Speaker 1: Looking Down, Cut Down, Miami un What is Up? Dolphins?
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: and as always, I am here each and every day
Speaker 1: to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: And on today's show, we are back on the practice field,
Speaker 1: and so too are the Atlanta Falcons. We'll have you
Speaker 1: covered on all the position by position notes, the top performers,
Speaker 1: the matchup, matchup, matchup of the day, and we'll have
Speaker 1: plenty of media to get to with Jillen Waddle to
Speaker 1: a Tongue of Volo, Jalen Phillips, Brian Flores and some more,
Speaker 1: plus cut Down Day, a trade and a breakdown of
Speaker 1: Greg Little, Dolphins new offensive tackle, will talk running back rotation,
Speaker 1: breakdown the co offensive coordinator positions, and some pocket presents
Speaker 1: talk all of that with Coach Flores and much much
Speaker 1: more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast and it
Speaker 1: is of course the day after cuts and we have
Speaker 1: some roster moves to make you privy to first off
Speaker 1: receiver Alan Hearns had a wrist injury he'll miss significant time.
Speaker 1: Coach Flores said in his Tuesday presser that Hearns will
Speaker 1: end up going on i R at some point, and
Speaker 1: that point was yesterday and more on that here in
Speaker 1: just one moment. Unfortunate, as coach said, for sure. Coach
Speaker 1: also said Tuesday is one of the tougher days you
Speaker 1: work through as a coach because it has cut down day,
Speaker 1: and this year there are three of those cut down days.
Speaker 1: This one that occurred on Tuesday takes us down to
Speaker 1: eighty five players. The next one will take us down
Speaker 1: to eight players. That's next Tuesday. Then finally the big
Speaker 1: cut day where we go from eight down to fifty
Speaker 1: three August thirty one, another Tuesday, and that, of course
Speaker 1: a couple of days after that Bengals game, the preseason finale.
Speaker 1: So as far as yesterday's cuts go, tackled Jonathan Hubbard,
Speaker 1: a U d f A and practice squad guy last year,
Speaker 1: he was released from the Dolphins. Jerome Johnson, a U
Speaker 1: d f A this year out of Indiana, a defensive tackle,
Speaker 1: was also cut. Offensive guard Tyler Mars, who was signed
Speaker 1: earlier this month has been released. Offensive tackle to moun Paris,
Speaker 1: who was also signed to the roster recently has been released.
Speaker 1: And then Alan Hearns added to the injured reserve. And
Speaker 1: then there was an acquisition a player coming in. The
Speaker 1: Dolphins acquired Greg Little, the former second round draft pick
Speaker 1: of the Carolina Panthers out of Old Miss. He spent
Speaker 1: two years with the Panthers after being selected with the
Speaker 1: thirty seventh overall selection back in so I did a
Speaker 1: little bit of a write up or a work up
Speaker 1: on Greg Little after the news dropped. He's six ft
Speaker 1: five ten pounds. He's played fourteen games in the NFL,
Speaker 1: six starts over his two seasons. And you go back
Speaker 1: to his combine. His best measurement at the combine was
Speaker 1: the broad jump nine ft one inch, showing some explosiveness
Speaker 1: in that lower half, and you see that on the film. Here.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that in just one second. He was
Speaker 1: a top five high school recruit regardless of position, coming
Speaker 1: out of high school in sen and winding up at
Speaker 1: Old Miss. And he's got two years left on that
Speaker 1: rookie contract which you signed after you get drafted, a
Speaker 1: four year deal with the Panthers. And as you know,
Speaker 1: with rookie deals, the team that drafts the rookie winds
Speaker 1: up paying the majority of that contract because of the
Speaker 1: initial signing bonus. So the Dolphins have him on a
Speaker 1: two year deal still or two years left on that
Speaker 1: rookie deal with pretty affordable figures there. And this guy
Speaker 1: with Pro Football Focus numbers before we talk about some
Speaker 1: of his tape here, two thirty two pass blocking snaps,
Speaker 1: nineteen pressures allowed as three sacks, two hits, and fourteen hurries.
Speaker 1: And I'm wanna talk about his run blocking grade from
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus. He had forty six run blocking reps
Speaker 1: and a sixty six point to grade. But I want
Speaker 1: to make it abundantly clear that I don't know that
Speaker 1: most teams agree with the Pro Football Focus grades, because
Speaker 1: how can you possibly understand an offensive lineman's job when
Speaker 1: you don't know the assignment? And that's kind of true
Speaker 1: across the entire formation, but it's out there for you.
Speaker 1: Also has played three and fifty eight total reps. I
Speaker 1: think he just needs more reps and more time to
Speaker 1: get some experience under his belt. When you watch him
Speaker 1: when he lost reps, his feet go quiet upon contact
Speaker 1: so like if you look at a pass rush, he
Speaker 1: makes the initial punch and then his feet just stopped,
Speaker 1: and then that allows the pass rusher to keep working
Speaker 1: around him. And he sometimes has a tendency to kind
Speaker 1: of get overset in that lunge and get out over
Speaker 1: the skis when he sees an initial pass rush coming in.
Speaker 1: So those are two things I think he can work
Speaker 1: on because he's got a ton of natural strength. He
Speaker 1: can lean on guys just hasn't quite put it all
Speaker 1: together in terms of the polish and the development. But
Speaker 1: again that's why you take a flyer on a guy
Speaker 1: like this with the seventh round trade the Dolphins gave
Speaker 1: to the Panthers to get him down here to Miami.
