July 28, 2025 • 36 mins
After a day off the Dolphins were back on the field for the fifth day of training camp practice. The game got it rolling with both the inside and outside game, but the front seven scored its share of wins. We’ll discuss how those things, with the additions on defense, including the new cornerbacks, speaks to positive change. We’ll discuss those additions - Jack Jones and Mike Hilton, get to all of the practice notes and hear from Hilton, Jones, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Willie Gay Jr. and Mike McDaniel.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
we're talking offensive vision revealing itself one week into training camp.
We're talking leadership walk in the walk. We're talking about
all the practice notes from Tuoa to Tyreek to Chop
to Chubb and Minka Fitzpatrick. We're talking about explosive runs
(00:31):
behind an offensive line that looks as advertised so far,
and our front seven that continues to turn up the
heat with playmaking, coverage, run stuffing and blitzing. Plus coach
Jack Jones, Mike Hilton, Willie Gay, and Minka Fitzpatrick on
the microphone from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist
Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast, Aye Daffy,
(00:53):
So Mike Hilton is official. And we had a report
on social about a Noah fan visit which I am
intrigued by that potential possible fit. I think there is
a natural fit for him in the offense should they
go in that direction. But it's been fun to put
a coup together a couple of podcasts where we have
player evaluations from newcomers and intertwine that with the practice notes,
(01:15):
and we'll do that if we if we must, if
Noah Fan does in fact sign here on the dotted line.
But we also have two guys that are official and
out here practicing. We'll come back to that in just
one moment, But first our first theme of the day.
That's our theme later on the podcast, something we've covered
at length on this podcast, and really, I mean last
(01:36):
year in the offseason, I discussed this, but it didn't
quite go in that direction, and that was the misread
on the roster, right TUA missing six games is why
we didn't make the playoffs. But the reason the run
game went away and we weren't nearly the threat or
going to be a threat against the teams that really
mattered like we were in twenty twenty three in certain
instances was the loss of the running game. And you
(01:57):
can tie that directly to the decisions on the interier
and the retention of you know, Rob Jones and Leam
Meikenberg as your go to guys versus what you've seen
this year, on top of the absence of Austin Jackson
and alec Ingold obviously, but it's it's the pivots we've
seen from different teams who run variations of the Shanahan system.
The Packers did it spearheaded by the Josh Jacobs acquisition
(02:21):
and his ability on inside zones, some downhill power stuff
that kind of revitalized that Packers offense in a way
that gave them total balance. The Rams with the bigger
offensive line between Alaric Jackson, Jonah Jackson as well and
Steve Avila the draft pick to expand their run game
menu with more inside stuff for Kyron Lacey. And we've
seen the bread crumbs this offseason with the moves the
(02:43):
Dolphins have made last year was that continuity with Liam
Jones up front. This year, your biggest free agent move
in the entire offseason was James Daniels. He used both
your Day two picks to go up and get Jonah
savit Naya. That's a big investment there at the guard position.
After last year, you brought in Aaron Brewer on a
nice little free agent contract to be one of the
best centers of the National Football League. On top of
(03:04):
the perimeter players whose top trait with Feral Brown and
Nick Westbrook. Akine is moving people off the football and
inserting in the run game in terms of blockers and
Mike Hilton, he's not directly tied to that in line
with that, but it provided some conversation about the impact
of that slot position and guys that can play a
quasi linebacker role and fit the run from that position
(03:26):
from both Mike Hilton and Mike McDaniel today, and we've
covered it on the show. One of the biggest themes
of camp so far has been how these safeties can
play downhill in the box in these quasi linebacker roles
and sneak down his rushers. Minka working off to the
side with Chop Chubb and JP with his pass rush moves,
it's not a secret that he can blitz the quarterback
and impact the game from that side. It's not a
(03:47):
mystery that if Fimla Fan was one of the top
blitzing safeties in the NFL, and Mike Hilton is probably
even better at it than if Emla Fan wuz and
real quick. Speaking of that, it sounds like if Emla
Fan was going to be back sooner than later.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
That's put McDaniel tooles.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
In his Monday morning news conference, we also heard that
Cater Coohu's timeline remains up in the air. We should
know more by the time Mike talks next, which will
be on Wednesday. We also got a little bit of
clarity on Dante Trader as well as Bjay Adams, who's
in the concussion protocol. Traders should be back sometime during
joint practices to kind of ramp back up after he's
missed a couple of practices there, So lots of attrition occurring.
(04:24):
Storm Duck did not practice today, But the Dolphins are
moving around and moving and shaking and making guys, getting
guys in these spots and these rosters. So just wanted
to update you on the layers with injuries. Darren Waller
apparently is getting closer to getting back as well, and
it's more about him not being in football shape after
missing a year of football last year. And back to
the point here, I think it's especially pertinent this concept
(04:47):
of how the Dolphins reshaped their focus and gave them
a pivot here with how they can do things offensively
but also defensively, with how you can attack these offenses
that are the most in vogue schemes in the National
Football League. We talked about the Ravens defense and that
system being one of the ones that has had the
most success against these Shanahan style offenses. And I think
(05:07):
it's most pertinent talking about these slots that can help
you play, you know, these big nickel packages or these
rather nickel packages that help you stay in like a
base look against teams that do go twelve personnel and
have tight ends and fullbacks in the game is up
north with our biggest rival and Taron Johnson for the
Buffalo Bills, a guy that plays one hundred percent of
the snaps in a defense that stays in their nickel package,
(05:29):
which is swapping out a linebacker for a defensive back
ninety five percent of the time. It's the main story
I talk about every single time we play the Bills
in the game Preview portion podcast on Thursdays. And we've
seen the Dolphins have some big rushing days against that
team as well as with the past two I mean,
think about the twenty twenty two game in the snow
up at Buffalo and how we ran the ball in
(05:50):
that game and how Tua hit the deep ball in
that game, the big one to Waddle and the big
one to Tyreek for touchdowns in twenty twenty three, we
had a really good first half run in the football
couldn't quite get it going in the second half after
the Bills took a lead there, but it was very
apparent the running game was working against that defense back then,
and then the game last year where we pretty much
got whatever we wanted, especially in that second half, from
(06:11):
both the run and the pass. Let's go ahead and
start here with coach McDaniel on the challenges a player
like Mike Mike Hilton provides an offense with all that
he can do in terms of his ability to fit
the run and the big gap, even which is more
of a linebacker gap from that nickel position.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You know, it's not just the run game. It's the
physicality that it does show up in the run game
as well as reroutes. But you're you're talking about UH
to be able to UH laterally adjust, get hands on
receivers to make sure that the you are you're stopping
(06:48):
the vertical UH the vertical momentum of an offense, while
also being able to utilize quick trigger keys uh is
and and be able to have the mindset to go
fit the A or B gap like a linebacker to
have the the quickness and football instincts to do it
(07:10):
so that you're and utilizing your quickness. And yeah, you're
generally outmatched in size in the box. Well, the one
thing that that can really balance that out is decisive, quick,
leverage player with strength and tenacity.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
It's a there.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
They're always problems talking about the the original windfield and
you know, you go to the Barbers and uh Nickels
that can play in the box and are a problem
because they they utilize their short stature and and firmness.
(07:57):
So to have those guys that are coverage players that
can add to your physicality, I think that there's a
snowball effect.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
So fired up with that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And you know it today we saw speaking of this,
you know, offensive transition from I don't want to say
like primary, but like the change up right, it's like
a picture adding a change up to his ninety nine
mile an hour fastball, some more inside zone and duo
and things you can do to vary up your run
game menu. And I saw some of that today just
based upon the personnel which I didn't even cover this
(08:29):
in the top of the show, you know, talking about
Alex Madison and Jalen Wright. What he offers from a
power standpoint, and Allie Gordon getting downhill on these red
zone runs. Our first look at red zone work today,
and they really flirted with that inside zone stuff a
year ago, but I think that move where those moves
make that much more of a conceivable shift with a
(08:50):
suitable scheme change along with duo, and I think today
demonstrated how effective that can be against the looks you're
going to get from all the stuff you do and
all the weapons you have outside to threaten with speed
and adding that power element gives you ultimate balance and
man Jalen Wright was smooth that he caught some passes,
made some good one cut reads and exploded to the
second level. The Madison and Gordon runs were examples of
(09:12):
something I think we lacked last year with a back
who can really create surge by himself if it's not
blocked right and kind of gets you wins when it's
not blocked right up front and kind of burrowing behind
that O line to push the pile. And the nice
part that's not just something that benefits the big backs,
like you move that back to your own thirty yard
line where you start most your drives and with all
(09:32):
the threats that we have to get vertical and we
saw that today too, which we'll talk about more in
a second, is it could remove somebody from the box
count and you get that against a bigger, more physical
offensive line. That's just more space for Devon ah Chan,
who continues to hit big runs at every single practice
with great frequency. I thought him and Jalen Wright both
were really really good today. Jalen Wright had a nice
(09:53):
catch off of his frame on a screen pass today
that kind of showcased his ability as a pass catcher
as well as what Devon h Chen does. But the
part of the next it's me the most about all of this,
I think is Patrick Paul and Jonah savit E Andaya
having outstanding camps so far five practices into this thing.
