They want no part of Xavien Howard.

They’ll throw left, they’ll throw middle, but right? Not if #25 is in the scope of the quarterback this season.

Howard has emerged as the lockdown, shutdown, blanketing cornerback every team needs. In this case, it’s the Miami Dolphins.

In Sunday’s defeat of the Jets, rookie quarterback Sam Darnold took his shot at Howard, in the end zone, and lost, as Howard came up with yet another interception.

“I saw the play coming,” Howard said. “I just ended up jumping the route. They tried to play me. I knew I had both feet in bounds. It’s just about making the plays.”

Photos: Miami Dolphins at New York Jets, Week 2

Darnold tried to hit Terrelle Pryor in the back of the end zone, but Howard made a great play on the ball, as he has all spring and summer and in the first two games of this season. Howard beat Darnold and Pryor and the Jets.

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“We are hungry,” Howard said. “We just want to make plays and get the ball back to our offense.”

Xavien’s pick is just nasty. pic.twitter.com/gs9H9lEqmZ

— Travis Wingfield (@WingfieldNFL) September 18, 2018

Howard is a physical tackler. He has improved in coverage when not playing in press. And when he does play tight on a receiver at the snap, it’s practically over.



Howard is dominating. He is dominant.

On Sunday, Howard also picked up for his quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, who had fumbled on the prior snap as the ball simply fell out of the quarterbacks’ hands.

“That’s a part of football,” Howard said. “We have to help the offense out. We have their backs. They have our backs. I was trying to make a play and get the ball back to my offense.”



The Jets passed for 334 yards on Sunday, but that’s a misleading statistic. Darnold completed only one touchdown and was held to a passer rating of 74.6.

Miami’s pass defense looks even stronger than last season, with Bobby McCain having moved to outside corner and rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick standing out at slot corner.

“I thought those guys did a good job,” coach Adam Gase said. “They were aggressive, they were trying to contact receivers at the line of scrimmage, they were trying to make the windows tight.”

On Monday, safety Reshad Jones said the defensive front has been dominant, which is impacting the secondary’s ability to make game-changing plays.

“I think it’s a total team effort,” Jones said. I think we’ve got one of the best front sevens in football. I think we’ve got a chance to be one of the best secondaries in all of football.”

Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard has created a no-fly zone for basically half of the field for opposing offenses.

Andres Leiva/The Palm Beach Post

Howard has improved his ability to keep tight coverage for longer periods of time and appears to have improved in his ability to make plays on the ball. He’s playing with tremendous confidence.

Howard, a second-rounder from Baylor in 2016, had no interceptions in his first 18 career games. But he has five interceptions in the seven since.

“Right place, right time,” Howard said of his interception on Sunday, in which he showed off great positioning, hands and footwork all on one play.

It’s been way more than right time, right place.

For the Dolphins, it’s been right cornerback, right time.

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