News, highlights from first hour of Dolphins practice on Friday
Some notes and observations from the 9 to 10 a.m. portion of Friday’s Dolphins practice:
▪ The cornerback room remains depleted and dubious. One player returned Friday: veteran Kendall Sheffield, who hasn’t started a game since 2020 but is competing for a starting job here .But another corner wasn’t spotted: Isaiah Johnson.
Kader Kohou (out for the year with a partially torn ACL that will require surgery) and Artie Burns (out for the year with a torn ACL) are both on injured reserve after training camp injuries.
Johnson is now out with an undisclosed injury.
Undrafted cornerback rookie BJ Adams, who’s in concussion protocol, returned to the field in a red non-contact jersey.
Sheffield was back after missing Wednesday’s practice with an undisclosed injury.
There’s no public depth chart, but a couple things are clear:
1). Mike Hilton, a pretty good slot cornerback in the league for many years, is the front-runner to fill that role with the Dolphins.
2). More than a half dozen players are competing for the two open outside starting cornerback jobs: Veteran Jack Jones, Storm Duck, Cam Smith, Sheffield, rookie fifth-round pick Jason Marshall Jr., Cornell Armstrong, Ethan Bonner, Johnson and undrafted rookie Ethan Robinson. Duck has stood out among that group, per Tyreek Hill.
3). That group of corners has been neither great nor awful through eight training camp practices. But more very likely is needed.
Coach Mike McDaniel declined to say if Miami would ask any of the top remaining free agent cornerbacks to visit team headquarters. That group includes Asante Samuel Jr., James Bradberry and Stephon Gilmore.
There has been Dolphins contact with Samuel’s camp this summer, but it’s unclear where that will go. Bradberry’s camp reached out to Miami earlier this offseason.
▪ Besides Johnson, four others were not spotted at practice: offensive linemen Bayron Matos, tight end Jalin Conyers (leg is in a sleeve), rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. and safety Ashtyn Davis, who will be out awhile.
▪ Center Aaron Brewer continues to work on conditioning on the side. He’s working on snaps with quarterbacks but not practicing otherwise.
▪ Linebacker Jordyn Brooks wore the orange practice jersey bestowed on the standout performer in the previous practice.
▪ On the first play of 11-on-11 drills, fullback Alec Ingold dropped a beautiful pass from Tua Tagovailoa... De’Von Achane was stopped at the line of scrimmage on the first running play... Achane then reeled off a 10-yard run before Minkah Fitzpatrick stopped him...
Linebacker Quinton Bell — who has had a good week — sacked Quinn Ewers... Ollie Gordon II had a 6-yard carry. The Gordon/Alexander Mattison battle is very competitive... An ugly play: Rookie center Addison West had a bad snap to Quinn Ewers, who threw the ball to Tanner Conner, who hadn’t turned his head around.... Linebacker Derrick McClendon stopped Gordon for no gain...
Chop Robinson swarmed into the backfield to stop Achane on an end-around for a big loss... Jaelan Phillips stopped Jaylen Wright for no gain on the subsequent running play...
Matt Dickerson stopped Gordon in the backfield, beating Daniell Brunskill.... Ewers completed a nifty 20-yard pass to Erik Ezukanma, beating Adams.
▪ The biggest play of the first hour of practice: Zach Sieler knocked the ball out of Wright’s hands on a run, the ball popped in the air and Bradley Chubb grabbed it and ran it back for a touchdown.
▪ In 1-on-1 drills, Malik Washington extended to make a very impressive catch of a Quinn Ewers pass, despite being tightly defended by Cornell Armstrong.
Nick Westbrooke-Ikhine made a nice catch over Jack Jones in those quarterback/receiver/cornerback drills from the 15-yard line. Westbrook-Ikhine made another catch in the back of the end zone later.
Jack Jones knocked away an Ewers pass to Tahj Washington....
Duck was called for pass interference on another play....
Theo Wease Jr. made a nice catch over Ethan Bonner....
Jaylen Waddle made a couple of good catches in those drills....
Jason Marshall stopped Dee Eskridge at the 1 one yard line after a catch....
Zach Wilson made a splendid throw in the corner of the end zone to Tarik Black, who beat BJ Adams.
▪ In drills pitting offensive and defensive linemen, left tackle Patrick Paul was dominant. He has been consistently impressive in these drills...
Rookie fifth-round defensive lineman Jordan Phillips looked very good, as did guard James Daniels... Zach Sieler dominated rookie guard Jonah Savaiinaea... Right tackle Austin Jackson, swing tackle Ryan Hayes and backup interior lineman Daniel Brunskill struggled.
▪ Former Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead, who retired this offseason, stood on the field during practice. Receiver Chad Ochocinco also was on the field.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
