Dolphins WR coach says Danny Amendola is “scared” in a good way
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins made Danny Amendola one of the primary pieces of their off-season additions and so far it’s paying dividends on offense.
There is no question that Danny Amendola is a leader. Probably a lot more so than he was in New England where he took the back-seat to Tom Brady and company. In Miami the rest of the offense, especially the other wide-receivers are taking note and Amendola isn’t disappointing.
Wide Receivers coach Ben Johnson spoke with the media this afternoon after practice and had an interesting pitch on Amendola.
"(How has WR Danny Amendola stepped up as a leader so far?) – “It’s unbelievable because as long as he’s been in the league, he’s still the first one in the meeting rooms every time. He’s the first one in the bubble for walk-through. I think it’s great for the rest of the group just to see his professionalism. And, believe me, he has not mastered this offense yet. He comes in (and) he’s scared. He’s scared that he’s going to mess up and he doesn’t want to do that. I think the rest of the guys understand, ‘Hey, if this guy, with as much success as he’s had, is this worried about not messing up, then I better be on my stuff as well.’ So it’s great to see what kind of leadership he’s got for the rest of the group.” – MiamiDolphins.com"
Scared? In a good way it seems. Amendola is a perfectionist and during OTA’s and mini-camps he often cursed himself out for making dumb mistakes. The Dolphins better hope that his actions on and off the field are picked up by the others in the group if not the entire team.
Amendola has his Super Bowl ring but he wants to be more than just the guy who benefited from Tom Brady. Through camp so far he and Ryan Tannehill have developed a good rapport and it is getting a lot of talk on social media.
What the Dolphins can’t allow to happen is for Tannehill to use Amendola as his crutch. Miami has to spread the ball around to be successful especially now that Jarvis Landry is gone. Too often the Miami quarterbacks leaned on one receiver and Amendola has the consistency and talent to become an easy outlet for Tannehill.
Somehow though I don’t think that will be a huge problem. The Dolphins have some talented receivers on the field including Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson. We will have more on DeVante Parker shortly.