Dolphins Minicamp Day 2 Recap

Drive Time. Plus I'm gonna give you my should have been storyline from day one and a whole lot more on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast Miami Dolphins. And just like that, that is a rap and I gotta say the itch has been scrap matched. But now we've got training camp like five or six weeks out where we're gonna do this every single day. So we're gonna go away from football here for a couple of weeks, but we're gonna come right back with you guys and

have daily reports on training camp. Now for man camp, the weather has not been cooperating at all and the team did go into the practice bubble after stretching individuals and seven on seven, which is where we pick it up to start this podcast. But first, real quick, I have one note on the Indies individual drills that serves as a callback for later observation, so we have to

get it in here. We talked about the broken place when the quarterback is pressured but the past rushers give it the old fly by because we do not hit the guys in the red shirts, and how those throws down the field with a defensive back in trail technique right in the hip pocket of the receiver and that's already a very low percentage throw, not to mention with

him on soon in progress. So in the Indies, the quarterbacks and running backs were working on the wheel route and a coach which chase underneath the running back to force that same type of throw over the top and into the bucket. And something that really drew me to tos game as a collegian was the trajectory at which he threw the ball on those types of throws. Really

ultimate control on those throws. I talked about quarterbacks in the past here where we tried to find whether it was like Lamar Miller or Reggie Bush or some of these faster running backs that could get up the sideline on those wheel routes and the ball would kind of go flat to him, and that makes it very hard for the running back to make a play on those throws. But that's not what Ta does on those particular throws.

And you see it on deep shots as well. You get it up high and the nose of the football angles down, and it makes them more catchable football, and it gives the receiver more time to adjust their speed the way they're approaching the football, how to attack the defensive back to make sure he keeps him away from the football, and just gives them a better overall chance to make a play. It's like in baseball, a center fielder would rather see a sky high rainmaker hop up

then a line drive right at them. So he was throwing these balls with such touch and precision in the period that I saw, and I was thinking to myself, this guy is about to have a day. And he

did again in the period that I saw. So before seven on seven, a landing Roberts and Preston Williams once again dressed but not playing in practice, and Mike get sick he was in the red shirt once again going through the drills with the team, and they opened up the period and both qbs hit a couple of check downs to the backs and then it was right back to yesterday or Tuesday's motto, pushing the football down the field. And this entire period was dry, at least until read

Senet got in there. And I felt for the guy because the Skies opened up just like they did on Tuesday, and the offense was super crisp when the weather was good before they went into the bubble. So here we go, very first play of the period, past breakup by Terrell

Bonds who was stuck to Tavante Parker like glue. Really really good coverage and this entire secondary, I mean, we talked about the guys that you all know and have heard of players that are on futures contracts or or came back from the practice squad last season that you maybe you haven't heard their name as much. A lot of these guys are making plays, you know, in practice as well. To Rale Bonds, Javarus Davis got one today,

but that was just about it. As far as the incompletions in this period, and especially for QB one I didn't note an incompletion after that first throw for two a tongue of by Lowe. He hit Will Fuller on a slant on the next throw. And the thing you have to remember about these seven on seven periods, which you know in a lot of ways are passing camps for these teams, because only when you're only wearing helmets, it's just really hard to evaluate offensive line first, defensive line,

and especially the running game. Without any hitting, you're just not going to get a good feel for that. And coach Flora has even mentioned that last training camp as well. But in these seven on seven periods, the middle of the field is really kind of crowded, the only really crowded space on the field because on the outside you've got your matchup opportunities and a safety might roll over there. But for the most part, those linebackers are finding their drops.

In the middle of the field, You've got possible crossing routes with in backs coming with them and safety's driving. It's just more condensed space in the middle compared to the outside. So when you throw those passes, you have to be precise because the chances of a tip ball with someone kind of hanging out and watching from the outside, they can run to the football and get those picks

when they pop up in the air. And that's what I saw time and time again on Wednesday on these in breaking routes, just real good timing and precision and throwing to a spot and letting the receiver come in and cut the ball off at the intersection. So Jacoby Brissette jumps in and throws one of these, and again being in the end zone provides a really cool perspective as you can really see the anticipation the quarterbacks throw

with and this was timed out so well. The ball got up on him a little bit on this particular throw, but one of my top performers of the week went up there and plucked it and rose Robert Foster, the new receiver out of uh he played with the Buffalo Bills before and he's out of Alabama previously when he was in college. But he's got lightning speed and he's catching everything, especially away from his frame, which is really tough in these conditions and the wet football and no gloves.

