This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
What is up, Dolphins, and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, many campus here are breaking all the action down on the field behind the microphone and much much more. I've got practice notes, I've got audio from McDaniel, tua, alec Ingold, and Ashton Davis. I've got storylines to attach it all together as we give you the story from the day that was here at Dolphins Camp from the Baptist Health
Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast. Oftentimes I use the open of the show to sort of explain how the sausage gets made here on Drive Time, and in doing I don't know one hundred episodes of either Camp or Ota Report podcasts.
I think the best ones happen when the story naturally comes together in terms of what I saw on the field and what the themes were of the day, and what the players and coaches spoke about before and after practice and Brother, today was just one of those days where it all kind of came together. We're going to tether it all together through soundbites from the aforementioned players and the head coach and funnel through the lens of
culture team football. The concept of the sum of the parts being greater than the whole, or however that's saying, goes the contributing variables that add up to make the final product spring football, and the developmental nature of it, and so much more so. Let's go ahead and jump right in. And the first rule of radio or in this case, podcasting is to play the hits, lead the show with the biggest story. What are you gonna get the fans in with? And that's a tough choice for
me today. But if the late nineties taught me anything at all, it's that chick dig the long ball, right And if that campaign is too old for you, go ahead and google it. It was a home run of a marketing idea back in the late nineties when baseball's were flying over fences with the greatest frequency the league has ever seen. And of course the long ball does apply on the football field as well, So I wanted
to start with this. There's been a ton of debate recently about the quarterback his production, what those stats actually mean, as the great Warren Sharp has kind of detailed to his place among you know, some of the best quarterbacks in the league in terms of the raw numbers and the advanced metrics, and how he winds up there and the debate that follows that, and you know what's next and the extension of this offense and what is you know,
what is productive? How do you get that production and the contributing factors to all of that.
Are you guys still with me? So you've heard me, for lack of a.
Better term, well, let's try and keep it family friendly here. Complain, you know, not the other word you could say there about the narratives as to why the explosive plays reduced pretty significantly from twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four. The running game in the second half of the season, and particularly on early downs, and the negative run that came from that creating a certain down and distance, a situation that generates a certain type of look from the defense.
They're going to play off, they're not going to respect the run, They're not going to expect the run on second to thirteen. And then when you're unsuccessful in creating those advantageous down in distances, defenses don't have to respect it. If you can't threaten them with it right, And there's variables off that variable with the interior offensive line off the edge, the running backs, the receivers, the quarterback, and how he manages everything. Everybody has a say in all
of that. So coach was asked about this on Tuesday morning, So was Tua. Let's go ahead and start with the head coach of your Miami Dolphins. How do you get back to more explosive plays on the offense in twenty twenty five?
How much is the defense off what's the pass rush? Are we?
Things will be more even when the whole entirety of the offense is even when our ground game is where we want it and our line of scrimmage plays where we want it. The pre snap depth of defenders and what they're defending at the very beginning of snap and post snap, that changes as well.
To me, the I'm just not trying to throw.
Throw, I'm not trying to tell to or to throw the ball to defensive players. Turnovers are are are a huge part of the game, or get sacks. So you have to earn those explosive opportunities. To answer your question, the hope is that there will be more based upon
the defensive presentations that we earn. But the one thing last year showed us is that we have to earn everything based upon previous things we've done, and that if you they will simply take away explosive pass game by pre snap depth unless you can and make them pay in the ground game and make them exposed for their overplay, And that I think is a bigger reflection of where
those yards per attempt will be. Do we have people defending closer to the line of scrimmage earlier and you do that by threatening them by earning it?
QB One was that's the exact same thing after practice.
I think the key to that is continuing to stay within the play of this offense, but you know, really really honing in on when we get opportunities, not falling asleep on all. Right, you know this is how we've been doing it, and we're going to stay consistent with taking what they give us. But it's you got to also have that shift to mind that when we get a play where you have an opportunity to take a shot and it allows for you to take a shot, you can't miss that opportunity.
