Dolphins 2023 Camp: August 9 Practice Offense Observations
Highlights, lowlights and observations from the 11th practice (day 15) of Miami Dolphins training camp Wednesday, better known as the second joint practice with the Atlanta Falcons:
-- The practice was held on another hot and muggy day in South Florida but was moved inside the Baptist Health Training Complex for almost the entire second half of the proceeding.
-- This was a way spirited practice than the first joint session, with a handful of skirmishes breaking out, which involved (from our vantage point) Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Robbie Chosen, with Tyreek Hill running across the field to get involved in the skirmish involving Chosen.
-- This was not a good day in terms of injuries, as wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and fullback Alec Ingold went inside during practice, and cornerback Justin Bethel and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. also were dinged up.
-- In terms of attendance, along with the usual injured players, others who did not practice included running back Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Braylon Sanders, though head coach Mike McDaniel indicated before practice his scary-looking injury Tuesday did not involve any structural damage and he could be back next week.
-- Tackle Terron Armstead took part in some team drills, but was very limited — as we predicted on the All Dolphins Podcast on Tuesday afternoon.
-- Finally, before we move to the practice observations involving the Dolphins offense — columnist Omar Kelly will have a wrap-up of the day on defense later — we should point out a special visitor at practice: Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.
FANTASTIC FINISH FOR OFFENSE
-- The practice ended with each team taking turns at running a two-minute offense needing a touchdown, the only time over the two days where each team had only one unit on the field. And the Dolphins saved their best for last, with quarterback Skylar Thompson throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back De'Von Achane in the corner of the end zone on the last snap.-- We'll start off, as usual, with the attendance check, with was highlighted by the return of wide receiver Erik Ezukanma and rookie running back De'Von Achane.
-- Before team drills, we had the usual 1-on-1 lineman pass-rushing drills, and those were going on at the same time as 7-on-7 work near the opposite goal line. We focused on the linemen and we can report it was a very good, if not great, period for the Dolphins. While judging who won each rep is subjective, we had the Dolphins winning 14 of the 20 reps we scored.
-- Those who particularly stood out in that session included veteran tackle Kendall Lamm and rookie center Alama Uluave. On the flip side, the one player who had trouble in his reps was Liam Eichenberg.
-- In the 7-on-7 work, the play that stood out was a diving catch in the end zone by Robbie Chosen on a Mike White pass.
CHECKING OUT THE QUARTERBACKS
-- Behind his late touchdown pass to Achane, Thompson probably deserves recognition as the most effective Dolphins quarterback on this day, though it should be noted that White didn't get a shot at running the two-minute drill at the end.
-- After an incompletion to start his drive, Thompson completed his next five passes, including two to Achane, two to rookie wide receiver Chris Coleman, and one to Chosen, who continues his resurgence at camp.
-- By our very unofficial stats, Thompson finished the day 6-for-8 with two touchdowns. We gave Chosen a touchdown when he caught a quick pass at the 5-yard line, made a quick move inside and appeared to get into the end zone without being in a position where he might have been tackle in a game situation.
-- Mike White also was very effective, complete all five of his attempts in team periods. His touchdown pass was a 7-yarder to tight end Eric Saubert after he was left wide open in the flat.
-- Tua Tagovailoa's numbers, meanwhile, were not good, though he wasn't helped by a couple of drops. By our stats, Tua was 5-for-14 with one touchdown and one interception on that two-minute drill. It was not a good sequence for Tua, whose first-down pass to Salvon Ahmed was broken up before his late throw outside to River Cracraft was batted away. On third down, Tua went for Braxton Berrios deep over the middle but safety Jayllinn Hawkins was right there in that zone to make the pick, kind of the same White was picked off on the last play of practice Tuesday.
-- Tua's touchdown pass was a 5-yarder, also to rookie Julian Hill, giving Dolphins tight ends two touchdowns in 11-on-11 work on this day.
-- The pass blocking by the offensive line wasn't terrible, though the three quarterbacks were sacked a combined four times. One of them came on a play where Austin Jackson was beat, while Armstead stood over the Atlanta defender after he fell or was pushed down and Armstead kept him from getting up.
-- There again was a coverage sack on this day, while Alama was beaten cleanly for another, and defensive lineman Albert Huggins was given a free run at White on the fourth sack.
THE DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE PLAYS THAT STOOD OUT
-- Tua's first incompletion of the day ironically just might have been his best throw. He threw a perfect pass to Chosen about 20 yards downfield right inside the left sideline in tight coverage, but the Falcons defender quickly was able to get his hand on the ball to knock it away.
-- Tua's last pass of his first series was a deep shot to Tyreek Hill down the left sideline, but the Falcons had deep safety help and it almost ended up as an interception.
-- Offensive lineman Robert Jones had a clear holding penalty on White's first snap in 11-on-11s, and that was followed by a nice run by Achane with a strong cut back.
-- Cedrick Wilson Jr. dropped a pass from Tua in the middle of the field on what would have been a gain of about 15 yards. While the pass was a tad high, it should have been caught.
-- Tua dumped off a pass to Salvon Ahmed in the face of pressure, but it was off target and actually might have been a lateral.
-- Hill had a nice diving catch of a Mike White pass over the middle after he appeared to be late in picking up the ball.
-- A few plays later, Hill committed a flagrant holding penalty when he grabbed and threw an Atlanta defender to the ground.
-- The offense looked a bit better once practice moved inside, but still not great.
-- On Tua's first snap inside, he was sacked by Grady Jarrett.
-- Jeff Wilson Jr. fumbled at the end of a running play deep in Atlanta territory and then went to the sideline, where he had his left hand examined by a trainer. Remember that Wilson had two fingers on that hand taped together during practice Saturday.
-- Hill did a backflip after catching a touchdown pass from White after being left wide open in the flat and backpedaling toward the goal line, but the reality is that was the play where the Falcons had a free rusher on White and he wouldn't have been able to get the pass off in a game situation. But the backflip still was cool to watch.
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