For new Dolphins signee Tyus Bowser, Miami presents an opportunity to restart his career

Imagine being Tyus Bowser for a second.

You wake up a member of the Seattle Seahawks practice squad on a Thursday. By the late afternoon, the Miami Dolphins have signed you to their active roster and practice starts just before 12 p.m. Friday. So you fly that night from the west coast, land in South Florida at 5:30 a.m. and now have to go to the facility for a physical because — surprise, surprise — there’s a game on Sunday. As Erykah Badu so eloquently put it on “On & On,” what a day, what a day.

“It was a lot; I can’t lie to you,” Bowser recalled. “Talk about taking a red eye at 7 p.m. in Seattle time, getting here at 5:30 in the morning, getting 15 minutes of rest and then going to do a physical and really just trying to get yourself prepared for a Sunday game. And it was definitely a lot, but luckily, I’ve been in this league for a long time and I understand what I need to do to be prepared and ready.”

With Jaelan Phillips sustaining a season-ending ACL tear, Bowser was brought in to add depth to an edge rusher unit already without Pro Bowler Bradley Chubb and Cameron Goode, both of whom are still in recovery from knee injuries. The 29-year-old edge rusher has familiarity with the defensive scheme having played in something similar in Seattle but also under Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver while the two were with the Baltimore Ravens. So it was no surprise when Bowser was immediately thrown into the fire last week against the New England Patriots

“It’s a lot of carryover,” Bowser said of the defensive schemes in Miami and Seattle after playing more than 30 defensive snaps against the Patriots “I think just being with [Mike] Macdonald and ‘Weave’, they came from the same exact system in Baltimore. So very similar terminology and yeah, it was just a lot easier for me to understand and there’s a few little wrinkles in there, but I was able to catch on pretty well and go out there and play fast Sunday.”

Bowser finished with a single tackle but also a sack that was mysteriously taken away.

“I have no idea — I’m leaving my agent and whoever else is dealing with that,” Bowser quipped.

A former second round pick, Bowser is expected help bolster a unit that currently includes nine-year veteran Emmanuel Ogabh, NFL journeyman Quinton Bell and two rookies in Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara. Coach Mike McDaniel emphasized Bowser’s talent as one of the many attractive aspects that led to his signing though he maintained that replacing Phillips will be a group effort.

“When you’re talking about veteran players around the league, you have connectivity from their draft eval and getting to know them coming out,” McDaniel said. “And then it didn’t hurt the cause that it’s a like system and so that makes the learning curve a little shorter, as well as you get to picture a little bit more direct visuals of how you can apply them in your scheme. So I think he strengthens the group, and as I said before, I think it was on Wednesday, that the key to group is contribution across the board for us to move forward and be productive the way we want to in a situation where you have some injuries.”

The Ravens picked Bowser 47th overall in 2017. He spent the first six years of his career in Baltimore, starting all 17 regular-season games and getting a team-high seven sacks in 2021. A torn Achilles would sideline him for most of the 2022 season and a knee injury keep him out for 2023, leading the Ravens to release him in the offseason. The Seahawks then signed Bowser to their practice squad in late August.

To say the past few years would be a test of his patience and commitment would be an understatement. Bowser called the days leading up to his Dolphins debut one of his tougher experiences since being drafted yet as someone who’s trying to make a comeback, he’s just excited to be once again playing meaningful snaps.

“I’ve been training this entire offseason,” Bowser said. “Getting prepared for this moment. So just to go out there, I just had to make sure I got my rest and mentally I was there with the playbook and everything and now making sure my body is able to carry on with the mentality of it all.”