And I'm not talking about, you know, for a rookie,
for a second year player. They're just having good camps
(10:14):
if they were year eight guys. We heard Pat talk
about the chemistry building with Jonah being in the building
every single day together man, and it shows their connectivity
on combination blocks in the running game, picking up stunts
and twists from the defensive pass rush and the surge
they're getting in the running game where they collapse that
backside to open up those wind back lanes, which when
you can overpress that outside zone run and then the
(10:36):
running back has the backside vision against a walled off
front from Patrick Paul and jonasavit E Andaya, who both
are elite athletes at you know, three hundred and twenty
five pounds. It benefits so much more than just that
one play. It opens up the bootleg action, the misdirection game.
I saw both Zach Wilson and two a Toungo bai
loa have you know a success on a very common
(10:57):
type of play, a little play action boot backside to
the tight end Tanner Connor Cott touchdown from Tua on
that one ingold caught onon. Zach Wilson had a throw
to Nick Westbrook a keene one of the craziest throws
I've seen in the Dolphins training camp where he came
out to his left and had to throw the ball
back across the body, and he just flipped that thing
with a little flick of the wrist Michael Vick style,
with like a little touch hump on it, with enough
(11:18):
velocity to get over the underneath defender and under the
safety to Nick Westbrook a Keene for a big gain.
So it's just this layering and sequencing of Okay, you've
got this part stopped, and that's how this offense wants
to play right overplay. You've heard that from McDaniel several times. Well,
we've got a second rinkle to your first answer, a
third rinkle to that, maybe even a fourth if we
(11:38):
have a plan for you there as well. So the
couple of pieces of audio I want to hit on here,
Let's go ahead and start there and then go back.
I asked Mike Hilton after coach talked about the kind
of player that Hilton is. What does this offense do
to challenge a defense in a player in your perspective,
like a Taron Johnson type of role. Here is Mike
Hilton on the challenges the Dolphins offense provides from the
opponent perspective.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Offensive jeans no all the motions and his games he
can download to get his playmakers in space. You know,
he's one of the best offensive callers in the game.
And with guys like Tyreek and Jalen and Devon, like,
we got a lot of guys that can make plays
in open field.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
All right, let's go ahead and go backwards here and
just finish up on the point about Patrick Paul, because
coach was asked about Patrick Paul's progress so far four
days and before practice after a big fifth day as well,
here's McDaniel on the Miami left tackle.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Patrick's been doing great because he has to, otherwise he
would be miserable because of you go on the grass
against our edges. There's no days off, so you know,
I think his growth has been monumental. I think he's
one of the guys that you can feel a different
(12:49):
energy based on earned confidence. He's he's you know, like
all the all the guys in the front seven, they're
very eager for the pads to get on. However, they're
training how to use appropriate technique so that you can
play football without pads from a physical standpoint, so games
(13:11):
really developed he is.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
He is really.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
One of the one of the pillars of deliberate practice,
I think, so where that lends his game is always positive,
which is why each and every day that he goes
out and competes is a valuable day for his ascension.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I thought Andrew Meyer was outstanding today.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
He and Jonah and then James Daniels were moving people
up front, actually the entire group, because Austin Jackson was
doing the same thing too. There was a rep where
Tua found a touchdown throw to Waddle on a ball
that had no business finding the receiver because to a
put it like within the bullseye that was as big
as like your hands when you put them together are.
Because Austin Jackson gets into a great set on Jalen Phillips,
(13:57):
the coverage holds up really well in the end zone.
Jalen Phillips on that rush on Austin Jackson strains and
after losing the initial effort, is has a second effort
back inside to get around Austin Jackson and Tua. And
you can debate whether or not he tagged off or
made the play like he celebrated, so.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I assume he thinks he did.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
But Tua did that spin that we saw on the
touchdown throw to crak Craft in the Baltimore game back
in twenty two and then rips this throw across his
body to Waddle at the pylon, and from where I was,
I couldn't even see the white jersey of Waddle because
all I saw was the aqua color jersey of the
defender like on top of him blocking out this pass,
but Wattle makes the catch. I look over and I
(14:36):
see Mike McDaniel like slapping his play sheet on the
grass as if to say, like, that's what the hell
I'm talking about right there. And that's kind of been
the theme of these practices. Man, it's been a lot
of bang bang good. First part of the rep good,
secondary part of the rap. Like there were three procedural
things today that you know, false starts that can be annoying,
I guess, but there was also some bad exchanges with
Addison West and Quinn Ewers, but again five days in
(14:58):
the camp, Like I remember Connor Williams snaps being an
issue in twenty twenty three training camp, and that offense
scored thirty one points per game, Like it doesn't really
matter right now, especially with a rookie quarterback and a
rookie center who are just getting to know each other
here for the first time this summer. But other than that,
these practices have looked really really crisp, and the natural
transition off of that you have plenty of these successful runs,
(15:21):
and I think this speaks to the nature of that
running back room where if we block it right, we
have the guys that can not just make eight yard runs, but.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Take it to the house. Take it to the house.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
In all camps so far, there have been these explosive
runs and there's no pads on, so it's tough to
really evaluate the physicality and the arm tackles and what
actually would happen. But there's been plenty of wins by
the defense as well. And that brings me to my
orange Jersey prediction, which I've had a couple of times
so far this camp.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I think he's had the best camp of anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Maybe Waddle has been on top of maybe Tua, maybe
Devon a Chan, but Jordan Brooks, he is so damn good.
Let's hear from Willie Gay on Jordan Brooks real quick man.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
That boy is just a natural lead, you know, as
a as a person, you know, as a as a player. Obviously,
it's nothing Jordan can't do.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You know.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
I feel like he's versatile, like I was just talking
about with the LB's man, he's continued to leave the room,
you know, well he's going on year three here, two here,
so uh and I feel like he's doing a great job,
you know, last year and going into this year with
the growth that he's having. You know, me as a
new guy, I'm looking at him like, what do.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
You need me to do?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Like what I need to do to be on that level,
Be on that next level, take it to the next
level where I can help the team as a defense.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
You know. So, yeah, man, he've been doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
We're gonna touch more on the walking, the walk, actions
of leadership, and later portions of the podcast. Let's go
ahead and just read the copy and paste from my
notes today, because Brooks was everywhere. I had Bradley Chubb
denting the edge and Jordan Brooks scraping off him on
the outside for a run stuff on Jalen right in
the mid red zone. I had Brooks scraping off Anito Jones,
which is a nose tackle for a run stuff on
(16:54):
h inside and a gap two gaps inside, Brooks chasing
one to the sideline, cutting that thing off without scraping
off anybody, and one time scraping off a win by
Zack Szeeler for a stuff in the running game. Like
the way he plays so and tune into his defensive tackles.
It's fun to watch man. And Willy talked about the
potential of this front seven, saying he thinks it has
a chance to be one of the best in the league,
and it's hard to disagree with him. There's so many
(17:16):
weapons they have in that part of the defense. So
when I talk about the running game and with five
or six runs a day that go for nothing, that's
gonna happen. But if they can hit those explosives against
this front that's how you impact the defense to change
what they do, to impact how they give you more
room in the passing game. And that's all this run
game has to do. If you can give us something
to open up the passing game, it's going to be
a thing of beauty. And like coach said about Patrick
(17:37):
Paul against our edge, it's just no days off. Same
concept there. So the run game provided fireworks on either side.
Let's go ahead and take our first break and talk
about the defensive backfield to it and the receivers a
lot more here on the other side. Drive Time Podcast
brought to you by Auto Nation to a tongue of
I Looa had the orange jersey and was painting once again.
(17:58):
I was texting my buddy about you know some of
the negative notes that come from these practices. And we
were talking before before training camp began, how like, you
know when Tua throws his first pick on day five
and people freak out, And I made that comment to
my friend, and what do you know, here we are
on day five.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Guess who hasn't been picked off yet.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm just saying I think he's off to the best
start in his career of training camp so far in
his sixth season. And then this, for me is no contest.
