August 10, 2020
After a busy weekend of transactions for the Dolphins, it's on to Week 2 of the strength and conditioning program. We are also one week out from the start of training camp practices as Miami prepares for opening day in New England, now less than five weeks out.
Roster Comings and Goings
A pair of newcomers joined Josh Grizzard's wide receiver room over the weekend. Ricardo Louis, who was waived by Miami on July 25, is back with the team. Louis has 45 career receptions for 562 yards.
Chester Rogers spent the last four years with Indianapolis. With 53 career games and 22 starts, Rogers has 111 receptions for 1,221 yards and five touchdowns. Rogers played primarily as a perimeter receiver his first two years with the Colts, but 946 of his 1,088 snaps since 2018 came from the slot, according to Pro Football Focus.
Linebacker Calvin Munson has been removed from the non-football injury list; he will rejoin the Dolphins active roster.
Claimed off waivers last month, defensive tackle Ray Smith is hanging it up; he's been placed on the reserve/retired list.
On Saturday, defensive tackles Raekwon Davis and Benito Jones, guard Solomon Kindley and wide receiver Kirk Merritt were activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
They said it
The Dolphins six offensive assistants spoke to the media Saturday. It was the first time we heard from new members of the staff -- Chan Gailey (offensive coordinator), Robby Brown (quarterbacks), Steve Marshall (offensive line) and the recently promoted Josh Grizzard (wide receivers.
To close out his first media availability in 2020, Gailey was asked about that freedom and the desire to let his playmakers paint their own, unique pictures as route runners.
Jakeem Grant appeared on an episode of the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield last month. He discussed the freedom receivers have in Gailey's system.
Ryan Fitzpatrick corroborated that comment in his Saturday August 1 media availability.
Around the Beat
Route running within the offensive system was just one of a myriad of topics Gailey discusses on Saturday. Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post detailed Gailey's evaluation of Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in his latest story.
"You look at the success he's had," Gailey said of Tagovailoa's career at Alabama. "Obviously he's a very good leader. You take all those great players that they had at Alabama, it's got to come together on the field. You can do all the coaching you want but when they walk out there on the field the players play."
"You can see his leadership, his ability to throw the football, his touch, game management, all of that type of stuff," Gailey said. "There were a bunch of good quarterbacks. We could have gotten one of several and we were very glad to get Tua."
Stat of the Day
New Dolphins receiver Chester Rogers had a career year in 2018, setting highwater marks in targets (82), receptions (62), yards (561) and touchdowns (2). His 75.6 percent catch rate ranked 9th among slot receivers with at least 32 targets from inside (two per game).
Dolphins On Social
Content On Tap
The training camp preview series rolls on today with a look at the Raekwon McMillan, Jerome Baker and the rest of the off-ball linebackers. Coach Flores will give his weekly media availability later this morning – we'll have all of these events covered on the daily Drive Time podcast. Jesse Davis joined Kim Bokamper on The Audible last week. You can find the entire episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you download your podcasts.
