanner has shown a really, really great skill set. He shows the ability to block. He shows the ability to run down the field, separate, track the ball. I mean, just all great things for the position that we’re really excited for. And his development, as the season comes, will be a great challenge for us because you’re really excited for what he’s going to bring with the way his skillset and everything has been flashing in camp.”
With Conner nursing a knee injury that had limited in practice the past two days, it might be unrealistic to expect him in the lineup for his NFL debut in Week 1, but also don’t be surprised to see him make a contribution at some point during the 2022 season.
“ Tanner, I think, is just scratching the surface,” Embree said. “He reminds me — I’ve had Cam Brate, I’ve had Ross Dwelley — those are guys that were similar to him. In other words, maybe didn’t play big-time college football, maybe didn’t play the tight end position, but they had certain skill sets that I felt like we could work with and help develop them into being good players.
“For Tanner specifically, I loved how physical he was with the football. I think you can glean a lot about a person’s mentality when they have the ball, and he was physical with it in college. Obviously, he runs well, and he really made a lot of strides. He picks up things real quickly, and you could tell he worked on the stuff that I asked him to work on over the summer. And when he came back from summer, he was light years ahead of where he was when he first came in as wide receiver. So I’m excited for him when he comes back healthy to see what he can do.”
FLOWERS A GOOD FIT FOR DEFENSE
When linebacker Trey Flowers signed with the Dolphins a couple of weeks ago, he was reunited with some teammates and coaches, one of them being defensive coordinator Josh Boyer.
Having worked as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots when Flowers began his career there as a fourth-round pick, Boyer saw first-hand his versatility and the different ways he can be used, which is why we might see Flowers line up on the defensive line along with linebacker.
“Like all of our guys, we’re going to try to make him multiple and do different things,” Boyer said. “Obviously, we got him a little late here in camp, but he’s an extremely hard worker, very intelligent. He’s one of those guys that’s early in the building and out late. Again, there’s some carryover of techniques and fundamentals that he knows and understands that he was with us at New England. He was with Matt (Patricia) at Detroit. Obviously, Matt at Detroit, I would say 95 percent of what they did there probably came from those 15 seasons of game-planning (in New England). So Trey has a familiarity with all of our techniques. He does give us some versatility. His play style and I would say his demeanor is a great fit for our locker room. We’re really excited to have him.”