Speaker 1: But he gets good push in short yardage and can
Speaker 1: really wall off backside runs. So I think when you
Speaker 1: look at potential heavy personnel packages, he might be a
Speaker 1: good fit in that area. But he's pretty good in
Speaker 1: space as well. There's a screen pass in the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals game. I put it up on Twitter where he
Speaker 1: gets out into space and knocks the defensive back on
Speaker 1: his butt. So that was a good looking rep. And again,
Speaker 1: like I mentioned, a seventh round draft pick. I mean,
Speaker 1: sometimes you wind up with a guy that doesn't work
Speaker 1: out for you. Sometimes you get Adam Shaheen who earns
Speaker 1: a contract extension within that same year. But again when
Speaker 1: he loses, it's because of the feet stop and the
Speaker 1: hand placement and technique. Will see if he can get
Speaker 1: better with three and fifty eight total reps in his toolbag,
Speaker 1: maybe expand upon that get him more work. He was
Speaker 1: out there working today in the practice. All right, We've
Speaker 1: got plenty more to catch up on here, including Brian
Speaker 1: Flores is Tuesday Media. Let's go through this first. Here
Speaker 1: two quick answers. I want to cover without the audio
Speaker 1: because I want to get through him quickly and so
Speaker 1: we can get some more practice notes for you guys
Speaker 1: from the joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons. But I
Speaker 1: do want to play some audio for you guys on
Speaker 1: a particular clip. But first, Coach was asked about the
Speaker 1: co ocs and he actually went pretty in depth and
Speaker 1: conveyed that Charlie I is the voice inside to his
Speaker 1: helmet that he hears. And he said the upshot to
Speaker 1: that is that they communicate every day and spend so
Speaker 1: much time together that in that case those kinds of
Speaker 1: those guys can kind of have their own language, their
Speaker 1: own conversations about different plays. And coach said, for instance, hey,
Speaker 1: remember we talked about like this, or remember we saw
Speaker 1: this in practice. That's the different relationship or way of
Speaker 1: speaking that is that it is with the coordinator. And
Speaker 1: coach said, he knows because he's been in a position
Speaker 1: as a position coach and a coordinator. But the idea
Speaker 1: behind giving Charlie the play call is that one or
Speaker 1: two things they've talked about in their room specific to
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks. That just makes sense to coach and he
Speaker 1: thinks it's pretty reasonable. That's why we do it that way,
Speaker 1: he says. He says, I know, you guys asked about
Speaker 1: play calling. Look, obviously you guys haven't been up in
Speaker 1: the coaches booth, But this is kind of what happens.
Speaker 1: Somebody is watching the front side of the play, somebody's
Speaker 1: watching the back side of the play. Someone's watching the coverage,
Speaker 1: the rotation, somebody's watching the fronts. So there is a
Speaker 1: lot of dialogue. At the end of the day. What
Speaker 1: happens is somebody gives Charlie the call and Charlie says, hey,
Speaker 1: to a wristband thirty three. It's not six people talking
Speaker 1: to Uh. You might think that, but that's not what happens.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's too much information. Gives some laughter there, but
Speaker 1: that's what it is. It's wristband thirty seven. That's the
Speaker 1: information that the quarterbacks get on the headset. The coaches
Speaker 1: are saying, hey, backside and is doing this. We might
Speaker 1: want to call that wristband thirty eight. That's kind of
Speaker 1: how that goes. I was told to explain that, and
Speaker 1: then he laughs out loud to himself. So I thought
Speaker 1: that was a really good detailed answer there from coach
Speaker 1: as far as how the process goes. I think the
Speaker 1: most telling thing about that dialogue there from coach is
Speaker 1: did you notice how many people are watching the different
Speaker 1: things the defense is doing? So when you talk about
Speaker 1: watching one rep live one time and trying to give
Speaker 1: detailed notes on that very very difficult to get done
Speaker 1: by yourself. I do my best at practice, try to
Speaker 1: focus on one or two guys in every single rep
Speaker 1: and give you that type of note and then obviously
Speaker 1: the result as well. But if you're not watching the
Speaker 1: tape and going back over and over and over again,
Speaker 1: I mean it takes me a couple of hours to
Speaker 1: watch the All twenty two. How much are you really
Speaker 1: going to retain from that one time you watch the game.
Speaker 1: It's a very insightful answer there, Coach. I also love
Speaker 1: the joking nature of it, but I also love the
Speaker 1: explanation because that's the kind of insight that I'm personally
Speaker 1: interested in, Like how does the process work? Not just
Speaker 1: what's the challenges of having two offensive coordinators or whatever
Speaker 1: the question might be. That was great stuff there from
Speaker 1: Brian Flores. How about some insight into the running back position.
Speaker 1: In the running back room, he said this quote, we
Speaker 1: all we like all the backs. They all bring something
Speaker 1: a little bit different. Malcolm is a little bit bigger,
Speaker 1: has more what you might consider a power back. Miles
Speaker 1: kind of a change of pace, good quickness, can get
Speaker 1: out of the backfield, and the passing game. Savan has
Speaker 1: got good speed and can get out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: A lot of different qualities there. I thought they all
Speaker 1: played well in the preseason game. But just trying to
Speaker 1: come back today, have a good practice, have a good
Speaker 1: week of practice against Atlanta, and just trying to continue
Speaker 1: and improve on a daily basis. So talking about the
Speaker 1: running backs there. Maybe sounds like you fancy folks might
Speaker 1: not love this room because of how complimentary they all
Speaker 1: towards each other. It might take each other's carries and
Speaker 1: snaps and all that fun stuff away. But again, savan
Speaker 1: Akhmed bringing the juice the last couple of days and
Speaker 1: in that game that was fun to see as well.
Speaker 1: So we'll keep it on that going forward. Want to
Speaker 1: finish her with this audio from coach who was talking
Speaker 1: about to his ability to manage the pocket and the
Speaker 1: mobility within the pocket from that game on Saturday. I
Speaker 1: thought his answer here was great. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: go to Brian Flores. And I think that's part of
Speaker 1: quarterback in um stepping up in the pocket, sliding in
Speaker 1: the pocket, um, you know, to give yourself better throwing lanes.
Speaker 1: I think it does a nice job of that. Um.