And again, the conditions were good at this period, but they got brutal later in the day. So we resume here and Tua comes back into the lineup to throw the football and Jachim Grant gets behind the defender on a go ball, a deep route, a nine route, there's so many different names for every route where he stacks the defensive back, which again gets him. You know, you get the defensive back on your back so you can then adjust and make his path of the football tougher.

And he gets to this dB stacked and there's nothing but green grass in front of him, and to uses that arching deep ball we talked about and Jachim runs right underneath it without breaking stride. A gorgeous, gorgeous throw I think the best throw of the week for my money, and a hell of a route from Jachim, who, like I said, every camp now for you know, this is the third year doing this. He can create separation in a hurry, and he can do it on those deep

balls as well, which he did right here. And thanks to our great social media team and video team for getting a shot of that particular ball and a few other balls and burst into a toungo byla in this practice and putting it up on the Twitter page at Miami Dolphins. And as I want to do, I slowed the video down, took a close look at it, and from my perspective what I think I saw. Again, I can't be sure exactly. I'm not into his helmet, seeing

what he's seeing and thinking what he's thinking. But on that particular play, he starts right to Jachim Grant with his position of his body kind of facing that direction, and then I it looks like to me like he flips the hips to the middle of the field hips and the feet follow, which can then help influence a defensive back to think that might be where the ball

is going. But if you look at his eyes and I kind of took a screenshot of it and slowed this thing down, his eyes stay to the right to Jachim, so trying to influence the defense while keeping his eyes in the direction of the throw. And then he gets back reposition towards Jachim and launches that thing and it falls right into his lap and you can find it again on Twitter at Miami Dolphins dot com. Really cool

shot there to to Jachim for a touchdown. In practice, the very next play goes straight back to the anticipation I talked about earlier. I'm watching the concepts kind of unfold down field and trying to get a feel for maybe what the quarterback is looking at so I can

help understand my own evaluation. And then the quarterback is kind of in the corner of your eye and I see this big open space as to it catches my eye as he reaches back to fire to the space where he's throwing to a spot and seemingly out of nowhere, and it wasn't out of nowhere. I'm trying to paint this picture the best I can. Alan Hearns comes across the formation and he and the football intersect at the same spot, and he might have had some room to

run after the fact. And so when I say it would be touchdown or a would be sacked, just remember that these practices are only in helmets, and so we're not hitting guys. So once the catch is made, it's tag off, get out, and get onto the next place. So it's tough to assume run after the catch, which

is gonna be a theme in this particular practice. So Jacoby Brissette jumps back in and this time Javarus Davis is matched up on Devonte Parker and does a good job of just blanketing DVP and he gets himself a pit on a throw that is a little bit to the left. Yeah, the left of Devanta Parker was the right from my vantage point, but a little bit off to the left, and you can't possibly know if it

was a miscommunication and mislocated throw. There's just no way to know if you're not out there on the field part of the game. But the ball is just a little bit off the frame of Davanta Parker and it gets tipped and Javarros Davis takes advantage of that secures the interception, and we're off to the races once again with this league leading takeaway defense a year ago making more plays on the football. Then we go to the callback. Savon Akhmed is our callback part here, who, by the way,

is looking as fast as ever. He is so quick he can flat out scoop. But he gets isolated on Jalen Phillips on a wheel route. And the reason I wanted to mention that was because Phillips pretty much held his own on that route. And this is one of the players that you live for as a reporter or whatever we call ourselves, where everybody involves scores a win. It's pretty rare, but just good all around football where

the offense does well, the defense does well. Remember last year by Aaron Jones and DeVante Parker had all these battles where it was tight coverage, but Parker made the contested catch where I said, that's good coverage, it's good receiver play, it's a good throw from the quarterback. I'll take that all day, every day. And so again Phillips, remember had that four or five time. It's two hundred and sixty pounds. I just I put in my notes here,

just ridiculous. Well, he's striding pretty well with Savon Akhmed, but the speedy back does create just enough of a bucket and to a finds it. But Akhmed's foot comes down just barely out of bounds. I think that was my favorite play of the period, beside maybe the Jachem Grant deep ball. But you get a good look at a good a good throw, a good catch, some good coverage, just cannot quite get the feet down inbounds on that

particular play. We then get another change of quarterback, kind of flipping back and forth after a couple of snaps each and Nick Needham drives on another pass here from Brissette for a p bu and he's really racking up some ball production these couple of days. And a quick note there I talked about Byron Jones getting no targets that I he saw in practice on Tuesday. Well, he was out there but only played a few reps. That's probably why I had that note. Lots of these young

corners are getting chances, and man, they are competing. More on that. In just a moment, two comes back in for our last action here and I referenced this on Twitter.

