Tag Archive for: Nik Needham

Coach Flores and players on the Miami Dolphins voice frustration following loss to Jets

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In a game that meant little outside of draft position, Miami’s coach Brian Flores was fuming following Sunday’s 22-21 loss to the New York Jets.

Jets kicker Sam Ficken converted a game-winning field goal as time expired, but it was a play leading up to the kick that had Flores irate.

To make matters worst, the pass interference wasn’t called on the field, but was reviewed and reversed.

Flores didn’t want to answer questions about the call when speaking to the media. As we saw during the game, he was quite animated after discovering the no-call was reversed.

“It’s a tough call,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “We had guys step up. Pat Laird made some nice plays and Isaiah made some nice plays. Those are the things I try to focus on as the positives for us and the things we did well and maybe some of the things we could have done better. We obviously scratched and clawed our way back into that game and it would have been a nice one to win.”

Jason Sanders converted a franchise-record seven field goals in the loss. However, if Miami had found the end zone at least once, the call would’ve been a non-factor.

“I think we’re all disappointed,” Fitzpatrick added. “We’re just disappointed in losing the football game. There’s a lot of emotions that go into that.”

Nik Needham finished with four tackles, two passes defended and was in coverage for the game-changing call.

“Honestly it’s trash,” Needham said of the call. “We lost on a call. It’s trash. I’m not going to lie.”

Despite low expectations, it is clear that the Dolphins were never trying to “tank” the season away.

“Any loss is tough to swallow,” Flores said.  “So, this is no different than any other loss. They’re all tough to swallow. Our guys played hard and I’m proud of the way they work. It’s a tough one.”

 

 

Nik Needham

Nik Needham coming on strong at CB for Dolphins

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Think back to training camp and the preseason. Of all the players that put themselves on display, one of the worst by far was cornerback Nik Needham. Regularly beaten in coverage, missing tackles, it seemed he could no right. Within two weeks, fans were tired of hearing his name. Usually, unless someone is making a big play, the less you a corner’s name, the better. Needham’s name was said a lot.

So, how in the world did an undrafted free agent who didn’t even make the final 53 man roster suddenly become one of Miami’s top defenders?

It starts with understanding the game on a deeper level.

“I think just the understanding of the game, as well as the understanding of the business side of things.” Needham said after Miami’s second loss to Buffalo, in which he spent most of the game shadowing wide receiver John Brown. “It’s not just a fun and games thing anymore … I think I’ve matured a lot, I’ve taken a lot of the information that the other guys and the coaches have gave me and just applied that.”

Once more, we come back to the emphasis that head coach Brian Flores put on developing players in 2019. True, Sunday’s game against Buffalo ended in a loss, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Miami’s two wins against the Jets and the Colts came as a result of continued improvement from young players, Needham included. That serves as a testament to Flores and his staff. Taking a band of misfits and making them competitive from week to week.

However, there are still growing pains that comes with this approach. Needham did much better than expected, but he wasn’t perfect. He did allow Brown to break free on a couple of plays, one of which turned into a touchdown.

“Yeah it was Cover 2, but that was my fault. I’ve got to sink a little more. I’ve got to carry John Brown right there and be underneath him a little more and drift inside a little bit, so that was on me for sure.” Needham said. “It’s just a learning process but you’ve got to grow up quick because you don’t want to just be out there messing up all the time and then say ‘Oh, that’s a rookie.’ To me personally, that doesn’t feel good. People saying, ‘It’s alright.’ No, it’s not alright. If I’m out here, I need to be out here performing at my best and at a high level.”

Again, no one expected Nik Needham to be as good as he is right now. They expected his career in the league to be over after the pitiful performance he displayed in preseason. But players who want to succeed find ways to learn from everything, even his opponents. New York Jets WR Demaryius Thomas offered some valuable insight not too long ago, telling the rookie out of UTEP that he could recognize what Needham was going to do on any given play.