Speaker 1: I think he's got a good feel for that, and
Speaker 1: I mean I think he's, uh, he's aware of that,
Speaker 1: you know. And we've got good rushers in this league,
Speaker 1: so you're gonna have to step up and slide and um,
Speaker 1: you know, find you know, create kind of I would say,
Speaker 1: create some throwing lanes, which is able to do, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, we just need to keep repeing it and
Speaker 1: keep getting repetitions on it. Some of that is understanding
Speaker 1: the protection and where there will be some step up
Speaker 1: lanes and seeing the front and seeing how the front distributed,
Speaker 1: and you know, if there's three guys over there, then
Speaker 1: my step up lanes probably over here. And if there's
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I think there's that that comes
Speaker 1: with repetition um down a distance, you know, So there's
Speaker 1: a lot that goes into that, and I think he's
Speaker 1: he's he's definitely improving in that area. So you hear
Speaker 1: some more very insightful stuff there from coach Flora's. I
Speaker 1: could listen to him talk about that type of thing
Speaker 1: all day every day. That's why I wanted to bring
Speaker 1: it on the podcast here. And I know where what
Speaker 1: ten dents into the show now and haven't got to practice,
Speaker 1: but I thought this stuff was very valuable to hear about.
Speaker 1: And I want to go back to one more kind
Speaker 1: of evaluation here from Brian Baldinger of the NFL Network
Speaker 1: because he broke this thing down with the All twenty
Speaker 1: two in a way that i'd like to do sometimes
Speaker 1: like to do don't have the access to the alt
Speaker 1: twenty two now obviously with game Pass not producing the
Speaker 1: preseason stuff, but I want to go ahead and play
Speaker 1: some of the sound for you guys, and they breakdown
Speaker 1: that Brian Baldinger did and kind of go through my
Speaker 1: thoughts on it as well, because coach talked about the
Speaker 1: recognition of what he sees the situation, the possible lanes
Speaker 1: you might have to step up and get through. Let's
Speaker 1: just go ahead and play a minute long clip here
Speaker 1: from Iran Baldinger, who talks about one thing that I've
Speaker 1: talked about a lot, and that coincides with what makes
Speaker 1: to UH able to get away from that pressure and
Speaker 1: able to expect the process of getting the football away
Speaker 1: under pressure. Coach Floress talked about the recognition and the
Speaker 1: smarts of the position. Brian Baldinger talks about the footwork
Speaker 1: to it just does something sometimes that not many people
Speaker 1: can do. The guy's got great feet. I mean, let's
Speaker 1: play action pass right here. All right, He's going to
Speaker 1: get pressure from both the right end and the left hand.
Speaker 1: All right, Watch his feet now, he doesn't look at
Speaker 1: anybody here. His eyes are up like that move subtle now,
Speaker 1: eyes up. Here's the big best part I was always
Speaker 1: in a position to throw, like after that, after this,
Speaker 1: just chaos right in front of him. Shuffle, slide, set feet,
Speaker 1: make throw. That guy is good in the pocket. Man,
Speaker 1: he's talented. I had to play that for you guys,
Speaker 1: because how long have I been talking about that with
Speaker 1: Toa's game, back to the lockdown Dolphins days and scouting
Speaker 1: him at Alabama. Excuse me, and I want to finish
Speaker 1: with the two attack on this point before we go
Speaker 1: to tour for some audio that he gave us post
Speaker 1: practice on Wednesday. But just breaking down those eight completions
Speaker 1: in a row, you saw the full compliment of what
Speaker 1: it takes to really win at the quarterback position in
Speaker 1: this league, in my opinion, Like the far hash throw
Speaker 1: to mac hall Ands, the zip, the drive to get
Speaker 1: that thing out there before the dB can make a
Speaker 1: play on it, make a drive on it. Good stuff
Speaker 1: there from the arm strength and the quick set up.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the quick set up and delivery coming off
Speaker 1: the fake off of an RPO, look where you have
Speaker 1: to get the feet from going to the possible handoff
Speaker 1: location to back into a throwing position. Like Brian Baldinger
Speaker 1: talked about, there always in a position to threat the defense.
Speaker 1: He does that with the quickness and the footwork. He
Speaker 1: saw that in the game on Saturday, the gorgeous touch
Speaker 1: passed over the top of the underneath defender on the
Speaker 1: big plate of Mike Gasicki managing a compromised pocket and
Speaker 1: the trash at his feet on the brown dump off
Speaker 1: like Baldi just talked about. There then a stick throw
Speaker 1: on third and six, the conversion to Mike gisicky with
Speaker 1: the zip, the accuracy, the placement off the frame of
Speaker 1: the receiver to play off the leverage of the defensive back.
Speaker 1: Impressive showing upon multiple rewatches of that preseason tape. But
Speaker 1: again going back to Brian Baldinger's breakdown their fantastic stuff.
Speaker 1: He does that every single week and talks about to
Speaker 1: a lot. He's a big fan. And then my audio
Speaker 1: here got some more notes before practice notes. I promised
Speaker 1: they are coming, the dragons are coming. And then I
Speaker 1: had a chance talked to after practice, and he mentioned
Speaker 1: the falcon's ability to disguise coverages, which Dean ps has
Speaker 1: been doing that for about a billion years now, and
Speaker 1: so I asked him how much does it help to
Speaker 1: see different teams, different schemes, different looks, different players. How
Speaker 1: does that help compared to what you went through last
Speaker 1: year where it was just a ramp up process and
Speaker 1: then seeing them Amy Dolphins defense every single day. Let's
Speaker 1: go to to Ah. Yeah, well, I think it's really
Speaker 1: good for um, you know, not just young quarterbacks, but
Speaker 1: young rookie players to also you know, get this opportunity
Speaker 1: UM to see you know, different looks. Um. You know
Speaker 1: how guys can go from a four down to a
Speaker 1: three down dropping out and what to expect within the coverages. Um.
