Dolphins-Texans Joint Practice: Defensive Observations Day 2 (Aug. 17)

Miami Dolphins defense forces two turnovers in situational period to end a productive two days of practice against the Houston Texans offense

HOUSTON — Each day of the Miami Dolphins’ joint practice has been concluded with a scrimmage-like situational period where the offense and defense is put in identical situations and their counterpart is required to respond.

During Thursday’s situational period, the Houston Texans first-team offense was placed on the 25-yard line and given two minutes to produce a touchdown to complete a come-from-behind victory.

The performance Vic Fangio’s unit put together hints that his side of the ball appears ready for the start of the regular season because they produced not one, but two turnovers to win the drill, if not the day.

On the first snap of the situational period, a Texans receiver in motion messed up the shotgun snap when the ball hit him as he crossed quarterback C.J. Stroud’s face, and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips corraled the fumble to produce the first drive-stopping turnover.

The Texans were then gracefully given a do-over and Phillips was again in Stroud’s face, rushing a short pass.

The Texans then completed two more passes to move Houston’s offense to the 47-yard line with :39 seconds left on the clock.

Miami responded with a sack from newly acquired defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand. That play was followed by Emmanuel Ogbah drawing a holding penalty on right tackle George Fant, who is filling in as the Texans’ starter while Tytus Howard is sidelined by an injury.

And on a critical second-and-forever play (if the Texans were actually moved back from the loss of yardage on the sack and the penalty and they weren’t), inside linebacker Duke Riley stripped the ball from tight end Dalton Schultz at the end of a reception, producing either an interception or a forced fumble and fumble recovery to end Thursday's practice.

Dolphins secondary struggles

However, the entire day wasn’t peaches and cream for Miami’s defense.

In fact, the unit struggled for most of the 1-on-1s and red zone periods, and the Texans receivers exposed how much Miami’s depth at cornerback has been watered down by injuries since camp began.

Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene struggled for most of the day, which started with him getting beaten deep for a touchdown by Texans receiver Nico Collins during 1-on-1s.

But Collins didn’t discriminate because he also beat Eli Apple for a 65-yard touchdown, which he produced off a 15-yard slant. The Dolphins didn’t have safety help over the top and Collins outran a trailing Apple all the way for the score.

What happened on the coverage wasn’t clear, but it highlights the safety issues Miami have had all camp, struggling to find a quality starter to play next to Jevon Holland.

DeShon Elliott hasn’t impressed, and struggles from a range standpoint. Brandon Jones, who is working his way back from a knee injury he had surgically repaired last October, is nursing an unrelated injury and has been shelved for the week.

Trill Williams, who is also working his way back from a knee injury that kept him sidelined all 2022, hasn’t gotten substantive reps during 11-on-11 work, leaving Elijah Campbell and Verone McKinley as the only challengers to Elliott.

Campbell flashed playmaking ability and range at times the past two days, but also struggled at times.

Cam Smith gets action in 11-on-11s

Smith, the Dolphins' 2023 second-round pick, got involved in the team period of practice for the first time since suffering his shoulder injury in Miami's 19-3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week.

After Apple was beaten for a touchdown, the Dolphins replaced him with Smith, who was given a red jersey, which indicates he isn't to be touched because of an injury. 

Problem is, the Texans ran the ball in his direction on one of his two 11-on-11 snaps. Smith locked up with a receiver and was driven back a few yards before being taken off the field.

After that play I'm assuming the Dolphins coaches second-guessed their decision to get him involved in the scrimmage-like action.

Other practice highlights on defense

Here are some other notable moments from a defensive practice, which was difficult to view from the media’s viewing area.

Nose tackle Raekwon Davis had an impactful day, producing a sack and a handful of pressures during team periods….

Holland pulled down an interception on a deep pass from Stroud….

Phillips produced another multiple-sack performance. He dominated Fant for the past two days, serving as Miami’s most impactful player for the two joint practices….

Andrew Van Ginkel, who shined as an inside linebacker on Wednesday, allowed a touchdown to tailback Mike Boone in red zone 11-on-11 work.

Starting inside linebacker David Long Jr. produced a tackle for loss on a Devin Singletary run during red zone work, but Long’s performance was inconsistent for most of Thursday’s session.

Brandon Pili injury leads to prayers

Brandon Pili suffered what appears to be a head injury during one of the late 11-on-11 periods the media struggled to see, but the concern for Pili’s health grew when players from both teams took a knee and started praying. Pili walked off the field on his own and was scheduled to undergo an MRI.

If Pili can't play in Saturday's preseason game against the Texans, the Dolphins might be forced to play Davis, Zach Sieler and Emmanuel Ogbah longer than intended because Christian Wilkins is embarking on a hold-in, and Hand, Jaylen Twyman, Josiah Bronson and Randy Charlton are the only other defensive linemen left to finish out the game when the starters and prominent players are benched.