Bills

Bills HC Sean McDermott believes new LB Shaq Thompson has had some unfortunate injuries, but credited his toughness and defensive versatility. (Chris Brown)
McDermott said Thompson will be a limited participant in mandatory minicamp on Tuesday as he recovers from offseason surgery. (Brown)
On the upcoming season, McDermott believes they will see a youth movement defensively: “We’re going to play a lot of young guys on defense. That’s where I see it right now.” (Lance Lysowski)
He also believes the defensive line will be the engine of that unit: “We’re going to go as the D-Line goes, on the defensive side.” (Lysowski)
Buffalo RB James Cook explained why he’s at mandatory minicamp while in search of a new deal: “I like my money. That’s why I’m here.” (Jonathan Jones)

Dolphins

Per SI.com’s Albert Breer, many people around the league feel CB Jalen Ramsey would best maximize his value on a new team by switching to safety. That’s also a factor impacting his trade value.
An NFC executive told Breer: “I think that’s a safe landing spot to put him in position to still do things that he does well. So that’s like a $10 million to $12 million player.”
The Dolphins ended up calling on CB Jaire Alexander but didn’t feel comfortable making a competitive offer until after Ramsey. Alexander didn’t want to wait on anything after getting an opportunity with Baltimore, where he agreed to terms this week for one year, $4 million and another $2 million in incentives. (Barry Jackson)
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel doesn’t believe OT Patrick Paul wasted his rookie year and mentions some defensive players have been surprised by his ability in group work. (Schad)
Dolphins RB Jaylen Wright revealed he’s lost body fat and added around six pounds of muscle. (Joe Schad)
Dolphins OLB Jaelan Phillips understands the importance of his contract season coming up and said that he feels great: “I feel like I could play right now.” (Joe Schad)
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa emphasized how important protecting himself is, but admitted sometimes it’s difficult to prioritize that during an individual play. (Barry Jackson)
Tagovailoa said he is “one hundred percent” in favor of the team paying TE Jonnu Smith amidst trade and contract rumors. (Joe Schad)
Regarding his hip, Tagovailoa said he started to feel normal in February and knows the key to preventing it is protecting himself. (Cameron Wolfe)
Dolphins TE Jonnu Smith‘s agent Drew Rosenhaus said contract talks are “still fluid”: “Nothing has been resolved yet. It’s still an ongoing situation.” (Isaiah Smalls II)

Patriots

Patriots OC Josh McDaniels said he is installing plays to their offense that he doesn’t have “much experience doing” but feels will be beneficial for the players they have.

“We’re putting plays in today that I don’t have much experience doing, but I know that they’re good for our team. These guys have a lot of experience doing those things where they’ve been,” McDaniels said, via Evan Lazar of the team’s site. “We’re a first-year staff together, and we’re all just grinding away trying to make sure that we’re ready each day. They’ve done a tremendous job with their position groups, and I really enjoy the process.”

New England has established an experienced coaching staff with TEs coach Thomas Brown, QB coach Ashton Grant, WRs coach Todd Downing, RBs coach Tony Dews and OL coach Doug Marrone. McDaniels is trying to learn from all their new coaches.

“When you take a lot of people from different backgrounds, they have such good experience and wisdom, it makes a lot of sense for me to learn from them. That stuff is going to be used to help our team produce more points, more yards, more first downs, and hopefully good plays,” McDaniels said.

Mark Daniels of Mass Live reports the Patriots have hired Cam McCormick and Ben Langford as scouting assistants, along with Max Mulitz as a personnel analytics coordinator.

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