This is the best I've seen the non two of quarterbacks,
the backups. Look, since I've been doing this and this,
I haven't missed a practice since twenty nineteen to his
best throws have consistently been to an area of the
field that I've read on social media that he quote
(18:37):
unquote cannot make right. And I air quote that because
I've seen it for years and every damn day out here.
But it's a far hash throw and he's winning with
touch to that area of the field. There's different ways
of skinn of cat like Drew Brees could win to
the perimeter with touch and not a lot of zip.
And I'm not saying Tua can't put zip on the football,
but it's to that part of the field. His best
throw is that touch throw under the safety over the
(18:58):
curl flat defender, and you might think, like, why doesn't
the curl flat defender just get more depth and go
get a hand on the ball. A big part of
that is to his progression and mastery with how he
challenges every route in the progression and creates windows through
that process. So if you want to run like a
drag route under that curl flat defender, two was gonna
read him out until he moves that defender and displaces him.
McDaniel talked about that last year. It was very, very
(19:20):
evident in the Buffalo game. If you want to go
see it for yourself, there's a throw that Tua makes
to Devon h Cham on a swing route where it's
like innocuous little two yard forward pass, but if you
watch the way Tua gets through it on film, he
makes the play by how he moves the defense with
his eyes and that discipline. Let's go ahead and hear
from Minka fitzpatrick on this Dolphins offense, but also the
fun part about this answer wait for the very end.
(19:42):
He talks about him and Tua trading notes from a
quarterback perspective and a quarterback of the defense perspective, I
think they should get you guys pretty fired up.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It's been fun.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I love going against this offense because they challenge you
in every single way, shape or for him, they could
run the ball, they could run the ball laterally down downhill.
They get the ball laterally downhill. The you know, they
could show you twenty different formations in one period. Uh,
and so you know every single rep you have to
you know, you have to be on your A plus
(20:10):
plus game.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
And you know two is the.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Head guy over there, and he's leading the charge and
it's you know, it's awesome just going to the sideline
after a play and he'll come up to me and
ask me, you know what what happened here? Would you see?
Why did you do this? And I'll do the same
vice versas. You know, you have two great balls today,
and you know I'm gonna go talk to him after
this and be like, what did you see why?
Speaker 4 (20:30):
How'd you know you can get you know what.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
I'm saying, and Uh, just being able to have that
exchange is extremely beneficial for me.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Reminds me of the combine back in twenty twenty when
I asked Xavier McKinney about that, and he was talking
about him and two of going back and forth and
how he picked off two like twice in practice in
three years together.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
There, let's go back to it. Here's some notes.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
He jams went in the Tyreek Hill with Minca buzzing
underneath and Davis over the top. Minca was all over
the field. Today, he's gonna be uh, He's gonna be
everywhere on that field. The window looked non existent, but
two finds it. He throws an eighteen yard dime on
that far hash over the curl flat defender under the
safety for a throw to Jaalen Waddle. Tua has a
bread and butter throw to Tyreek Hill twenty yards downfield
(21:10):
on an inbreaker, and if Tua can just or rather
if Reek can just slip the shoe string tackle attempt
of the pursuit corner, it's going to be a forty
yard touchdown. I do think Isaiah Johnson could have got
into the ground, but I don't know. I've seen Tyreek
Hill score on most plays before. And then Chopp was
screaming downhill on an inside rush win that he had
to probably blast Tua. But Tua did hang in there
(21:30):
and throws this ball up the sideline and it was
just like the deep ball to Tradavius White in the
Buffalo game I mentioned a couple of years ago, like
quick Win throw the ball right on the target and
he catches it and runs through it for a long
touchdown forty six yards here without knowing how the throw.
The hit would have affected the throw. So that's tough
for our training camp. I also saw Tua heavily involved
(21:51):
around the huddle with the other quarterbacks and their reps
and talking about them about the reps. After the fact,
we heard Minka talk about how they pick each other's brains.
A great teammate with the other quarterbacks provide some perspective
for them, and speaking of that, Zach Wilson's camp continued
in the same way it has gone just about every day,
and for me, it's been a really positive progression. I
(22:11):
didn't see it coming. I thought the tape didn't show
what I've seen out there in practice. He nearly got
picked by Willy Gay in the hook zone, which happens
like every day, it seems like, but Willy dropped the pick,
but he also had the incredible throw I described earlier
to Westbrook Akine. He did miss one over the middle
to Malik Washington A. Malik had a really good release
that helped him uncover like right away. But the progression
(22:32):
of those misses becoming less and less from OTAs and
Sprinkling and some of the more impressive throws I've seen
out here, I think it's a good sign. He looks far,
far superior than previous backup quarterbacks we've had. And quite frankly,
Quinn Viewers has too. And I was talking about his
tape at Texas being like up and down, but his
best day of camp was today. I thought ended the
day with three straight touchdowns in red zone work. One
(22:54):
was a busted coverage, another one was a really nice
throw against Jack Jones to the Ohies in the back
of the end zone on an side route. Then another
catch rock throw shot to a tight end on the
goal line. I think it was Julian Hill for like
a three yard score. So really good day from the quarterbacks.
And we're gonna come back to our next topic here,
but since I'm gonna mention, let's go ahead and hear
from Willy Gay on how this defense puts you in
(23:15):
a position to make plays like the near pick six.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
From a coverage standpoint.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
They put us in position to make those plays. Man,
you know, we're dropping back and all kind of zones.
And then man too over the over three, you know,
in the middle of the field flats. So it gives
you opportunities to you know, to flect the pass and
intercept them. You know, actually what we want to do.
But you know, so this defense is scheme just for that.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So and Willy has just been a monster in coverage.
I thought like blitzing was more of his game. And
when you can blitz and cover pretty damn good sub
package linebacker, right like, you don't have to go to
extra dbs. You can just put Willy Gay out there
and he can help you in those areas. And it's
not like just reading the iyes to the quarterback, which
is great. That's a big way to win in today's
NFL with those instincts. But he's also showcase. It's the
(24:00):
athletic profile that your boy had had your boy all
giddy about what he was as a player when we
signed him. Just from the notebook here, Willy was all
over the shot to the corner of the end zone
and mid red zone worked from Zach Wilson. He wanted
Alex Madison, but Gay took away the window by getting
in the hip pocket and staying in phase and causing
the incompletion. One more SoundBite here, I thought Willy gave
(24:20):
a really profound answer and this will tie into our
leadership theme here on the third segment about how when
the pads come on you really have to stay on
your stuff to avoid mental lapses. Let's go back to
the Dolphins linebacker.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
Uh, you know, you gotta be careful when when when
you when you go there, because a lot of guys
think it's all we hidden, we hidding, but then the
mental park leaves, you know, So you have to stay
locked in on the mental part because you can hit
all day, but if you don't remember your your job
and your role, you know, it don't really matter how
hard you're hitting it if you're giving up touchdowns or
break busting coverages. You know, so you have That's that's
(24:54):
my main focus point for tomorrow, and I hope some
of the guys as well. You know, uh, definitely put
it on somebody now, but don't let that mental part
slip away as well.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
From the defense back to the offense. One guy that
really nobody can cover. I thought Tyreek Hill had a
vintage Tyreek Hill day. His release and stack catch on
the deep ball from Tua was so nice. He had
another potential touchdown on the end breaker I talked about,
with a tough catch extending on a ball that was
a little bit out in front of him. Isaiah Johnson
might have tripped him after the catch, but I've seen
Reeke run away from guys on touchdowns like that before,
(25:25):
and it was a good payback after a red zone
rap where Johnson erased Tyreek in the corner of the
end zone on a throw from Tua. He also caught
a touchdown and we have seen him catch in games
like several times that little goal line breakout touchdown, quick
throw on now on you ball from Tua, and this
throw was not vintage Tua, a little bit off the
back hip, but Tyreek secures it and scores for a
(25:45):
tough catch. He's probably my other Orange Jersey pick for
the day, Tyreek and Jordan Brooks. I thought Tanner Connor
had his second really nice day, this time catching the football.
I thought he had a few plays in a score
in this one, and from the notes here, I thought
it was a particularly rough day for Addison West, Keon Smith,
Braden Daniels, and Larry Borum up front. And let's go
(26:06):
ahead and do just a few more notes here actually
before I go to my last break man, Chop, Chubb
and JP. First, Chopp continues to flash the potential that
Jalen Phillips talked about, you know, defensive Player of the
Year candidate, that deep ball to Tyreek would have been
interesting to see live, because I'm not sure how Chopp,
who won so quickly and so definitively inside he had
(26:26):
Tua in his crosshairs. I remember Christian Wilkins had a
sack where he like got roughing the passer because he
had nowhere to go besides through the quarterback. And I'm
not sure how Chop makes this sack without getting flagged, Like,
I don't know how you avoid a hit to the
head or just general roughing by landing on the quarterback.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because like you
want to have those types of wins, but he was
(26:48):
in shape to put a really devastating hit on the quarterback.
