Earl Mitchell was described as a hard-working, no-nonsense type of player when he signed with the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent back in March.
He also was known as a guy who was quiet on and off the field, and got the job done without much fanfare.
Seven games into his first season in Miami, Earl Mitchell has been exactly what the Dolphins thought he was.
“I love Earl Mitchell, I’m going to tell you that right now,” defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said Monday. “Earl is a consummate pro. He comes every day. When you look at Earl in the meetings, you know he’s listening to everything that you’re saying. He takes great pride in his performance. His effort is off the charts. If you watch him play snap after snap after snap, he’s running people down on the sideline. He’s affecting plays, some you notice during the game and some you don’t notice until you watch the tape and say, ‘Hey, he threw that ball out of bounds because Earl was coming back on him.’
“There was a play in the game (at Jacksonville on Sunday) where the quarterback had a guy on the sideline, but Earl had retraced and chased him, just his presence coming from behind, the guy missed a wide open guy on the sideline. Earl, he is a joy to coach. He is a first-class guy on and off the field and he just does everything as hard as he possibly can. He’s been a great addition for us.”
But if there was any concern about Mitchell’s ability to play up to that level, there was none from his end.
“I kinda knew what I brought to the table and I kinda of knew that once I came in and just played the way I play and practiced the way I practice I kind of figured that they would know that I was going to come in and try to do the best that I could to help this team win,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s something that I’ve shown since I’ve been here. I mean, I was kind of aware of it, but at the same time I just knew that if I just practiced the way I practice and I played the way I play, I knew that it would all take care of itself.
“I definitely see it as a pretty cool trio. We’ve got a pretty good rotation. It’s three different guys, three different personalities, but we’ve all got pretty much the same goal. We all want to win, we all want to play dominant and we all want to understand our position, why we’re on the field. It’s pretty cool.”
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