But you remember the game. I know you die hards out there know what I'm talking about against the Rams with a game winning passed at Avante Parker in the front corner of the end zone in Los Angeles after I think we were shut out for the first fifty six minutes and then the Dolphins scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to get a fourteen to ten

win or a fourteen to nine win. I can't recall exactly, but this play was so similar to that where Parker it's not the end zone, but we'll use the sticks

as a measuring point. He runs to the sticks and the angles back and the football is in flight before he works back down the stem of the route and it hits him right between the one and the one as he goes to the ground, elbows together, secures that catch, pens it against his chest, feet inbounds, nearly identical to that pylon catch, and a nice looking precision timing slash rhythm throw there from two up to Parker, who of course caught the first touchdown pass of to his career

last year against the Rams. Tala finishes the period with a ripped Albert Wilson I slant route. Just a really strong period and you gotta love the resolve to shake off the result of Tuesday's practice. That's always been one of the hallmarks for me of training camp, at least. You know, I'm not versed enough in O t A Sty really have an opinion yet, but in training camp, I always like seeing how guys respond after big days or after tough days like the one we saw with

the offense on Tuesday. But I really I think it's a big deal how guys respond that he showed some great metal in that regard. All right, then the skies opened up once again, and just as coach talked about, with the opportunity to make adjustments in June, opposed to avoiding the elements and then trying to deal with it. In September on a Sunday afternoon at hard Rock Stadium, I learned from my own mistakes. On Tuesday, I went to the media platform with just my laptop and my

roster in hand. And what a mistake that was. Because I told you the story on the podcast yesterday. But this time I brought the backpack, I had an umbrella. I was ready for that damn rain. So no silk shoes, no wet socks, no midday costume change for me. We made the adjustments, made the corrections, and we got better as a podcaster. So I'm gonna go ahead and use the reports from Softed Dean of the South Florida Sun Sentinel and Josh Tolentino from The Athletic, the two pool

reporters on the day. And thanks for those guys for getting in there and and getting themselves in the position where they can be on the scene to cover practice. But I only want to use it for the facts, because I will never attempt to evaluate plays that I have not seen myself. In an esoteric sport with twenty two moving parts on a given play, different coverages, fronts, route concepts, play calls, and twenty two chances for an

error to occur. I think context is very very important to every play and the way it is with nine d guys on the field and plays happenings in such rapid succession, it's already a lot to take into practice and give accurate, viable notes. I mean it, it's a very busy two hours for me, Like, don't talk to me during those two hours. It's very very very intense as far as trying to get the notes down. So if I'm not there to see it happen, how can

I possibly provide the correct context to me? That is more valuable than just looking at some stats or results of a practice where there is no scoreboard. We're not trying to play to a scoreboard here, We're trying to play to improve. So here is what happened results only once the team went into the bubble per these two reporters who do an excellent job. The stats say six touchdown passes on the day from Tah with a lot of work coming in red zone and goal line periods.

Jacoby Brissette also tossed a few touchdown passes of his own. I did not get an exact number on that, but I know at one point it was reported that he threw three in a row in goal line work those

passes with jakeem Grant Hunter Long and Robert Foster. Soft Dean and Josh Tolentino both reported the Tongue of Bloa found Jalen Waddled in the middle of the field, who then caught the ball and raced up the sideline to pay dirt for a would be sixty yard touchdown because the ball started on the DOLF minus forty yard line and they went all the way to the end zone for sixty yards and then they went back to Devanta

Parker for a touchdown from about thirty yards out. So a couple of deep shots there from Twah into the end zone for touchdowns. There was another note here from Tolontino about Jaitlyn ask you a player we noted on the podcast on Tuesday who had a pass breakup on a pass from Tongue Bloa to Albert Wilson. Young kids still making some plays out there, and then Jacoby Brissette found Macollins for a touchdown and read Senet through one to Kirk Merritt. Those two have a connection mounting here

so far. In O t a s back to the pool report, Tolontino reports that Noah Egnogamy had a nice pass breakup on a throw to Davanta Parker and the end zone. More on Igbo here in just one second. Saffa Dean said that to have found Will Fuller on a twenty yard crossing route when they first got into the bubble and then comes back to Devanta Parker for

a nice ten yard rip as well. He also reports a pass breakup by Bernardrick McKinney, whose film I really had fun watching and I've really enjoyed watching him play in the aquand Orange these last couple of days. More on him in just one moment as well. And oh yeah, I forgot to add this on the Tuesday podcast, But Jason Sanders, this dude hits the cherry picker where the camera for taking film for practice is aligned directly down the middle of the uprights like it's on the crossbar

