MIAMI GARDENS — In 2020 and 2021, the last two seasons that Brian Flores was coach of the Miami Dolphins, they leaned on their defense to finish with winning records but just outside the playoffs. The offense struggled.
When they went from Flores to Mike McDaniel in 2022, the total offense rose to sixth in the league, but Miami’s defense faltered as the team just barely reached the postseason at 9-8.
So in came Vic Fangio to replace Josh Boyer as defensive coordinator. Now, the Dolphins’ defense looks dominant through two weeks of training camp, but the offense has struggled more than it has succeeded, a problem underscored by the unit’s performances in Tuesday and Wednesday joint practices against the Atlanta Falcons.
It’s far too early to label it a true cause for concern for the regular season, which kicks off in a month. Nonetheless, to ease the current consternation of observers, offensive execution probably tops the list of things that needs to be seen from the Dolphins in Friday’s preseason opener against the Falcons in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium.
Sure, we don’t even know if the Dolphins will play their starters in the meaningless exhibition game. McDaniel has not revealed as much, citing that he needed to see the entirety of the two joint sessions before deciding. Last year, McDaniel sat most starters in Tampa when Miami played its first preseason game against the Buccaneers.
But, regardless of who’s in, the Dolphins need to exhibit that they can avoid pre-snap penalties, move the ball without turning it over, operate in the red zone and show competency from the offensive line. All those things were either vastly inconsistent or not shown at all in the week’s two joint practices.
Fixing it in a game, even if it’s backups playing, will be a testament to McDaniel’s ability to attack problems that arise as he heads into Year 2 at the helm.
“If the goal is average, then I was super pumped,” McDaniel wittily said of his offense when he last spoke Wednesday morning, in between the two joint sessions.
Of course, average is not his or the offense’s goal.
“I like the fact that guys were straining and very annoyed at the result. That means we’re in a good spot,” McDaniel added.
The joint practices weren’t the first time the offense hasn’t clicked this training camp. A scrimmage the Dolphins held at Hard Rock Stadium last Saturday left much to be desired from the offense. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who threw interceptions to Miami cornerbacks Noah Igbinoghene and Eli Apple in the glorified practice, was seen having an animated talk with the offense on the field afterward.
Even before that, the Dolphins’ defense has largely shown it’s ahead of the offense in intrasquad practices. In the team’s third practice of camp, a blitz-package install day, the Dolphins racked up at least a dozen sacks against Miami’s offensive line.
Tagovailoa, while displeased with the execution, says he just moves on to the next thing.
“Regardless of if it was the best day ever for the offense, or it was the worst day ever for the offense, we got to keep growing, we got to continue to get better,” he said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of things we need to clean up.”
The fourth-year quarterback threw an interception in each of the two joint sessions. The pre-snap penalty problem, an issue going back to the previous week with officials at practice, seemed to take a step forward Wednesday. The Dolphins need to avoid those false starts Friday in their first game-like setting of 2023.
But Tagovailoa also knows this offense is experimenting in practice, seeing what they can and can’t use in games.
“There were things that we wanted to try,” he said. “So when you do go into the game, should you try it again? Should you not try it? That’s at your discretion. I think it’s good because you learn so much from those things.”
The Dolphins’ offensive line should perform better when four-time Pro Bowl pick Terron Armstead is in at left tackle. He’s got a slow, steady ramp-up in camp to get ready for the regular season and is unlikely to play the preseason opener. He historically hasn’t played much in the exhibition season.
The line, though still has much to prove at right tackle, where Austin Jackson is slotted to start after only playing two games in 2022, and left guard, where there’s competition between Liam Eichenberg, Isaiah Wynn and others.
The offense doesn’t need many of its top skill position players to play. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle already had a full season of work with Tagovailoa, and Waddle left the Wednesday practice holding his right side. Running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. could benefit from being conserved for the regular season.
Defensively, the front seven looks so solid in drills that not much needs to be seen. In the secondary, Miami is best saving cornerback Xavien Howard and safety Jevon Holland for the regular season, especially after Jalen Ramsey’s meniscus surgery in his left knee will keep him out for some time. It would be good, though, to get a good look at a number of other cornerbacks on the Dolphins roster in a game atmosphere to see who’s stepping up in Ramsey’s absence.