Speaker 1: I mean there's just a lot of things, you know,
Speaker 1: for us, that's what we've seen, and you know, we're
Speaker 1: gonna go into the film room, uh later on today
Speaker 1: and uh we'll try to get those things corrected. Every
Speaker 1: once in a while, I'll ask a question to to
Speaker 1: and he gets into the nitty gritty, the xs and os,
Speaker 1: and that's when I light up because I know we're
Speaker 1: gonna get something good. You hear him talking about it
Speaker 1: right there. It reminds me of the first podcast I
Speaker 1: did with two on his draft night, breaking down the
Speaker 1: long past in the L s U game in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: going up the sideline on the dummy call and getting
Speaker 1: Derek stingly caught out for a long touchdown and then
Speaker 1: also the touchdown in the National Championship the game winner
Speaker 1: to Davante Smith where he broke those things down. Told
Speaker 1: me about the recall on both those plays. Love here
Speaker 1: and to a talk. Some exits and notes. Let's get
Speaker 1: back to the notes here. Some practice notes. Liam Eikenberg
Speaker 1: back on the field practicing today, working with the first
Speaker 1: team as well. Jalen Phillips also was back on the
Speaker 1: field getting plenty of working. Cornerback Noah Igbanogeny, who was
Speaker 1: banged up a little bit in the Chicago game, was
Speaker 1: back out there at practice today, albeit in a red
Speaker 1: non contact jersey. And then no DeVante Parker, no Will Fuller,
Speaker 1: no Albert Wilson, although yesterday coach did say those guys
Speaker 1: are getting closer to getting back, so hopefully we have
Speaker 1: good news on them in the near future. Isaiah Ford
Speaker 1: also miss practice. Sethan Carter, who was injured in the
Speaker 1: game on Saturday, did not practice on Wednesday, nor did
Speaker 1: Vince Bagel, Brandon Jones, or Javarus Davis, the second year cornerback. Also,
Speaker 1: Sam egg Van added to the reserve slash COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: list on Wednesday, so he was not out there either,
Speaker 1: but the Dolphins and the Atlanta Falcons were. And we're
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and take this right into our practice
Speaker 1: notes here on the Drivetime podcast for Wednesday's practice Back
Speaker 1: with the Pads, day number fourteen and a spoiler for
Speaker 1: later in the podcast. To start off here, Michael Dieter
Speaker 1: is going to be involved in the matchup of the day,
Speaker 1: and the reason I wanted to put him at the
Speaker 1: start was because there was a period during the individual
Speaker 1: fundamental period where was one of those beautiful synchronized moments
Speaker 1: where the stuff that I was watching in the individual
Speaker 1: and funding periods carried over to the teamwork, Like, for instance,
Speaker 1: when you watch Michael Dieter go through these drills, and
Speaker 1: notably the double team where you catch the first level
Speaker 1: climbed the second level, you can see the technical proficiency there,
Speaker 1: which again goes back to his tape at Wisconsin his
Speaker 1: first year here at the Dolphins. Last year had a
Speaker 1: chance to kind of sit back and watch the game
Speaker 1: from the sideline and really take those mental reps. I
Speaker 1: think that technical proficiency in the middle of the offensive
Speaker 1: line is going to go a long way for this
Speaker 1: Dolphins front and it happens really with whoever he works with,
Speaker 1: whether it's Robert Hunt usually him, Solomon Kinley, Liam Eichenberg,
Speaker 1: whoever it might be, they kill it in this area.
Speaker 1: And especially, like I mentioned with Robert Hunt, they were
Speaker 1: getting it done big time in that department on When's day.
Speaker 1: Let's go back to the format of going position by
Speaker 1: position here and we'll start with the quarterbacks. And I
Speaker 1: really thought this was one of Jacoby Brissette's best days,
Speaker 1: if not the best of camp. I thought his best
Speaker 1: throw was a quick pop right behind the second level
Speaker 1: and in underneath the safety and that third level with
Speaker 1: perfect zip and location on the catch, rock throw the football,
Speaker 1: kind of like the Adam Sheheen interception on the game
Speaker 1: on Saturday from two of the Shaheen. He also threw
Speaker 1: with good timing on a number of other throws, including
Speaker 1: some good work in the red zone period. He had
Speaker 1: an absolute strike Durham Smith coming across the formation, which
Speaker 1: was later punched out into force fumble by the Falcons defense.
Speaker 1: It went out of bounds of no recovery, but a
Speaker 1: great throw there from Brissette. And he also finished off
Speaker 1: his two minute drive with a touchdown strike to Robert Foster,
Speaker 1: who you're going to hear more about here in just
Speaker 1: one moment, but then two of QB one, he made
Speaker 1: some of those wild throws that seemed to get in
Speaker 1: the show every single day here on Drivetime. Subscribe rate
Speaker 1: review the podcast force if you can, and he didn't
Speaker 1: turn the football over. Those were great sons. But I
Speaker 1: just thought from a crispness standpoint, from a location standpoint,
Speaker 1: you know how, I would best refer to it like
Speaker 1: you know how, or maybe you don't know this if
Speaker 1: you're not a baseball fan, which is seemingly more and
Speaker 1: more of the case these days. But in baseball, a
Speaker 1: starting pitcher will make thirty starts in a season if
Speaker 1: he's healthy, and they say, ten of those starts you
Speaker 1: have your best stuff, your best curveball, your best bastball.
