Raekwon Davis sans fried food, impressing with Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Raekwon Davis has made some big changes, both on and off the field, ahead of this season. As the former Alabama star has taken strides on Miami’s defense, but he has also made changes to his lifestyle to try and help him play better, according to Al.com’s Mark Inabinett.

Davis has tried to eat better and get more sleep starting this offseason

In four seasons at Alabama, Davis had 175 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks and a forced fumble. The Miami Dolphins selected Davis in the second round at 56^th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Davis played in all 16 games last year as a rookie. On the season, He totaled 40 tackles, one tackle for loss and no sacks.

As he enters his second season in the NFL, Davis has worked hard both on and off the field. One of the biggest things he has done is to “keep away from the fried food.”

“Just try to eat better,” Davis said. “Try to go to sleep at a certain time. Just try to get eight hours of sleep. Try to get good nutrition in your body, something healthy in your body to get you going fast.”

Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is happy with Davis’ commitment to improving his lifestyle in hopes of improving his play on the field. He said that off the field routines play a big role in performance.

“I think that’s something that (Director of Player Engagement) Kaleb Thornhill and our player-engagement group has done a nice job of. Helping these guys with their routines and helping them learn how to be professionals. I think that’s something that young players need. They need some guidance on that. I think as an organization, we try to help them with that as coaches, as Kaleb and his staff, as a training staff, as a strength-and-conditioning staff. I think those different groups are kind of coaching these young guys in that area about what are the best things for you to be the best version of yourself on and off the field. And I think our staff has done a nice job of that.”

Flores has also seen great strides on and off the field from Davis

A lot of Miami’s offseason has centered around Davis’ former Alabama teammate, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Just Saturday, rumors came out of Miami being interested in trading for Deshaun Watson despite Tagovailoa’s strong preseason. Tagovailoa might get more attention, but Davis has seen great leaps on the field for the Dolphins too.

“I think Raekwon, his spring, his summer, it’s been good,” Flores said. “This is another young guy, young player who has become – we’ve talked a lot about Tua and his growth – I think Raekwon has grown a lot as well. Much more comfortable with his surroundings, with his settings, again with his routine, with how he takes care of his body, the things he eats, how much he sleeps.

“But we can talk all we want. The players have to take the information and apply it. I think Raekwon has done a nice job of that, and I think he’s making improvement. We need to continue to make more improvement.”