The constant swings of camp continued Wednesday as the offense found a rhythm following a Tuesday practice largely won by the defense. Another theme that continued this 15th day of practice is the prowess of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. We'll cover that and all the day's work in this camp notebook.
Here are the day's highlights:
Practice 15, August 14, 2024
*Top Moment *
We've seen Tua Tagovailoa incorporate the no-look pass to his game over the years. Entering his fifth season, he might be on the verge of perfecting it, as much as one can perfect that. One of his touchdown passes on Wednesday froze a linebacker as the southpaw scrambled right, pulled up, flipped his hips to the middle of the field and then threw back across his body to tight end Durham Smythe in the flat. The space created a walk-in touchdown for Smythe.
This play comes on the heels of yesterday's scramble touchdown pass to wide receiver Erik Ezukanma, and an individual period Wednesday where Tagovailoa and the rest of the quarterbacks drilled cross-body throws on the move.
It appears that Tagovailoa is stretching the bounds of what he can do within the offense. In search of that incremental improvement, any steps the Dolphins can make to improve last year's No. 1 ranked offense could go a long way to earning the most important stat – more wins.
"We are testing the limits of this offense right now," fullback Alec Ingold said. "It's been fun to see, we're in the lab. It's been challenging. It's tough. You're only a couple of weeks in and you feel like you've been playing for three months already. It's a lot of fun."
Top Quote
The number of players like Ingold across the NFL can be counted on one hand. A Swiss army knife capable of catching wheel routes out of the backfield, digging out linebackers in the run game, and being the eyes for the backs running downhill, Ingold brings a lot of versatility to an offense that uses players in many different ways.
Wednesday, Ingold discussed the overall versatility of Miami's attack and how the defense challenges the offensive side to be more expansive.
This is one of the most competitive camps I’ve ever been a part of. Nine times out of ten it’s normally at this time of the year it’s either the offense beating the defense, or the defense beating the offense, and right now it’s going back and forth. We are playing really good high-level football right now during training camp in August which is really cool to see. Dolphins FB Alec Ingold
More Top Performers
Offensive lineman Jack Driscoll played a great game Friday night in his Dolphins preseason debut, and he's continued that trend this week. He's flying off the football, dictating the terms and creating big lanes for the backs.
The Miami backs exposed those lanes with a handful of explosive runs, including a 30-yard touchdown by rookie running back Jaylen Wright. Wright's versatility and quick decision-making have been consistent highlights of camp.
Linebacker Jaelan Phillips got in on the 11-on-11 action and made an impact on his first rep. On a wide run his direction, Phillips re-set the tight end and widened him into the track of the running back. This forced the runner to cut up, creating a lane for linebacker Duke Riley to shoot and make the play.
Rookie cornerback Isaiah Johnson scored a pair of pass breakups in the end zone. His length and penchant for finding the football stood out on Wednesday.
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