Jacoby Brissett is a legendary trash talker — and not just with opponents on Sundays.
Brissett's barbs were heard every week on the practice fields on 56th Street in Indianapolis during his time here, whether he was the Colts' starter or backup. And all that stuff helped keep the Colts' defense motivated.
"If you got somebody on the offense talking trash every single play," linebacker Darius Leonard said, "you gotta find a way to shut them up."
Brissett will start for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday against the Colts, the team with which he spent the 2017-2020 seasons. Leonard caught up with Brissett for about 30 minutes over the phone on Wednesday and, like many of his teammates, expressed a deep respect and admiration for the 28-year-old quarterback.
"He's by far one of the biggest competitors that I ever played against," Leonard said.
Brissett's extraordinary competitiveness showed up in his first start for the Dolphins last weekend against the Las Vegas Raiders, during which he led a 13-play, 82-yard drive to tie the game with two seconds remaining. While his final stat line may not have been eye-popping (32/49, 219 yards; seven carries, 37 yards) he did a lot of things on film that his former Colts teammates saw every day in games or practice for the last few years.
"Just the type of competitor he is and the type of player he is, we know he's going to try to extend downs, make big plays and we just need to be there to really get after him early and often throughout the game," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said.
Leonard compared the 6-foot-4, 235 pound Brissett's size and strength to that of Jameis Winston and explained that merely pressuring and/or hitting him sometimes isn't enough.
"You gotta make sure you wrap, wrap tight — he's good at throwing people off," Leonard said. "So just make sure you wrap. Usually when you go to a quarterback you try to go for the ball first. He has some huge hands, very strong hands, you see that when he throws. He stops his throwing motion to hold on to the ball. So you gotta make sure you get him down and get off the field."
But more than anything, it's that competitiveness — and the trash talk that comes with it — that the Colts remember about Brissett and expect to see every play on Sunday in south Florida.
"He was trying to find holes in our defense and make big plays down the field," Buckner said. "When he did make those plays he celebrated with the guys just to give us a good look. It's the type of competitor he is. It didn't matter if he was a backup or not. He was always competing no matter what."
Thursday's practice report
