Tua very sharp. News, notes and highlights from Dolphins’ joint practice against Eagles
Wednesday’s joint practice with the Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles featured impressive work from Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill and good pressure from the Dolphins front seven:
Highlights from Day 17 of training camp:
STARS OF THE DAY
▪ Tua Tagovailoa, who was extremely sharp in 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills. The first 11 on 11 drive epitomized how the Dolphins hope to attack opponents: intermediate completions in the middle of the field (16 yards to Trent Sherfield, 21 yards to Tyreek Hill), then had short dump offs (10 yards to Salvon Ahmed, eight to Mike Gesicki).
Tagovailoa ended the drive with a 5-yard TD run.
On the next 11 on 11 drive, Hill snatched a pass that went through the arms of Eagles cornerback Darius Slay. Later, Tagovailoa completed passes of 31 yards to Hill and 26 yards to Cedrick Wilson Jr. and several shorter throws.
Tagovailoa also reacted well to an Eagles blitz, dumping a short pass off to Salvon Ahmed, who took it for a 20-plus yard gain.
Later, in a hurry-up drill, Tagovailoa was again sharp, delivering passes to Wilson and Durham Smythe for first down gains. But the drive fizzled, ending in a 49-yard field goal for Jason Sanders.
▪ Hill. He flummoxed Slay and others all day and produced three gains of 20 yards or more on throws from Tagovailoa, including a 31-yarder. He also gained 8 on an end-around run.
▪ Emmanuel Ogbah. He had multiple quarterback pressures.
PLAYS OF THE DAY
▪ Hill grabbing a pass that went between Slay’s arms for a 20-plus yard gain.
▪ River Cracraft diving to the ground and extending his body to catch a pass from Tagovailoa.
▪ Gesicki reached across his body to make a one-handed catch on a Tagovailoa throw that went for about 30 yards.
NOTABLE
▪ Early on, Gesicki left practice after catching a pass; he was down in pain for a while with what appeared to be an upper body issue (shoulder/neck area) but didn’t go to the locker-room. He re-entered team drills a short time later and made that exceptional one-handed catch.
▪ Cornerback Nik Needham went into the facility with a trainer. The nature of the injury was unclear. The Dolphins already are depleted at cornerback.
▪ The Dolphins’ running game remains a concern, even with Terron Armstead back in the lineup. Six of the first nine runs (all to Raheem Mostert, Sony Michel and Salvon Ahmed) went for a minimal gain, no gain or a loss.
On the positive side, Mostert and Ahmed also had six-yard runs, and Myles Gaskin reeled off a 10-yard run. The running game got a bit better as the day went along, but it will remain something of a concern until the Dolphins prove it isn’t.
▪ Mostert, who had been on a maintenance program, had his most active day of camp, touching the ball more than a handful of times. A couple went for nice gains, but two were stuffed for no gain. One pass from Tagovailoa went off his hands.
▪ Jaelan Phillips and the Eagles’ Landon Dickerson exchanged shoves and teammates rushed over before order was restored. Dickerson appeared to be the instigator.
▪ Tagovailoa was sharp in 7 on 7 drills, connecting with Hill, Wilson, Trent Sherfield and Hill again.
▪ Clayton Fejedelem picked off Gardner Minshew in 7 on 7 drills. And Quincy Wilson intercepted Reid Sinnett in 7 on 7 drills.
▪ Ahmed has had a good camp, including a long gain off a short throw from Tagovailoa on Wednesday. But he was bowled over in pass protection on one play. Michel is probably the Dolphins’ best pass blocking back but hasn’t run the ball especially well in preseason (minus two yards on four carries) or training camp practices.
▪ Eagles cornerback Slay limped off - but returned a few minutes later - after Hill beat him on a bomb from Tagovailoa in receiver/defensive back drills.
▪ Kader Kohou and Elijah Hamilton had pass breakups in those same receiver/defensive back drills.
▪ Elandon Roberts had a tackle for loss on a running play. Jaelan Phillips looks improved against the run and got a lot of pressure on the quarterback.
▪ Melvin Ingram had a near interception. And Needham had a good play in coverage before departing with that unknown health issue.
▪ Teddy Bridgewater, who was often under duress behind the Dolphins’ second-team line, completed a 15-yard pass to Durham Smythe but was off on a few rushed throws.
▪ Jimmy Johnson, the former Hurricanes and Dolphins coach, was among those at practice.
▪ Cornerback Xavien Howard did not participate in team drills.
AVAILABILITY REPORT
▪ Receiver Jaylen Waddle, cornerbacks Byron Jones and Keion Crossen, tight end Tanner Conner and linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel, Brennan Scarlett and Calvin Munson all missed practice.
Van Ginkel has been out all week, and the timetable for his return from an undisclosed injury remains in question. The Dolphins worked out veteran edge player Trey Flowers on Wednesday.
Jones remains on the physically unable to perform list.
Waddle has been out with a lower body injury that Mike McDaniel has said is not serious. Waddle, who had one of his ankles heavily taped, was on the field but did not partake in any team drills.