And I set it all up this way to tell you the long balls kept on coming here on Tuesday, and not even explosives through the deep passes in terms of number of air yards, which is a fixation that some folks have that I don't understand. But yay, I guess more on that in just a moment, because practice ended with a shot that Tua could not have handed on a silver platter to Malik Washington any better than he did from about thirty five yards away. I mean,
the corner was imperfectly tight coverage. Some of us saw twenty three and they were there at practice. Some of us saw it was thirty three. It's Jason Marshall already Burns. I thought it was Burns, but it's not worth splitting hairs in the podcast. But whoever it was was in
great shape and coverage. And these are the kind of plays that you like when you're watching your own team play against your own team, because coverage was good, but the throat was just a little bit better, right, And Malik makes this tough concentration catch in traffic on a ball that was just hand delivered from FedEx from DHL for going back that far from ups right in his hands, and I'm guessing you'll see that on our social channels at some point today or sometime this week, because I
think that was probably the play of the day and the other explosive in team period. A lot of red zone work today, but this wasn't a team period that was not down in the red zone. It was a forty yard touchdown to Waddle coming across the formation or
across the field rather. And this is the part where I point back to the commentary from McDaniel last week on TUA and the further expansion of his skills as the commander of the ship here the franchise quarterback and being on top of every single detail from that position. I think this is where it's important to provide as much possible context as I can for y'all because you're
going to read about it most likely. And this is where one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies comes into play.
Flyball Card.
It still gets me. That's the major league part where Bob Buker goes.
Into the tank and he calls upon his other commentator in the booth and he's never called a game before, and they hit a screaming line drive into the outfield and the outfilder makes a diving catch and that was his call flyball count.
So I think you might get a little bit of.
That in terms of Wattle caught a forty yard touchdown pass from Tua today. But here's what I saw. I saw Waddle as a non primary read in the progression and Tua working through the progression. And I'm not going to pull up this audio, but McDaniel talked about the importance of this in the quick game last season. I forget what game, it was probably Buffalo when he found you know, a chan for that quick hitter on the
game tying drive late in the fourth quarter. About how the quick elimination of the downfield throws and the ability to process that early and how it can you know, based upon the coverage tails and processing through them and getting eyes on all of those particular you know indicators and you know players. You have to influence how that can widen and manipulate those defenders to maximize the space your target has in the short area to turn that
short throw and extend it into a big play. And here, you know, perhaps Wattle was the first read. I could be wrong about that. I don't know the play call. I'm just guessing based upon my vantage point. But I saw Tua work through these progressions and pull this zone defender out of his coverage area because of the direction
or attention. Rather, he gave to a particular route on the play and just does this little shoulder roll pump Russell Wilson needs to do that all the time, where you would kind of shoulder roll and it would convey to the defender that you're thinking about throwing the ball that way, much in the way a pump fake would.
And the ball then replaces that displaced defender and it hits Wattle right and stride, and what looks like this easy ten yard throw on the surface becomes a long touchdown because you just gave a four to two athlete all this space to operate with, and what does he do but outrun everybody for six On the backside. He and Wattle two of that is have just been again again fins for the win again. Right to quote j dub Here's what Tua said about their budding chemistry this spring and into the summer.
Yeah, we're continuing to grow our chemistry with one another. You know, for the past year, for the past two years, it's really been me and Rick kind of getting on that same page. But you know, if we can get waddle, me and Wattle can get together and continue to make shrides throughout you know, these last few days of mini camp, I think it's gonna lead into some.
Pretty good things preparing us for training camp.
Yeah.
I just love hearing that and him saying, if we can continue to get more on the same page or whatever. It was like, y'all connected five or six, seven, eight times every practice we watch here, and it's it's nice to watch because the minute Wattle comes out of the break, the football is just there and he expects it to be there. To me, it looks like they're in mid season form, which in June is obviously a great thing to a great position to be in. So that's kind of the entire Tua assessment.
Today.
He was throwing strikes down the field. He did miss a chan on a deep shot where Devon had a step on the defender, and Tua reacted afterwards like you could tell he felt he just missed it, and he did. It was a little bit long out of the reach of Devon and more on the Dolphins star running back here in just a moment. But Tua fits tight windows in the red zone, particularly that to Nick westbrook A
Kine who he found for a couple of touchdowns. I had nw I with three on the day from various quarterbacks, mostly going above the rim and pool and the football down And after seeing Tua get to waddle to westbrook A Kine to get to his backs and his tight ends to a chen on deep balls, I thought this comment was really good, a really good thing to hear from Tua about kind of the focus of the offseason and how this offense can become the best version of itself through ball distribution.