right in the middle there. And Tolentino said that Sanders went four for four again today, so that means he didn't miss the entire camp because he didn't miss anything on Tuesday I had notes on training camp that I don't remember seeing him miss last year. He then, of course carries that into a franchise records treat for consecutive field goals made into the season last year and only

missed a couple. Winds up being an All Pro first team kicker, gets himself an extension and the long today was fifty one yards and that's about the long range I saw on Tuesday. Definitely fifty plus, but Jason Sanders picking up right where he left off. Tolentino also reports that to Us spent his downtime talking intensely with his teammates,

including a chat he had a Davante Parker. And I saw that same thing that I mentioned on the Tuesday podcast with the individual drills and kind of coaching up the running back acts like a Jared Oakes or a Jordan Scarlett, some of these first year Dolphins players. I thought that was really cool to see as well. And then the last tweet I have to go off of here, as I told on Tino special, he just wrote when Lynn Bowden has the ball in his hands and then

posted a jiff of Drake saying wow. So there you have it. Mini Camp one is a rap, but this episode is not a rap. I want to get into something that, let's say, mildly irks me because we've talked about two and I'm not gonna play dumb here for you guys. I know you know where downloads and retweets

and all that fun stuff comes from. Everyone likes talking about the quarterback position, but I really dislike treating this sport like it's a one player game, because, as I mentioned, twenty two players, fronts, coverages, route concepts, shifts, motions, checks, audibles, hot routes. There is so much information that goes into a given play on either side of the football that

focusing on one player is so disingenuous. And again, I get why we do at quarterbacks with the stars all that fun stuff, but I just want to give some love to the rest of the roster here. And one thing that kind of surprised me, just from I guess general coverage, was that why aren't we talking more about

the Dolphins defensive performance in that game? A defense or in the practice rather, a defense that led the NFL and takeaways and third down defense, A defense that finished sixth and scoring and entered Week seventeen as the number one scoring defense in the National Football League and had held that title for a few weeks running there in December. I'm just wondering why they're seven picks were not a bigger part of the story. So I look at some of the guys that really stood out to me. It

talked about Bernardrick McKinney. I mean, his Houston tape is just full of flexibility, a true passing game disruptor as far as his blitzer goes, and finding spots and in zone drops or man drops, and a true traffic cop

in the middle of the defense. And when I went back and watched his notes and my free agent notes on him, was him calling out so many things pre snap and anticipating and making plays because he's motioning towards the play as the snap is happening based upon what he picked up from either the pre snap read or his pre game steady, whatever it might have been. He's often flowing to the football before the snap even goes off.

And I think you pair he and Baker with this defense here, and I don't mean alignment, just the fact that they're both linebackers in the middle of that defense, you really strengthen your communication your commitment to playing with sound fundamentals and getting the calls and checks in and

making sure that everybody's on the same page. And you look at how his versatility paired with Baker's, it just creates an opportunity to open the whole playbook and move those guys around and from a distance, I just really enjoyed watching those guys and the way the defense in general is so vocal and animated, checking on those motions and those ships and just making sure everybody's on the

same page. There's lots of you can see their their heads going back and forth in their hands, making signals, and just a ton of communication on the practice field the way coaches like it. And then Duke Riley didn't get a mentioned yesterday, but he flies around the field too. He's hard to miss with that hair. But you talk about high effort, high energy guy, that's him. You can see forty five flashing all over the field. Talked about

brand Scarlett who had the pick and Tuesday's practice. He sure sets a strong edge and gives you another one of those really really heavy linebackers that can help eat up those blocks in those multiple fronts. I referred to Javon Holland, the rookie defensive back on the podcast on Tuesday, and I mean I was so high on him as a prospect, and I came away this week even more impressed. I can't tell you which I've been more impressed by the instincts or the trigger, because either way, he is

so fast to the football. And coach talked about him in his media on Wednesday morning about how they went off the twenty nineteen tape since Javan was an opt out, and how they liked what they saw off that tape. And I would highly encourage you the listener to go over to YouTube and type in Javon halland full game and get some reps yourself and watch some of those

because it's kind of wears Waldo with Javon. Just find number eight now number twenty two as a pro but in his college tape you find number eight on Organ's defense, You're probably gonna find the football too. And the secondary as a whole is just with all this hop line talent and the depth and the mix of veteran presence with the youth pushing for playing time too. I mean, Nick Needon told us that the takeaway game is back

this year. It's called the Hoods versus the Bourbs. It's I think at jail to Alexander creation a game that focuses on finding the football, whether it's an interception, scooped up fumble, or getting the ball off one hop. I think all of those count for a point in the game. And he said they've already picked the teams and they're already going at it, and things things like this don't happen by accident. The Dolphins led the NFL and takeaways

last year, it's because they've worked on it. They talked about it all off season, and you you get out what you put in this game. That's the beauty of football.