And he's been in there every single day, and then
Jalen Phillips is our run defense man. He is killing
it off the edge of the running game. He also
had a sack effort sack in pass rushing, so did
Bradley Chubb against the run. Those guys have been excellent
all camp long, and I am so fired up that
all three of those guys are healthy. I think Grayson
(27:09):
Murphy has looked like Edge four to me. He had
another sack in this practice. His ability to turn the
corner off the upfield shoulder of the tackle stands out
just about every single day. Zach Steeler won with power.
He won to the perimeter on a retrace against misdirection.
I saw him bust his butt back downfield on a
quick throw. Zach is in this you know, we don't
have to talk about him category like Tyreek was a
(27:31):
couple of years ago. He doesn't lose many reps, even
against an interior offensive line that has played really well.
Benito Jones got in for a sack early in practice.
Maybe a quarterback hit if it's not a sack. He
also had his share of win stacking up and letting
Jordan Brooks and Terrell Dotson scrape off of him. A
few more quick hits here. I thought Malik Washington had
one of his bad days so far in camp. He
uncovered and caught the football well. Ben Stilly had a
(27:53):
really good eye discipline rep where he stayed home and
cut off a boot escape playe from quinn Ewers. And
then Moe Kamara had a tackle for lost early in
practice where he got around the edge and took a
good angle back in a backside pursuit role. Jordan Colbert
had to pick on a tip pass from quinn Ewers.
It was a good pass actually, they just was dropped.
Andrew Armstrong had some chunk game catches. Ashton Davis I
(28:13):
thought played really well down around the line of scrimmage,
which is nice to see because that's not really what
he did with the Jets. And then John Saunders also
fail on a fell on a failed exchange from viewers
and West last break right there, come back and finish
up with some more notes on the defensive backfield. We'll
hear more from Minka, Jack Jones, and Mike Hilton. That's
all next Draft Time Podcast, brought to you by AutoNation.
(28:37):
We're gonna finish up here with some more SoundBite heavy
portions of the podcast. Jack Jones had a rep as
I talk about more practice notes to me across his
tape study where it was, you know, low red zone.
He shows this one type of technique and then flips
it where he's got his feet under his shoulders. Then
he flips it into like a receiver stance for one
(28:57):
foots ahead of the other. And that's like, I'm gonna
go jam crap out of this receiver. It's Monterey Baldwin,
who's one hundred and sixty pounds. Maybe this is how
you approach playing a smaller receiver, but he re routes
him and takes him all the way out of the play.
Akin to what Mike McDaniels had about Mike Hilton earlier.
Let's go ahead and hear from Coach on a comment
about the Dolphins signing of Hilton and Jack Jones and
(29:17):
how that came to be and how they kind of
viewed that among the young cornerback battle.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Right now, here's Coach.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Well, you know, we've been you know, considering those those
two individuals for for a while, and you know, I
think you know, timing with regard to where our group
group was, and you know, I think our young guys
really are starting to develop earned confidence, actual real confidence
(29:47):
based upon what they're doing on the field. And I
think they they they know you know where their coaches
and and where I'm at with that, and so they're
big boys now and income some some some other competition
to to Now you get to not only evaluate those
players that you feel very good about, but you get
(30:09):
to evaluate how those other players react to that and
where their game goes. Because this is a it's a
very very cool opportunity for all those guys involved. Mike
and Jack in particular, UH are both both guys that
are very thirsty for the opportunity and guys that are
(30:30):
are right now working within the locker room and becoming
part of the team.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I didn't think that Mike Hilton had any noticeable losses
and coverage today.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
He just seems so business like.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I just liked watching him go through his stuff, like
he would take a rep, go talk to a coach
like usually Coach Rujo, our cornerbacks coach here, then kind
of be off by himself rehearsing the teaching, like just
looks like a pros pro to meet And Mike McDaniel
said something earlier about him this morning with regards to
multiple people around the league, texting both he and we
even also Chris about how uh that's a guy that
(31:02):
they wanted to have in their building too.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
So interesting stuff there.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
The last team I wanted to talk about here was
the continued actions of following through on the talk of
the offseason. Let's go ahead and hear from Minka Fitzpatrick,
who talked with the media today about how he's grown
from his time since he was last year, and the
biggest thing is talking about the kind of death of
ego and how important that is on a football team.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
I think there's a standard that Mike and Career are
trying to.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
Sit and I think it is working hard, being disciplined,
being committed to this team, stripping yourself of ego.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
You know what I'm saying. It's very you know, ego
driven sport.
Speaker 6 (31:39):
And I think the best teams are the teams that
remove the ego, let down the mask in the in
the pride and U you know, play winning football, winning team, football, offense, defense,
special teams. And that's the message that they sent to
the team, is the same message that they sent to me.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
I mean, quite frankly, I like that we have a
guy that has been around Mike Talin, that Pittsburgh experience
and a very veteran defense to kind of bring some
of those you know, ego lists type of approach and
attack here to the Dolphins. Not that we have an
issue with it, you know, right now, but it's it's
just nice to have another guy that can kind of
sound off, you know that way.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Let's see what else I got here.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, and to that point, I mean, I we had
Willy talking about it, We've heard from Jordan Brooks talking
about it, We've heard Minka Fitzpatrick touch on it. Let's
go back to Mike McDaniel about Mike Hilton, who just
continues that theme.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Mike Hilton.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Hilton for me comes with some uh some scars from
the other side of the ball. So uh, you know,
playing playing him, playing against him in years past, it
was he was the one one guy in the defensive
backfield that you know, realistically and from a physicality standpoint,
(32:49):
You're like, I wish they wouldn't be in Nickel. I
wish he wouldn't play. I wish he wouldn't be on
the field. I wish they'd have a linebacker on the field.
That's how convicted he play and and and how physical
he uh he he plays the game from the defensive
back position. So you know, it had fired up that
(33:11):
that he was an option. We've been we've been talking
for a while, so uh, but my exposure going against
him uh led me to find out you know what
type of guy and and how many people you know
texted me weave Chris, you know when we signed him,
(33:34):
attest into you know what type of guy he was,
which which we had already gotten gotten the information so
that that to be verified. Awesome to add to the
locker room. Jack is in a really cool spot. Have
had multiple conversations with him, including one at six a m.
Today in the Special Teams UH special team Coordinator's office
(33:58):
about UH season opportunities and choosing to define your name
and legacy by your actions. I think that you know,
he's eager to to really compete. I like that about him,
and h I think he knows, you know, like all
(34:19):
the guys that are coming to this team, you can't
help but feel the standard with which the locker room
moves and operates and holds each other to. So I
I think, uh, all those guys know that to thrive
on this team. Their first job is to assimilate and
(34:40):
stay in line with the order that is uh that
that is on the on the grass, that we take
true and dear to our hearts.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
All Right, there we go.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Let's go ahead and finish up with the opening statement
You've probably seen and heard by now from Minko Fitzpatrick,
but I think it's owed to you to hear it
here on the Dolphins official podcast.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
I know I haven't addressed the media posted on social media. One.
Speaker 6 (35:02):
I'm my big social media guy. You ain't gonna see
me on their period point blank. Uh two. And no way,
shape or form was that and expression of frustration about
coming back to Miami.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
Three.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
You know, I want to thank the city of Pittsburgh,
the fans of Pittsburgh. You guys treated me very well.
I enjoyed my time there and I played with some
great teammates. I was very unfortunate the way things ended,
but uh, you know, it's a part of the business,
and I'm extremely, extremely excited to be in Miami Dolphin again.
My silence was not a reflection of how I felt
(35:40):
about this team, with this organization. I've been here in
the building for about a week now, and I'm extremely
excited about this season. I think we have a very,
very high ceiling. We have a lot of young, hungry,
passionate guys combined with a lot of guys who can
played a lot of game and have a lot of accolades.
So this is an organized that I'm extremely proud to
(36:02):
be a part of. And again, my silence was nothing
to do with with my feelings towards the Dolphins organization.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
And we are back at it again tomorrow. We'll see
you guys here the same time. With all of that,
we will not have coach speaking, but we'll have players
after the fact as well, So probably more note heavy
next next time you hear me tomorrow, but I guess
today was pretty note heavy as well. In the meantime,
you all please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the podcast,
follow me on social at WINFLD, NFL, the team at
(36:32):
Miami Dolphins, check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins, HQ media, availabilities,
drive time content, and so much more and last button
not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, Finn's Up, Caroline,
Cameron and Willow Daddy coming Hope
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up, Dolphans And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
we're talking offensive vision revealing itself one week into training camp.
