Rasul Douglas doesn’t like individual accolades.
The cornerback notched his third Defensive Player of the Week award on Tuesday, awarded to him after his one-pick, five-deflection performance. Ask him about that award, however, and his response is that of a grizzled veteran.
“I’d give that [expletive] away for two more wins,” Douglas said. “I’m here to win games, playoff, Super Bowl – that’s it. Everything else, to me, I could care less about.”
After nine years and four teams, Douglas has seemingly found a home with the Miami Dolphins, a team that has welcomed his blunt, no-nonsense approach to the game. In turn, he has somewhat locked down one side of the field as Pro Football Focus has graded him as the fifth-best cornerback in the NFL. Through 11 games, he has two interceptions and been a menace to opposing quarterbacks, allowing just 29 completions, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 65.2. This success, however, came as a result of his commitment to the process rather than a focus on the individual.
“I can’t even say this is my best season because what are we, 6-7?” Douglas said. “I’ve been 13-3 twice. I’ve been 15-1. I’ve been 13-4.”
What makes Douglas’ success particularly surprising is the timing. The former West Virginia standout didn’t sign with the Dolphins until late August, two weeks before the start of the season. To say that it’s rare for elite players to join a team that late in the season would be an understatement.
His tape, however, didn’t lie.
“I was very confident in his football play based on watching film,” coach Mike McDaniel, later adding that he had “seen him make plays on the ball and plays in the run game that I think he’s playing some of his best ball that he’s played. I knew he was a ball player, I just didn’t know how much he could aid in the team that we’re trying to create.”
Once inside the building, McDaniel, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and teammates learned a different part of his personality.
“I thought it was important that we added somebody who had that veteran presence who had kind of been in the battles and can help mentor some of these younger players,” Weaver said. “Because at the end of the day, as a coach, you can sit up there and talk until you’re blue in the face; it will always mean more coming from a peer, somebody who’s out there doing it with you. He’s met all of those expectations. He’s been outstanding, he is the consummate professional and that has rubbed off on all the guys in that room.”
Added McDaniel: “Low-key I had no idea how much of an impact he could make as a Year 1 player on the team, and I see him as right in there with our nucleus of guys as a driving force in how we’re motivated each and every day we come to work. I think he was one of the more vocal players in reestablishing the standard with which we wanted to operate after the Cleveland game.”
That standard comes from his early days in the league. As a rookie, Douglas won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. The joy that comes along with such a victory was undergirded by a sense of confusion as he learned the “ups and downs” that come with the game.
“I’d be in the game, I’d do good in the game,” Douglas recalled of that 2017 season. “Then I wouldn’t play for three more games.
Douglas would spend a total of three years with the Eagles until he was waived in 2020. He subsequently spent the 2020 season with the Carolina Panthers.
Then came 2021. As Douglas recalled, he spent time with three different teams — Las Vegas Raiders, Houston Texans and, finally, the Green Bay Packers — over a span of a couple months, an experience that humbled him.
“I learned it wasn’t really about me – it’s whatever works for the team,” Douglas said. “That year literally broke me down.”
Added Douglas: “I feel like it was God. He sat me down like ‘Bro you got put me first. Stop trusting your own play. I got a plan for you. And I need you to follow me there.”
If Douglas had to choose, the 2021 season would probably be his best year. That year, he recorded five interceptions — two of which he returned for a touchdown — to go along with 13 pass deflections and a forced fumble. The Green Bay Packers went 13-4 that season, something that even bolstered his team-first mentality and strengthened his faith.
Even then, however, Douglas has yet to reach the heights that he did in his first season. That has only strengthened his commitment to the journey, something has stood out to rookie safety Dante Trader Jr.
“Complacency, that man runs from it,” Trader said. “Anytime he makes a play, he’s like ‘Nah man, I’m trying to get better.’ Seeing that, I’m like, ‘Man, that’s one of the top corners in the league.’ He’s been doing it for years. Years. I used to watch him in Green Bay when he was picking off everybody for years. So a guy like that, you can see why he’s so great. I’m trying to emulate that.”
At this point of the year, the Dolphins need to win out for Douglas to have any shot at the goals that matter most to him. Sure, he wouldn’t mind a Pro Bowl nod, something that has escaped him despite the love from players and coaches alike, yet team success has a lot to do with that. Even then, however, Douglas would prefer the actual W than anything else.
C. Isaiah Smalls II
Miami Herald
C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.
