Dolphins Stock Report (Day 11): Is Tyreek and Tua’s connection fading?
Each practice Tua Tagovailoa creates a couple goals he hopes to achieve in practice. It’s very likely that improving on deep ball chemistry with Tyreek Hill was on the quarterback’s to-do list during Tuesday’s closed training camp practice.
The Miami Dolphins began two of the team’s 11-on-11 periods with deep ball throws to Hill, the five-time All-Pro receiver, who has produced 4,468 receiving yards and scored 27 touchdowns in his three seasons with the Dolphins.
Tagovailoa, who had his worst practice of a strong camp on Tuesday, underthrew a wide -pen Hill on the first deep throw.
Tagovailoa overthrew a wide-open Hill on the second deep throw, and from that point it appeared that Hill was shut down because he never returned to the field for 11-on-11 work.
Tagovailoa did connect on a 52-yard touchdown to Malik Washington, whom he spent all summer developing chemistry with while Hill was sidelined with his offseason wrist injury, which was surgically repaired.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened in Day 11 of Dolphins training camp.
Top Performers
▪ Edge rusher Mohamed Kamara showed up big on a day the Dolphins clearly limited Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Chop Robinson snaps. The Dolphins’ 2024 fifth-round pick produced a would-be sack and a couple tackles for loss during Miami’s 11-on-11 period. Considering every edge rusher who played shined Tuesday, we need to start asking if the problem’s Miami’s backup offensive tackles?
▪ Receiver Malik Washington is having a far better training camp than he had his rookie season, but last year’s starting slot receiver hasn’t had many highlight worthy plays this camp. On Tuesday he delivered the offense’s biggest play beating Ken Sheffield on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa. At this point Washington is competing with Dee Eskridge and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for the third receiver role. But he’s clearly Miami’s top slot receiver.
▪ Receiver Theo Wease Jr. and Quinn Ewers have clearly developed a bond because the former Missouri standout has turned into the top playmaker of the Dolphins’ third-team offense. Wease caught a touchdown pass from Ewers during Tuesday’s 11-on-11 work, and he has consistently made the most of his opportunities.
STOCK UP
▪ Derrick McLendon, a former Colorado standout who was on Miami’s practice squad last season, has made his presence felt in practice all camp. But Tuesday he had a coming-out partly, producing four would-be sacks and a couple tackles for loss. The 6-foot-4, 250 pounder was tremendously disruptive off the edge. If McLendon can carve out a special teams role for himself during the next month it’s possible that he could dislodge Kamara or Cameron Goode for the final edge rusher spot.
STOCK DOWN
▪ Ryan Hayes, a 2023 seventh-round pick who has spent the past two seasons being developed on the practice squad, has struggled for most of camp. But Tuesday’s performance might have been his worst because he got consistently beat by Miami’s back-of-the-roster pass rushers. At this point the Dolphins should be investing in Kion Smith as an offensive tackle, (because he’s better there than at guard), and seeing what recently signed offensive tackles Germain Ifedi and Jalen McKenzie could potentially bring to the team.
Injury updates
▪ Safety Elijah Campbell is in a red jersey, which indicates that he shouldn’t have contact with any players during practice. That’s usually an indication that a player is battling an upper-body issue.
▪ Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu participated in his second practice of training camp after being removed from the active/non-football injury list. Melifonwu, who is expected to compete for the safety spot opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick, had his participation limited for the second straight day.
▪ Center Andrew Meyer, who had performed well during his stint as the starter when Aaron Brewer was held out of practice’s first nine sessions, is sidelined by an undisclosed injury.
▪ Fullback Alec Ingold, who sustained a concussion during an 11-on-11 period late on Sunday, is in the NFL concussion protocol and won’t practice for a couple days.
▪ Pass rusher Jaelan Phillips returned to practice after missing one session because he suffered a left leg bruise.
▪ Right tackle Austin Jackson (lower extremity) won’t be back until maybe the Sept. 7 season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
▪ Cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. returned to work after being held out for three practices for undisclosed injury, but didn’t participate in any team periods.
▪ Cornerback Cam Smith, who has been nursing a soft tissue leg injury, missed his third practice.
▪ Cornerback BJ Adams, who sustained a concussion on Saturday, participated in his third straight practice with a red jersey on, which indicates he’s still in the concussion protocol program.
▪ Safety Dante Trader Jr. continues nursing a soft tissue issue and will be held out of practice for a week, giving him time to heal for Miami’s joint practices against the Chicago Bears next week.
▪ Offensive tackle Byron Matos, who sustained a neck/shoulder injury on training camp’s first day, has missed nine practices since suffering the injury that hospitalized him.
What they said
“He has always been a [trash] talker, but he’s backing it up now. He’s a lot more confident,” pass rusher Jaelan Phillips said about offensive tackle Patrick Paul, who has been dominating practice, showing a tremendous amount of growth.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Dolphins Stock Report (Day 11): Is Tyreek and Tua’s connection fading?."
