Dolphins Having Smoothest Camp in AFC East

The Miami Dolphins have avoided the turmoil and bad luck that's hit their division rivals this summer

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws the football during joint practice with the Washington Commanders at Baptist Health Training Complex. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins have had a good number of front-line players miss practice time during training camp, but they've also managed to avoid a major injury to an important player or major turmoil.

That's more than their AFC East counterparts can say, and when it comes to smooth sailing so far in training camp, it's definitely advantage Dolphins.

In the last two days alone, the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots lost perhaps their most important defensive player, Buffalo with an injury to linebacker Matt Milano and New England with a trade involving Matthew Judon.

And, of course, the New York Jets are dealing with the holdout of offseason acquisition Haason Reddick, who has asked for a trade that was met by GM Joe Douglas saying there will be no trade of Haason Reddick.

These are the kind of stories teams want to avoid during training camp.

The Dolphins have not had any of those.

THE DOLPHINS' BIGGEST ISSUES OF THE SUMMER

Now, not everything is perfect for the Dolphins, otherwise Odell Beckham Jr., Bradley Chubb, Isaiah Wynn and Cameron Goode all would be off PUP by now and back at practice.

And then it's not totally ideal that a few high-profile players have been dealing with some physical issues and have missed practice time, with that list of players including Terron Armstead, Jalen Ramsey and Jaylen Waddle.

But there's reason to believe and/or hope that all of those players will be back at the start of the 2024 regular season or at some point, which is more than the Bills can say for Milano or the Patriots can say for Judon.

And as for the Jets with their Reddick situation, it may play out that he eventually ends his holdout — all he's doing now is accumulating fines — but if you believe in vibe and setting a good note for the start of a season, this ain't the way to go about it.

There was the potential of some turmoil for the Dolphins because of the uncertain contract status of QB Tua Tagovailoa, but that was resolved when he was signed to an extension.

Now, the Dolphins' issues are more along the lines of a normal NFL training camp where minor injuries are inevitable.

Yes, the Dolphins have had to place four players on injured reserve already, but three of them are rookies and the fourth is a player who was fighting to keep his roster spot. In other words, no impact player like Milano.

What this will mean come the regular season remains to be determined, but let's just say that at least as of now, it's been a better training camp for the Dolphins than any other team in the AFC East.