Dolphins' Jerome Baker explains what he describes as a position change

MIAMI GARDENS — Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker was in a defensive meeting a few weeks ago, when he noticed something different about the plan.

"I looked and I'm looking at it and I'm like all right, I'm not inside at all," Baker recalled.

Baker said to fellow inside linebacker Elandon Roberts: "I'm on the edge a lot, aren't I?"

And Roberts, who has played inside along with Baker, said: "Yeah."

So Baker asked coach Brian Flores about what seemed to be a shift to edge.

"And he just explained it to me," Baker said Thursday. "'This is why we need you here.' And it worked out for us."

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Baker has played primarily inside linebacker in his Dolphins career. And he played it so well that he earned a 3-year, $37.5 million contract extension this offseason.

But with Miami's defense struggling, moving Baker into more of an edge rusher role was a part of tweaking that has paid dividends.

"Why?" Baker recalled thinking. "That was the first thing. Why? It wasn't that I was upset that they were changing my position. It was like why are you asking me, so I can play it how you want me to play it.

"Flo pulled me aside and he explained it to me. 'You're athletic. And you can do things that other guys can't do. You can do zone read. You can stop them from getting the ball. But also get back on the play.' Just to hear that meant a lot."

Baker has exceptional speed for a linebacker. His strength has always been sideline-to-sideline chasing, blitzing, chasing and covering receivers and also making tackles in open space.

For years, Baker has been working hard to improve on shedding blocks and making physical plays when the middle of the field is clogged.

For Baker, this is an opportunity to get into some space.

"It is truly different," Baker said. "Linebacker you have a little time to think and react to things. On the edge and down at the d-line you have a second, maybe a second, before 300 pounds is on you real fast. But at the end of the day it's a little easier because you're not thinking as much. You're either rushing the pass or setting the edge.

"So it has its pros and its cons. I think the cool thing is I could be on the edge one play and the next play I'm playing inside linebacker so I really take that to heart and I really appreciate that. I'm out there having fun. It's fun to play in this defense."

Miami has downplayed Baker's shift, noting that any player can be asked to fill any piece on the chess board of the defense against any particular opponent.

But Baker is appreciative that Flores, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer and linebackers coach Anthony Campanile asked his opinion on what he thought might lead to improvements for him and the team.

"If you don't listen to your players, it's going to be pretty hard to play well in this league because at the end of the day we're the players on the field," Baker said. "We're doing it. You can draw up different plays and draw up different schemes but if your players don't respond well to it, those plays and schemes are useless. This organization does a great job of taking care of us physically and also helping us understand why we're doing certain things."

Baker concedes he had a few "rough games" earlier in the season.

"It was a little bit of everything," Baker said. "I was doing it but I wasn't being too physical. I was covering but I wasn't finishing well. I was dropping into coverage but my breaks weren't good. Those little things. Recently they've been having me do a lot of different things and it's been cool. It's been cool to see we've been winning so it's even better."

There's a part of Baker that finds it weird to not hear "MIKE 55!" called out before every play that he's on the field. But he's taking a team-first mentality.

"It wasn't that I wanted to play this or that position," Baker said. "It was, 'What exactly do you need me to do, so I can do it to my best ability?' "

Sunday's game

Giants at Dolphins

1 p.m., Fox

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jerome Baker is more than just an inside linebacker for the Dolphins