Reinforcements have arrived in the
Miami Dolphins' secondary.
The back-end of Miami's defense has been fairly erratic all season, but defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is optimistic that the addition of veteran cornerback
Chris Culliver, the promotion of rookie cornerback Lafayette Pitts, and the inclusion of new safety Bacarri Rambo will help Miami's defense improve against the pass.
The Dolphins, who are allowing opposing quarterbacks to produce a 90.4 passer rating, could certainly use the help this week considering San Diego's
Philip Rivers, a five-time
Pro Bowl selection, who possesses a 96.2 passer rating is the team's opponent this Sunday.
Rivers is completing 63.4 percent of his passes, has thrown for 2,560 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.
Even though Joseph expressed reservations about playing Culliver last week, it seems like the Dolphins plan to get the six-year veteran, who has spent the past 11 months rehabbing two ligament tears in his right knee, into the mix.
Expect Culliver to get a series or two working on the boundary against the Chargers.
"Obviously you're not going to just come in and start every single play, and play," said Culliver, who has 143 tackles, seven interceptions and two forced fumbles in the 42 games he's played. "I just [want to] get to it, and get busy, and keep progressing and see how we go from there."
Head coach
Adam Gase wouldn't commit to Pitts being active on Sunday, but Gase and Joseph acknowledged that the former Pittsburgh standout's call-up from the practice squad was well deserved.
"He can run. That's one trait that he has, he can really run," Joseph said. "He's tough, he's a smart kid and he's been with us, so it's fair. He should be the next guy to come up."
As for Rambo, who was signed during the bye week, the Dolphins want to continue using a three-safety rotation, which the team lost when
Reshad Jones suffered his season-ending shoulder injury last month.
The goal is to keep
Michael Thomas fresh for special teams, which is the unit he's a captain on. To achieve that Rambo is being used in the sub packages.
"He's shown the ability to play in the high zones and have great range and instincts," Joseph said of Rambo, who had one tackle against the
New York Jets. "He showed us that instantly in practice so we thought, 'Hey, let's put him out there and see what we've got.' "