Speaker 1: Ten of them you have your okay stuff, and on
Speaker 1: ten of those starts you just don't have it. But
Speaker 1: the best pictures would get would be able to gut
Speaker 1: out those ten starts, but they don't have their stuff
Speaker 1: and get through the days where the breaking ball lost
Speaker 1: a couple of inches or the fastball loses a couple
Speaker 1: of m p h s on the velocity. So back
Speaker 1: with to a. I've just grown so accustomed to every
Speaker 1: pass or most every past being right where it needs
Speaker 1: to be. But there were just a few more than
Speaker 1: usual off target shots today, more in completions, more ball
Speaker 1: on the ground than we're used to seeing. Now, that said,
Speaker 1: it did give his guys some chances at some crazy
Speaker 1: catches and they made them. Holy moly, waddle and get
Speaker 1: that you both had ridiculous catches onto of passes. And
Speaker 1: that right there kind of tells you the story, doesn't
Speaker 1: it Like a bad throw of his is still completed.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty good neighborhood to live in. And actually,
Speaker 1: why do you want to hear from me? Let's just
Speaker 1: go ahead and play the audio from twas post practice
Speaker 1: presser say that five times fast on Wednesday and some
Speaker 1: of the challenges the Falcons defense and their calls presented
Speaker 1: the Dolphins off. Yeah, I think, uh, you know, their
Speaker 1: DC does a great job and their defense overall, they
Speaker 1: do a great job disguising looks. Um. I mean, they
Speaker 1: have a lot of good players on their on their
Speaker 1: on their team. They did a great job communicating what
Speaker 1: they want to do and what they want to accomplish. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I think today, uh, you know, for us offensively,
Speaker 1: we've got to be you know a lot better operationally. Um,
Speaker 1: just you know, getting on the ball quicker, seeing what
Speaker 1: the defense is giving us, and playing you know, and
Speaker 1: if you look at their two minute drive, I think
Speaker 1: you know that they did a really good job from
Speaker 1: an operational standpoint. So that's something that we can also
Speaker 1: look get um and continue to learn and grow, not
Speaker 1: just on our side of the ball, but you know,
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball. He also talked a little
Speaker 1: bit about how in these practices, the defensive coordinators or
Speaker 1: defensive you know, the entire operation will be a little
Speaker 1: more a little more willing to throw the kitchen sink
Speaker 1: at you, whereas in the preseason game they might pull
Speaker 1: back and not show all their stuff. So good stuff
Speaker 1: there from Tah talking about this, but you heard him
Speaker 1: talk about just being better in general. After the initial
Speaker 1: first team period of the practice today, the entire offense
Speaker 1: huddled up together. Now what the context of that huddle
Speaker 1: was no clue, but it just wasn't the team's sharpest period,
Speaker 1: So it was good to see them get together and
Speaker 1: improve after that. Now that that's out of the way,
Speaker 1: there was plenty fun to be had by the fans
Speaker 1: and attendance here at Baptist Health Training Complex. With regards
Speaker 1: to QB one, he dropped an absolute dime to Savon
Speaker 1: Akhmed for a forty yard touchdown pass up the sideline
Speaker 1: and a wheel route, just like when we saw against
Speaker 1: the Bears in the game on Saturday. This was the
Speaker 1: seven on seven drill, so not your team period, but
Speaker 1: he got way behind the defense and didn't break stride
Speaker 1: on that catch. I thought his best throw of the
Speaker 1: day for TWAH was another one and seven on seven
Speaker 1: where Adam Shaheen has an over route and gets over
Speaker 1: the top defender and has one over the top of
Speaker 1: that as well, so underneath and over the top defender
Speaker 1: coming across the field and to just throws a laser
Speaker 1: and you could actually hear the football strike the chess
Speaker 1: play of Sheen and just stick there as he cradles
Speaker 1: that thing and goes into the end zone for an
Speaker 1: eighteen yard touchdown. Beautiful throw from quarterback. One Sen caught
Speaker 1: three touchdowns in six plays in the team period from
Speaker 1: two us, so that connection continues to shine in practice
Speaker 1: and my overall takeaways that to a today, he just
Speaker 1: wasn't the story of the practice, and he so often
Speaker 1: has been in terms of strong performances. But you know what,
Speaker 1: that just gives us a better chance to get to
Speaker 1: the other guys really quickly. I loved watching Matt Ryan practice.
Speaker 1: He's so good. We talked about throwing the ball to
Speaker 1: a spot with to a Matt Ryan has been doing
Speaker 1: that for a long time, and all day he was
Speaker 1: throwing two spots and often under some pressure before the
Speaker 1: receiver even makes his break, and the ball was right
Speaker 1: there when the receiver gets out of that break, gets
Speaker 1: out of the top of the route. It's a real crisp,
Speaker 1: fun operation to watch. And I've been seeing that in
Speaker 1: the Dolphins practices the last couple of weeks too, So
Speaker 1: a good kind of footstep to follow there for this
Speaker 1: Dolphins offense. The running backs I think I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: but Man savan Akmed can play. He had a long
Speaker 1: touchdown catching seven on seven. He squirts through these small
Speaker 1: creases in the run game and then just takes off.
Speaker 1: I noted one play where a big gap opened up
Speaker 1: off the left side and it was Savon and a
Speaker 1: linebacker meeting in the hole. A classic football drill and
Speaker 1: football moment right like linebacker comes into the gap, running
Speaker 1: back is their best man wins. And when Savon gets
Speaker 1: into situations like this, his ability to make a subtle
Speaker 1: move and create a poor angle for the tackler or
Speaker 1: forces a hit that's not squared up onto his thigh
Speaker 1: pads or in the mid section whenever it might be,
Speaker 1: helps him bounce off that tackle easier. And I think
Speaker 1: the same is true of Miles Gascon in that same respect.
Speaker 1: Guys very rarely square these two backs up with a
Speaker 1: good shot. I thought his work Miles today in the
Speaker 1: one on one route running period of seven on seven
Speaker 1: or both one on ones and seven on seven doing
Speaker 1: some of the stuff out of the back field was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to watch. He had this one
Speaker 1: rep where a linebacker is just waiting for him because
Speaker 1: he has to close this this distance between the two
Speaker 1: of them, close that space. He gets face to face
Speaker 1: after closing the space, nice rhyme, and puts on a
Speaker 1: little move and broke that thing off right in front
Speaker 1: of the linebacker. Never had a chance to stay and try.
