Dolphins-Jaguars Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' 31-18 loss in the preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' 31-18 loss in their preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Stadium on Saturday.

-- For a second consecutive game, the Dolphins decided to use QB Tua Tagovailoa and all their starter not dealing with injuries. That meant action for players like WR Tyreek Hill, CB Xavien Howard and S Jevon Holland.

-- The game also marked the preseason debut for CB Keion Crossen and TE Tanner Conner, as well as the return to action for OL Liam Eichenberg and FB Alec Ingold.

-- The list of players not expected to play consisted of CB Jalen Ramsey, WR Jaylen Waddle, DT Zach Sieler, DT Christian Wilkins, along with QB Mike White, CB Justin Bethel, RB Jeff Wilson Jr., RB De'Von Achane, S Brandon Jones, OL Robert Jones, T Terron Armstead, TE Eric Saubert, WR Braylon Sanders and DT Da'Shawn Hand.

FIRST QUARTER

-- Things got off to a great start after Braxton Berrios returned the opening kickoff in place of inured rookie De'Von Achane.

-- On the first play, Hill lined up in the slot and took advantage of Jacksonville playing way off him to take a quick pass from Tua and turned it into a 32-yard gain. Have to say we'd be surprised to see defenses give Hill that much cushion in the regular season.

-- Connor Williams basically killed the drive on the very next play when he sailed a snap way over Tua's head and it became a 25-yard loss by the time the Dolphins fell on the ball. This has become a problem for Williams recently and it's reached the point of being worrisome.

-- A third-down incompletion actually was a positive play because Tua gave up on a screen pass to Durham Smythe that was totally recovered instead of hanging on to the ball.

-- With Sieler and Wilkins out, the Dolphins began their first defensive series with rookie free agent Brandon Pili and former practice squad player Josiah Bronson along the defensive line.

-- It was a rough series for the Dolphins, who gave up six first downs as the Jaguars gained 79 yards.

-- Safety Jevon Holland came up big on a second-and-5 from the 6-yard when he met Tank Bigsby just outside the goal line and then recovered the fumble that he forced.

-- The next drive saw the Dolphins convert a fourth-and-1 from their 42 when Tua faked a handoff and threw a short pass to fullback Alec Ingold, who turned upfield for a 9-yard gain.

-- That was followed by a 42-yard run by Salvon Ahmed, who showcased his speed and maybe sealed his spot on the 53-man roster by taking advantage of some nice blocking up front.

-- The drive stalled, though, and the Dolphins were forced to settle for a short Jason Sanders field goal after two runs gained only 1 yard and a third-down pass fell incomplete when Robbie Chosen couldn't come down with a Tua pass in traffic. Chosen, who earlier had a 15-yard catch, allowed the DB to dislodge the ball by not catching it cleanly, but he wouldn't have gotten into the end zone on that third-and-goal anyway.

-- Linebacker Channing Tindall made a tackle on the ensuing kickoff, a good sign that he was on that unit in the first place in his quest to secure a spot on the 53-man roster.

-- Linebacker Jaelan Phillips then drew a holding penalty against right tackle Anton Harrison on first down when he beat him with an inside move. That's not a sack but almost just as good.

SECOND QUARTER

-- Jacksonville took the lead by going 90 yards after the holding penalty, and it was a rough drive for Noah Igbinoghene. He gave two completions for first downs by giving a lot of cushion to receivers who just in front of him and then gave up a 28-yard completion to Calvin Ridley despite having very good coverage because he never turned around. Television replays also showed Igbinoghene grabbing Ridley's jersey, though no flag was thrown.

-- As the Dolphins did on their second drive, Jacksonville went for it on fourth down near midfield, getting the conversion on a nice throw from Trevor Lawrence to Christian Kirk across the middle despite decent coverage by Kader Kohou, who later had a pass breakup on a deep throw.

-- While Bronson had a nice tackle after only a 1-yard gain on a run, the defensive line had its problems in run defense, including a way-too-easy 3-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne.

-- Skylar Thompson took over for Tua at quarterback on the next series, and it didn't go well early with Ahmed dropped for no gain when the offensive line created no room, an incomplete pass for Chosen into traffic, followed by an interception when Thompson's pass on the move was too high for Cedrick Wilson Jr.

-- The Dolphins gave up some more healthy runs on the next drive, along with a 16-yard completion to tight end Brenton Strange when they bit on a play fake, but forced Jacksonville to settle for a field goal when Andrew Van Ginkel and Jaylen Twyman split a third-down sack.

-- Bad news on the ensuing kickoff after Jacksonville took a 17-3 lead, with Elijah Campbell leaving the field with two trainers barely able to put any weight on his left leg. Replays showed Campbell grabbing his left knee.

