After the second day of padded practices for the Miami Dolphins, right guard Robert Hunt had an opportunity to speak to the media, and the first topic of discussion was how slim he looks.
“I appreciate that, thank you,” he replies. “Since spring? Probably – I can’t give you an answer. I’m a lot slimmer though. I’m a lot slimmer since spring. A lot slimmer.”
The former Lousiana Ragin’ Cajun said that he loses roughly two pounds per practice session.
Hunt hasn’t been the only one to talk about weight loss during the offseason program. Staring across from Hunt is often interior defensive lineman Raekwon Davis, who has also slimmed down a bit.
“I’ll start off by saying I started like, a meal prep,” Davis said. “I got my diet better first. I started with that. I started more cardio. Even after practice, I do my cardio, stay on top of my shape. Because I’m a big guy so it’s so easy for me to like, consume weight, to put on that weight, so I just try to do my best to maintain it throughout the camp and try to have it right there to have it at for the season.”
Davis mentioned that this is the lightest he’s been since his sophomore season at Alabama.
And, on the right side of Hunt is Austin Jackson, who’s making the switch to his third position in as many seasons. He’s also dropped some pounds.
“My body fat is down a lot,” Jackson said. “I would say probably like eight percent from last year. I had a really good – really great offseason. I won’t say good, I’m going to say great. A really great offseason. I reported around this time last year at the upper 320s, and I’m now at like a really lean 310 with my lean muscle mass higher as well.”
All of this is done in an effort to have the big men in South Florida capitalize on their athleticism. Speed has been on the main talking points in Miami this offseason, and if the Dolphins’ line wants to stay in front of guys who are as fast as Raheem Mostert, they’re going to have to be in great shape.
Head coach Mike McDaniel confirmed this is something they want the team working on.
“It was kind of a concerted effort by the coaching staff, both starting with (Offensive Coordinator) Frank Smith and (Defensive Coordinator) Josh Boyer, but trickling down to each and every position coach and their assistants that the idea is to show them a vision of what we want to be,” McDaniel said. “On both sides of the ball in both retrospects, it behooves a player to be at the maximum athleticism – their maximum explosion, their maximum speed with flexibility, all of those things. We did, I think, a good job in the offseason kind of really painting that picture for them, and it’s to the player’s credit.”
Players are probably appreciative of that work now, as they’re stepping on a field that’s close to 100 degrees every single day. However, they’ll be even more appreciative if they can outrun and out-burst their opponents on gamedays.