Speaker 1: He is sudden as all hell. Jared Oakes, I just
Speaker 1: wrote in the notes total load like his physicality pops
Speaker 1: in practice every single day, and I think we saw
Speaker 1: that in the way he finished that run against the
Speaker 1: Bears last weekend, where he stayed on his feet after
Speaker 1: the tackle attempt didn't get him to the ground and
Speaker 1: he got up to go for more. Of course, the
Speaker 1: play was overturned, but that finish still shows up on tape.
Speaker 1: At receiver I mentioned Robert Foster thought he had the
Speaker 1: best day of the receivers. Caught a ton of passes,
Speaker 1: some touchdowns, and the air quotes game winner in that
Speaker 1: final two minute period from Jacobe Brissette, He's got some
Speaker 1: shake at the top of the route the time to
Speaker 1: win the route. He that's that's where it is, the
Speaker 1: top of the route, and he gets free on those
Speaker 1: and create some separations. So good work there from the
Speaker 1: former Obama Crimson Tide receiver. Jachem Grant continues to make
Speaker 1: people miss, whether it's with the football in his hands
Speaker 1: as a route runner or in the return game. Now,
Speaker 1: in the kicking game, you can't really project results because
Speaker 1: they pull up upon potential collisions. They don't make the
Speaker 1: tackles because it's such a good chance to get hurt
Speaker 1: and practice so they don't do it that way. But
Speaker 1: I thought one return by Jachim had the chance to
Speaker 1: go the distance. And you see where they respect the
Speaker 1: speed to the outside so much, and Jachim knows that
Speaker 1: and presses it outside, then sticks that foot in the
Speaker 1: ground and jams it right back up the gut. And
Speaker 1: I thought he was going to go through one of
Speaker 1: those creases today for a long touchdown. Quick aside here
Speaker 1: at Jason sanders Man, he was kicking off these like
Speaker 1: pooch kicks and he puts it like five or six
Speaker 1: seconds of hang time on some of those strategic kicks.
Speaker 1: He could really sky that thing. In one instance he
Speaker 1: put it in no man's land, and I think Miami
Speaker 1: would have recovered it if it were a live drill.
Speaker 1: But again, you're not diving on piles out here at practice.
Speaker 1: Back to the white outs, I want to finish with
Speaker 1: Jalen waddle Man, the separation, the route running it continues
Speaker 1: to produce results. You probably saw the video on social
Speaker 1: on Twitter. I think it was who am I kidding?
Speaker 1: I don't do anything else. It was Twitter of him
Speaker 1: creating plenty of space and one on one reps. It
Speaker 1: was the same as last week in Chicago. He just
Speaker 1: they had a hard time covering him and the one
Speaker 1: on one periods. He caught a ball and team where
Speaker 1: it was a similar type of play where it's kind
Speaker 1: of stationary and the ball comes flying in and it's
Speaker 1: high in a way. He lunges out full extension, and
Speaker 1: it reminded me of Chad Johnson and the way he
Speaker 1: used to do that where his body was parallel to
Speaker 1: the ground, lunges out, makes one hell of a catch
Speaker 1: off the body, and it seems like he does that
Speaker 1: like once a day, if not twice or three times
Speaker 1: a day. And I want to play some audio from
Speaker 1: Wattle here from myke Q and A had about three
Speaker 1: questions in a row for him. My first one was
Speaker 1: about what's the biggest takeaway you've had in terms of
Speaker 1: what you've grown in or what you've learned the most
Speaker 1: so far through training camp, which is not knowledge of
Speaker 1: the game, UM, definitely, just going out there and just
Speaker 1: UM knowing, identifying um things, picking up on things. UM.
Speaker 1: So definitely. I think it's a good insight to his
Speaker 1: mentality or the approach he has of the game, his mindset.
Speaker 1: I think it's a very good one. So I asked
Speaker 1: Jalen after that question about how it feels to compete
Speaker 1: against somebody else, And of course he talked about how
Speaker 1: great it is to get out there and have that
Speaker 1: competition with somebody else. Always a good time. But I
Speaker 1: also followed up after he mentioned that about how do
Speaker 1: you react when you hear the fans doing the O
Speaker 1: and the awe when you make a move, you make
Speaker 1: a big play or a diving catch, Because, like I said,
Speaker 1: it happens pretty much every day. I talked about the
Speaker 1: mindset of Jalen Waddle. How about this answer for do
Speaker 1: you react? Do you get fired up when you hear that?
Speaker 1: In the stands to be the hang I really don't
Speaker 1: be hearing it. I'd be so concentrated it and was
Speaker 1: because I really don't even be hearing it. So if
Speaker 1: he doesn't even hear it, just focus on the game.
Speaker 1: That's what you want to hear. At the tight end position,
Speaker 1: Adam Shaheen had some big time production in today's practice.
Speaker 1: He's been really strong all camp long. Mike get sick,
Speaker 1: he continues to make plays. He caught a couple of
Speaker 1: one handed passes today, including one where he's running parallel
Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage with the right arm closest
Speaker 1: back to the quarterback, so left arm upfield, right arm downfield,
Speaker 1: I get that backwards either way. The ball goes up
Speaker 1: high and he reached up with the arm closest to
Speaker 1: the quarterback and backhamp palms that thing allah the famous
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham catch man. His mits are ridiculous and he's
Speaker 1: looking more and more in mid season fom with his
Speaker 1: production and the ability to get open and of course
Speaker 1: the strong hands along the offensive line. We're gonna get
Speaker 1: two deets here, Michael Dieter and just a bit. I
Speaker 1: thought Robert Hunt had a really good solid day. He
Speaker 1: continues to really keep that initial surge off the quarterback
Speaker 1: in the passing game and get some good drive in
Speaker 1: the run game as well. He and Jesse Davis created
Speaker 1: some room in the running game. Also, huge congrats to
Speaker 1: Jesse and the davis Is on welcoming in the new
Speaker 1: baby into the world on Tuesday. Congrats Jesse and family.
