Dolphins offense trying to uphold its ‘standard’ in uneven start to training camp
The Dolphins’ stadium practice last Saturday ended abruptly, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa throwing an interception to cornerback Eli Apple near the goal line in a hurry-up drill. The pick put a bow on a session that coach Mike McDaniel later acknowledged was “clearly advantage defense.”
As the practice concluded, the entire Dolphins offense huddled in the middle of the field. The video board at Hard Rock Stadium briefly captured Tagovailoa at the center of the huddle, animatedly addressing his teammates.
“It just wasn’t up to our standard,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday after finishing a pair of joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons. “There were some things that needed to be said that was the State of the Union that our offense already knew. [I was] just reiterating that.”
As training camp opened, offensive players and coaches harped on how beneficial operating under the same scheme will be for a unit that set a slew of franchise records and was one of the NFL’s best in 2022.
But the “journey,” as McDaniel has often referred to it, for the Dolphins’ offense has had its share of ups and downs in the first three weeks of training camp, once again seen in the pair of intersquad practices with the Falcons.
The unit had positive moments Wednesday. The practice moved indoors with about 30 minutes remaining in the session, and the offense had success in short red zone drills; Tagovailoa threw a touchdown pass to tight end Julian Hill.
However, persistent issues resurfaced. Presnap penalties were again a problem, more so Tuesday before a decrease Wednesday. “We’re very aware that we’re on the heels of being the worst [in 2022]. That’s not acceptable,” McDaniel said.
And in a hurry-up situation, with the ball placed at their own 35-yard line and about 45 seconds on the clock, Tagovailoa and the offense struggled to gain any traction against the Falcons’ defense. His first attempt, a short pass intended for running back Salvon Ahmed running a slant, was broken up. His second, from the far hash to wide receiver Braxton Berrios, was deflected by a lurking defensive back. And on third down, Tagovailoa’s pass over the middle of the field was intercepted by safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
Practice ended in a climactic fashion, with backup quarterback Skylar Thompson finding running back De’Von Achane in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard diving catch and “game-winning” score. However, it was a disjointed effort for the Dolphins starting quarterback and an offense looking to build off an impressive 2022 season.
After practice, Tagovailoa was asked to assess the state of the offense.
“Regardless of if it was the best day ever for the offense, or it was the worst day ever for the offense, we’ve got to keep growing,” he said. “We got to continue to get better. There are a lot of things we need to clean up. And I think we’re doing so in all these afternoon meetings.”
Before Wednesday’s practice, McDaniel was asked a similar question and said the offense is an “incomplete story.”
“It’s somewhere close to what I was hoping for,” he said. “Last year, you almost need an interpreter because the language, it was hard to communicate within our own language. Some of the overall philosophical details of technique, we were having to sell on guys. Now, they can answer the test. Now, they know when it’s not good enough. Now, they have an expectation.”
Tagovailoa said the joint practices, the second of which was more physical than the first and included multiple skirmishes, were helpful to put the team in situations that mirror a game.
“I think the one thing that’s really cool about joint practices is it almost simulates game-like situations,” he said, “where you have first down, second down, third downs. We had red [zone] downs, we have two-minute situations. I think the cool thing about it is that everyone’s getting their adrenaline going and you never know what’s gonna happen. You get a fight out there. The biggest thing for us is we’re trying to move on to the next play and try to get back on track as fast as possible. So, like, not letting the last play dictate how we play the next play and how we’re going to move forward as an offense for the following play. So I think that’s what makes these joint practices good is that it simulates game-like situations and game-like feelings before you actually go and go out there and compete in actual games.”
Growth typically isn’t linear, but the urgency from the Dolphins offense is elevated by their own expectations for the unit. Tagovailoa has said the group can do “crazy things” if all their headliners stay healthy. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill said, “it definitely can get scary when you think about all the weapons that the Dolphins have.”
That optimism hasn’t carried into consistent practices so far. McDaniel noted the time it can take for the unit to gain its footing, citing last year’s joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles as a watershed moment.
“That was the first time offensively that I think that we felt all 11 people executing simultaneously,” he said. “And no one scores in practice. But if you guys were to say, ‘Hey, they won that day.’ It wouldn’t sound crazy. The Eagles went to the Super Bowl. We did not. But that was a very important practice for us because it was the first time that we clicked, and I thought it led into the first drive of the preseason game.”
McDaniel has not yet announced which starters will play and sit in the team’s preseason opener at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday night. With it being the first exhibition game, it’s unlikely Tagovailoa and key players will play much, if at all.
“I think mental reps are just as important as taking the physical reps. That’s what it’s all about,” Tagovailoa said. “You’ve got to understand the game as a coach. You’ve got to understand the game as a player. It’s also a lot different seeing it from the sideline than it is seeing it in the game. Things are moving quicker. You can see if things are open but you can’t feel pressure. You’re just basically out there, gazing at what those guys have. So, things can be open, but if pressure allows, or if protection allows you to throw a deep ball, a short ball, then it allows it. But for the most part, it’s tough. You just got to stay in it mentally.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 3:02 PM.