Then you go back up to the front and I'm trying to rank these three levels of the defense in terms of depth that each of them have, and I think you can make a case for any of them to be number one, but also any of them to be number three because I talked about how the receiver room was kind of too deep and a lot of spots in terms of the skill sets to each of

these players offer. Like Jalen Waddle, it's a different player than Devanta Parker, but you've also got you know, Jachem Grant or Albert Wilson kind of fit that bill as well as the speedy guy Devanta Parker's got a pression Williams and Mac Hollands and kind of fit that big body,

possession type of receiver as well. And going back to Tuesday's media, Noah ig Banalogaeny told us the different skill set each player in that receiver room has and how it's been beneficial for him in terms of seeing it kind of every play type come at him and how it helps him kind of refined his game as far as how I have to play this guy, how I have to play that guy, and so on and so forth. But that too deep idea is kind of how I

view the defense. I mean, I thought it was that way last camp as well, and it played out into the season, and I think it got even better and even deeper this year because a lot of those additions that were made, you know, McKinney, Adam Butler, Javon holland Justin Coleman. These things directly impact the things I think make this defense and the system that coach Flora's and coach Boyer run just so difficult to prepare for it's

so adaptable. But I mean, upfront, I mentioned Adam Butler, we know about the strong rookie year of ray Kwon Davis. Christian Wilkins is steady as they go, always available, durable player who plays every damn position, and as selfless as all get out. And that's why I think his his production doesn't match the quality of play that he gives you. And then Zach Seeler, he plays so well last year

he earns himself an extension mid season. Don't even talk about Emmanuel Ogba yet, who had a bunch of sacks and pressures off the edge. I mean, I don't want to list every name here, but the depth, the ability to rotate and stay fresh on top of the talent you added, I just really like watching this defense play.

I think you have different body types, you have different skill sets, you have a roster that can adapt to the defense, and I think you've added more to your arsenal in a way that can better equip you for the toughest task in all of football, going up against the game's top quarterbacks like a Josh Allen and division A Tom Brady, who were going to see this year with the Buccaneers or a Patrick Mahomes, who, by the way, this defense is the only NFL defense to ever pick

off Mahomes three times in a game, which again eating the NFL and takeaways one year. When you come back to camp the next year and the first day you notch seven interceptions. To me, that's the story. Defense that was predicated on creating takeaways a year ago does the exact same thing in their encore performance to kick off season. So to finish up here before we get to media,

I talked about Savan Akman off the top. I really liked watching him and gas Can go through drills and the conversations that kind of take place between those two guys during the downtime. Like we mentioned with TWA, Miles told us a couple of weeks back, the Heat and Savan are always quizzing each other. They live in the same apartment complex, spend some time together their best buddies and they communicate and you know, off the practice field at home, and that I imagine carries over onto the

practice field and then in the trenches. Look, it's it's helmets only, so it's really tough to get a field for this part of the field. But I mentioned Jackson's athletic ability on the podcast on Tuesday, I thought Robert Hunt looked really good, but I wanted to mention Michael Dieter, who I think is moving as well as I've ever seen him move as far, the way he gets out of his stance and fires out and and just kind of communicates things down there. I'm curious to get a

good look at him at camp. I also wrote down there like the way Robert Jones, the undrafted free agent, the way he fires out of his stance as well. And he's a big, big dude too. Then at tight end our final spot here, Kausiki's catching everything, just picking up where he left off. No need to stop the presses there. And Durham Smith is such a treat to watch him practice because he's just everywhere, Like you look

up and you find eighty one. We know what he means or has meant, rather to the special teams units the last few years. He added a touchdown maker to his resume last year. And then the work he does digging out those backside edges and split zone ceiling play side runs off, just doing a bunch of the dirty work. And then Hunter Long caught some balls once they went inside as well. Didn't see it, but I saw the reports there from Tolentino and soft Fit Dean. But he

he looks the part. He has rocked up a good looking young player for the Miami Dolphins. So there you have it. Shorter report today. Again, I apologize for that.