Speaker 1: Speaking of creating room, I thought Liam Eikenberg did his
Speaker 1: fair share of that today and his first day back
Speaker 1: in terms of padded practices. Some good work there and
Speaker 1: some nice gaps off of his whole either side to
Speaker 1: the left or to the right. All things told, I
Speaker 1: thought the interior of the offensive line was pretty good.
Speaker 1: In practice, there was a drill where the Falcons defensive
Speaker 1: line was practicing games, you know, stunts, twist slants, and
Speaker 1: the Dolphins D line was doing the same on the
Speaker 1: other side of the field, and the old line had
Speaker 1: to communicate it and pick it up. And I didn't
Speaker 1: see a single instance where a player like came free
Speaker 1: on a rush. In fact, the four or five reps
Speaker 1: I saw basically ended the same way before they even
Speaker 1: got started, because Miami really handled their business upfront during
Speaker 1: that period. And I mentioned they were doing the same
Speaker 1: thing on the other side of the field with our
Speaker 1: defense and the Falcons offense. And I saw Jalen Phillips
Speaker 1: giving some folks some real problems with his rush moves,
Speaker 1: so I wanted to ask him about that, but also
Speaker 1: ask him Solomon Kinley said last week that the old
Speaker 1: line verse D line is kind of a defensive line drill,
Speaker 1: so I asked him is that true? And also asked
Speaker 1: him what should we look for as evaluators, as fans,
Speaker 1: as writers, whatever it might be when you're going through
Speaker 1: those drills here. I mean, I guess to answer your
Speaker 1: first question. It's just depends on who you're going against.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes the defense is gonna come out and talk.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the offense is. I don't think it favors the
Speaker 1: D line by any means, If anything, favors the online
Speaker 1: because they know when the ball is about to be snapped.
Speaker 1: But um, you know to look for in those Honestly,
Speaker 1: it's just being able to master different parts of your arsenal, honestly,
Speaker 1: So like when I'm coming into a one on one,
Speaker 1: you know, I have a plan and I'm working, you know,
Speaker 1: a certain move and working different colendars based on what
Speaker 1: he does. So it's really cool to be able to
Speaker 1: take the one on one drills and you know, apply
Speaker 1: that to the game when we're playing eleven on eleven.
Speaker 1: That's what you're looking for, right, Take what you learn
Speaker 1: in those periods and apply it to the team period,
Speaker 1: which is the simulation of a game. And to continue
Speaker 1: on the D line, just like the Jason Sanders evergreen stuff,
Speaker 1: who by the way, didn't miss today in case you
Speaker 1: actually needed to hear that, because it's the case almost
Speaker 1: every day. But the defensive line has been so impressive
Speaker 1: all camp. I couldn't see exact specifics from my vantage
Speaker 1: point in the run game period, but I saw a
Speaker 1: ton of falcons runs go absolutely nowhere. Now, to be fair,
Speaker 1: the same was kind of happening on our side with
Speaker 1: the offense. But this is a run heavy period, so
Speaker 1: you don't You just really want to drill the fundamentals
Speaker 1: and the technique that stuff more so than focusing on
Speaker 1: the results of the play because without the passing games
Speaker 1: easier tee off on the running game. But Ray Kwon Davis.
Speaker 1: I saw him blow up one play and I saw
Speaker 1: the he basically did what I talked about last week
Speaker 1: where he threw the blocker into the back and he
Speaker 1: was in the backfield a lot. Today. I also saw
Speaker 1: Zack Steeler at his favorite campground, well maybe his second
Speaker 1: favorite campground behind Clay Goalie, but he often has a
Speaker 1: tent and proverbial camp fire going on in the opposing backfield.
Speaker 1: That was the case again today. Christian Wilkins was producing
Speaker 1: again and pushing guy's buttons. That whole killing them with
Speaker 1: kindness smack talk. He does is only going to be
Speaker 1: more effective when he's winning rep after rep, as he
Speaker 1: has been all training camp long. Adam Butler was in
Speaker 1: the backfield a lot. I thought John Jenkins had a
Speaker 1: good day, and Benito Jones also made his fair share
Speaker 1: of good plays. In the running game off the edge,
Speaker 1: we talked about Phillips. Emmanuel Ogba shut down a two
Speaker 1: minute period. Atlanta kicked a field goal at the end
Speaker 1: of it, but og Ba had two pass rushes that
Speaker 1: I think would have been a bit different if Ryan
Speaker 1: was wearing a black jersey instead of a red one
Speaker 1: he's been getting after in these joint practices. Agba has
Speaker 1: against both Chicago and Atlanta. Andrew van Ginkl had himself
Speaker 1: a hell of a day. I had him with a
Speaker 1: batted pass and three different occasions where he's had a
Speaker 1: very strong edge, came off the block and was the
Speaker 1: first on the scene on the hit. And we see
Speaker 1: them repped this over and over and over again and
Speaker 1: indies and funds where you drive into the tackling sled,
Speaker 1: you lift those sled up and lock out your arms,
Speaker 1: elbows locked out, chopped the feet, get your eyes around
Speaker 1: the man to the side, and then a rabbit, a
Speaker 1: a fake offensive player will approach the whole You come
Speaker 1: off the pad and make the stop. And Van Ginkl
Speaker 1: did that three different times in the team period. Jerome
Speaker 1: Bakers moving back to the linebackers is the only backer
Speaker 1: I've seen in three years of doing this camp coverage
Speaker 1: stuff who consistently wins the one on one pass coverage
Speaker 1: reps against backs and tight ends. And I've seen you know,
Speaker 1: Kiko Alonso for instance, going back to a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago didn't always go well for him, but Jerome
Speaker 1: Baker it usually does. It's absolutely absurd. Duke Riley should
Speaker 1: be mentioned and the one on one stuff as well.
Speaker 1: His speed just shows up every single day and the
Speaker 1: team period, he had a completely locked down route on
Speaker 1: a quick hitter. I'm so intrigued by his game, both
Speaker 1: in coverage and the speed. And a lot of those
Speaker 1: unsuccessful run plays came courtesy of b Mack but Nargick
Speaker 1: McKinney scraping off the work of that stout d line.
