Getting fired by the Buffalo Bills didn’t sting Jordan Poyer quite as hard as it might have for a younger, less-traveled player.
So while the new Miami Dolphins safety in 2024 surely wants to twice beat the team that fired him a few weeks back, Poyer insists the slight doesn’t consume him.
Is Miami Dolphins’ Jordan Poyer Upset With Bills?
After signing his one-year deal with the Dolphins, Poyer told reporters Monday that he “was prepared” for the Bills to cut him earlier this offseason.
“I’ve been in this league long enough to understand [that] moves got to be made and seeing guys come and go, guys get cut unexpectedly,” said Poyer, who had 22 interceptions in his seven seasons in Western New York.
“I was prepared, and you know, I’m in a good place in my life where, you know, I have an understanding that ‘It is what it is; it ain’t what it ain’t,'” he added. “Just keep moving on to keep putting the next foot forward. And you know, I’m here right now with another great opportunity.”
Poyer knows the Dolphins-Bills rivalry as well as anyone. Which means he knows as well as anybody how one-sided it has been.
In his 13 career starts against Miami, Poyer’s teams went 11-2. He totaled three interceptions, four tackles for loss, and eight passes defensed in those games.
“Rivalry is a rivalry, you know,” Poyer said. “You can call a couple of teams from when I’m playing in Buffalo … a rivalry, Miami being one of the bigger ones.
“It’s another game,” he added. “… That’s not something that I’m gonna look at and put a star on the game. I just love playing the game of football. I love being out here in the warm weather, seeing the palm trees and just, you know, it’s just a lot, the energy is a lot, which makes me feel happy about.”
“I’m extremely thankful, and to be in this position and have had this opportunity, and I’m gonna take it and run with it and be the best version of myself I can be, which I know can still play at a high level and still can impact a lot of games. So, again, I’m just extremely excited to be here.”
Poyer is one of at least five new starters on a Dolphins defense that has a new system under new coordinator Anthony Weaver.
The Dolphins certainly hope that veterans like Poyer, who will be paired with fellow safety Jevon Holland in Miami’s loaded defensive backfield, will help with the transition period.
“It’s just coming in with the right mindset of having to be willing to open and open enough to learn,” Poyer said.
“Learn with an open mind, open hearts and learn the systems to the best of our ability. And then us being able to connect on and off the field with each other, just being able to build that trust, that’s a huge, I think that’s a huge component in this game is building trust, you know, with the guys that you’re playing with, you know, with the system, with the calls.
“And so when you, when you’re able to build that and everything else, really takes care of itself,” he added. “There’s a lot of great football players on this defense and so you put it all together with that communication.”
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