Let's go ahead and close up this podcast with media, starting with coach Flores, who filled a couple of questions off the top about Alan Hearns and Albert Wilson, who we got in media today as well, and just talks about how he thinks they both look like they're in good shape, thinks they both stay on top of their training and conditioning, and thinks they're moving really well, running really well, picking up the offensive concepts. So he's pleased

with both those guys as well. And then he was asked about the fact that Miami does have so many guys in that receiver room, and he said one of the themes of this offseason they wanted to work on was just creating a competitive environment for each position room and he thinks that's the case in the receiver room, talking about how it will shake out through training camp

in preseason games. The best five six or seven guys will be on the team, he says, and we'll go ahead and play some audio for you here on the following question for coach Floras, who was asked about the benefits of staying out in the downpour on Tuesday's practice and getting through that rain soaked period. With this first practice of o t S we we we could end up playing in that type of weather. It's I mean,

it's really simple as that. I think, Um, I think, you know, I think we need to be prepared, had to play in that type of weather. And we live in South Florida, rains um pretty much every day and we could potentially play in that that type of weather, that type of setting. So uh, and I think it's good work for us. People may not want to stand out in the rain, but you know, I think we need to. You know, I think how you uh, your body mechanics need to change. You gotta keep you feet

underneath you. You You gotta be able to keep yourself under control so you can cut and make tackles and make people miss um. I think often times when you get into rain type of situations and that's the first thing that happens, um, is you just lose your footing and a tackle that would have been made me is a guy who's on the ground, or a big play you don't you don't, you don't get because the receiver running backs on the ground. I think you need to practice

in those elements. So, um, anytime it rains and we have an opportunity to stay out there and you know there's no lightning and we can't when I forced to go, and I think it's um a good opportunity for for guys to practice in those elements so that you know, if they do show up in a game, um, we can still have success and you know, not turn back and say, oh man, which we I wish we'd practice in the rain one more time so guys would know what it feels like they make a cut or make

a cut and get vertical, or make a make a make a break in on on a pass or or you know, get your plan foot down on the field goal. I mean, it's there's you know, we're not always going

to have, you know, perfect weather conditions. I always love playing audio for you guys when coach really gets into the nitty gritty behind kind of his thinking behind the football stuff, because well, why wouldn't you want to hear from a PhD car card carry member of football XS and os and the the elements and how everything impacts football. I want to hear Coach Flora's talk about the added

benefits of playing in those conditions. And there you hear it right there, talking about the body mechanics and how they change and keeping your feet underneath. You found that really interesting. He also continued talking about how if you're not practicing in the rain, how do you get a chance to make those adjustments, Because you get to a game in September, like you just mentioned there, and you say, oh, shoot, I wish we had have practiced in this We had

a better idea. I mean, you've seen teams in the past and whether it's training camp videos or you know, great videos we get from the NFL network and practice where they dunk footballs and buckets of water to get ready for possible rain games. So what better chance to simulate those types of situations than right now in June. So you can go back to it and say, here's how I did it. Here's the cleats I wore, Here's how I changed the way I catched the football. Whatever

it might be. It's always a good chance to get an opportunity to work and changing elements because football stops for nobody when it comes to the weather. I want to play two more audio clips here from coach Flora's media availability on Wednesday morning before practice, as he was asked about a quote that to a tungle by Loa gave the media on Tuesday with regards to being aggressive and pushing the ball down the field and testing the water,

so to speak. Here's Coach Flora's talking about just that, adding context to practice and what the Dolphins ultimately are trying to accomplish in these I think practice is a time where, uh, you know, not just at the quarterback position, but at every position. You uh, you test the waters and see what works what doesn't work, so that you can make it, you know, go back, learn from it and make adjustments, and uh and and and and try to improve. I think I think that's the same thing

for us as coaches. I mean there's many times where I say I want to see what this blitz looks like, or I want to see what you know, this coverage looks like, or let's see what this route pass route looks right, or what this you know punt fake looks like against a certain you know defense, and then come back and say before I should do it that way, we should do it this way. Um. I think that's the case for any position. UM, you know your dB, hey man, let me let me let me see if

I can jump this route and make this play. And let's see if I can do it in practice versus a game where obviously if you jump in you don't make it. It's not what you're looking for. UM. So uh, or you know, can I make a if you never attempt a six yard field go and practice, how do you know you can make it in a game? Uh? I think it's the same thing at every position. Um. You know, I want to point it inside the five

yard line. So if I never practice it or never you know, try to attempt to do it, then, um, what makes me think I can get it done in the game. So, and I think it's the same at the quarterback position. UM. You know, we're gonna see if we can fit some throws in. Um, and then there might be a minor adjustment that we need to make to make the play. And you know, how do you know that if you don't you know, make you attempt, but at the end of the day, Look, you never

wanta turnovers that anywhere. Uh, so we need to limit those. We always need to limit those. But at the same time, there's a you know what this is, you know, the first day of practice is not we're looking for the finished products. So uh that's mistakes are gonna happen, We're gonna correct them and uh, you know, continue to just improve. Wasn't get better, so that was gonna be My question for coach was about the benefit of kind of testing those waters, as Coach put it there, So I go.