Yeah, I'd like to spend more time with a few guys on the field, that's for sure, so that we can get our game right to where we.
Need it to be.
And it the distribution of the ball becomes more evident in games, and you know, we get a lot more guys involved, and I get a good feel in trusting that if this guy's not open, that I trust this guy and this guy and this guy.
I saw a great quote from Chris Hogan today seven to eleven, former Dolphins hard knock star talking about acting with Tom Brady and how he would if you weren't looking out of your break he would throw the ball past your head to kind of get your attention and be like, hey, next time, make sure you look too,
because I could come to you with the football. Like that's the kind of ownership I see to tak taking strides toward towards being right, Like get on my page and get on my level so I can trust you and we can go to you in games. I think that's the kind of accountability that you need from your quarterback. And we'll get back to more of that here in
just one second. And please don't get this messaging twisted that I'm trying to convey this idea that I think that star pass catchers are somehow a bad thing.
They're not. You have to have them in this league to win.
And we saw Tua have his best years with star pass catchers, right, But we've also seen him conduct successful offenses with you know a complement of Miles Gaskin who came up from a you know, running back two or three after injuries to being the starting running back in twenty twenty one, or Adam Shaheen or Isaiah Ford, guys that were practice squad call ups or you know, late summer acquisitions for late round draft picks and just play this, hit the open guy type of offense, because that, to
me is what Tua's superpower has always been, the process and manipulate defenders to take advantage of the space that they create from that manipulation. And now instead of an offense where you know that was in the early stages of a rebuild back in twenty twenty one, you've got a Chan You've got Reek, you've got Waddle, You've got
these big time playmakers at every position. If you can distribute the football around enough, you'll eventually break the levy and those guys can take those eight yard completions and turn them into long touchdowns. I think it's a great thing for this offense to have. Tua also talked about his off season plans. It's gonna be one week off for QB one, then back to working out and throwing with the guys. So a really nice day from Tua
on the field and to hear from him. We're gonna hear plenty of more from him and as well as on some different daily themes and stories here and we'll come back to this from coach and Tua on the other side after a short break on the Draft Time podcast brought to you by Auto Nation. On top of the deep passes and long touchdowns and big explosive plays, one of the themes of the day was the emphasis
on the culture and the locker room. And before we go to TUA, we're gonna go ahead and bring coach McDaniel back in, who was asked this morning about what's more important from this time of year, breaking camp with minimal injuries or growth from your roster. I thought this answer was well worth getting in the podcast.
And in the seven weeks I've seen guys come together to I can see a vision of a team. Remember the whole league's dealing with the same thing where you're getting fifty five percent.
Or forty five percent turnover, right, So being able.
To feel a team in seven weeks, I've gotten to that point where I have an idea of a team, not exactly what it's going to look like. They'll define that by their daily work, but the elements of a team that you can only really create through blood, sweat, tears, hard work and mutual sacrifice.
Right.
Well, this week, uh, you know, I think taking uh you know, the semblance of the team that I think that the entire team does feel Let's see how how good we can get the ball, how how much we can challenge each other, and the every play is a productive play, it's a success. If it's a success on one side, it should be earned. And in that process in playing football, football is one hundred injury sport. You play football, you will get injured. It is a cost
of doing business. I do feel good about how we practice and how we protect each other. So most importantly is we are trying to go after how good can we get this team in the spring.
I eventually want to ask a question about the value of the continuity at the center position with Aaron Brewer, who missed most of camp last year, and he's talked a couple of times at media availabilities about coming back and playing the same position for the second straight year for the first time since he was in college. And that's kind of the theme across the board, that and the competition and just kind of trying to fuel guys in a certain way.
And I think there's value to all of that.
Let's go ahead, though, and pivot next back to Tua, who talked a little bit here about the shift in terms of the culture and the way things have gone so far this offseason.
We've heard about it all off season.
Now let's hear from the guy that's lived it and experience it and get an update on where things stand right now.
There is a culture shift, and I know it. I mean I feel it just as much as everyone that's been here. Since I've gotten into the league. We always hear about, man, yeah, oh, culture shift. You guys have
a change of this. You guys are doing this always optimistic, but I really do feel in my heart that this is a change of scenery for our guys in the locker room, and then it also transitions to our coaches as well, because we get opportunities to lead and it's not as much the coaches as it is the players.
