Dolphins First Minicamp Practice Observations

The defense dominated the day, but Skylar Thompson and Lynn Bowden Jr. had strong performances on offense

For the second consecutive Miami Dolphins practice open to the media, it was rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson who was the most impressive quarterback on the field.

The only difference is that all three quarterbacks were in action on this day, unlike the May 24 practice when Tua Tagovailoa was out with a non-COVID illness.

Thompson threw the only two touchdown passes of the day, both of which came during an extended 11-on-11 goal-line session. His touchdown passes went to Jaylen Waddle and Trent Sherfield, and the thrown to Sherfield that he zipped between defenders was particularly impressive.

As with everything else we're writing here, we understand it's only June and no final opinions should be made from these practices, but Thompson again showed the most arm strength on his throws Wednesday.

By contrast, it was a rough day for Tagovailoa.

Charting every one of his throws in team drills, he completed 7 of 12 passes for 82 yards (the yardage is approximate since there's no tackling), lost a fumble after a bad center-quarterback exchange, 

His best throw of the day came on a crosser to Jaylen Waddle that was good for approximately 15 yards. That came after a high shotgun snap, though Dolphins media relations reporting rules prevent us from identifying the center.

Tua was off the mark on a downfield throw in the middle to Tyreek Hill and underthrew another pass downfield, though he was bailed out when Lynn Bowden was able to dive and get his hands under the ball to make the 20-yard completion.

Again, no conclusions should be drawn from this one practice, but if we're recapping the session, it wasn't a good one for Tua.

IMPRESSIVE WORK BY BOWDEN

The diving catch on Tua's pass came on the first pass of team drills, but it wasn't Bowden's only nice play.

He later made another similar diving catch, that time from Thompson.

As we indicated earlier, Bowden is kind of an X-factor in the Dolphins offense, and a performance like the one he had Wednesday certainly was encouraging.

DEFENSE DOMINATES

The work of Thompson and Bowden aside, the defense clearly won this practice.

We counted four would-be sacks on the day, one each by Raekwon Davis, Brennan Scarlett, Jaelan Phillips and Noah Igbinoghene.

There also were a couple of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, from John Jenkins, Zach Sieler and Darrius Hodge, though Hodge missed the chance at an easy interception when he failed to corral the ball after he deflected Teddy Bridgewater's pass into the air.

IGBINOGHENE SHINES

Again, understanding that it's only June, Noah Igbinoghene had himself another good practice, which makes it two good outings in the three practices open to the media.

Along with the would-be sack, Igbinoghene had good coverage on a few plays and closed out the practice by breaking up a deep pass from Tua intended for Waddle.

ATTENDANCE REPORT

With the minicamp being mandatory, this was the best attended practice open to the media so far this offseason.

The only player who was not spotted, in fact, was running back Raheem Mostert, who continues to rehab from the knee injury that cut short his 2021 season with San Francisco after one game.

Cornerback Byron Jones, tackle Terron Armstead, new outside linebacker Melvin Ingram III and fullback Alec Ingold did not practice.

Cornerback Xavien Howard was in attendance for the first time for an open practice, but did not take part in team drills. Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah also didn't work in team drills.