Check out eye-catching stat about Dolphins LB David Long (plus four more things to know)

Five things to know about new Dolphins linebacker David Long, who was signed from the Tennessee Titans in free agency:

David Long does not give up touchdown passes

Long, 26, gave up a touchdown pass during the 2021 season.

Why is that significant?

Because it’s the only one he has conceded in his career.

According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, teams have targeted Long’s man 135 times in his four seasons but produced just that one score. Passers tried him 94 times over the past two years and haven't scored a single time. Long, on the other hand, has four interceptions over that span.

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Passers had a 74.1 rating against Long last season and just 61.0 in 2021. Among Dolphins linebackers in 2022, Jerome Baker’s stat was 98.8, Duke Riley’s was 104.9 and Elandon Roberts’ was 121.9.

Long allowed an average of 8.6 yards per completion last season, which would fall in the middle of Baker (6.7), Riley (7.6) and Roberts (10.9).

Baker, Riley and Roberts were each charged with allowing two TD passes last season.

In this corner, weighing in at 227 pounds …

David grew up outside Cincinnati, one of 12 children.

His father, David Sr., went 12-5-2 as a professional heavyweight boxer. Some of that toughness evidently rubbed off, as he once explained to a reporter.

“I would say how I was raised,” he told The Tennessean in 2019. “My mom and pops never took no bull from their kids. They always wanted us to be better than average.”

The possibility of following his father into the ring did occur to Long when he was younger.

“I just had more love for football and basketball,” he said. “But that was my offseason training. I did a lot of that boxing because it’s a lot of work, full-body workouts and stuff.”

Is injury label fair? Long doesn’t think so

Availability might help explain why Long isn’t still with the Titans.

Long played 14 games each of his first two NFL seasons (2019 and 2020). But he missed six games in 2021 and five in 2022.

Coach Mike Vrabel expressed frustration over the situation to USA Today in March.

“We look at soft-tissue injuries,” Vrabel said. “We look at those soft-tissue injuries of repeat offenders. It doesn’t take too hard to look and see Kristian Fulton and David Long, they were repeat offenders in soft-tissue injuries.”

Fulton, a cornerback who remains with the Titans, has played six, 13 and 11 games over his three-year career while Long was allowed to walk.

“You would’ve thought I tore my ACL the way they treating me,” Long tweeted. “Wild.”

After missing six games in 2021 because of a hamstring injury, Long returned for a late-season game against the visiting Dolphins.

He had four tackles and helped seal a 34-3 blowout by intercepting a Tua Tagovailoa pass intended for Mike Gesicki. It set up a touchdown, helped the Titans improve to 11-5 and ended Miami’s seven-game winning streak.

Adventurous ending to one of Long’s best days

One of Long’s biggest and strangest plays came in a 21-17 victory over Washington last season.

A last-minute pass interference penalty helped set up the Commanders on the Titans’ 2-yard line. On third down, Long intercepted a pass from Carson Wentz and returned it to midfield as time ran out.

But did he?

A replay review determined that Long was down by contact on the Titans’ 1-yard line with six seconds left. Problem was, players had taken off their jerseys and shoulder pads. Gear was strewn on the field. But those final seconds had to be played, so Ryan Tannehill took a knee to make it official.

"This is what we do it for,” said Long, who made 12 tackles that day. "This is what you dream of. Don't panic. Somebody made a play, and we walk off the field. It just ended up being me."

Wentz: "Guy made a heck of a play. “I just tried to squeeze it in there to J.D. (McKissic).”

Surviving getting hit by a car

Long suffered head and arm injuries when he was hit by a car at age 7.

Long’s brother reportedly was pedaling his bike, with David also aboard, when they were struck. David required treatment at a hospital.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Eye-catching stat among 5 things to know about Dolphins LB David Long