I would say this year one more time from tow on the topic of culture.
Well, I think I think first you you got to have the right guys to be able to do that with right and uh, I think we I think we have the right guys with within the room, within the locker room, within the offense. And I know those guys on the defense, you know, feel like they have their guys as well. But for me, I think it what's most important is like, you know, I've been here for five years going on six, Like are you not tired
of what we've done these past five years? Like if you are, then why aren't we doing anything about it? Like you know, what do we have to change? What do we have to do to correct the the navigation of where we want to go?
So I would say that's what it is.
And you create that standard in the locker room, the guys follow, and you got to uphold it. And so you come into work knowing that they're looking to you to uphold that standard. And if you don't, you got to have brought enough guys to hoold you to that standard as well.
Man, That's that's a really cool thing to hear from a leader because like if you're not on your p's and q's as a leader, you then have to fall back on the leadership of the guys you brought along with you as a leader. So it's like it all kind of comes back to you, Right. I love that idea and that thinking and to and a quarterback should be the one that kind of you know, after the game, he's the one that takes blame for the loss and he's the one that gives credit when they lose or
when they win. Had that backwards there for a second. And this concept of competition, I mean, we heard about it really at every stage this offseason, but the one that really sticks out in my mind is back at the owners meetings when coach talked about building your culture through the draft and the young hungry athlete who's ready to kind of, you know, earn that second contract and earn a job, and the hunger that comes from those
players reverberates throughout your entire roster. And I just love this because it seems like there's a real intentionality about what this time of year is and a trust not just among the players, but from the player to the coaching staff. And I apologize for going back to this well again, but get used to it, because I'm going to make it about golf. When you're making a swing change, focusing on the fundamentals of the swing, you have to
be okay with crappy results. If I'm hitting a bad slice, I need to hit a bad snap hook, draw the other direction to kind of correct it, and find my club path on the opposite side to even it out back in the middle to get that result that I want. But you have to do that through trust in the
process and hitting bad golf shots. So if I'm trying to learn a t step as a cornerback, or I'm trying to take a snap from under center and get my footwork right from that from a quarterback position where I want to press a gap as a running back, I have to trust the process and not be obsessed with the result of the first couple of reps of doing that, as bad as it might look. And then the idea is you come out the other side, you know, Andy frame style, through five hundred feet of filth, and
you come out the other side clean. Like that's the idea of kind of stripping down the fundamentals and building them back up to be the best version of yourself. And I love that there is this trust for the guys to really trust the coaching staff to work on the development and not be concerned about possibly putting bad results on tape and making yourself into the best version of yourself. So here's coach on two other topics that I thought tied back into this. He was asked about
the cornerback room and the availability of those jobs. We'll go ahead and play that sound here first.
I think the biggest thing is what we've captured this offseason that you know I prioritize over over everything is really like a competitive get something out of the day develop mindset, all right, So we are going to If I'm asking players to develop their game, I can't right in the middle of it expect them to really go after it and say, hey, you're accountable for the result.
There's a a day in, day out challenge that really I start meetings challenging the line of scrimmage, particularly with wide receiver versus dbs, and then you watch how they own they they play with confidence, but more so defensive back is about the next play after you get beat.
It's not if, but when. So we are getting major evaluation stuff That a guy might have a good day for two days. To me, that's a setup at this stage, and the evaluation for me, I'm waiting, okay, two good days. This is fantastic. I can't wait until he gets beat because now we got action. Now we're seeing who we're
dealing with. Because the one thing that I can't coach is that that mental fortitude to bounce back an inherent feature in the game, and that's what we're looking for and that's that's how you're starting to hear you talk to other players across the ball and you feel that they're not trying to pick who the best corner is because every day you have to come to work and deliver your best stuff, or whoever's guarding you will be
the best corner for the day. Challenge accepted, competitive mindset to develop, not to figure out the depth chart today.
I just love that comment about high stakes reps in practice.
I've talked about it on the podcast.