We're talking leadership walk in the walk. We're talking about
all the practice notes from Tuoa to Tyreek to Chop
to Chubb and Minka Fitzpatrick. We're talking about explosive runs
(00:31):
behind an offensive line that looks as advertised so far,
and our front seven that continues to turn up the
heat with playmaking, coverage, run stuffing and blitzing. Plus coach
Jack Jones, Mike Hilton, Willie Gay, and Minka Fitzpatrick on
the microphone from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist
Health Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast, Aye Daffy,
(00:53):
So Mike Hilton is official. And we had a report
on social about a Noah fan visit which I am
intrigued by that potential possible fit. I think there is
a natural fit for him in the offense should they
go in that direction. But it's been fun to put
a coup together a couple of podcasts where we have
player evaluations from newcomers and intertwine that with the practice notes,
(01:15):
and we'll do that if we if we must, if
Noah Fan does in fact sign here on the dotted line.
But we also have two guys that are official and
out here practicing. We'll come back to that in just
one moment, But first our first theme of the day.
That's our theme later on the podcast, something we've covered
at length on this podcast, and really, I mean last
(01:36):
year in the offseason, I discussed this, but it didn't
quite go in that direction, and that was the misread
on the roster, right TUA missing six games is why
we didn't make the playoffs. But the reason the run
game went away and we weren't nearly the threat or
going to be a threat against the teams that really
mattered like we were in twenty twenty three in certain
instances was the loss of the running game. And you
(01:57):
can tie that directly to the decisions on the interier
and the retention of you know, Rob Jones and Leam
Meikenberg as your go to guys versus what you've seen
this year, on top of the absence of Austin Jackson
and alec Ingold obviously, but it's it's the pivots we've
seen from different teams who run variations of the Shanahan system.
The Packers did it spearheaded by the Josh Jacobs acquisition
(02:21):
and his ability on inside zones, some downhill power stuff
that kind of revitalized that Packers offense in a way
that gave them total balance. The Rams with the bigger
offensive line between Alaric Jackson, Jonah Jackson as well and
Steve Avila the draft pick to expand their run game
menu with more inside stuff for Kyron Lacey. And we've
seen the bread crumbs this offseason with the moves the
(02:43):
Dolphins have made last year was that continuity with Liam
Jones up front. This year, your biggest free agent move
in the entire offseason was James Daniels. He used both
your Day two picks to go up and get Jonah
savit Naya. That's a big investment there at the guard position.
After last year, you brought in Aaron Brewer on a
nice little free agent contract to be one of the
best centers of the National Football League. On top of
(03:04):
the perimeter players whose top trait with Feral Brown and
Nick Westbrook. Akine is moving people off the football and
inserting in the run game in terms of blockers and
Mike Hilton, he's not directly tied to that in line
with that, but it provided some conversation about the impact
of that slot position and guys that can play a
quasi linebacker role and fit the run from that position
(03:26):
from both Mike Hilton and Mike McDaniel today, and we've
covered it on the show. One of the biggest themes
of camp so far has been how these safeties can
play downhill in the box in these quasi linebacker roles
and sneak down his rushers. Minka working off to the
side with Chop Chubb and JP with his pass rush moves,
it's not a secret that he can blitz the quarterback
and impact the game from that side. It's not a
(03:47):
mystery that if Fimla Fan was one of the top
blitzing safeties in the NFL, and Mike Hilton is probably
even better at it than if Emla Fan wuz and
real quick. Speaking of that, it sounds like if Emla
Fan was going to be back sooner than later.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
That's put McDaniel tooles.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
In his Monday morning news conference, we also heard that
Cater Coohu's timeline remains up in the air. We should
know more by the time Mike talks next, which will
be on Wednesday. We also got a little bit of
clarity on Dante Trader as well as Bjay Adams, who's
in the concussion protocol. Traders should be back sometime during
joint practices to kind of ramp back up after he's
missed a couple of practices there, So lots of attrition occurring.
(04:24):
Storm Duck did not practice today, But the Dolphins are
moving around and moving and shaking and making guys, getting
guys in these spots and these rosters. So just wanted
to update you on the layers with injuries. Darren Waller
apparently is getting closer to getting back as well, and
it's more about him not being in football shape after
missing a year of football last year. And back to
the point here, I think it's especially pertinent this concept
(04:47):
of how the Dolphins reshaped their focus and gave them
a pivot here with how they can do things offensively
but also defensively, with how you can attack these offenses
that are the most in vogue schemes in the National
Football League. We talked about the Ravens defense and that
system being one of the ones that has had the
most success against these Shanahan style offenses. And I think
(05:07):
it's most pertinent talking about these slots that can help
you play, you know, these big nickel packages or these
rather nickel packages that help you stay in like a
base look against teams that do go twelve personnel and
have tight ends and fullbacks in the game is up
north with our biggest rival and Taron Johnson for the
Buffalo Bills, a guy that plays one hundred percent of
the snaps in a defense that stays in their nickel package,
(05:29):
which is swapping out a linebacker for a defensive back
ninety five percent of the time. It's the main story
I talk about every single time we play the Bills
in the game Preview portion podcast on Thursdays. And we've
seen the Dolphins have some big rushing days against that
team as well as with the past two I mean,
think about the twenty twenty two game in the snow
up at Buffalo and how we ran the ball in
(05:50):
that game and how Tua hit the deep ball in
that game, the big one to Waddle and the big
one to Tyreek for touchdowns in twenty twenty three, we
had a really good first half run in the football
couldn't quite get it going in the second half after
the Bills took a lead there, but it was very
apparent the running game was working against that defense back then,
and then the game last year where we pretty much
got whatever we wanted, especially in that second half, from
(06:11):
both the run and the pass. Let's go ahead and
start here with coach McDaniel on the challenges a player
like Mike Mike Hilton provides an offense with all that
he can do in terms of his ability to fit
the run and the big gap, even which is more
of a linebacker gap from that nickel position.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
You know, it's not just the run game. It's the
physicality that it does show up in the run game
as well as reroutes. But you're you're talking about UH
to be able to UH laterally adjust, get hands on
receivers to make sure that the you are you're stopping
(06:48):
the vertical UH the vertical momentum of an offense, while
also being able to utilize quick trigger keys uh is
and and be able to have the mindset to go
fit the A or B gap like a linebacker to
have the the quickness and football instincts to do it
(07:10):
so that you're and utilizing your quickness. And yeah, you're
generally outmatched in size in the box. Well, the one
thing that that can really balance that out is decisive, quick,
leverage player with strength and tenacity.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
It's a there.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
They're always problems talking about the the original windfield and
you know, you go to the Barbers and uh Nickels
that can play in the box and are a problem
because they they utilize their short stature and and firmness.
(07:57):
So to have those guys that are coverage players that
can add to your physicality, I think that there's a
snowball effect.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
So fired up with that.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And you know it today we saw speaking of this,
you know, offensive transition from I don't want to say
like primary, but like the change up right, it's like
a picture adding a change up to his ninety nine
mile an hour fastball, some more inside zone and duo
and things you can do to vary up your run
game menu. And I saw some of that today just
based upon the personnel which I didn't even cover this
(08:29):
in the top of the show, you know, talking about
Alex Madison and Jalen Wright. What he offers from a
power standpoint, and Allie Gordon getting downhill on these red
zone runs. Our first look at red zone work today,
and they really flirted with that inside zone stuff a
year ago, but I think that move where those moves
make that much more of a conceivable shift with a
(08:50):
suitable scheme change along with duo, and I think today
demonstrated how effective that can be against the looks you're
going to get from all the stuff you do and
all the weapons you have outside to threaten with speed
and adding that power element gives you ultimate balance and
man Jalen Wright was smooth that he caught some passes,
made some good one cut reads and exploded to the
second level. The Madison and Gordon runs were examples of
(09:12):
something I think we lacked last year with a back
who can really create surge by himself if it's not
blocked right and kind of gets you wins when it's
not blocked right up front and kind of burrowing behind
that O line to push the pile. And the nice
part that's not just something that benefits the big backs,
like you move that back to your own thirty yard
line where you start most your drives and with all
(09:32):
the threats that we have to get vertical and we
saw that today too, which we'll talk about more in
a second, is it could remove somebody from the box
count and you get that against a bigger, more physical
offensive line. That's just more space for Devon ah Chan,
who continues to hit big runs at every single practice
with great frequency. I thought him and Jalen Wright both
were really really good today. Jalen Wright had a nice
(09:53):
catch off of his frame on a screen pass today
that kind of showcased his ability as a pass catcher
as well as what Devon h Chen does. But the
part of the next it's me the most about all of this,
I think is Patrick Paul and Jonah savit E Andaya
having outstanding camps so far five practices into this thing.
