MIAMI GARDENS — Fans were happy to see Zach Thomas, the Miami Dolphins’ Hall of Fame linebacker at Sunday’s practice, but they were just as happy to see their 2023 Dolphins take the field for the first training camp practice open to fans.
And they were treated to some evenly-matched offensive and defensive football, highlighted by quarterback Mike White hitting wide receiver Jaylen Waddle on a well-thrown touchdown pass of about 40 yards, past cornerback Bryce Thompson and safety Keidron Smith.
Sunday’s equal offense-defense matchup was significant because the defense pounded the offense Friday, which was the last practice, with 12 sacks.
Cornerback Eli Apple made his Dolphins practice debut, and no, he didn’t match up head-to-head with wide receiver Tyreek Hill, which is noteworthy because of their very public beef over the last year or so.
Apple said Hill’s locker is near his, and said the two got along well Sunday.
“His locker is literally right across from mine, so I saw him earlier in the day in the locker room,” Apple said, “and we were chopping it up a little bit at the breakfast table. It’s all love. We’re on the same team; all love.”
We’ll see if that lasts through Monday’s practice, which will be the first in pads.
Here are some highlights from Sunday:
Observations
Cornerback Kader Kohou, who wore the orange jersey, representative of the player who had the best previous practice, had a nice pass breakup against Cedric Wilson Jr. Kohou figures to be elevated to starter with Jalen Ramsey’s injury. …
The offensive line, which was good in 11-on-11s, also had a good day in 1-on-1s, including center-guard Dan Feeney beating defensive tackle Brandon Pili, right tackle Austin Jackson beating linebacker Mitchell Agude, left guard Robert Jones beating defensive tackle Josiah Bronson, tackle Kion Smith beating defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman. …
Rookie running back DeVon Achane, at 5 foot 9, 188 pounds, continues to have success running between the tackles. Of course, pads come on Monday, so it ight be a different story. We’ll see. …
Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hit Hill on a 40-yard completion with safety Elijah Campbell defending. The Tagovailoa-to-Hill connection, which was spotty the first three practices, is starting to heat up. …
Edge rushers Emmanuel Ogbah and Jaelan Phillips had tackles for loss against running backs Raheem Mostert and Achane, respectively, in red zone drills. Phillips, who was slowed the previous two practices by a left leg ailment, was full speed Sunday. …
Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who has been relatively low-key at this early part of training camp, had a nice pass breakup in the red zone and later stopped Mostert for no gain. Van Ginkel, a former edge rusher, is moving inside this season. …
The quarterbacks had a better day overall than Friday. Tagovailoa, White and Skylar Thompson were all fairly sharp, which might have been a result of better pass protection. …
Tagovailoa had a sweet pump fake to get edge rusher Bradley Chubb in the air in a red zone drill, and then Tagovailoa hit tight end Durham Smythe for a nice gain. Tagovailoa continues to show areas of growth such as throwing the ball away or using his feet to sidestep a rush instead of hanging in the pocket and trying to make the “hero” play. …
Tagovailoa had two near-interceptions, one on a ball that glanced off Campbell’s hands and another on a ball that glanced off rookie cornerback Cam Smith‘s hands. …
Left guard Liam Eichenberg turned in a solid day, including a strong block on defensive lineman Zach Sieler that allowed Tagovailoa to complete a pass late in practice. Eichenberg has been playing well through four practices.
Injury report
Cornerback Trill Williams (knee) and safety Brandon Jones (knee) wore red jerseys at Sunday’s practice, which means they can’t have contact and no one can touch them. But that’s a sign of progress. Both participated in individual drills although neither did team drills. Still, considering neither had done any drills previously, they’re both getting closer to returning.
Running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (unknown reason), cornerback Keion Crossen (undisclosed injury) and wide receiver Freddie Swain (unknown reason) were among the players not seen at practice.
Among those not participating were left tackle Terron Armstead (knee), safety Nik Needham (Achilles), tight end Tanner Conner (unknown ailment) and guard-tackle Isaiah Wynn (unknown ailment) are on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
Needham, by the way, was running on the side and appeared to be running harder than he had in previous practices.
Stock up
Offensive line/pass protection. After being obliterated Friday, the previous practice, the offensive line and pass protection, which includes tight ends and running backs, came back strong Sunday. Chubb and defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, who did a lot of trash talking Friday, were fairly silent Sunday.
Stock down
Red zone defense. The red zone offense operated effectively on both runs and passes. A good amount of Sunday’s 11-on-11 was in the red zone and the offense saw Mostert, fullback Alec Ingold and running back Salvon Ahmed excel at different times. Ahmed had a nice block against Chubb that allowed Tagovailoa to hit wide receiver Cedric Wilson Jr. for a touchdown.
