Dolphins-Texans Joint Practice: Defensive Observations (Aug. 16)

Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel thrived as Dolphins playmakers during the first day of joint practices against the Houston Texans

It appears that the Miami Dolphins are experimenting with defensive packages against the Houston Texans, looking to fine-tune what the team potentially could use as a base defense.

Two starting spots — strong safety and boundary cornerback — have yet to be settled, and it appears that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is experimenting with a three-defensive lineman front with Christian Wilkins absent from practice, beginning his second week of a hold-in.

Da'Shawn Hand, who was signed last week, is being thrown into the deep end of the pool in week two, working as an edge setter on a line that did well against the Texans first-team offensive line, which featured Laremy Tunsil as a pillar of granite at left tackle.

Safety battle ongoing

Miami continues to experiment with the safety paired with Jevon Holland, and I found it interesting that Trill Williams, who is suffered his ACL injury about this time las year, wasn’t taking any work with the base defense.

However, Williams was working on most of Miami's special teams units, which was a good sign.

Brandon Jones also sat out his third straight day of practice, which indicates he potentially suffered a setback on the rehab of the knee he injured and had surgically replaced last October.

That leaves DeShon Elliott competing with Elijah Campbell to be Holland's tag team partner unless someone else enters the competition in the final two weeks of training camp.

Here's what happened on defense during Miami's first day of joint practices against the Texans.

If you want to know what happened on offense you can find it here.

Dolphins Defense Pressures Rookie QB

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was under consistent pressure when he was going against Miami's first-team defense.

He had his greatest success in the passing game while targeting tight ends, which caught my attention because this was the first time all training camp I've noticed Miami's linebackers and safeties struggle covering tight ends.

Texans tight end Dalton Schultz, one of Houston's top free agent acquisitions, scored a touchdown during red zone work on a play where Emmanuel Ogbah pressured the pocket. Couldn't see who allowed the score because of how far they were working away from the media's section.

Zach Sieler shined against the run early during the first 11-on-11 period. He also had a pass breakup at the line of scrimmage. Raekwon Davis produced a sack of Stroud, the Texans first-round pick.

Texans starting tailback Dameon Pierce had a nice run up the gut of Miami's second team defense. Duke Riley was in on the stop.

Devin Singletary, a former FAU standout, produced a nice right side run that David Long had a stop on near the first-down marker.

Jaelan Phillips worked Texans starting right tackle George Fant all practice, recording at least two sacks and two pressures during the 11-on-11 periods. 

His presence was felt in Houston's backfield all practice, which reinforces that his quiet start to camp has more to do with Austin Jackson's emergence than Phillips' regression.

Andrew Van Ginkel thrives in new role

Andrew Van Ginkel rivaled Phillips for the day's top performer honors on defense. 

The versatile linebacker, who was mostly working on the inside during Wednesday's practice, pulled down an interception of a pass from Davis Mills. Van Ginkel had a decent return on the interception but would have been stopped in scoring territory. Van Ginkel also broke up two passes in coverage, and one of them prevented a touchdown during a red zone period.

"He makes plays no matter where he's at," cornerback Xavien Howard said when asked to evaluate the defense's performance Wednesday.

One of the biggest concerns I had watching the defense was how many completions the Texans made on the left side of the field, attacking Noah Igbinoghene's zone. 

Robert Woods had the most productive day out of all of Houston's receivers, and it appeared he was just attacking open zones on option routes.

I'm not saying Igbinoghene was getting beat, because it was al in zone.

Obviously most teams are going to stay away from Howard, and that seemed to be the case Wednesday, with the exception of one pass interference call Howard drew.

Elijah Campbell had a pass deflection on a throw from Stroud.

And Riley and Jerome Baker each produced a sack on linebacker blitzes during the second 11-on-11 period.