And I'm not talking about, you know, for a rookie,
for a second year player. They're just having good camps
(10:14):
if they were year eight guys. We heard Pat talk
about the chemistry building with Jonah being in the building
every single day together man, and it shows their connectivity
on combination blocks in the running game, picking up stunts
and twists from the defensive pass rush and the surge
they're getting in the running game where they collapse that
backside to open up those wind back lanes, which when
you can overpress that outside zone run and then the
(10:36):
running back has the backside vision against a walled off
front from Patrick Paul and jonasavit E Andaya, who both
are elite athletes at you know, three hundred and twenty
five pounds. It benefits so much more than just that
one play. It opens up the bootleg action, the misdirection game.
I saw both Zach Wilson and two a Toungo bai
loa have you know a success on a very common
(10:57):
type of play, a little play action boot backside to
the tight end Tanner Connor Cott touchdown from Tua on
that one ingold caught onon. Zach Wilson had a throw
to Nick Westbrook a keene one of the craziest throws
I've seen in the Dolphins training camp where he came
out to his left and had to throw the ball
back across the body, and he just flipped that thing
with a little flick of the wrist Michael Vick style,
with like a little touch hump on it, with enough
(11:18):
velocity to get over the underneath defender and under the
safety to Nick Westbrook a Keene for a big gain.
So it's just this layering and sequencing of Okay, you've
got this part stopped, and that's how this offense wants
to play right overplay. You've heard that from McDaniel several times. Well,
we've got a second rinkle to your first answer, a
third rinkle to that, maybe even a fourth if we
(11:38):
have a plan for you there as well. So the
couple of pieces of audio I want to hit on here,
Let's go ahead and start there and then go back.
I asked Mike Hilton after coach talked about the kind
of player that Hilton is. What does this offense do
to challenge a defense in a player in your perspective,
like a Taron Johnson type of role. Here is Mike
Hilton on the challenges the Dolphins offense provides from the
opponent perspective.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Offensive jeans no all the motions and his games he
can download to get his playmakers in space. You know,
he's one of the best offensive callers in the game.
And with guys like Tyreek and Jalen and Devon, like,
we got a lot of guys that can make plays
in open field.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
All right, let's go ahead and go backwards here and
just finish up on the point about Patrick Paul, because
coach was asked about Patrick Paul's progress so far four
days and before practice after a big fifth day as well,
here's McDaniel on the Miami left tackle.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Patrick's been doing great because he has to, otherwise he
would be miserable because of you go on the grass
against our edges. There's no days off, so you know,
I think his growth has been monumental. I think he's
one of the guys that you can feel a different
(12:49):
energy based on earned confidence. He's he's you know, like
all the all the guys in the front seven, they're
very eager for the pads to get on. However, they're
training how to use appropriate technique so that you can
play football without pads from a physical standpoint, so games
(13:11):
really developed he is.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
He is really.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
One of the one of the pillars of deliberate practice,
I think, so where that lends his game is always positive,
which is why each and every day that he goes
out and competes is a valuable day for his ascension.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I thought Andrew Meyer was outstanding today.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
He and Jonah and then James Daniels were moving people
up front, actually the entire group, because Austin Jackson was
doing the same thing too. There was a rep where
Tua found a touchdown throw to Waddle on a ball
that had no business finding the receiver because to a
put it like within the bullseye that was as big
as like your hands when you put them together are.
Because Austin Jackson gets into a great set on Jalen Phillips,
(13:57):
the coverage holds up really well in the end zone.
Jalen Phillips on that rush on Austin Jackson strains and
after losing the initial effort, is has a second effort
back inside to get around Austin Jackson and Tua. And
you can debate whether or not he tagged off or
made the play like he celebrated, so.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I assume he thinks he did.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
But Tua did that spin that we saw on the
touchdown throw to crak Craft in the Baltimore game back
in twenty two and then rips this throw across his
body to Waddle at the pylon, and from where I was,
I couldn't even see the white jersey of Waddle because
all I saw was the aqua color jersey of the
defender like on top of him blocking out this pass,
but Wattle makes the catch. I look over and I
(14:36):
see Mike McDaniel like slapping his play sheet on the
grass as if to say, like, that's what the hell
I'm talking about right there. And that's kind of been
the theme of these practices. Man, it's been a lot
of bang bang good. First part of the rep good,
secondary part of the rap. Like there were three procedural
things today that you know, false starts that can be annoying,
I guess, but there was also some bad exchanges with
Addison West and Quinn Ewers, but again five days in
(14:58):
the camp, Like I remember Connor Williams snaps being an
issue in twenty twenty three training camp, and that offense
scored thirty one points per game, Like it doesn't really
matter right now, especially with a rookie quarterback and a
rookie center who are just getting to know each other
here for the first time this summer. But other than that,
these practices have looked really really crisp, and the natural
transition off of that you have plenty of these successful runs,
(15:21):
and I think this speaks to the nature of that
running back room where if we block it right, we
have the guys that can not just make eight yard runs, but.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Take it to the house. Take it to the house.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
In all camps so far, there have been these explosive
runs and there's no pads on, so it's tough to
really evaluate the physicality and the arm tackles and what
actually would happen. But there's been plenty of wins by
the defense as well. And that brings me to my
orange Jersey prediction, which I've had a couple of times
so far this camp.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I think he's had the best camp of anybody.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Maybe Waddle has been on top of maybe Tua, maybe
Devon a Chan, but Jordan Brooks, he is so damn good.
Let's hear from Willie Gay on Jordan Brooks real quick man.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
That boy is just a natural lead, you know, as
a as a person, you know, as a as a player. Obviously,
it's nothing Jordan can't do.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You know.
Speaker 6 (16:07):
I feel like he's versatile, like I was just talking
about with the LB's man, he's continued to leave the room,
you know, well he's going on year three here, two here,
so uh and I feel like he's doing a great job,
you know, last year and going into this year with
the growth that he's having. You know, me as a
new guy, I'm looking at him like, what do.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
You need me to do?
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Like what I need to do to be on that level,
Be on that next level, take it to the next
level where I can help the team as a defense.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
You know. So, yeah, man, he've been doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
We're gonna touch more on the walking, the walk, actions
of leadership, and later portions of the podcast. Let's go
ahead and just read the copy and paste from my
notes today, because Brooks was everywhere. I had Bradley Chubb
denting the edge and Jordan Brooks scraping off him on
the outside for a run stuff on Jalen right in
the mid red zone. I had Brooks scraping off Anito Jones,
which is a nose tackle for a run stuff on
(16:54):
h inside and a gap two gaps inside, Brooks chasing
one to the sideline, cutting that thing off without scraping
off anybody, and one time scraping off a win by
Zack Szeeler for a stuff in the running game. Like
the way he plays so and tune into his defensive tackles.
It's fun to watch man. And Willy talked about the
potential of this front seven, saying he thinks it has
a chance to be one of the best in the league,
and it's hard to disagree with him. There's so many
(17:16):
weapons they have in that part of the defense. So
when I talk about the running game and with five
or six runs a day that go for nothing, that's
gonna happen. But if they can hit those explosives against
this front that's how you impact the defense to change
what they do, to impact how they give you more
room in the passing game. And that's all this run
game has to do. If you can give us something
to open up the passing game, it's going to be
a thing of beauty. And like coach said about Patrick
(17:37):
Paul against our edge, it's just no days off. Same
concept there. So the run game provided fireworks on either side.
Let's go ahead and take our first break and talk
about the defensive backfield to it and the receivers a
lot more here on the other side. Drive Time Podcast
brought to you by Auto Nation to a tongue of
I Looa had the orange jersey and was painting once again.
(17:58):
I was texting my buddy about you know some of
the negative notes that come from these practices. And we
were talking before before training camp began, how like, you
know when Tua throws his first pick on day five
and people freak out, And I made that comment to
my friend, and what do you know, here we are
on day five.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Guess who hasn't been picked off yet.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I'm just saying I think he's off to the best
start in his career of training camp so far in
his sixth season. And then this, for me is no contest.
This is the best I've seen the non two of quarterbacks,
the backups. Look, since I've been doing this and this,
I haven't missed a practice since twenty nineteen to his
best throws have consistently been to an area of the
field that I've read on social media that he quote
(18:37):
unquote cannot make right. And I air quote that because
I've seen it for years and every damn day out here.
