Dolphins’ Grant deals with frustration, eyes Graham visit. And personnel notes
Two of the top 13 picks in this past April’s NFL Draft were University of Michigan defensive tackles.
And it has been somewhat of a humbling first six weeks for both of them.
Both the Dolphins’ Kenneth Grant (selected 13th overall) and the Browns’ Mason Graham (picked fifth) have just one tackle for loss through six games, entering Sunday’s Miami-Cleveland game in Ohio (1 p.m., CBS 4).
Pro Football Focus ranks Graham 75th and Grant 120th out of 122 defensive tackles.
Graham was listed as questionable for the game after injuring his knee during Thursday’s practice. Grant, meanwhile, has begun to make some progress.
After sharing in a sack in the Carolina game, Grant was pleased to get his first full NFL sack against the Chargers. He had 6.5 sacks in his final 27 games at Michigan.
Grant said that defensive line coach Austin Clark reminded him last week that “I’m a power-type of guy. I’m just tapping into that and perfecting that. It showed last Sunday. [Getting his first full sack] felt more than good, it felt great to get that out of the way. They come in bunches. So many more to come.”
His play against the run remains a work in progress.
“Coach Clark said I did all right,” he said. “A lot of room for improvement. But definitely getting better.”
Has he been discouraged by his start to the season?
“I wouldn’t say discouraged. I would say frustrated knowing I can do better.”
On Sunday against Cleveland, he will see his old pal Graham, who joined Grant to form one of college football’s best defensive tackle combinations.
“I love him; that’s my dawg,” Grant said, noting he called to wish him a happy birthday in September.
Graham has 14 tackles, half a sack and a tackle for loss in 266 defensive snaps in six games.
Grant has 12 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one tackle for loss in 206 snaps in six games and three starts.
At Michigan, “we played off of each other’s strengths,” Grant said. “He’s a very skillful guy. I’m a very powerful guy. We kind of played off of that.”
Speaking of former college teammates who will see each Sunday… Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle said he and Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy are still part of a group text of former Alabama receivers.
“We talk almost every day,” Waddle said. “Crazy thing is we don’t even talk about football. If someone plays on prime time, we wish each other good luck.”
Injury report
The Dolphins listed safety Elijah Campbell as out for Sunday’s game at Cleveland (1 p.m., CBS 4). Linebacker Tyrel Dodson is listed as questionable, but McDaniel said he expects him to clear concussion protocol before the game and be available to play.
Cornerback Storm Duck (ankle) also is listed as questionable. Those are the only three Dolphins with an injury designation.
For the Browns, tight end David Njoku (knee) is out. Besides Graham, four other Browns are questionable: right tackle Jack Conklin (concussion), defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. (knee), wide receiver Gage Larvadain (concussion) and defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (hip).
▪ Offensive line coach Butch Barry said guard Jonah Savaiinaea is making progress but has “got to improve on everything.”
When he’s off balance, what goes wrong? “We have to be connected with feet, we have to be connected with our hands, have to maintain our leverage…. All three things.”
That was part of a passionate response by Barry.
“How often can I get him to use his inside hand?” the veteran offensive line coach said. “How often can I get him to do that, right? Because he’s got to build that recall. He’s got to build that feel. People say muscle memory, but it’s that recall, that memory of how it occurred.
“How often can I force him to do that? To use his hands every time, to stay inside-out, to keep his feet moving and mirror the defender. Every day, we got to work it. Every single day, and endless the amount of reps. And then the feel starts to happen. It may only happen, today, five times in practice, but then tomorrow, maybe it happens 10. Is that improvement? Yeah. That’s twice as many.”
Though Savaiinaea played right guard (and right tackle and left tackle) at Arizona, Barry said the decision to play him at a new position, left guard, hasn’t been a factor in his struggles. ▪ Barry said Cole Strange, who is starting at right guard in James Daniels’ absence, has “done a good job. The personnel department did a great job helping us find Cole. We think he’s a good fit physically and how he does things.”
▪ As defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said Thursday, Minkah Fitzpatrick said he misinterpreted something that one of his teammates shouted out during the frenetic play when Justin Herbert escaped the grasp of Jaelan Phillips and threw a three-yard pass to Ladd McConkey, who ran 40 yards to set up the Chargers’ game-winning field goal.
Though Dante Trader Jr. missed the tackle on McConkey after the short catch and couldn’t sleep Sunday night as a result, Fitzpatrick said he told Trader that “I shouldn’t have put him in that position in the first place. I should have stayed with my guy.”
▪ Former Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead lamented the state of the team on his podcast, The Set.
“They’ve got good players, a lot of good players, but I don’t see ‘team’ when I’m watching it on TV or film,’’ Armstead said. “I don’t see team, the camaraderie. I don’t see the excitement, the energy.
“I don’t see celebrations — the preplanned touchdown celebrations. I don’t see the vibe … and that’s taking away from the team aspect.”
Here’s my Friday piece with Mike McDaniel’s comments about trade rumors and some personnel notes from Anthony Weaver.
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 3:43 PM.
