As the Miami Dolphins have lost 11 of their last 12 in the AFC East rivalry with the Buffalo Bills, veteran safety Jordan Poyer has always been on the Bills side of it.
Flipping division rivals this offseason, Poyer gets his first shot at Buffalo since leaving western New York for South Florida in hopes of turning fortunes in the Dolphins’ favor. Miami hosts Buffalo in a Thursday night kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I’m excited to play this week,” Poyer said on a Monday web conference with reporters following Sunday’s 20-17 win season-opening win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Obviously, a team that I’ve played with the last seven years. Very familiar with a lot of guys they have over there. Still have a lot of good relationships over there. Thankful for all my years there in Buffalo.”
Poyer downplayed how much he could provide as insight to his new teammates that Dolphins coaches and defenders don’t already know from the frequent pairings in the division.
“I’m sure there’s not really a whole lot they haven’t seen playing tape, and we’ll continue to talk throughout the week,” he said.
Dolphins linebacker David Long Jr. backed Poyer’s comments, indicating Miami is already familiar with most of what the team will see and, any on-field calls Poyer knows, the Bills will probably switch.
After practicing against Josh Allen since the dual-threat quarterback entered the league, Poyer now prepares to face him as an opponent for the first time.
The safety was impressed with what he did in Buffalo’s 34-28 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Allen was 18 of 23 for 232 yards and two touchdowns passing, adding another pair of scores on the ground and 39 yards rushing.
“He went pretty crazy, doing what he’s always been doing, running around, throwing the ball, hurdling over people,” Poyer said. “Great player, man. Seen him do some crazy things over the years, so really excited for my first opportunity to play against him.”
Being so familiar with Allen, Poyer did imply he may have some tendencies he has picked up on Allen over the years that weren’t always communicated to the quarterback, but he certainly wouldn’t reveal any of those to the media.
“They exist on every player,” Poyer said. “We’ll keep those within the team.”
Beating the Bills is likely among the reasons why the Dolphins wanted Poyer this offseason, but it’s not the only one.
“One of the reasons why I came here was because I’ve seen this team, over the last seven years, grow and become who they are,” he said. “And I wanted to help them on that stepping stone of winning the AFC East and making a long run in the playoffs. This is just part of it.”
Poyer turned heads at the start of training camp when he noted, from the outside, the Dolphins previously held a reputation of folding when hit with difficult circumstances. It’s a narrative he already felt flipping with the Dolphins mounting a comeback against the Jacksonville Jaguars after trailing by as many as 14 points and 10 in the second half, after a morning where they learned teammates in wide receiver Tyreek Hill and defensive tackle Calais Campbell were detained by police officers on their drive into the stadium.
“I think you saw a little bit of it (Sunday),” he said. “There’s probably a lot of people that could’ve counted us out, probably a lot of people did count us out in that game. You just stuck with it, kept playing football.”
While Poyer said there was ample smack talk between he and his ex-Bills teammates in the offseason, there has been none of it early in this week as both teams prepare with three days between games.
This story will be updated.