Dolphins coaches address the ‘softness’ issue. And a half dozen personnel nuggets
From players outside the Dolphins locker room (Steelers and former Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott), to a player inside the Dolphins locker room (linebacker Jordyn Brooks), NFL defensive players have accused the Dolphins of playing “soft.”
One Dolphins coach rejected the idea that the Dolphins are soft, but another Dolphins coach didn’t quibble with it (in one specific regard).
Tight ends coach Jon Embree said he can’t dispute the soft description when it comes to the team’s shortcomings when the team needs 1 or 2 yards for a first down.
“Do we dominate the trenches [enough]?” Embree said rhetorically. “You have to look at our short yardage on both sides.”
The Dolphins are 23rd in the league in third-and-1 conversions and 31st on fourth-and-1 conversions.
“I know offensively, we need to be better in short yardage situations,” Embree said. “If that’s the definition, then right now, if the shoe fits we have to wear it until we prove otherwise.
“That’s the great thing about sports. It doesn’t matter what people say about you. You get an opportunity to go prove people right or wrong. Until we are consistently better on short yardage situations and whatever people are judging it on, we have to wear that unfortunately.”
Asked about Brooks saying the defense played “soft” against Green Bay, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said: “That’s Jordyn. When you’re talking off the game you’re reacting purely off emotion. When he watches tape… he would change his tune.”
Weaver said while some people might say “missed tackles equate to softness,” he strongly disagrees: “Softness had nothing to do with it.”
The Dolphins had 23 missed tackles against the Packers and Weaver said he “didn’t see that coming.” He said he doesn’t believe the cold weather was a factor with that.
PERSONNEL NOTES
▪ How close to NFL game-ready is outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, who began practicing this week but hasn’t played since a Dec. 31 knee injury?
Weaver said he only took seven full speed reps on Wednesday and needs time “just to gain confidence to where he feels comfortable playing in an NFL game.”
▪ Linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (hamstring), right tackle Kendall Lamm (elbow), receiver Tyreek Hill (rest/wrist) all returned to practice. Among players on the 53 man roster, only Terron Armstead (knee) wasn’t seen.
▪ Weaver conceded that Tyus Bowser, who has been one of the Dolphins’ best run-defending edge players, was missed against Green Bay. He will miss at least three more games with elbow and knee injuries.
But “I don’t want to take anything away from Quinton Bell; he continues to flourish,” Weaver said.
The Dolphins, down to four healthy outside linebackers, didn’t give rookie fifth-rounder Mo Kamara any defensive snaps against Green Bay.
“Kamara is a very young player who is trying to earn trust among his teammates,” Weaver said. “That comes from consistent repeated positive actions. Can he make plays as the games become more important? It’s hard to live through some rookie mistakes that may occur [late in the season]. Pleased where he is trending. But practice is very much different than games.”
▪ In explaining the decision to replace Skylar Thompson with Tyler Huntley as the No. 2 quarterback, offensive coordinator Frank Smith referenced Huntley’s mobility and his “ability to extend” plays.
“When your starter has a skill set and another has a different skill set, that’s a challenge on the defense,” Smith said.
Asked if the Dolphins might use Huntley in short-yardage situations, he said: “That’s an option.”
▪ What should rookie Malik Washington have done on the punt that he fumbled early in the Green Bay game?
“In a perfect world, he would [have adjusted his body] and catch the football with a fair catch,” special teams coordinator Danny Crossman said.
But… “Once you lose the rhythm of the ball, don’t make a bad play worse,” Crossman said. “He should have aborted and gotten out of the way.”
It sounds as though the Dolphins will stick with Washington as their punt returner.
“We have great confidence in Malik,” Crossman said. “There’s growing pains with young players. We have to minimize them. He’s done a great job of developing from when we got him in the draft.”
Washington didn’t return a punt in college but averaged 19.5 yards on 14 kickoff returns.
With the Dolphins, he’s averaging 5.9 yards on 11 punt returns and 27.0 yards on four kickoff returns.
▪ Why wasn’t Tyreek Hill in the game for the entire goal line situation where Dolphins failed to get 1 yard on 3 plays in the fourth quarter against Green Bay?
“We’re down in the tight red zone; we liked our heavier personnel group,” Smith said. “We were close on two of the plays. Last one, we didn’t execute well. You change four plays in that game, the outcome would be different.”
Rookie receiver Malik Washington played some of those snaps instead.
▪ Why don’t the Dolphins use six offensive linemen in short-yardage and goal-line situations?
“We like using our tight ends and the versatility our tight ends give us,” Smith said. “We run outside zone. That’s better for a tight end skill set.”
▪ Fullback Alec Ingold was named the Dolphins’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award… Kicker Jason Sanders was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 1:28 PM.