That message, along with many others, resonates with Needham. That’s the difference between players who have potential, and players who develop into solid contributors. To some extent, all players have potential, it’s what they do with it that matters. Needham is taking everything in stride, including the recent onslaught of praise he’s receiving. That’s exactly what coach Flores wants from all his players. That’s how he envisions players continue to grow and not stagnate.

“You forget about everything you’d done. You forget about the last couple games or you forget about any success you had.” Flores said on Thursday. “I know he’s getting – I don’t know much about social media, but people are saying he’s this or that or (any of that). Your friends, your family, they’re going to congratulate you. That’s great. But if you start listening to all that too much and – I don’t know. Maybe it’s one minute less on one more text and (it’s) one minute less on film. You’ve got to try to put that away and focus on the task at hand.”

Flores didn’t talk much more about it that day, since he felt the need to call out a member of the media for laughing at his statement. Nevertheless, the message was received, and it seems to be working.

Nik Needham is developing faster than anyone could have anticipated. He’s already deflected six passes in six games for Miami, and come away with an interception against the Colts, and nearly another one against Buffalo. Does this mean he can be the clear-cut number two cornerback alongside Xavien Howard next season? That will require much more time to decide. If nothing else, Nik Needham is proving he can be an excellent backup in a young secondary, and he should be considered a success for this new regime. At this point, there’s no telling what his ceiling could be.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for six years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Nik Needham shining in his second stint with the Miami Dolphins

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Nik Needham spent his college playing career at the University of Texas at El Paso developing his football skills. The cornerback finished with 213 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss and three interceptions. He added a school record of 33 passes broken up in 41 career games.

However, that wasn’t enough to land a spot on Miami’s 53-man roster as the Dolphins waived him on Aug. 31, the final day of roster cuts.

“He came in here, worked hard, got cut – we knew the work ethic was there but got cut,” defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said. ” [Josh Boyer, cornerbacks coach, told him] you’re going to have to transform your body. You’re going to have to – in terms of just how important it is to you, that’s a decision you’re going to have make.”

Needham signed to join the practice squad the following day. He earned a spot n the 53-man roster right before Miami’s game against Washington. Since then, the rookie has made the most out his opportunity.

He tallied a team-high nine tackles in Miami’s win over New York. One of those tackles was a sack of quarterback Sam Darnold, the first of Needham’s career. In Sunday’s win over the Colts he added his first-career interception.

Not only did Needham listen to Graham’s advice, but it is quickly paying off.

“He’s starting to see really the fruits of his labor in terms of the success on the field and he knows he still has a long way to go,” Graham said. “This week [against Buffalo] is going to be a huge challenge with the receivers we’re going to see when they play down here from Buffalo. He’s making steps in the right direction.”

Needham has started four of the last five games for the Miami Dolphins. On Sunday he contributed three passes defended against the Colts.

“Nik played well [against the Colts],” coach Brian Flores said on Monday. “We brought him in as a free agent and he did some good things in OTAs and had some struggles like most rookies do in the preseason and wasn’t quite ready, so we put him on the practice squad. It’s part of their journey, I should say. He spent a few weeks on the practice squad. I think getting released and going through that process took him through a little bit of the reality of what the National Football League could be. He’s turned some things around and he’s still got a long way to go, but all of those things play a role in kind of how we performed yesterday and hopefully he continues to do that.”

Needham’s stock has grown over the last few weeks, but his goal is to help the team.

“It just felt good to contribute to the old guys and help get a win,” Needham said. “That is all I am really worried about – I just want to win. It felt great.”

The Dolphins are working to build on a perfect 2-0 record in November.

“I think over the weeks we are just building chemistry and really play for each other,” Needham said. “Game changing plays happen out there and we don’t back down or give up we just go back out there and fight. That’s the main goal every week.”

Miami will look to make it three-straight wins this Sunday. The Dolphins have a divisional match against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium.