Miami Dolphins’ Vic Fangio changing defense amid big concern

MIAMI GARDENS — Changed roles. New ideas. Outright reversals of responsibility. The view from the cracked door of practice into the Miami Dolphins’ defensive changeover looks like a half-completed calculus equation early in training camp and is best understood through the words of safety Jevon Holland.

“It’s like a whole, 180(-degree) change,’’ he said.

A year ago, the Dolphins offense saw what can happen when you match the right mind of Mike McDaniel and add the right talent of receiver Tyreek Hill.

Now it’s the defense’s turn. Veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio stood at the center of everything defense again at practice Thursday. He was the assistant many teams wanted this offseason, and his first hand-picked addition, his Hill, was cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

That’s why Ramsey being carted off with a knee injury Thursday is such a seismic concern. In a simple seven-on-seven scrimmage with no contact, he came to the sideline, pointed to his knee and sat down as trainers examined him. He bent something. Or broke something. Or something.

All you know is, players don’t get carted off for no reason, and cornerback injuries were a central issue with last year’s defense. This is just at the start of Fangio’s training-camp teaching, too.

“We’ve seen a little bit, but not that much,’’ cornerback Xavien Howard said. “We don’t know what Vic is cooking up, but I know he’s definitely going to get us right on that defense.”

Two glaring numbers stand out from last year’s defense. It ranked 24th on third down and 24th in the red zone. Solve those and the Dolphins take a mother-may-I step forward from being the 25th-ranked scoring defense.

Fangio’s red-zone defenses ranked first, first and second in his three years in Denver. See why this marriage should work?

His applied alchemy is the fascination of this first summer. Kader Kohou was asked about playing less man-to-man coverage and more zone, as Fangio’s designs typically dictate. Linebacker David Long talked after Thursday’s second day of training camp about understanding everyone’s role on defense.

“It’s a lot, being able to learn the ins and outs of it,’’ Long said. “So much stuff goes into it.”

The Dolphins blitzed as much as any defense under former  coach Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer. Fangio’s defenses are known for not blitzing. Another change.

“We’re out here working,’’ Holland said.

Holland has been a star since arriving two seasons ago, but his name could go up in lights in Fangio’s scheme. Safeties have an expanded role in his defenses, especially versatile ones with a couple years of good experience.

“There are 2,000 things that happen in football but only 200 a coach can tell you,’’ Holland said. “So, through experience and through practice and whatnot, that’s kind of how you gather that information. There’s always going to be stuff that changes, always going to be things that arise that you have to talk about and council with your coaches and other players. It just takes time.”

Let’s say this, too: It’s hard to draw quick opinion on an NFL practice field anymore. You see big plays in seven-on-seven drills, like receiver Braxton Berrios beating rookie cornerback Cam Smith for a touchdown from quarterback Skylar Thompson. Ramsey broke up a deep pass to Jaylen Waddle from Tua Tagovailoa.

But practices are so limited for minimizing injuries that the Dolphins even had the kickers on a pitch count Tuesday. They used a mechanical jugs machine to kick off while practicing special teams.

That’s the added frustration to Ramey’s injury. At the very least, he misses practice time in a new defense. Just a day earlier, Ramsey talked about difference between a good and a great defense.

“You’ve got to have the pieces,’’ he said. “You’ve got to have the talent which I believe we have, but then you got to — I just keep saying it — we’ve got to put the work in.’

Fangio brings proven results to a defense full of talent. It just saw some of that talent carted off Thursday. This is a training camp with such good talent and so few positional battles you wanted nothing to happen other than putting in the work Ramsey talked about. Something happened Thursday. The question becomes whether something bent or broke.