I'm not gonna pull the old quote, but you can go back and find me talking about how when you put these high intensity reps on the practice field, you're creating situations that prepare guys for that critical third down on Sundays, right, And it's through earning a job, Like you don't get to Sunday if you don't earn the job out here on a Wednesday. So I think there's
tons and tons of value to that. And because of that competition, I think you can expect to be a better version of your football team from week one opposed to a slow start where you know, last year I talked in the summer about how this team starts fast every year, and then it wasn't the same offensively, and Tua gets hurt in week two, which kind of changed
the trajectory of that. But when he came back in week eight against the Cardinals, they kind of picked it up from there, right, and that's when the kind of offense looked like we were used to in the past.
So that fastart to a season.
I think there's something to that with the idea of competition and the working training camp. And then this answer about Ashton Davis is kind of the same thing about, you know, being committed to the process through the coaching staff's message and points of emphasis. Here's why he's such a fan so far of working with Ashton Davis.
You know, both he and we agree that he is of that caliber and he's going to get the opportunity to earn that role that he covets.
But how does he do that?
Well, he's the exemplified out the gate being supremely coachable in a and not just a surface level. Hey, this guy listens, it's all right, let me find I'm going to take the points of emphasis keyword emphasis, and I'm going to apply that every rep for this practice. So you're you're a guy that is talented has the desire, but is also coupling, you know, the residuals of deliberate practice.
Stacked on top of each other.
So what I need is to see no regression from that development, and A being a technician of sorts thus farign camp to make sure that growth stays linear or even exponential, particularly after more defense gets in and the inevitable safeties had the same situation.
Corners do same as every player. So much of this is forcing it.
Or creating a competitive environment, making the stakes high, and then seeing how people respond. Failure is the key, because too many people are avoiding failure in life and in football. It's not about avoiding the failure. It's about taking those lessons and utilizing it to build. Because you're either getting better or getting worse. There's nowhere in between.
Speaking of that culture and guys leading by example, we did a whole segment last week on how much Jalen Phillips and Bradley Chubb help you not just in your pass rush but also your run defense. But how about this, It goes beyond just what happens in terms of their production. Here's coach on the early returns of JP and Bechub being back on that field together.
You know one thing, you know, I really thought that we could get a tremendous amount of gains in in the off season as we attack it and develop who we are is through competition and having.
The having.
The most talented players be the hardest working players, and players that you can feel their love for football every time they're on the grass gigantically beneficial.
It's a tone setter in and of itself.
I think having you know, both Bradley and Jalen back is something.
That I don't.
They were on the team doing their absolute, above and beyond best that they could do to impact the team while while coming back from injury. But it's just it's a different presence that I think I think has been understated and has been you know, gigantic.
I think.
You talk about the work for the tackles, you talk about the work for the quarterbacks. They every time they bring their best to practice, that's who's getting better along with them, influencing the defense. You have, the best way to teach a quarterback how to play on time is to have edge rusher production and practice. Because you're like, see you're dead here, would you like not to be dead. All right, let's let's play with timing. Those types of
things hugely impactful. And you know, anytime that you have a you have some living testaments of uh like real reality, which is the game. This this beautiful game that I coach you guys cover they play. Your existence within it is finite. So truly appreciating the little.
Points.
You're hard pressed to roll your eyes and be like, ah, another practice when you go past Bradley Chubb, what I worked a year and a half for this practice. So the answer your question you kind of got me fired up.
I just thought that was really great stuff there and Chubb to get back to the practice notes had a pressure that shut a play down today and just watching him celebrate. I had a chance to chat with Bradley for an interview you'll hear in a week or two or three. Just his mindset, his focus, and his love of the game. You're not going to find anybody besides maybe his close family who's rooting harder for Bradley Chubb
this season than I am. What a gem of a human and I have full faith that he's going to bounce back in a big, big way. Speaking of pressure, let's go ahead and sprinkle on some more practice notes here. I had a great battle ensuing between Patrick, Paul and Grace and Murphy. Murphy, as he has done basically every
day since last August, had a sack. But I also had a couple of reps where Paul locked him out and really kind of took it to him in terms of keeping him off the quarterback and moving in the running game. So some iron sharpening iron that way. And Matthew Dickerson had a really nice day as well, some line of scrimmage resetting. He had a really strong long arm move on Austin Jackson. At one point, I had Chop Robinson with a pure speed rush sack. Gosh, he
is so dang fast. I had kJ Britt springing a leak up the middle with an immediate sack on Zach Wilson.
And that's it for now.
