LB Stephone Anthony gets chance to show skills
DAVIE Dolphins outside linebacker Stephone Anthony walks around with a smile on his face. And why not?
Anthony is the most low-profile player among Miami’s starting linebackers trio — middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan and outside linebacker Kiko Alonso get much more publicity — and he doesn’t mind one bit.
“I’ve always been a guy I’d rather stand in the back before you put me in the front,” he said. “And I don’t mind being in the front when I have to be, and when it’s time to be, no doubt, no question.
“But like I said, I don’t mind being humbled and staying on the path I’m on. I don’t mind doing that.”
Anthony will get to step to the forefront and show his stuff at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Dolphins’ intrasquad scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium.
Most of Miami’s offseason practices and training camp practices have focused on the passing game. That’s prevented Anthony, a twodown, run-stopping linebacker, from showing what he can do.
“Really, I see his value as when we can actually go into a game and there’s live tackling,” coach Adam Gase said.
It won’t be all-out, full contact, tackling-tothe-ground all the time, but it’s as Anthony and his teammates will get until the Thursday preseason opener against Tampa Bay.
The plan is for the scrimmage to be more controlled, with coaches setting up situations (third-and-short, third-and-long, red zone, etc…) rather than situations arising organically.
“We’ll get some individual [work], get some 7-on-7 [work],” Gase said. “We just keep it as close to the game as possible. We do the 7-on-7 a little longer and then when we hit those team periods, all three groups will roll through. It’s really just a move-the-ball period, really.
“It’s really like practice for us. We get the headsets on. We just can’t do the sideline adjustments. That’s really the only thing missing from the whole scrimmage experience.”
Anthony, acquired from New Orleans on Sept. 19 in a trade, finished with 15 tackles in eight games last year.
He’s doing a good job of holding off the competition so far, but Chase Allen, a middle linebacker who has outside linebacker skills, is pushing for the starting job.
“We just want to keep the competition going,” linebacker coach Frank Bush said. “We don’t want anybody to get comfortable, so we’re putting him back outside to make sure he and Steph have real competition out there. But meanwhile we’re making sure that he’s getting enough reps inside.”
Anthony is an athletic type that can make things happen on the field because of his speed and tackling skills.
“When we played him a little bit this past season, he was involved in a lot of plays,” Gase said. “He’s around the ball. We just want to keep growing him in that capacity.”
Miami will likely be in its nickel defense more than 50 percent of the time this season, so Anthony, who comes off the field for the nickel package, won’t have a huge role on the defense.
But after stumbling in New Orleans, Anthony is happy to have another opportunity to be a starter. That’s why you’ll see that smile on his face.
“I’m going to let the stories be written, I’m going to let people say what they want to say, and if I can continue to be myself, I’m happy,” said Anthony, a 2015 first-round pick by New Orleans.
“I’m a father, I’ve got a 5-year-old, I’m doing what I love. I can’t complain. Like I say, I promise you guys won’t make me feel bad.”