‘Wasn’t about the stat line for me.’ Jonnu Smith made Dolphins history with his monster game
The Miami Dolphins featured Jonnu Smith heavily in the preseason.
In his final preseason appearance, Smith did a little bit of everything. He caught balls from the outside. From the slot. And even took a jet sweep 10 yards.
But as the regular season finally got underway, the highly touted “Jonnu Smith package” seemingly all but disappeared. Or maybe the Dolphins just needed more time to iron out the kinks.
“Today was another step towards the direction that we want to go, but it’s one step at a time mentality,” Smith said after his monster game.
Smith shined in the Dolphin’ 34-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, catching six of his eight targets for 101 yards and two touchdowns. His performance game not only set a new receiving yardage career-high for the eight-year veteran but also gave him his first multitouchdown game since 2020. He was also the first Dolphin tight end to go for more than 100 yards and score two touchdowns since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
A third-round pick out of Florida International University, Smith scored his first touchdown on a 1-yard out route courtesy of Tua Tagovailoa. His second touchdown, however, was extremely impressive as he found the soft spot of the coverage, caught the ball near midfield and scored on what went down as a 57-yard reception that put the Dolphins up 34-19.
“That wasn’t what we called for that play to be,” Tagovailoa said after the game. “And I think he just felt space and was, like, ‘if I break it in, like, I could run into this guy over here.’ And he kind of just throttled going forward and was just, like, ‘yo, I’m over here.’”
Added Smith: “The Red Seas parted, Uce found me and God did the rest.”
This was the second straight week that Tagovailoa found his tight end for a play that went more than 30 yards. In Monday’s win against the Los Angeles Rams, Smith took a Tagovailoa pass 33 yards to the 1-yard line, breaking several tackles along with way. Tyreek Hill would finish off the drive with a short touchdown catch on the following play.
“Any of us make big plays, we always want to rally behind them especially when you’re on the road,” Smith said on Thursday, later quipping that “I’ve got to find a way to get in there. He definitely should be thanking me. But I’ve got to find a way to get in there. I’m just glad we came out with a touchdown on that drive. That’s all that mattered to me, whoever got it.”
Smith joined the Dolphins in the 2024 offseason. Smith solved a major hole at tight end as the position caught zero touchdowns in 2023 despite the offense being as prolific as ever.
“I knew it was a great add by [general manager] Chris [Grier] and the [personnel] department just because of his skills with the ball in his hands, and then I knew secondhand from a couple of coaches that have been on staffs before the type of person we were getting,” coach Mike McDaniel said after Sunday’s victory. “But I think the collective of his play and who he is has really added something very important to our offense. Ultimately, he’s making defenses pay for the over attention that Tyreek [Hill] and [Jaylen] Waddle get.”
On the season, Smith has caught 39 balls for 448 yards and three touchdowns, which is tied for a team-high. His receiving yards rank second on the team only behind Hill. Smith, however, isn’t necessarily worried about the stats.
“It wasn’t about the stat line for me today,” Smith said. “It was the joy that we had knowing that the work that we just put in, the work that was put in all the way from OTAs and just the expectations and the fight that’s in this team.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2024 at 6:26 PM.
