Xavien Howard Speaks Out on Brian Flores Putting Noah Igbinoghene on Stefon Diggs

Published by

Brad Sullivan

6 years ago

Following the Miami Dolphins’ 31-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, cornerback Xavien Howard explained why rookie Noah Igbinoghene was chosen to cover the Bills’ top receiver, Stefon Diggs.

Igbinoghene was inserted into the lineup after starting cornerback Byron Jones left the game with an injury early in the first quarter.

The end result was that Diggs had a huge day, grabbing eight passes for 153 yards and also caught his first touchdown pass of the season. That came on a pass from Bills quarterback Josh Allen and when Igbinoghene was defending against him in the second quarter.

While Igbinoghene was one of the Dolphins’ first-round picks in April, the strategy for many coaches would have been to have a veteran handle the opposing team’s top receiver.

However, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores’ own strategy may have been skewed by the fact that Howard has spent the offseason and much of training camp recovering from knee surgery.

The Dolphins will try and collect their first win of the year on Thursday night when they travel to face the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brad Sullivan

Brad is a freelance writer for Dolphinnation.com and has been around long enough to remember the 1972 perfect season, and even when Don Shula was coaching the Colts. He still follows the Dolphins and other happenings in the NFL, so he can offer a little perspective when it comes to the ups and downs of each season. Some of his opinions may end up differing from the people who read them, but that's par for the course when it comes to life in South Florida.