I went ahead and with my follow up question about how do you gauge when it's time to pull back and start focus on we got to be more detailed or more sharp in those areas and not be so aggressive and maybe make it more like a game day week. And Coach gave me what I thought was a great answer here too, although he corrected me on saying something and not so great talking about being detailed. You always want to be detailed, and I know that, but I

said it wrong. So here's coach kind of correcting my incorrect statement and then giving me a great answer afterwards. Uh, Like we always want to be detailed and we we always want to have uh make the right play. UM. But there is a little bit of UM. I think you've gotta practice. I mean I think that that that that goes with I don't think that's the day one to practice UM. Wherewards, Hey, everything's got to be you know, ball is gotta be perfect, this has gotta be you know,

I think there's there's some leeway. I would say as far as UM. You know, I think we try to tell all the players. Hey, you know, you know, practice is a place where you um, you know, you work your fundamentals and techniques. UM. And if there's something specific route technique you want to use to try to get open,

you know, let's see if it works in practice. If there's a specific uh uh you know technique as a dB that you want to you want to work a quick jam where you want to work press, so you want to work off or you want to work uh you know, you want to blitz from depth, or you wanna get up in the line of scrimmage and you know, blitz in that way. I mean there's there's a you know, a few different ways you can kind of approach any play.

And I think you used practice as um a way to to to figure out what's the best thing for UM for you individually, will as coaches say hey, this is what I think, Um, um, you know you should try and um, you know the players haven't put on that as well, and I think you know this is this is that's when you do it. You know, you know, when do you know, say hey, uh, I think you need to try it first before we as as a staff can say hey, look you probably shouldn't do that,

you should do this or you know. And I think you just learned from those those experiences. And that's you know, whether it's football, whether it's anything, whether it's I'm sure it's journalism, whether it's you know, any sport, I think you learn from your experiences. And um, you know that's the case with really all that. Players don't know we're talking specific to to to to one position, but you know we got guys trying different things really at all positions.

Some really interesting in depth stuff there from coach giving us an idea about the way this team wants to practice so they can get themselves in position to make the corrections necessary and get each guy's ability overall. He finished up his press conference with a couple of individual questions, one about Noah Eggnogeny and talking about how he's progressed in terms of how he sees coverages and kind of the mental side of the game. And Noah continues to

look really good in these practices. Just he's physically really impressive with the way he moves and the strength he displays. But I think that for a young player to come in and get more time in the off season can only benefit his career going forward. Here again, just twenty one years old, will be twenty two or his birthday rather is in the middle of the season, so he

will turn twenty two during the season. Coach was also asked about Nick need Hum and just said that he does everything necessary to put himself in position to improve. I thought that was a great quote. We also got Nick need him at his press conference after practice and he talked a little bit about you know, I asked him a question about from a defensive perspective, how do you kind of calibrate your aggressiveness and when it take your chances and and get yourself in those positions where

you can calibrate. I can get away with this. I can't do that, and so on and so forth. He talks about how the coaches give him a lot of tools that they can use to go out there and practice and feel free to make those judgment calls and make those you know, test things out to see what

works and what doesn't work. I thought that was a great answer from Nick, and we'll go ahead and play the audio from another clip here from Nick, who was asked about how he's been able to turn an undrafted situation out of college into his third year in the NFL and getting serious playing time last year and having success against the likes of guys like Cooper Cup and Keenan Allen and some of the premier slot guys in

the league. Here's Nick talking about the mental side of the game and the preparation that has led him to this point of his career. I think just having an understanding of the game a lot, just growing up with my dad. Um, he's a big football guy, so just being around it at a young age, and he's a quarterback coach, so um he I just get in the mind of an offensive player, and he's always breaking down

film with offensive guys. So I'll just always look at that and I think throughout the years I just developed more and more become more instinctive off that. And Nick was also about why he didn't play offense since his dad was a quarterback, and he said, well, the arm is one problem I have in that regard, So some

good jokes there. Let's go ahead and finish up with a couple of receivers here, Albert Wilson and Alan Hearns, And a lot of the questions for Alan were about the opt out, his decision to opt out, if he regretted it at all, and he said no, he didn't because he had his son was born in October and to me, one of my favorite parts of a day that you know, I told Seth Levitt from the fish Tank podcast, who I had a conversation with before I recorded the podcast, I told him, you know this is

