Miami Dolphins In Depth

Hard Knocks review: Episode 2

Hard Knocks just concluded. Without further delay my thoughts...

Episode 2 had heroes, goats, raised questions, caused some laughs, and tugged at some heartstrings.

The heartstrings: Coach Joe Philbin's wife, Diane, attended the funeral for Andy Reid's son Garrett, who was found dead in his dorm room at the Eagles training camp last week. Obviously the Philbins now share a sad, terrible common pain with the Reids as they also lost their son, Michael, last January.

The goats: Every tight end not named Anthony Fasano has had his moments of utter ineptitude. Les Brown still cannot block. "He's not built like a normal tight end, he's built more like a wide receiver," tight end coach Dan Campbell said. Brown is definitely a project -- at best.

Rookie draft pick Michael Egnew couldn't hear snaps counts, didn't know plays and has this perpetual deer-in-headlights look that is troubling. In a meeting, offensive coordinator Mike Sherman tells him, "I'd cut you today if I was the general manager. I would cut you. Get your head out of your (butt). You were drafted as a high pick. Get your (bleep) going. It's not good enough."

Charles Clay similarly is having trouble with the plays. "Charles, I'm telling you right now, I've got nothing to say about you at these meetings other than, he's not doing his job," Sherman tells Clay in a meeting. "You hurt us the other day."

During the same meeting, Sherman tells the tight ends, "We watch a practice like this, we're calling tight ends around the league. That's how it works. There's no full scholarship."

It should be said, Clay played well against Tampa Bay. Egnew was relevent. Brown barely played and didn't catch a pass. Roberto Wallace also played well in the preseason-opener but coaches are still wondering why he's not a star.

The man has height, weight, speed, athletic ability. Even the Dolphins aren't sure why he's not better. And then we find out during a meeting ...

Coaches joke in that meeting about how Wallace cannot separate from the defender. They start calling him, "ankle weights Wallace."

Obviously, Chad Johnson had his time on the show. He didn't know some of the plays. He makes "a rookie (bleeping) mistake" by his own admission. And of, course, he got cut. The Hard Knocks folks had the entire meeting between Johnson and Philbin in which the veteran was cut. Great work by them.

The heroes: Chris Hogan, whom I told you about two weeks ago on multiple occasions, has earned himself a nickname if not a big promotion from third and fourth-team work: "Always open." Reggie Bush calls him 7-11. "Always open."

"I can live with that nickname," said Hogan, who didn't catch a pass in the preseason-opener but was wide open for a TD. Pat Devlin didn't see him.

The offensive line got approximately two minutes on the show. It's Jake Long and Jacquies Smith getting into a little shoving match that is quickly joined by Richie Incognito, who then announces the offensive is a band of brothers and if you mess with one, you mess with all. That's cool. As long as they, you know, block.

The laughs: The Dolphins have taken to giving their rookies the worst and most embarrassing haircuts on Earth. It is rookie hazing at its height. The worst happened to Josh Samuda, who lost his eyebrows to a razor and had a mohawk shaved into his head in the shape of a penis. Funny. For a pay cable channel. "Glad we're such a first-class organization, Josh," Philbin tells the player in a meeting.

Classy.

And finally this question: Philbin has this policy he's contrived in which he refuses to even address that injuries happen. He was asked about David Garrard after last Friday's game but refused to explain why his starting quarterback didn't play, citing this policy. Great, I get it. You don't want to give opponents a heads up on injuries.

Except that on Hard Knocks, we find out Garrard suffered his left knee injury while playing with his kids in a pool -- which is a non-football injury. We learn Garrard had 100 cc of fluid drained from the knee the night before the game. We find out the Dolphins really expect him to miss 3-to-4 weeks instead of the 2-to-4 weeks Garrard's camp has been putting out there through back channels.

So much for competitive advantage. Ridiculous.

 

Philbin: It's 'good' to let Tannehill start in preseason

I told you several days ago not to be surprised if Ryan Tannehill starts Friday's preseason game at Carolina. I told you in a post earlier today that Tannehill was the best of the three quarterbacks in the two-minute drill today.

So the stage is set for tomorrow's practice, which will be the last one of training camp, to see the Tannehill versus Matt Moore competition for Friday's starting job.

Coach Joe Philbin today explained why starting Tannehill at some point this preseason makes sense:

“It would give him a chance to work with the first group in a game situation against better competition, and I think that would be good," Philbin said. "Our plan all along was at some point in time, whether it be this week, next week or the week after, our plan all along was to let all three of those guys have some opportunities. That’s kind of what our thought was, so if it happens this week; obviously we have one more day of practice so we’ll take a good look at it.

