Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses Brewer injury, Fitzpatrick, Tahj Washington, Matos, others
The Dolphins have begun training camp without their starting center.
Aaron Brewer is not practicing, for the most part, because of a “lower extremity, slight soft tissue” injury, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
“I’m not overly concerned. You should see him sooner than later.”
Brewer was spotted wearing a compression sleeve on his right leg.
The Dolphins did not put Brewer on the physically unable to perform list so that he can take snaps from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa - something they did on Thursday.
Brewer remained sidelined on Friday. Andrew Meyer has been filling in.
More from McDaniel’s Friday news conference:
▪ Minkah Fitzpatrick’s first few practices as a Dolphin, his second tour of duty with the team, have delighted coach Mike McDaniel.
“You get super pumped when you’re like, ‘Yes, that’s what I was hoping for,’” McDaniel said Friday.
“I see a quiet guy that I engage with, in a mild manner. He’s cool, but he’s kind of mid energy in a building, and then watch him put on a uniform and step on the grass, and you see a different energy and command. You can tell that’s his sacred place on the football field.”
McDaniel said there were two plays on Thursday “that within the defensive system, he was able to utilize some of his football FBI and really disrupt a couple pass plays in particular, that to you guys were just a random incompletion. But he was taking away where we were trying to go.
“And then I see a guy that doesn’t underestimate the importance of earning his relationships within the team, like understanding that you need to get to know people before you can affect them or influence them or help them... He somewhere sees himself as a leader of this team that wants to earn it the right way and that’s how you do it.”
▪ Offensive lineman Bayron Matos, who was injured late in Wednesday’s practice and airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center with an unspecified injury, continues to improve.
“The time it took from when he left the field [and boarded onto a helicopter], that’s a tough moment for any team,” McDaniel said. “We are really pumped to hear he has feeling and [movement] in all extremities and doing better and better.”
▪ McDaniel stopped practice midway through Thursday’s session to make a firm point with his team. Though his message wasn’t heard by reporters, he explained this thinking on Friday:
“If I’m stopping a practice, I’m making a point - maybe emphasizing something we are working on that day or emphasizing finishing -- points for guys to be focused on.”
▪ McDaniel was asked at what point he will know he needs to add cornerback help: “That defeats the nature of our whole process - we are coaching, developing, evaluating, always trying to get the team better. There are a lot of directions you can go” if a team has an injury or believes it’s not good enough at a position.
“You have to fight the urge to predict the future,” he added.
▪ McDaniel, on the addition of cornerback Cornell Armstrong, who hasn’t appeared in a game the past two seasons: “Had experience going against him. Really like where this guy’s mind is at, where his talent is at. He has a chip on his shoulder. I like the way he goes about his business.”
▪ Asked why some players are sprinting after practice, McDaniel said: “It’s a way for players to re-emphasize the importance of doing little things right.... Pre-snap penalties, those types of things. The leaders of the locker room are put in charge of being the police after practice for all the things that the officials noted that were illegal.”
▪ Asked how cornerback Cam Smith is responding to being challenged internally: “He is everyday chopping wood and chasing technique, fundamentals and being one with his teammates. I like where he’s at today.”
▪ On rookie guard Jonah Savaiinaea: “You watch how the veterans interact with a rookie player. Love his approach. You can tell the veterans believe in him. He’s doing a great job.”
▪ McDaniel said rookie defensive lineman Kenneth Grant “has been awesome. His emotional intelligence has been phenomenal. The team wants to see a guy that knows he’s a rookie, that we need a lot from him to be his very best. He’s working relentlessly. I like where he’s at.”
▪ Receiver Tahj Washington, who missed all of his rookie season with an injury sustained before training camp, is working fully, and McDaniel raved about his toughness.
“We were really excited to get the opportunity to draft him,” McDaniel said of the 2024 seventh-round pick. “He’s a very good collegiate player, but the biggest thing to me is if you are talented in movement and fast and not a giant guy, you have to be football fearless.
“Football fearless guys who are willing to play on the outside and make a tough catch on the inside, he is tougher than he is big, and that’s the biggest compliment I can pay to him. That’s a commonality of guys who are quick and fast” to have good careers. In other words, 5-10 receivers need to show toughness.
“He’s had a long journey where he just got a taste of stuff and had a season-ender. You can tell by the way he attacks the field. Even though it’s an unfortunate piece of adversity to have the injury, he used it to have perspective to attack and make the squad and have a role on this team.”
Washington caught 59 passes for 1062 yards at Southern California in 2023.
▪ Asked about players who have provided an emotional lift at practice, McDaniel - speaking about the new players - mentioned linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
“Ultimately I feel the energy is more focused on good football. It’s not celebrating the result of a play. It’s celebrating how people are attacking their job and utilizing their technique.”
▪ McDaniel said in “this is the most in shape” that a Dolphins team has reported to camp since he became coach before the 2022 season. “They were ready to practice.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 8:43 AM.