-- And then on the next play, Thompson threw under pressure right to Jacksonville linebacker Yasir Abdullah for a second interception. This was bad O-line play because of a missed blitz pick-up and a bad decision by Thompson.

-- Jacksonville added to its lead with another ridiculously easy touchdown run, this one by D'Ernest Johnson up the middle.

-- It came after Parry Nickerson was flagged for a horsecollar tackle after he put himself in position to disrupt a quick throw to the wide receiver.

-- The next offensive play from scrimmage saw Salvon Ahmed leave the game with an injury when he was tackled around the head area from both directions after catching a short pass from Thompson.

-- After the two-minute warning, Thompson had a third-down completion to River Cracraft and moved the Dolphins down the field despite pretty consistent pressure on him.

-- Thompson also had a pretty throw down the middle to Berrios for a 16-yard gain.

-- The drive ended with a 28-yard field goal by Sanders to make it 17-6 after Cedric Ogbuehi was flagged for a facemask but Jacksonville declined because the third-down pass was incomplete.

-- With less than a minute left, the Jaguars tried to move the ball downfield instead of running out the block and got into Dolphins territory before Duke Riley tackled Johnson in bounds to kill the clock and end the half at 17-6.

THIRD QUARTER

-- Rookie Cam Smith came up with a nice tackle on a run on the first play from scrimmage, but then got burned by a double move on the next play and the result was a 74-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Beathard to Tim Jones. Smith also was flagged for defensive holding on the play. It was the kind of play that maybe Vic Fangio was talking about when he said he needed to be able to trust Smith before he got a bigger role.

-- Thompson remained in the game at quarterback for the Dolphins and directed a 72-yard touchdown drive that featured another fourth-down conversion, this one converted on a swing pass to Myles Gaskin.

-- Cedrick Wilson Jr. had the longest gain of the drive with a 22-yard reception and he would have had another nice grab if not for a second penalty on Ogbuehi, this one for being illegally downfield.

-- Chris Brooks finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with some tough running up the middle where he almost backed into the end zone. With a two-point conversion that failed after Cracraft couldn't get down his second foot to complete what would have been a spectacular catch, the score was 24-12.

-- The next series featured another rookie cornerback beat by a double move, this time Ethan Bonner, who was on the wrong end of a 43-yard completion. He showed good recovery speed after getting beat but was too late to make a play on the ball.

-- That came after an 18-yard completion on third-and-11 when Nathan Rourke was given too much time to throw and found a tight end open deep against the Dolphins.

-- The drive ended with an 8-yard touchdown by JaMycal Hasty on another run where the Dolphins offered little resistance, and it was now 31-12.

-- The Dolphins put together another touchdown drive, but it was led by the running game, which contributed 49 yards with runs of 9 yards by Myles Gaskin and 13 yards by Chris Brooks, who capped it with a 4-yard run.

-- Thompson converted a third-and-3 with a perfect pass to Wilson on a quick slant in tight coverage and later converted a fourth-and-2 from the Jaguars 9 with a 3-yard scramble.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- Jacksonville's first drive of the fourth quarter featured two noteworthy plays by defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman, one good and one not so good.

-- The first was a defensive holding penalty on a running play, but he followed that with a sack of Rourke for a 10-yard loss.

-- After the Dolphins held, thanks in part to a nice pass breakup by Cam Smith on third down, Keke Coutee had a nifty 18-yard punt return where he showed a nice burst getting through an opening.

-- The Dolphins' next drive, midway through the fourth quarter, would end up being the last one of the game.

-- It began very poorly with a false-start penalty on Daewood Davis, following by a holding penalty on tackle James Tunstall to make it first-and-25.

-- James Blackman then completed his first two pass attempts of the preseason, for 10 yards to Brooks and 12 yards to Erik Ezukanma before the game would end on a somber note.

-- It was on a third-and-3 from the Dolphins 41, Blackman attempt to connect with Davis cutting across the middle, but after the DB broke up the pass he was hit in the head by linebacker Dequan Jackson and stayed on the ground motionless before eventually being placed on a backboard and carted off the field.

-- Props to the Dolphins and Jaguars for doing the right thing and calling off the rest of the game — with 8:32 remaining — in light of Davis' frightening injury.

-- Thankfully, the injury appears to not have been as bad as it initially appeared because Davis was released from the hospital Sunday morning.

-- That was the best news involving what overall was a pretty disappointing night for the Dolphinsl

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Check out our daily podcast (All Dolphins Podcast) on YouTube and also available wherever you get your audio podcasts under Miami Dolphins Insider on the Fans First Sports Network. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.