"Obviously we haven’t sat down yet today but we’ll start that in a few minutes, but we’ll just evaluate this week. He’s going to play a lot, Matt’s (Moore) going to play a lot, and Pat (Devlin) will probably play some, we have three guys. We’ll take it from there.”

Moore and Tannehill talked to reporters today. Here is what they said:

Quarterback Matt Moore 

(On his reaction to wide receiver Chad Johnson being released) –“I don’t know. I don’t think I can speak much on it. I knew it was a possibility. It’s up to the organization and Coach (Joe) Philbin and they handled it the way they saw fit.” 

(On the competition between wide receivers Roberto Wallace and Marlon Moore) – “It’s good. Those guys are working their tails off. Each making plays when they get the opportunities and trying to showcase their talents. It’s been fun to watch. (They are) both talented guys and it’ll be interesting to see how that kind of shakes out.” 

(On the cohesiveness of the offensive line) – “Yeah, they’ve done well, just with the new offense and everything. They’ve done really well. They are such a tight group anyways. It’s kind of one of those things (where) one guy goes down and another guy step right in and we don’t miss a beat. They’ve done a good job in the room.” 

(On when he expects to hear if he will start on Friday against the Carolina Panthers) – “I don’t know.”

(On if the announcement of whether he will be starting against the Panthers affects his preparation for the game) – “No, not at all. It’s one of those things, just be ready. I’m like a reliever. They need me; I’ll come in and play.” 

(On if he’s interested in seeing what quarterback Ryan Tannehill will do against the starters) –“Football’s football. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing against. He’s got to go out and produce regardless." 

(On if being a veteran helps him have a leg up to be a starter based on coach Philbin’s statement that he will start the best person for a game on that day) –“Maybe. I don’t know. These are interesting questions. Yeah, because I’ve had the experience, maybe, but I don’t feel that way. I mean he’s going to do what’s best for the team, who’s going to give us the best chance to win like he said in any given game and that guy will play.”

(On how it has helped him get extra reps in practice with quarterback David Garrard being injured)– “Yeah, the reps are good. You want to see and prepare in this offense as much as you can. You want to see as many defenses as you can. Our defense is definitely throwing a lot at us, but we miss David, but you love getting the opportunities for more throws and more opportunities to do well.”

(On Garrard’s health and how he’s handling things)– “He’s doing good. He’s obviously a little bummed out, but he’s doing everything he can, just rehab wise and he’s a professional, I’m sure he’ll handle it the best way.”

And after Moore was done speaking, Tannehill talked to a huddle of reporters:

(On Joe Philbin saying that he will start the quarterback in the first regular season game based on who gives the team the best chance to win on that day) –“I don’t know. It’s not up to me to decide, but I’m just going to go out here every day (and) try to do the things I can do to make this team better. (I) try to improve my game as much as I can every day and, hopefully, when it comes that time, I’m that guy. I want this team to win, so if I’m not the best guy at that time, I want this team to win.”

(On if he has been told what his role on Friday against the Carolina Panthers) – “No, I have not. I’m just coming out here every day like I said. Just working to get better, try to take advantage of these preseason games. When you get in, get your reps, try to take advantage of them. Don’t know exactly when they’re going to come, but just want to take advantage of them when they come.”

(On if he thinks starting the game will give him a better opportunity to show what he can do) – “I just try to take advantage of those reps. If I get one reps in practice, try to make the most of it. You get the better looks from the one defense, tougher looks. So if I get the one reps in the game, then I’ll try to take advantage of them. It’s a balancing act. Coach Philbin wants all the QBs to get some one reps. Whenever my time comes, just got to take advantage of it.”

(On if he feels like he has improved since the start of training camp) – “I dang sure hope so. It’s a waste of time if I haven’t improved. I feel like I’ve gotten better every day. Still making mistakes, yes, but I feel like I’m learning form my mistakes, getting a better handle, more comfortable with the guys being able to move the ball down the field. Try to get a little bit better every day in every aspect of the game and, to answer your question, yes, I think I’ve improved a little bit.”

(On how comfortable he is checking out of plays at the line of scrimmage) – “I’m pretty comfortable. That’s a big part of our offense is being able to get into a good play at the line. See a lot of looks in this league from defenses. You want to be able to get into a good look. Sometimes, you are not going to have the best play called for what they come out in, so got to be able to get in a good look and there’s also some instances you have to live with it. You’ve got to call a play fast, play with tempo and run the play that’s called.”

