Dolphins offense turns up production in second minicamp practice
The Miami Dolphins’ offense perked up Wednesday, delivering a respectable showing on the second day of the team’s mandatory minicamp.
The story line about the final two days of minicamp is whether the offense can continue to make strides forward.
Coach Jeff Hafley said during minicamp the installations have slowed down, and the offense is repeating things they have learned, with the hope that it will show from a chemistry, and production standpoint.
During Wednesday’s practice the repetitive playcalling clearly benefit Bobby Slowik’s unit as it produced the best offensive day of the offseason sessions the media has watched.
The practice session ended with 11-on-11 situational drills, and quarterback Malik Willis, the team’s projected starter, concluded his drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Sims, exploiting a cornerback blitz from rookie first-round pick Chris Johnson that didn’t get home.
Willis concluded his situational period, which began at the 30-yard line with 1:15 left on the game clock, by completing 7 of 8 passes for 70 yards. Willis threaded the needle to deliver the completion. No defender was behind Sims when he caught the pass in the middle of the field, allowing him to sprint an extra 20 yards to the end zone.
Jalen Tolbert was Willis’ favorite target Wednesday, utilized in every period to move the chains for the offense.
Even though Willis produced the biggest play of the day, it was Quinn Ewers’ whose performance was eye-opening.
The former Texas standout Miami gave three starts to in his rookie season was dealing all practice, consistently throwing aggressive passes that turned into completions.
Ewers benefitted from having Tutu Atwell come alive for the first practice the media watched, having tight end Greg Dulcich in his unit and the continued development of Kevin Coleman Jr., the rookie slot receiver Miami drafted in the fifth round.
Ewers’ best pass was a 35-yard reception to A.J. Henning, who caught the pass in the middle of the field and was unable to produce any yards after the reception.
Atwell pulled down three receptions that would have produced at least 65 yards during the situational period. It’s possible that he had his role elevated at the flanker spot because Caleb Douglas, the Texas Tech rookie Miami selected in the third round, sat Wednesday.
Ewers’ situational period didn’t produce a touchdown because defensive tackle Alex Huntley applied pressure on a third-and-2 play from the 9-yard-line that rushed his throw and ended with an incompletion. From that point the drive ended because field goals weren’t involved.
Wednesday was the first practice session the media attended where the defense didn’t produce a turnover.
JuJu Brents came close to pulling down an interception on a deep pass from Willis, but he dropped the ball. Brents was also flagged for pass interference on the play, so even if he pulled down the interception it wouldn’t have counted.
Linebacker Ronnie Harrison Jr. also dropped an interception.....
A.J. Green deflected a Cam Miller pass.....
Chop Robinson was responsible for at least two would-be sacks and a handful of pressures. But he was generally going against Kion Smith, who was filling in as Austin Jackson’s replacement at right tackle.....
Rookie receiver Donaven McMulley had a perfect pass from Ewers deep with Marco Wilson trailing and jumped too early and wasn’t able to pull down the deep reception......
For the second straight practice the Dolphins attempted to run the ball during the 11-on-11 period, and most of Jaylen Wright’s carries got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. Ollie Gordon II had more success running the ball than Wright, who also dropped a pass during 7-on-7......
Newly signed Dolphins receiver Jalen Reagor is wearing No. 17, and it seems as if he will handle the slot work. The absence of Tahj Washington, who had an injury setback during the first week of OTAs, opened the door for Reagor, who impressed Miami’s coaches in a workout that featured a handful of unemployed receivers.
It’s possible that Reagor’s addition will free Washington up to work more on the boundary. Receiver happened to be one of the positions that annually gets watered down by injuries during training camp, so it’s beneficial that Miami’s being proactive.
