The Dolphins opened their first offseason program under new head coach Adam Gase today, and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was present.
That’s not necessarily big news, as he showed up for the first day of Joe Philbin’s last year too, before retreating to Oregon to train on his own.
But according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Suh has made sure to take some of South Florida with him when he returns to the Pacific Northwest.
While working out at the Nike facility in Oregon, Suh trains in an environment designed to replicate what he’d find in Miami (i.e. hot and humid instead of just humid). Dolphins executive Mike Tannenbaum went to see the set-up himself last year, after Suh was signed to a $114 million contract. The defensive tackle is apparently hooked to a number of diagnostic machines while he trains, all Steve Austin-style (The 6 Million Dollar Man, not Stone Cold, in case you’re not as old as I am).
For the Dolphins, the important thing is that he trains, and makes an impact. He’s always kept himself in good shape (even when he got on the Lions’ nerves for not showing up during the offseason), but the Dolphins will be counting on him being a bigger part of the defense this season.