(On how impressed he is with the offensive line) –“They’ve done a great job. I don’t think I had too much pressure today in practice at all. I was able to really sit in the pocket, make some throws, get to some late progressions, third progressions. I feel like they’ve done a great job. They’re getting better. I think Jonathan Martin has really improved throughout camp. He seems to be getting more comfortable within the right side with his sets. It’s a great unit and I think they’re getting better.”

(On if he feels he gets overconfident at times)– “I’m confident, but I don’t want to be overconfident. That can be a bad thing for a quarterback. You start forcing balls, trusting your arm too much and you’re not really able to fit it into that window and you try too.  It’s something where you really have to know yourself, be honest with yourself and know when you can get the ball in there and when you can’t.”

(On what quarterback Matt Moore is like as a person that he’s going up against every day in practice)– “Matt’s a fun guy. I enjoy coming to meetings. I enjoy practicing with him. He’s a good guy. He helps me out. I try to help him out. I said all along it’s a great competition. Even with Dave (Garrard) in there, we’re all trying to help each other out. We’ll all have fun in our meetings. We try to learn, soak up all the information we can, but have fun with it. It’s a long season. It’s a long camp, so got to have a little bit of fun in there. We try to laugh a little bit in our room and laugh on the field. Matt’s a great guy. Pat (Devlin) as well. We have a great room.”

(On being nicknamed “The People’s Choice”)– “The people’s choice? I don’t know about that. That’s not what I say.”

(On if he’s going to watch Hard Knocks tonight)– “I probably won’t. I didn’t really watch it last week, so I probably won’t watch it tonight.” 

Today's two minute drill shows promise, problems

The Dolphins ended today's practice with the two minute drill. It was good. And it was bad.

Running the first-team, quarterback Ryan Tannehill was the best of the three quarterbacks in this part of practice. He marched his unit down the field and the ball didn't hit the ground with completion after completion, first to Marlon Moore, then to Charles Clay, then to a checkdown receiver, then Moore again.

Moore was obviously feeling it, at one point yelling at Sean Smith. Soon, the Miami offense was inside the 15 yard line. It was promising.

And then the problems showed up.

Hot and with the defense on its heels, Tannehill fired a sideline pass to Moore that was just a tad high. Moore, coming out of his break and not fully collected, leaped for the ball but it bounded off his hands. The throw wasn't good enough. The receiver wasn't technically sound enough.

Incomplete.

A couple of plays later, Tannehill scrambled out of the pocket and fired a strike to Roberto Wallace in the back of the end zone. By all accounts, Wallace had a fine practice today. But he dropped the TD in coming across the back of the end zone.

Bottom line is the Miami offense was good enough to move but not good enough to score. It made some plays but when it needed a playmaker to come through, it wasn't there.

The second unit, led by Matt Moore, was next on the field. The period lasted about three snaps because one pass was complete, one was incomplete and the third was intercepted by Tyrone Culver.

Good job by Culver and the second-team defense. But you understand the flipside of that, I'm sure.

Third team?

Pat Devlin began with a beautiful sideline pass to Wallace. The ball was in the air before Wallace even went into his cut. It showed good anticipation and accuracy. And Wallace got plenty of separation and made the catch.

But a couple of plays later Devlin also threw an interception.

So it goes. This team is obviously still a work in progress.

Practice notes:

Multiple players sat out practice today. Karlos Dansby, Cameron Wake, Kevin Burnett, Eric Stenbach, Artis Hicks and Brian Hartline all missed practice. Sean Smith tweaked what seemed to be his groin but returned to drills.

Backups please Coyle but starters have work to do

It's never good when the head coach says the second-team players look better than the starters. That is quite damning.

And yet, that is exactly what coach Joe Philbin said of his defense after their preseason-opener against Tampa Bay. "They looked more like a defense," was among Philbin's critiques.

I guess so when you consider the starting defense last week yielded 14 points in barely over one quarter of work and Tampa Bay's QBs were 12 of 13 for 132 yards passing the football. Miami mustered no sacks. And no turnovers.

Obviously, there are issues there.

Vontae Davis, struggling through camp, got beat on one of the first few plays he was in the game. Sean Smith missed a couple of tackles. Neither Cameron Wake nor anybody else got any sort of pressure on the passer. The team gave up two rushing touchdowns. And Tampa Bay won on third down -- a lot.

So it falls on defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle to correct the problems in the next three weeks before the regular-season opener. We see the progress Friday night against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in the second preseason game.

This is Coyle's take on the matter: