Miami Dolphins OL Robert Jones: We want to show our dominance in the trenches

Robert Jones allowed just three sacks while starting seven games last year and the Miami Dolphins hope the former Middle Tennessee guard can make another jump in his third season.

Liam Eichenberg is listed as Miami’s starting left guard, but Jones, who was called for just 11 total pressures in 431 snaps at the position, is making a case for the job. The former undrafted free agent didn’t allow a pressure in 21 snaps at left guard and another 19 at right guard last Friday against the Atlanta Falcons.

“I feel like I did OK,” Jones said on Sunday. “Just like the whole o-line, I felt like we all did good to set the tone and dominate the line of scrimmage. But there are some things I just have to clean up and keep working at to make me a better player.”

Terron Armstead, Connor Wiliams, and Robert Hunt will start, leaving two spots to be filled on the offensive line. Jones, 24, can play both guard positions — if the Dolphins wanted to go down a path that included kicking Hunt to tackle.

“You just have to get comfortable,” Jones said of switching between left and right guard. “Just opening the hips on that side, that’s all. It’s really just the same thing. You just have to be aggressive and just find your techniques.”

The Dolphins added former Denver Broncos offensive line coach Butch Barry in February, and the goal is simple — win in the trenches.

“That was the No. 1 thing coming into OTAs – dominate the line of scrimmage and fire off the rock,” Jones said. “We’ll work with technique and everything later, but we want to show our dominance in the trenches. We’ve been doing that every single day.

“Going into Week 1, I feel like we just keep getting better from the joint practices and the first preseason game. We just keep focusing on it. I feel like we did pretty good. We just have to keep doing it so when Week 1 comes, we’ll be alright.”