I love this football more than any other football. Training camp and getting a chance to evaluate everybody was my favorite football And he was like, really, I always like the games, Like, of course, that's that's kind of I'm

a weirdo for that opinion. But on a day where I got to watch the Dolphins practice at mini camp and do my favorite thing, I think my favorite part of the day was hearing Alan Hearns talk about being a father and his son that was born in October of last year, and someone asked him, what's your favorite part about being a father, and he said, you know,

the kid falling asleep in your arms. And it was hard for me, as a new father myself to not kind of like get choked up over that because it is so important, important and so precious, and it was cool to hear Alan talk about that. He also talked a little bit about playing in the weather down here

in South Florida and growing up in this weather. He's got to lose the gloves and and trying to attack the football because if you let it get to your body, it could just squeeze right through and then you get yourself a drop. He talked about just trying to kind of follow guys that have been here for a long time and getting his feet back wet again, following guys like Davante Parker and jakeem Grant, just getting in line

with those guys. But he said it felt great to be back out there and competing and talking about being with the guys in the receiver group and how he missed that camaraderie. Let's go ahead and finish up here with Albert Wilson, another player who opted out last year, but his back for one season for your Miami Dolphins.

And I thought Albert had two very interesting answers, and that he said that he every single game he wished that he maybe had rethought his decision to opt out last season, because he said watching the games from home where you know he wanted to be out there, And that's kind of the competitor in Albert Wilson. There so different scenarios for either of those players there with those

opt out decisions. But also talked about how he feels night and day from where he was even in twenty nineteen, one year removed from that hip injury that cost him the back half and then kind of lingered into twenty nineteen, but then he got some more playing time late in that season and really produced big time there as well. So he talked about that and how he feels a lot better you have to imagine he does three years

after the injury. And he also touched on the competition in the receiver room we mentioned earlier with Alan Hearns talked about his run after the catchability and also spoke about quarterback to a Tongue of Voloa and mentioned the young quarterback organizing practices for the receivers and for the passing game this offseason away from the facility in the players downtime. So there you have at Brian Flores, Nick

need Um, Albert Wilson, Allen Hearns. Go to our team YouTube page and check out all those press conference videos, question and answer in their entirety. A late addition into the podcast here, as I just found it on Twitter, a clip from Dan Orlovsky talking about June Mini camp and to a Tongue of Boloa and the quarterback position and his own experience with this time of year and how to basically do the same things that to himself coach Flora has talked about with being aggressive and trying

things out in practice. Here's Dan Orlovsky on ESPN's NFL Live on Wednesday afternoon. I think, first of all, stats in the spring are stupid. Um, you guys know that Thomas Edison quote where he says I have not failed, I've just figured out ten thousand ways to do something wrong. And I think that should really be a focus for so many quarterbacks, especially young ones in the spring is like figuring stuff out what you can and can't get away with. And we talked about to being more aggressive

down the field. You know, one of the phrases that attached to young quarterbacks all the time is will protect the football. I've never liked them value the football. You want to protect your kids, never allow anything bad to happen to them. But to go be great at that position in the NFL, the ball has gotta be putting harm's way at sometimes and that's why to have gotta

learn to be aggressive with it a little bit. And you hear Brian Flora say it like the last thing the Dolphins into a want is to get into a game in September. Ball beyond the right hash. He's got his speech there, Jalen waddle all the way to left and it's gonna be some form of a cover two and two was going, Man, I wonder if I can throw this ball forty yards down the sideline to the left and a whole shot. And he's never done it, Like this is the time to figure out what you

can and cannot do. So this is exactly what Tours should be doing. I remember four years ago and Patrick mahomes to like six interceptions in one practice and everyone lost their minds. You gotta figure out what your arm is capable of and not capable of. Two was doing the right thing again. That's Dan Orlovsky on ESPN's NFL Live at four o'clock Eastern on ESPN. Good stuff there from Orlovsky. This is our final podcast of the week.

We're gonna be back with you guys next week for two episodes a week all the way up until training camp, when we then ratchet things back up and give you a live report every single day from Miami Dolphins training camp. We're gonna cover the rest of our NFL preview in the next coming weeks. We're gonna preview the roster as well and get you facts and stats and details on all nine players on this Dolphins roster. Fun times ahead. As for today's time, that is gonna be my time

you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, tuned, in Google Play, wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at linkolnd NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up.