An unusual quality about Dolphins’ Taaffe. And Proctor meeting; LBs self-critical

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Wednesday, as we approach Sunday’s home opener against Kansas City (1 p.m., CBS 4):

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▪ If you close your eyes and listen closely to Dolphins safety Michael Taaffe, you can almost hear the voice of a coach.

The rookie fifth-round pick sounds like he’s giving tutorials on playing the position.

He explains opponents’ tendencies — “[49ers coach Kyle] Shanahan likes to come back to the things that worked, maybe just add a different formation.”

He explains his job responsibilities in a level of detail that’s uncommon for rookies, or even many veterans: “Our… job is a safety net…. When you’re playing safety, you always have to look at, did you communicate really well? Did you secure the deep part of the field? Did you eliminate explosives?

“Did you tackle really well? And did you play man-to-man really well? Talking to a lot of quarterbacks in this league — Sam Ehlinger,… Bo Nix… Malik Willis a ton — what they think is when they see a safety on a receiver, that’s a win for them all day. And they see a running back and open field on a safety, that’s a win for the running back all day.”

He then rattles off a list of things he must be aware of before every snap.

“Are they going to go on the ball and snap it really quick? Now they just got you in a disguise. Are they going to go on a hard count? Are they close to the hash? Maybe it’s one-high [safety]. Are they getting wider from the hashes? Maybe it’s two-high. Are they getting right on top of their number twos? Maybe it’s quarters.”

The key, he said, is “understanding what the quarterback’s trying to do with the cat-and-mouse game with the safeties.”

Then Taaffe said something interesting: On the advice of his quarterback friends, he’s studying the offensive coordinator of the opposing team. Know “his coaching tree. Know what he likes to do, know his scheme.”

Taaffe’s diligence, intelligence, understanding of the position (beyond his years) and detailed preparation have earned him the trust of coach Jeff Hafley. Taaffe has played the most snaps of the team’s safeties and is the only one who has started both games. That’s not a coincidence.

“What’s impressive is his preparation,” Hafley said Wednesday. “The way he’s able to communicate, how fast he sees it, how he’s able to pick something up and recognize it. There’s still [room for] growth. He’s seeing stuff for the first time from really good veteran players; it’s not always going to be perfect. You will see continued growth and improvement and that will allow him to play faster as the year goes.”

Taaffe said “Coach Hafley told me he trusts me to be in there because of communication. I think that’s one of my strong suits.”

But Taaffe was upset with himself for a few costly communications breakdowns in the first two games.

“I believe in myself to communicate top-notch, the best communication in the back end in the whole league,” he said. “And that’s the standard that I hold myself to. Clearly, we didn’t communicate well enough on Sunday…. We will be better… I can’t wait for another game to go prove that we can do better.”

Taaffe appreciates the partnership with Zayne Anderson, who started alongside him in the opener, and Dante Trader Jr., who started alongside him against the 49ers. Taaffe said in a league where players are “fighting for money,” the Dolphins safety troika supports each other and root for each other.

Hafley said he considers all three starters.

Pro Football Focus rated Taaffe by far the worst of three (76th among 85 safeties), but the rookie has made several notable plays, including an interception in the opener and a great play limiting Deebo Samuel to a 2-yard gain on the 49ers’ first offensive snap Sunday.

Do the Dolphins have a long-term starting safety with Taaffe, who’s smaller than many starters at 6-0 and 190 pounds? It’s far too early to know.

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But they seem to have at least a rotation player and perhaps a future assistant coach.

“Getting to know him has been a lot of fun,” Hafley said. “He’s a football guy.”

▪ Receiver Caleb Douglas (ankle) missed practice and was walking with something of a limp in the locker room. Two other receivers were limited by injuries: Chris Bell (knee) and Ryan Miller (hip/back).

Besides Douglas, defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (hamstring) also missed practice. Cornerback JuJu Brents (knee) and running back Jaylen Wright (stinger/foot) were limited.

Edge player Chop Robinson practiced fully and has moved past the concussion issues that sidelined him against the 49ers.

▪ A year after leading the NFL in tackles with 183 (including 3.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss), linebacker Jordyn Brooks made clear that he’s not pleased with his first two games, which have included 12 tackles (none for loss).

”I haven’t had the start of the season I wanted,” he said Wednesday. “I feel I haven’t been standing out. Kind of been [just] out there for whatever reasons. To my standard, haven’t lived up to it.”

Brooks, one of six team captains and widely respected in the locker room, signed a three-year, $51.3 million extension on July 21.

▪ Rookie middle linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is tied for fourth in the league with 22 tackles, he said Wednesday that “there’s a lot of stuff in my game that needs to improve rapidly.”

As the green-dot player, Rodriguez receives the defensive play call from Hafley and relays it to teammates.

“There have been a few hiccups,” he said of their in-game communication. “It’s a constant communication, constant relationship that we have to get the call in quick and I’ve got to deliver the call to everyone else. Sometimes the calls kind of get mixed together and they sound alike. For the most part,… we’ve been very efficient with it.”

▪ Brooks said he and Rodriguez are spending time together every day to help build the type of chemistry that Brooks feels is necessary to thrive as inside linebacker partners.

“We’ve got to keep working at it, get a feel for each other for where we want to be,” Brooks said, adding that they need to work on reading each other’s “body language” so there doesn’t need “to be too much talking. That happens over time. It will happen sooner than later. Me and Jacob have a great relationship off the field.”

▪ Dolphins rookie guard Kadyn Proctor had a special moment after the 49ers game, when he exchanged jerseys with 49ers tackle Trent Williams (a 12-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro) and briefly picked his brain.

“I kind of just went up to him and was just telling him like, obviously I want some plays back,” Proctor said. “There’s just those two or three plays that linger in your mind, but he was just telling me he’s in Year 17 and he has some of those plays from the game yesterday. So [he helped me with] just understanding how to push forward with that. Everybody makes mistakes and that’s just the game of football.”

“I’ve been watching him since I was in elementary school, so to have that special moment with him and share that with him was very cool, honestly. Just to be known by one of the greatest to ever do it.. [was] special.”

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Here’s what Jeff Hafley said at his Wednesday news conference.