Dolphins without another safety, Boyer’s regret and Smith pushes back on scheme criticism
News and notes from Thursday’s Miami Dolphins media sessions for coach Mike McDaniel and coordinators Frank Smith (offense) and Josh Boyer (defense):
▪ With the final injury report not required to be released until late Thursday afternoon, McDaniel said safety Eric Rowe (hamstring) is unlikely to play on Saturday at Buffalo (8:15 p.m., NFL Network and CBS 4) and politely declined to offer updates on the availability of left tackle Terron Armstead (knee/pectoral muscle) and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (knee).
Armstead returned to practice on Thursday; Wilson was spotted but it wasn’t clear if he would practice. Reporters can only watch about 10 minutes of practice, during the early stages.
[Update: Armstead said in the locker room on Friday afternoon that he will play in the Bills game. Wilson said his hip has improved but he won’t know his status until closer to game time. Rowe has been ruled out.]
But McDaniel said he “saw an energetic, exuberant Terron Armstead in meetings.”
Armstead seems determined to play through the pectoral injury, and McDaniel left the impression on Wednesday that the knee injury isn’t especially serious.
If Armstead cannot play Saturday, the Dolphins seem to believe that veteran left tackle Eric Fisher is ready to help if needed.
“He maximizes every opportunity,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “A true pro.”
With Rowe likely out, Brandon Jones out for the season and safety Elijah Campbell in concussion protocol, the Dolphins have only three safeties (Jevon Holland, Verone McKinley III, Clayton Fejedelem) and five healthy cornerbacks.
The Dolphins could elevate a safety, perhaps Jamal Perry.
Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said cornerbacks have been cross-training at safety.
Boyer indicated the Dolphins have never given serious thought to moving cornerback Noah Igbinoghene — a healthy scratch the past four games — to safety.
“It hasn’t been a focus for him,” Boyer said. “There are some safety-type roles we put him in before. We haven’t gotten to see him on the field in the last four games, but he’s been working hard, making a lot of progress.
“I’m excited to see what he does with his opportunities when he [gets them]. I’m very pleased with his work ethic; the way he has handled himself as a professional has been outstanding.”
The Dolphins have kept Keion Crossen active ahead of Igbinoghene, at least in part because Crossen is a top special teams player.
If Wilson (hip) cannot play on Saturday, Myles Gaskin could get carries behind Raheem Mostert.
“He’s really prepared himself,” Smith said of Gaskin, praising his preparation and work ethic. “Full confidence in him. There’s nothing we think, ‘hey we can’t do this with him.’ He can fulfill what we need all of our backs to do.”
One other injury note: McDaniel said it’s “50-50” whether Liam Eichenberg will be activated off injured reserve and play on Saturday.
▪ With snow and 25 degree temperatures expected in Buffalo on Saturday, McDaniel wore an “I wish it were colder” T shirt at practice on Wednesday, suggesting it was a good “mentality for the team. I forgot I had it on. I’ve only spent one year on a cold weather team.”
▪ Dolphins offensive coordinator Smith pushed back at the notion that the Dolphins had no answers for the Chargers’ defensive scheme, which included a lot of man defense and clogging the middle of the field.
“We’re not going, ‘God these plays aren’t good vs. that.‘ It comes down to our execution. I wouldn’t say we looked at that game and say we got out-schemed. We got out-executed.
“We’re critical of us starting ourselves as coaches. Are we putting our guys in [good] positions schematically? That was our challenge this week.”
Smith said the conclusion was that it came down, at least against the Chargers, to “fundamentals and technique.”
▪ Has McDaniel given thought to running the ball more?
“I’ve always valued the run game, have always really seen the line of scrimmage where games are won or lost. I haven’t felt personally that I have done the job that I totally want to in that area.
“You could make the argument part of reason we lost is decisions not to run it.... I do prioritize it. We learned some valuable lessons where we can possibly control the line of scrimmage and possibly run the ball better.”
▪ Dolphins blitzes haven’t been as effective this season, particularly since safety Brandon Jones was lost to a season-ending injury.
While the Dolphins have generated a lot of pressure on blitzes, too many of those pressures haven’t resulted in sacks.
Have blitzes been as effective as Boyer would like this season?
“We got some production out of it. We’ve given up some plays on it,” he said. “People are more in-tuned to some of the blitzes we’ve run. Some people have pretty good answers to it. You can time some of it, do it a little bit differently.”
The 49ers’ Brock Purdy and the Chargers’ Justin Herbert had some big plays off Dolphins blitzes, with completions or quarterback runs.
▪ Boyer blamed himself for playing several players back in the end zone on a third and goal from the 17 during the first half of the Chargers game.
The Chargers gained 16 yards on the ensuing play and scored on a one-yard run on fourth down just before halftime.
“I could have put the guys in a better situation than that,” Boyer said. “I didn’t want to give them a one on one shot in the end zone.
“There was a personnel grouping before that [which] probably would have been a better call. During the time out, I probably overthought it. There’s no one more critical than myself. At the end of the day, we still had an opportunity to come out with no points” being allowed.
▪ Boyer said rookie cornerback Kader Kohou — who has started nine games —“has a skill set to play on the inside and the outside. He has a competitive instinct in him and ability to track and find the ball.”
▪ The Dolphins entered last week with the NFL’s largest disparity this century in points allowed at home compared with on the road. The Dolphins defense has been far stingier at home, and Boyer didn’t seem sure why that’s the case.
“There have been times we’ve played good segments of football on the road, some we haven’t,” Boyer said.
▪ Though McDaniel calls the plays, he solicits input from Smith during games.
“We’re talking the whole game, pregame, postgame,” Smith said. “Dialogue is constant.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 1:02 PM.