But it's a far hash throw and he's winning with
touch to that area of the field. There's different ways
of skinn of cat like Drew Brees could win to
the perimeter with touch and not a lot of zip.
And I'm not saying Tua can't put zip on the football,
but it's to that part of the field. His best
throw is that touch throw under the safety over the
(18:58):
curl flat defender, and you might think, like, why doesn't
the curl flat defender just get more depth and go
get a hand on the ball. A big part of
that is to his progression and mastery with how he
challenges every route in the progression and creates windows through
that process. So if you want to run like a
drag route under that curl flat defender, two was gonna
read him out until he moves that defender and displaces him.
McDaniel talked about that last year. It was very, very
(19:20):
evident in the Buffalo game. If you want to go
see it for yourself, there's a throw that Tua makes
to Devon h Cham on a swing route where it's
like innocuous little two yard forward pass, but if you
watch the way Tua gets through it on film, he
makes the play by how he moves the defense with
his eyes and that discipline. Let's go ahead and hear
from Minka fitzpatrick on this Dolphins offense, but also the
fun part about this answer wait for the very end.
(19:42):
He talks about him and Tua trading notes from a
quarterback perspective and a quarterback of the defense perspective, I
think they should get you guys pretty fired up.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It's been fun.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
I love going against this offense because they challenge you
in every single way, shape or for him, they could
run the ball, they could run the ball laterally down downhill.
They get the ball laterally downhill. The you know, they
could show you twenty different formations in one period. Uh,
and so you know every single rep you have to
you know, you have to be on your A plus
(20:10):
plus game.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
And you know two is the.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Head guy over there, and he's leading the charge and
it's you know, it's awesome just going to the sideline
after a play and he'll come up to me and
ask me, you know what what happened here? Would you see?
Why did you do this? And I'll do the same
vice versas. You know, you have two great balls today,
and you know I'm gonna go talk to him after
this and be like, what did you see why?
Speaker 4 (20:30):
How'd you know you can get you know what.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
I'm saying, and Uh, just being able to have that
exchange is extremely beneficial for me.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Reminds me of the combine back in twenty twenty when
I asked Xavier McKinney about that, and he was talking
about him and two of going back and forth and
how he picked off two like twice in practice in
three years together.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
There, let's go back to it. Here's some notes.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
He jams went in the Tyreek Hill with Minca buzzing
underneath and Davis over the top. Minca was all over
the field. Today, he's gonna be uh, He's gonna be
everywhere on that field. The window looked non existent, but
two finds it. He throws an eighteen yard dime on
that far hash over the curl flat defender under the
safety for a throw to Jaalen Waddle. Tua has a
bread and butter throw to Tyreek Hill twenty yards downfield
(21:10):
on an inbreaker, and if Tua can just or rather
if Reek can just slip the shoe string tackle attempt
of the pursuit corner, it's going to be a forty
yard touchdown. I do think Isaiah Johnson could have got
into the ground, but I don't know. I've seen Tyreek
Hill score on most plays before. And then Chopp was
screaming downhill on an inside rush win that he had
to probably blast Tua. But Tua did hang in there
(21:30):
and throws this ball up the sideline and it was
just like the deep ball to Tradavius White in the
Buffalo game I mentioned a couple of years ago, like
quick Win throw the ball right on the target and
he catches it and runs through it for a long
touchdown forty six yards here without knowing how the throw.
The hit would have affected the throw. So that's tough
for our training camp. I also saw Tua heavily involved
(21:51):
around the huddle with the other quarterbacks and their reps
and talking about them about the reps. After the fact,
we heard Minka talk about how they pick each other's brains.
A great teammate with the other quarterbacks provide some perspective
for them, and speaking of that, Zach Wilson's camp continued
in the same way it has gone just about every day,
and for me, it's been a really positive progression. I
(22:11):
didn't see it coming. I thought the tape didn't show
what I've seen out there in practice. He nearly got
picked by Willy Gay in the hook zone, which happens
like every day, it seems like, but Willy dropped the pick,
but he also had the incredible throw I described earlier
to Westbrook Akine. He did miss one over the middle
to Malik Washington A. Malik had a really good release
that helped him uncover like right away. But the progression
(22:32):
of those misses becoming less and less from OTAs and
Sprinkling and some of the more impressive throws I've seen
out here, I think it's a good sign. He looks far,
far superior than previous backup quarterbacks we've had. And quite frankly,
Quinn Viewers has too. And I was talking about his
tape at Texas being like up and down, but his
best day of camp was today. I thought ended the
day with three straight touchdowns in red zone work. One
(22:54):
was a busted coverage, another one was a really nice
throw against Jack Jones to the Ohies in the back
of the end zone on an side route. Then another
catch rock throw shot to a tight end on the
goal line. I think it was Julian Hill for like
a three yard score. So really good day from the quarterbacks.
And we're gonna come back to our next topic here,
but since I'm gonna mention, let's go ahead and hear
from Willy Gay on how this defense puts you in
(23:15):
a position to make plays like the near pick six.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
From a coverage standpoint.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
They put us in position to make those plays. Man,
you know, we're dropping back and all kind of zones.
And then man too over the over three, you know,
in the middle of the field flats. So it gives
you opportunities to you know, to flect the pass and
intercept them. You know, actually what we want to do.
But you know, so this defense is scheme just for that.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So and Willy has just been a monster in coverage.
I thought like blitzing was more of his game. And
when you can blitz and cover pretty damn good sub
package linebacker, right like, you don't have to go to
extra dbs. You can just put Willy Gay out there
and he can help you in those areas. And it's
not like just reading the iyes to the quarterback, which
is great. That's a big way to win in today's
NFL with those instincts. But he's also showcase. It's the
(24:00):
athletic profile that your boy had had your boy all
giddy about what he was as a player when we
signed him. Just from the notebook here, Willy was all
over the shot to the corner of the end zone
and mid red zone worked from Zach Wilson. He wanted
Alex Madison, but Gay took away the window by getting
in the hip pocket and staying in phase and causing
the incompletion. One more SoundBite here, I thought Willy gave
(24:20):
a really profound answer and this will tie into our
leadership theme here on the third segment about how when
the pads come on you really have to stay on
your stuff to avoid mental lapses. Let's go back to
the Dolphins linebacker.
Speaker 6 (24:31):
Uh, you know, you gotta be careful when when when
you when you go there, because a lot of guys
think it's all we hidden, we hidding, but then the
mental park leaves, you know, So you have to stay
locked in on the mental part because you can hit
all day, but if you don't remember your your job
and your role, you know, it don't really matter how
hard you're hitting it if you're giving up touchdowns or
break busting coverages. You know, so you have That's that's
(24:54):
my main focus point for tomorrow, and I hope some
of the guys as well. You know, uh, definitely put
it on somebody now, but don't let that mental part
slip away as well.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
From the defense back to the offense. One guy that
really nobody can cover. I thought Tyreek Hill had a
vintage Tyreek Hill day. His release and stack catch on
the deep ball from Tua was so nice. He had
another potential touchdown on the end breaker I talked about,
with a tough catch extending on a ball that was
a little bit out in front of him. Isaiah Johnson
might have tripped him after the catch, but I've seen
Reeke run away from guys on touchdowns like that before,
(25:25):
and it was a good payback after a red zone
rap where Johnson erased Tyreek in the corner of the
end zone on a throw from Tua. He also caught
a touchdown and we have seen him catch in games
like several times that little goal line breakout touchdown, quick
throw on now on you ball from Tua, and this
throw was not vintage Tua, a little bit off the
back hip, but Tyreek secures it and scores for a
(25:45):
tough catch. He's probably my other Orange Jersey pick for
the day, Tyreek and Jordan Brooks. I thought Tanner Connor
had his second really nice day, this time catching the football.
I thought he had a few plays in a score
in this one, and from the notes here, I thought
it was a particularly rough day for Addison West, Keon Smith,
Braden Daniels, and Larry Borum up front. And let's go
(26:06):
ahead and do just a few more notes here actually
before I go to my last break man, Chop, Chubb
and JP. First, Chopp continues to flash the potential that
Jalen Phillips talked about, you know, defensive Player of the
Year candidate, that deep ball to Tyreek would have been
interesting to see live, because I'm not sure how Chopp,
who won so quickly and so definitively inside he had
(26:26):
Tua in his crosshairs. I remember Christian Wilkins had a
sack where he like got roughing the passer because he
had nowhere to go besides through the quarterback. And I'm
not sure how Chop makes this sack without getting flagged, Like,
I don't know how you avoid a hit to the
head or just general roughing by landing on the quarterback.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because like you
want to have those types of wins, but he was
(26:48):
in shape to put a really devastating hit on the quarterback.