Let's go ahead and get back to the storytelling aspect of the podcast. And this was something that was attached to the long ball stuff. To bring it back full circle, was this idea of alec Ingold and his impact in the running game. Let's go ahead and start with this here from coach McDaniel.
What people don't understand is so alec Ingold makes a block well when he comes from the backfield and goes into the line of scriptage and blocks whomever. Half the team adjacent to him has better angles at their blocks. So a fullback allows you to every play not only is he executing his block, but he's he's made the angle better for the center on his target, which helpes helps him execute his box.
So that's the trickle down.
The the physicality at the point of attack, the known matchups going into a game where hey, this dude is a physical thumper that can presses force. All right, well, hey Alec, we're gonna need a tone set at the beginning of the game.
Those things are in football. That's that's the end.
All so accountable teammate that not only is he executing and getting better and better at the point of attack, but simply put a fullback in the run game for offenses is the ultimate point guard for the offensive line, helping their angles and their leverage and their to block talented athletes.
And man the red zone running game was rolling today. I had Jalen Wright, Alex Madison, and Olie Gordon with rushing touchdowns and that kind of six to eight yard range mid red zone, and then they would call they would all go on to catch touchdown passes in that
same area of the field. The quarterbacks during their individual drills were really drilling on different drops from different platforms, shotgun, under center, all that stuff and those throws to the running backs carried over from that indie drill into the team period, and I just thought it was fitting that an hour or so after coach tells us about all the variables that go into the long ball game, we see the run game get some room and then the play pass game open up and low red zone expanding
that for them, and then it would go on to lead to the long ball. But I asked alec Ingold about the relationship between the running game clicking, the running backs catching passes, and how the play pass can open up from all of that.
Here's the Dolphins fullback.
The running backs are playmakers, and I think when the pass game can be an extension of the run game and vice versa, I think that's where you really get the skill sets. So devine to really embrace that last year and for Jalen.
Right to watch that happen and unfold.
I think both of those guys being able to see the run in the pass playing off each other. That's what I'm most excited for this year, as well as Alex.
And you'll notice a omission there of Devon ah Chan by myself that was intentional because he just made plays in several ways. He kind of passed from Zach Wilson where he got on top of Willie Gay and coverage in the back of the end zone, but was out of space. So he elevates and adjusts to it in the air and makes a play on the football in the air the way a wide receiver would. And later I see him make a catch on our route twenty
yards down the field. I saw him with a little shake on Tyrel Dodson to get you know, in the aforementioned misconnection down the field with Tua Chan just looks like a further evolution of the player we've seen the last two years, and with the depth we have at running back, I think there's opportunities to further explore all the options that he affords.
You.
Let's go back to Alec one more time for this on Devon chen and it.
Looks so smooth, yeah, right, Like I remember his rookie year where all tell him to run like run, man, run, because it never looks like he's hitting that twenty two miles an hour that he actually is. So dude plays football at a smooth level. Man, it's really cool to see.
Two segments down, we are about thirty four minutes into the show. I have one more to go, including more practice notes. We're gonna hear from Ashton Davis and talk about the aggressive natures of these of these cornerbacks and how that all ties together. That's next Draft Time podcast,
brought to you by AutoNation. So as I sit here and tell you about all the plays the offense made, it's worth noting that Elijah Campbell, Dante Trader Junior, and Isaiah Johnson all had picks, and Jordan Colbert would have had a fourth, which would have been the first of Tua the spring that the media has been around to see. And Ethan Bonner also had a drop pick. Bonners would have been a ninety eight yard pick six had he
squeeze an off Zack Wilson. So it was three picks, two drops, one of the drops off off Tua, one of the drops off Zach, two of the picks off Zach and one off Quinn. Viewers, and I want to play the audio here because again result in these practices, you want to see quarterbacks challenge windows and try stuff can get away with like Quinn. Ewers's pick, for instance, wasn't at all his fault. It hit the receiver in
the hands and bounced off. One of Zach's picks was a fifty to fifty ball he took a chance on and Isaiah Johnson just made the play. Let's go ahead and hear from Tua on this concept of results evaluation this time of year.
I hate that, you know, for certain practices, you guys aren't allowed to see the development that he's made and the shrids that he's made as a player. I would say the same for Quinn as well, that the results out there is not an epitome of what they've done this entire offseason within OTAs and in this first day of mini camp. You know they've been working really hard and they've been making really really big jumps.