Speaker 1: Just a real nice combo there from Miami and finally
Speaker 1: into the defensive backfield. I thought Eric Rowe was fantastic today.
Speaker 1: You guys will probably see a video of it. I
Speaker 1: think maybe not. We'll see on the route in the
Speaker 1: corner of the end zone during the two minute period
Speaker 1: the final period of practice where he completely shut down
Speaker 1: a throw and a route to Kyle Pitts, staying right
Speaker 1: and stride with him. Pitts had some wins and the
Speaker 1: one on ones, but he was pretty quiet in the
Speaker 1: team period, and Roe continues to be a fantastic stick
Speaker 1: cover guy. I thought his run defense was also strong
Speaker 1: and practice is a portfolio would be strong too, quite
Speaker 1: strong in fact, and one on once he had carried
Speaker 1: this jam on a route for I saw three seconds,
Speaker 1: like within the five yard window of three seconds. If
Speaker 1: you do that, you're not gonna get the football. There's
Speaker 1: not enough time for the quarterback to wait for that,
Speaker 1: and the past wasn't even close to a completion. His
Speaker 1: intended target didn't even get the hands up. That's how
Speaker 1: good it was. Exaviing Howard had a nice p BU
Speaker 1: and team period. You probably saw the clip where Calvin
Speaker 1: Ridley got on top one on one man. Calvin Ridley
Speaker 1: is good. That was the first time this camp I've
Speaker 1: seen X give up a big play, so kudos to
Speaker 1: Calvin Ridley. Thought Byron Jones was really good too. He
Speaker 1: forced a non throw in one on one period, which
Speaker 1: almost never happens, and was rock solid in the team
Speaker 1: period as well, and you know, well, go back to
Speaker 1: Eric Rowe, he said there were some communication errors today,
Speaker 1: especially in that final two minute period. They sprung someone
Speaker 1: free on the second team for a touchdown off the
Speaker 1: arm of A. J. Mccaren and I think some of
Speaker 1: the intermediate completions might be a result of that. The
Speaker 1: Falcons had some success in that area. Both Row and
Speaker 1: to Us said they need to make some actions, just
Speaker 1: like last week in Chicago. And then I thought Miami
Speaker 1: really got after on Day two with some really good
Speaker 1: play and then kind of carried that domination over into
Speaker 1: the first half of the game where they control the
Speaker 1: stats in the scorebook in the first half of that game.
Speaker 1: So that's what you want to see tomorrow. On the
Speaker 1: practice field. Back to today, Nick Needham was stellar as well.
Speaker 1: He had to pick off Felipe A Frank's and seven
Speaker 1: on seven and another PBu in the team period. Just
Speaker 1: solid coverage throughout the day. Justin Coleman too. He had
Speaker 1: one rep where he was so sticky in coverage. Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan tries it but the ball falls incomplete because the
Speaker 1: receiver can't get off the press and the jam. Coleman
Speaker 1: gets up pretty fired after going for pretty fired up
Speaker 1: after going to the ground. He's been really good this
Speaker 1: training camp. Crave on the Blanc also snagged a pick
Speaker 1: on a diving catch on a tipped ball. All right,
Speaker 1: let's finish up here with a few more things like
Speaker 1: the matchup, matchup, Matchup, matchup, matchup of the day. Grady
Speaker 1: Jarrett on Michael Dieter and Jared had some wins early
Speaker 1: on in practice, but he was neutralized as the day
Speaker 1: went along, and Michael Dieter, I thought, was killing it
Speaker 1: with the games and picking up the different looks and
Speaker 1: communicating stuff up front. I continue to think that his
Speaker 1: power shows improvement as he absorbs bull rushes and anchors
Speaker 1: before that rusher can then get into the lap of
Speaker 1: the quarterback up the middle of the pocket. Both guys
Speaker 1: had some wins, but if you get any ws against
Speaker 1: Grady Jarrett, that's a good day, I thought. Michael Dieter
Speaker 1: did just that. Top performers real quick, Andrew van Ginkl,
Speaker 1: Michael Dieter, Nick need Him, Jerome Baker, Justin Coleman, Jason
Speaker 1: mccordy was capping off all kinds of routes on deep
Speaker 1: stuff today and just forcing non throws and taking care
Speaker 1: of the deep part of the field. Jalen Waddle, Adam Shaheen,
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Ogba, Ray Kwon Davis, Robert Foster, and Jason Sanders.
Speaker 1: Two more things before I get out of here today.
Speaker 1: I loved episode one of Hard Knocks, but I felt
Speaker 1: the complete opposite about episode two last night. Give me
Speaker 1: some more of the under the radar guys, the U
Speaker 1: d f a S guys trying to make the team
Speaker 1: who for them it's life or death with each rep
Speaker 1: like the whole Zekiel Elliott giggling and eating sunflower season
Speaker 1: the sideline, How the hell is that good drama? I
Speaker 1: don't want to see that. Show me some of the
Speaker 1: old stuff, the old school Hard Knocks man. That's why
Speaker 1: we watched the show. And finally, I want to wish
Speaker 1: my beautiful wife a happy first day of school. The
Speaker 1: kids were back in school today and though she returned
Speaker 1: to work last week, this was the first day with
Speaker 1: kids in the classrooms. I just wanted to say, I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about you all day, sweetheart, and I cannot
Speaker 1: wait to get home and hear all about it. And
Speaker 1: on that note, I have a new sign off here.
Speaker 1: Tell me what you think, Caroline Daddy's Coming Home. You
Speaker 1: guys all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave us a review.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. You
Speaker 1: can follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the
Speaker 1: Fish Tank podcast with Set and o J. We also
Speaker 1: have the postgame show on w q A M by
Speaker 1: sixty after each and every Miami Dolphins game, and of
Speaker 1: course Miami Dolphins dot com Until next time, fins Up.