Miami Dolphins returner Braxton Berrios is looking forward to the 2024 season.

This upcoming season is a special one because Berrios — who is a former All-Pro returner — will have the opportunity to show off more of his skillset. That’s because the NFL changed its rules regarding kickoff returns, which basically adds increased value to returners after recent rule changes had neutralized the kickoff return.

“Very excited,” Berrios says in an exclusive interview while working out at his gym in Miami. “I think it was a very important electric play that has — in recent years — really been taken out because everyone kicks into the end zone and they don’t get penalized for that. More than anything, it gives me more opportunities and it reintroduces a very exciting play in the game.”

Berrios has made a career out being a returner, serving as either or both a kickoff and punt returner since his rookie season in 2019 with the New York Jets. In fact, Berrios clinched a First-team All-Pro selection in his first full season as a primary kick returner, ranking third in the NFL with 30.4 yards per kickoff return during the 2021 season.

The 29-year-old veteran — who initially entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2018 — details the difference of being a returner in the cold weather compared to the hot, humid climate of South Florida. He explains that the ball travels well in South Florida, which often negated his ability to return because teams would simply kick it into the end zone. In cold weather games in New York or New England, there’s more of an opportunity to return kicks because the ball doesn’t travel as well in cold weather.

The increased value of the returner favors Berrios, who will likely see a slightly reduced role at receiver for the Dolphins following the addition of three-time Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The signing of Beckham adds another big name behind a star-studded receiving cast which already features Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Berrios served as the primary slot receiver for the Dolphins last season, seeing a career-high 44% of the offensive snaps. However, the majority of his contributions will likely be in the return game this season.

While going into detail about his expectations and thoughts heading into this season, the 5-foot-9 Berrios — who has made his name in the NFL as a returner — gives a first-hand look at his training routine heading into the season. Berrios works out in Miami with his trainer of the past five years, KRU Lab’s Kyle Krupa. Krupa has served as Berrios’ athletic trainer since the 2019 season — his first with the Jets.

Krupa is well-known among the football circle. Not only does he work out Berrios at his studio in Miami, he also serves as two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson’s athletic trainer. That’s in addition to veterans such as receivers Nelson Agholor and Brandon Powell, running back Devin Singletary and two-time Super Bowl champion Jason Pierre-Paul.

The 90 minutes of Berrios’ workout with Krupa — which takes place in the morning with Krupa — sees him engage in workouts designed to build strength, maintain his explosiveness and perhaps most importantly, remain injury free.

On this particular Monday morning, Berrios gives an up-close view of what his workout consists of when it pertains to his lower body. The first part of the session sees Berrios stretch out on the trainer’s table before beginning a number of workouts in the gym utilized to strengthen his knees, ankles and Achilles.

The first half of Berrios’ 90-minute workout sees him work exclusively in the indoor gym, where he does a variety of single leg workouts, including backward lunges and squats. It’s the second half of the workout where Berrios breaks a sweat and where he says he “really feels it.”

While in the outdoor crossfit gym, Berrios utilizes a variety of techniques, including an explosion jump onto a 48-inch elevated box, variable resistance training — used to create rotational power in his hips along with strengthening his abs — and an oblique press plate workout with a 15-pound weight while laying sideways on a flat weight bench with Krupa stretching him out. The last workout’s purpose is to “straighten” Berrios’ spine.

“This was a lower body day,” explains Berrios. “It was less about weight and building strength and more about making sure everything aligns, being explosive, making sure everything is ready to run, because we’re days away from reporting to training camp. Today we got into that safety bar, backwards lunges. Didn’t go over 200-to-205 pounds, but fast and explosive. Did some some bulletproof with the Achilles with one-legged squats. And the box jumps, along with the resisted angle jumps.”

Right before the start of the season, Berrios lifts at least three times a week — with one recovery day — and will do speed work twice a week, which is straight linear stuff. In addition, Berrios will do route-running workouts two-to-three times a week, which is everything from the releases, to the second level to the top of the routes for two hours per session. The strength workouts are done with Krupa, while the speed work is done in group sessions in Fort Lauderdale.

It may be no coincidence that Berrios has remained injury-free since he started working out with Krupa. After missing the entire 2018 season due to injury, Berrios has missed just two games since the 2019 season and has avoided major injury since then. Berrios claims that he’s more explosive than four years ago and he runs faster than he did coming out of college back in 2018 when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds.

Krupa stresses that “recovery” is absolutely essential for any athlete and mentions how players often overwork themselves during workouts in an effort to get bigger and stronger rather than spending that time resting. That mentality often results in serious injury, which is why you see a lot of season-ending injuries occur — such as an Achilles tear — during the first couple of weeks of training camp.

“You have to get their body ready and you have to get them as strong and as quick as possible very, very fast,” says Krupa of personal trainers getting players ready before a season starts. “We’ve become very efficient at that, but we haven’t become efficient at allowing that person to recover to the sense that they’re not carrying an injury for the next season. With any athlete in general, you have to make sure that they’re fully recovered from any previous injury and that they have the confidence to get back on the field. I feel like that’s where a lot of guys are missing.”

Remaining healthy is something that is pivotal for all NFL players, but especially in the case of Berrios. While Berrios has a defined role on the team as a returner, his roster spot is far from cemented. It’s something the 29-year-old acknowledges as he enters his seventh training camp and having been cut twice before. It’s also the reason why Berrios places such an emphasis upon taking care of his body and staying in shape.

“You have to take care of yourself, but you are your career,” says Berrios. “You can do all the wrong things and your career is going to get cut short. But if you do all the right things, you can extend it. It’s up to you at the end of the day.”

Berrios preaches to young athletes to take care of their body and explains how the NFL is a year-by-year business that can be very cutthroat for athletes. He says you’re never done “evolving” and that you have to have the mentality that you’ve “never made it” to survive in the league.

“I’ve seen through six or seven years now, young kids not understanding how to take care of their body,” says Berrios. “They’re out there thinking they have other chances. This league is so cutthroat, right? No matter what happened last year, it doesn’t matter going into the next season. That’s the beauty of it as well. Because you had a terrible season last year and you can come in and be a brand new person next year. You’re the CEO of you. You have to figure out what works for you, how to train and how to recover.”