But that brings me back to this that these cornerbacks are playing so aggressive, like they're not going to go down looking, they're going to take their swings. They're getting hands on guys and the safeties fly to the football. It's a theme they preach in that back end. I mentioned that Patrick mcmoor story last week, how he chased that football down that was just rolling around harmlessly after incompletion, run to the football.
You can create things when you do that.
And the way you capitalize on tip balls that can be a product of that tight coverage that forces quarterbacks and receivers to be on their p's and ques. You run to the football, you get rewarded. So no surprise there. But I asked Ashton Davis about this and here's what he said about how much those aggressive cornerbacks can help the safeties do their jobs on the back end.
It makes it a lot easier, especially you know, whether you're a man covered two whatever, they can get hands on and I mean, shoot, you saw it today. We had a few tips and yeah, we can get our hands on all those and more and more physical. The corners are the better for us. But the communication over Osmond great.
Speaking of those corners, I thought Cater and Duck were excellent today. Isaiah Johnson plays this way too, Ardie Burns, I thought I had some good reps. There was a play where he had really good feel in the corner of the end zone and left the man in the back of the end zone and closed down on the short throw and was there to arrive at the catchpoint
to make a big stick on the receiver. And I saw a play where bj Adams pressed and re routed the Owiese Junior, stayed in phase and then completely pinned him to the sideline for an incomplete pass. And with a good pass rush that style of play, with fast, hungry safeties who fly around, you can generate more takeaways.
And that's something Weavers talked about. If we get six more takeaways last year, and you give the offense six more possessions, that can swing some games and swing your season, and you can maximize your skills through the concept of team football. He talked about that as well cohesiveness and a total trust in the scheme. There are a lot of teams that execute this every year, especially teams that
get banged up like the Buffalo Bills last year. You don't have to look any further than your own division. From a team that's playing cornerbacks threes, four and five and goes and gets Russell Douglas midseason. Two years ago and gets him playing to a high level in that defense. Like it's all about playing connected coverage on that back end. So I think that's the mindset and we'll see what the finished product looks like come September. But I thought
you could really see the vision out there today. Let's close with a mixed bag here two more soundbites from Tua and some practice notes. Tua talked about what he can do to help himself stay available for all seventeen games this season.
Yeah, for sure, doing everything I can to stay available for the guys. Like I said before in the past, nothing changes with that.
It's knowing when when is.
The time to give up on a play, and uh, you know, I would say the longevity for me to be on the field with with my guys is more important than whatever that one play is. You know, you have you have more quarters than than there there would be with within just that one play that I'm trying to, you know, show the guys that you know, I'm competitive
and whatnot. And I know they know that, but it's just a you know, a nature It's it's a nature thing, you know, it just comes natural to me, uh to compete in that sense and that that's just the thing I fight with every time.
Last one.
How he can practice that and put it into practice. For lack of a bird term, Well.
I think that's that's why you have practice, and it starts in practice. I gotta sort of shift my mindset of this isn't just practice where guys can't hit me. You got to take it into a sense where like, if this guy's here, get the ball out, and if I'm scrambling and this guy's getting close, not to just hold on to it, you know, knowing they they can hit me. If it was real football, you know, just throw it away or run and then just stop to
signify it to slide if you will. But I think it's the transition and focus of bringing that game like feel into practice.
All right.
Final practice notes here. I had Jordan Brooks with a couple of reaction instinct plays that just pop off the field when you watch him. Storm Duck had a bunch of good reps day, but a PBu on a coverage snap against Tanner Connor really jumped out Connor and the Orange Jersey today. By the way, I thought Larry Boram and Braden Daniels had excellent days. I thought Ted Kushi, the UDFAO lineman, had a block that sprung and all a Gordon touchdown run that was impressive.
And I guess that's it long podcast.
Today, But we heard from the head coach, from the quarterback, and you've got, you know, one more week of football practices before we go away for you know, six or seven weeks here on the show. So I wanted to bringing you guys plenty of content today. I hope you enjoyed it. We'll be back again to do it all tomorrow. In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the show, follow me on social at linkfold NFL.
The team at Miami Dolphins check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, drivetime content, media availabilities, and so much more, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, Vinza, Caroline Cameron, Daddy, He's coming, hope,