An update on Tagovailoa’s injury and status. And news on Dolphins’ offensive line plan
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw Monday and remains on track to practice this week and play Sunday against Jacksonville in London, presuming his fractured ribs continue to improve and don’t limit his ability to throw.
“We’ll see how it goes in practice with both guys,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “Jacoby Brissett is dealing with something as well [hamstring]. Tua is moving in the right direction based on what I saw [Monday]. We’re hopeful he’s ready to go this week in practice and this week in the game. He’s making a lot of improvements. He’s making progress.”
Tagovailoa has missed the past three games with fractured ribs but is eligible to come off the injured list at any time this week.
In practice this week, Flores wants to see Tagovailoa “move around, throw the ball, see him make throws on the run, see the deep ball. The one thing we won’t see is real and true contact on the quarterback. There will obviously be some things from a pain tolerance standpoint that he will have to push through that I’m sure he will. That’s what we’re looking for: for him to go through normal practice and make all the throws.”
Flores said Brissett “fought me to stay in” Sunday’s game with his hamstring injury. He’s sore and getting treatment on Monday, Flores said.
REVAMPED OFFENSIVE LINE
The Dolphins’ revamped offensive line — with Austin Jackson moving from left tackle to left guard and Liam Eichenberg from right tackle to left tackle — displayed growth over previous weeks against a very strong Buccaneers front but more improvement is needed.
Flores said he sees these latest position switches as potentially long-term changes; he would like to see Jackson and Eichenberg at those positions for the foreseeable future
“They did some good things, some things we can build on,” Flores said of Jackson and Eichenberg. “Certainly some things they can do better.”
Pro Football Focus noted that out of “47 pass-protection snaps, the starting five allowed 14 pressures” — which isn’t very good.
Jackson permitted four pressures in his first game at guard, meaning he has relinquished 24 pressures in four games.
“Within a week, Austin made some pretty big steps there,” co-offensive coordinator George Godsey said. “Liam is going to continue to get better.”
Jackson didn’t permit a sack Sunday, but his inability to hold one block contributed to Eichenberg relinquishing a sack. Center Greg Mancz and right tackle Jesse Davis also were charged with sacks. Eichenberg also gave up three pressures.
Against Tampa Bay, PFF rated Davis and right guard Robert Hunt the best offensive linemen in pass protection and rated Eichenberg as Miami’s best run blocker by a large margin, with Jackson second.
And that was a positive: Eichenberg was Miami’s top-rated player overall on offense Sunday, per PFF.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The Dolphins made a dramatic change in snaps at running back.
Malcolm Brown, who had been the Dolphins’ lead back the previous two games, played only five snaps on offense, compared with 37 for Myles Gaskin and 11 for Salvon Ahmed.
“We’ve got to get him going,” Godsey said of Gaskin.
▪ The Dolphins also made a change at safety, increasing the snap counts for Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones and dropping the playing time for Jason McCourty and Eric Rowe.
Holland led Miami in defensive snaps with 72 and Brandon Jones played 55.
McCourty played 27 and Rowe 22.
PFF rated Holland as Miami’s ninth-best player among 22 who played defense on Sunday. He had seven tackles.
“Jevon did a nice job; play time, he has earned it,” Flores said. “We’re comfortable with all four of those guys. Jevon and Brandon have done some good things. The game plan was to get those guys in and [get] Rowe and Jason in specific packages.”
PFF rated Christian Wilkins the best Dolphins defender Sunday and Rowe the worst.
▪ Among Dolphins making their season debuts, veteran defensive end Jabaal Sheard played 13 snaps and receiver Isaiah Ford played three. Both of those players were “elevated” from the practice squad; each player can be elevated twice in a season without counting toward the 53rd spot on a roster.
Flores said Sheard was elevated because he has “done a nice job in practice. We wanted to add another edge rusher, edge defender and decided to get him some snaps in a game.”
▪ With DeVante Parker and Will Fuller sidelined by injuries, the Dolphins allocated receiver snaps this way: Jaylen Waddle played 43 of Miami’s 54 offensive snaps, Preston Williams played 40, Mack Hollins 14, Albert Wilson 12 and Ford three.
▪ Aside from Jerome Baker (66 defensive snaps), Jaelan Phillips played the most snaps among Miami’s front seven defenders (57).
PFF rated Phillips Miami’s 14th-best player on defense Sunday; he had one sack but that was his only pressure in 41 pass rushing chances.
▪ Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis played 39 snaps — 53 percent of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps — in his first game back after missing three with a knee injury. PFF graded him poorly, ranking him 20th of 22 players who logged any snaps on defense for Miami on Sunday.
▪ Tight end Adam Shaheen, who left Sunday’s game with a knee injury, is feeling soreness. Flores said he’s getting treatment and “we’ll see if he’s ready for practice this week.”
▪ For the second week in a row, Nik Needham played far more than Justin Coleman (56 defensive snaps, compared with 12 for Coleman).
▪ The Dolphins will fly to London Thursday night and practice there on Friday. CBS will televise Sunday’s Dolphins-Jaguars game in the entire nation at 9:30 a.m. EST on Sunday.
“The time change, going five hours ahead, is a difference; the long flight,” Flores said. “But they’re also different for Jacksonville.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 2:25 PM.