And he's been in there every single day, and then
Jalen Phillips is our run defense man. He is killing
it off the edge of the running game. He also
had a sack effort sack in pass rushing, so did
Bradley Chubb against the run. Those guys have been excellent
all camp long, and I am so fired up that
all three of those guys are healthy. I think Grayson
(27:09):
Murphy has looked like Edge four to me. He had
another sack in this practice. His ability to turn the
corner off the upfield shoulder of the tackle stands out
just about every single day. Zach Steeler won with power.
He won to the perimeter on a retrace against misdirection.
I saw him bust his butt back downfield on a
quick throw. Zach is in this you know, we don't
have to talk about him category like Tyreek was a
(27:31):
couple of years ago. He doesn't lose many reps, even
against an interior offensive line that has played really well.
Benito Jones got in for a sack early in practice.
Maybe a quarterback hit if it's not a sack. He
also had his share of win stacking up and letting
Jordan Brooks and Terrell Dotson scrape off of him. A
few more quick hits here. I thought Malik Washington had
one of his bad days so far in camp. He
uncovered and caught the football well. Ben Stilly had a
(27:53):
really good eye discipline rep where he stayed home and
cut off a boot escape playe from quinn Ewers. And
then Moe Kamara had a tackle for lost early in
practice where he got around the edge and took a
good angle back in a backside pursuit role. Jordan Colbert
had to pick on a tip pass from quinn Ewers.
It was a good pass actually, they just was dropped.
Andrew Armstrong had some chunk game catches. Ashton Davis I
(28:13):
thought played really well down around the line of scrimmage,
which is nice to see because that's not really what
he did with the Jets. And then John Saunders also
fail on a fell on a failed exchange from viewers
and West last break right there, come back and finish
up with some more notes on the defensive backfield. We'll
hear more from Minka, Jack Jones, and Mike Hilton. That's
all next Draft Time Podcast, brought to you by AutoNation.
(28:37):
We're gonna finish up here with some more SoundBite heavy
portions of the podcast. Jack Jones had a rep as
I talk about more practice notes to me across his
tape study where it was, you know, low red zone.
He shows this one type of technique and then flips
it where he's got his feet under his shoulders. Then
he flips it into like a receiver stance for one
(28:57):
foots ahead of the other. And that's like, I'm gonna
go jam crap out of this receiver. It's Monterey Baldwin,
who's one hundred and sixty pounds. Maybe this is how
you approach playing a smaller receiver, but he re routes
him and takes him all the way out of the play.
Akin to what Mike McDaniels had about Mike Hilton earlier.
Let's go ahead and hear from Coach on a comment
about the Dolphins signing of Hilton and Jack Jones and
(29:17):
how that came to be and how they kind of
viewed that among the young cornerback battle.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Right now, here's Coach.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Well, you know, we've been you know, considering those those
two individuals for for a while, and you know, I
think you know, timing with regard to where our group
group was, and you know, I think our young guys
really are starting to develop earned confidence, actual real confidence
(29:47):
based upon what they're doing on the field. And I
think they they they know you know where their coaches
and and where I'm at with that, and so they're
big boys now and income some some some other competition
to to Now you get to not only evaluate those
players that you feel very good about, but you get
(30:09):
to evaluate how those other players react to that and
where their game goes. Because this is a it's a
very very cool opportunity for all those guys involved. Mike
and Jack in particular, UH are both both guys that
are very thirsty for the opportunity and guys that are
(30:30):
are right now working within the locker room and becoming
part of the team.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I didn't think that Mike Hilton had any noticeable losses
and coverage today.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
He just seems so business like.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I just liked watching him go through his stuff, like
he would take a rep, go talk to a coach
like usually Coach Rujo, our cornerbacks coach here, then kind
of be off by himself rehearsing the teaching, like just
looks like a pros pro to meet And Mike McDaniel
said something earlier about him this morning with regards to
multiple people around the league, texting both he and we
even also Chris about how uh that's a guy that
(31:02):
they wanted to have in their building too.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
So interesting stuff there.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
The last team I wanted to talk about here was
the continued actions of following through on the talk of
the offseason. Let's go ahead and hear from Minka Fitzpatrick,
who talked with the media today about how he's grown
from his time since he was last year, and the
biggest thing is talking about the kind of death of
ego and how important that is on a football team.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
I think there's a standard that Mike and Career are
trying to.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
Sit and I think it is working hard, being disciplined,
being committed to this team, stripping yourself of ego.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
You know what I'm saying. It's very you know, ego
driven sport.
Speaker 6 (31:39):
And I think the best teams are the teams that
remove the ego, let down the mask in the in
the pride and U you know, play winning football, winning team, football, offense, defense,
special teams. And that's the message that they sent to
the team, is the same message that they sent to me.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
I mean, quite frankly, I like that we have a
guy that has been around Mike Talin, that Pittsburgh experience
and a very veteran defense to kind of bring some
of those you know, ego lists type of approach and
attack here to the Dolphins. Not that we have an
issue with it, you know, right now, but it's it's
just nice to have another guy that can kind of
sound off, you know that way.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Let's see what else I got here.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, and to that point, I mean, I we had
Willy talking about it, We've heard from Jordan Brooks talking
about it, We've heard Minka Fitzpatrick touch on it. Let's
go back to Mike McDaniel about Mike Hilton, who just
continues that theme.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Mike Hilton.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Hilton for me comes with some uh some scars from
the other side of the ball. So uh, you know,
playing playing him, playing against him in years past, it
was he was the one one guy in the defensive
backfield that you know, realistically and from a physicality standpoint,
(32:49):
You're like, I wish they wouldn't be in Nickel. I
wish he wouldn't play. I wish he wouldn't be on
the field. I wish they'd have a linebacker on the field.
That's how convicted he play and and and how physical
he uh he he plays the game from the defensive
back position. So you know, it had fired up that
(33:11):
that he was an option. We've been we've been talking
for a while, so uh, but my exposure going against
him uh led me to find out you know what
type of guy and and how many people you know
texted me weave Chris, you know when we signed him,
(33:34):
attest into you know what type of guy he was,
which which we had already gotten gotten the information so
that that to be verified. Awesome to add to the
locker room. Jack is in a really cool spot. Have
had multiple conversations with him, including one at six a m.
Today in the Special Teams UH special team Coordinator's office
(33:58):
about UH season opportunities and choosing to define your name
and legacy by your actions. I think that you know,
he's eager to to really compete. I like that about him,
and h I think he knows, you know, like all
(34:19):
the guys that are coming to this team, you can't
help but feel the standard with which the locker room
moves and operates and holds each other to. So I
I think, uh, all those guys know that to thrive
on this team. Their first job is to assimilate and
(34:40):
stay in line with the order that is uh that
that is on the on the grass, that we take
true and dear to our hearts.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
All Right, there we go.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Let's go ahead and finish up with the opening statement
You've probably seen and heard by now from Minko Fitzpatrick,
but I think it's owed to you to hear it
here on the Dolphins official podcast.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
I know I haven't addressed the media posted on social media. One.
Speaker 6 (35:02):
I'm my big social media guy. You ain't gonna see
me on their period point blank. Uh two. And no way,
shape or form was that and expression of frustration about
coming back to Miami.
Speaker 4 (35:15):
Three.
Speaker 6 (35:16):
You know, I want to thank the city of Pittsburgh,
the fans of Pittsburgh. You guys treated me very well.
I enjoyed my time there and I played with some
great teammates. I was very unfortunate the way things ended,
but uh, you know, it's a part of the business,
and I'm extremely, extremely excited to be in Miami Dolphin again.
My silence was not a reflection of how I felt
(35:40):
about this team, with this organization. I've been here in
the building for about a week now, and I'm extremely
excited about this season. I think we have a very,
very high ceiling. We have a lot of young, hungry,
passionate guys combined with a lot of guys who can
played a lot of game and have a lot of accolades.
So this is an organized that I'm extremely proud to
(36:02):
be a part of. And again, my silence was nothing
to do with with my feelings towards the Dolphins organization.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
And we are back at it again tomorrow. We'll see
you guys here the same time. With all of that,
we will not have coach speaking, but we'll have players
after the fact as well, So probably more note heavy
next next time you hear me tomorrow, but I guess
today was pretty note heavy as well. In the meantime,
you all please be sure to subscribe, rate, review the podcast,
follow me on social at WINFLD, NFL, the team at
(36:32):
Miami Dolphins, check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins, HQ media, availabilities,
drive time content, and so much more and last button
not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, Finn's Up, Caroline,
Cameron and Willow Daddy coming Hope
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