August 20, 2025 • 32 mins
The penultimate day of training camp practice is here and Travis has you covered on all the latest. Jack Jones and the secondary shine, including the emergence of a rookie in the slot. Plus, Matthew Judon makes a big impact and all the notes from the day of work.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To remove Daarlan Deep Speedways peas Doll.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex,
this is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Who's job my avs
in the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Old intro? Who is is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
And Welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. On today's show, the penultimate day of Dolphins
camp is in the books. One more tomorrow against the
Jacksonville Jaguars. But today we have a lot of notes
from a good session in the smoky, sunny South Florida heat.
We're gonna discuss Jack Jones, Jason Marshall Junior, and the
entire secondary plus the immediate impact of Matthew Judon, who
(00:50):
is here and he is glorious, with some splash plays,
some practice notes and audio from Jones and Judon. All
of that and a heck of a lot more from
the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Drive Time Podcast, Practice number nineteen out
of twenty. Tomorrow the finale and a strange day here
at the Baptist Health Training Complex. The Everglades Fire providing
(01:13):
us with a let's call an ominous backdrop, gray skies,
a little bit of wind, smoky air, but it was
healthy air. They know better than to doro that, so
just be aware of that. But first, thanks first, and
stop me if you've heard this before, but this is
a banged up football team, man. Hopefully we get it
out of the way right now and get guys back
for the opener. But right now, like damn Diarren, let's
(01:35):
up with all these books. No Kenneth Grant on the
field today. Julian Hill has been working off to the side,
Tyreek Hill off to the side, eight Chan Austin Ashton,
Davis cater Coo who out for the year. Like I
wish we had our full squad because it's it's banged
up right now and we'll get a good look at
them as we go forward into the season hopefully. But
I think it's worth noting that we did see alec
Ingold back on the field, absent of the red medical jersey,
(01:57):
so he's back and ready to roll. Darren Waller activated
off PA but was not part of the team drill
today again, one more practice and hopefully the time between
Saturday's game and the fifteen days before the Colts game
the Colts opener when it counts for real, is a
good opportunity to take a rest and get our squad
back to as close to full strength as it can
possibly be. Let's go ahead and start today with the
(02:17):
work on the defensive backfield. And one of the players
that I haven't shut up about in quite some time
is Jack Jones, right, and I've been vocal about it
the minute he got here. He was my Orange Jersey
Player of the Day today and I've been asking about it.
When's he going to get that promotion to the first team,
And perhaps it coincides with the injuries of an Ethan
Bonner and a Kendall Sheffield, But the day was today,
(02:39):
he was out there and he's not given that job back,
not with what he did today.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
What a performance by twenty three Jack Jones.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
I think I ran this sound bite yesterday, but I
want to give it some more air here because it's
part of a larger story. We've talked about Jack Jones
and the stuff they've been asking him to do so
far in camp and how it's different than what he's
done in the past, and his coverage responsibilities.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But the one thing I love about Jack is is
some of the things we're asking him to do are
kind of foreign to him or really just aren't in
his wheelhouse. We know what he does best. We're just
asking them to trust us and trying to trying to
build and add some tools to his toolbox. But I
thrilled where Jack said, and just know he's gonna he's
gonna make place for us this season.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, when he said is gonna make place for us
this season, I thought that was pretty telling. I want
to go back to Jack Jones who spoke to the
media after practice and he addressed the practice in Detroit
where I'm and Ross Saint Brown per Jack Jones cooked him.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
It was good, man. I knew it was gonna be,
you know, the best work out there possible, you know
what I'm saying. I mean, I've seen the tape he
cooks me, man, But you know I got better from
that and I'm learning the technique that I'm not used
to doing. So you know, he he made me better.
So if anything, you know, I'd rather it be him
than anyone knows.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I love that commentary because this is the entire spirit
of training camp. In fact, let's go ahead and go
back to Jack on the idea of trusting the coaches
and trusting that technique and just trusting the process.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I know it's a kind of a dirty phrase in
sports these days, but it's pretty true.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I would like to consider myself an off corner. But
you know, coming here, you know, they just pretty much
changed it all around, and I'm pressed all the time.
You know, I got to get up in your guy's face,
you know, just just learning different techniques, different tricks to
help me get myself in a right position.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
And that will explain to you why they love Storm
Duck so much. Right, He's a physical, in your face cornerback,
and that's how they want to play it this year.
And I know it's not Jack Jones's bread and butter,
and there's a technique that goes along with playing press
and getting up in guys faces, but the mentality and
the alpha type of personality he has it coincides with that.
Plus there's reps on his tape with the Raiders where
he's playing press and getting on the inside shoulder of
(04:37):
guys and riding out those slant routes and cutting under
the ball and making plays in the football. So it's there.
The skill set is there. I think the fact that
they're going to teach him all of that and just
making the best version of himself Underweave, under coach or
Rougo is all a good sign. And what I saw
today and what I've seen all throughout camps a guy
that has the chops to be a cornerback one. I
really do believe that with his talent and with the
(04:58):
way he's kind of wired. Now we'll talk about that
here in just one second, but man, he is. He's
bringing it, and he's invested, and he's he's engaged, and
he's urgent, he's hungry, and I think that when you
get a player like that who's had some issues in
his past, you know, keeping the right mind frame and
the right you know, track of consciousness in terms of
how he approaches being a professional, when you can uncover that,
(05:19):
and I feel like the Dolphins have with that talent,
that's when you can get these big time seasons from
these guys. And that's kind of what I expect from
Jack Jones. I've been on that train for a while now,
and what he's done this month has only solidified that
belief in him. Let's go ahead and go back to
Jack Jones right here on more of that same stuff,
and how comfortable he's getting with this new technique and
new approach to the cornerback position.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I'm getting comfortable with it, you know.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
The first couple of days.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Man, if you would have seen me look like a
high school out of here, you know what I'm saying.
But I mean from where I was to where I
am now. You know, it's a big jump. But the
thing that I need I've been working on. I need
to keep improvement is my feet and trusting the technique.
Because when I don't trust the technique and I just
out there and be an athlete, you know that, And
(06:02):
that's when I lose reps and you know, and that's
when it looks bad and you get the amenra reps.
But when I played a technique and I shoot my
hands when I was supposed to, I take the steps
when I was supposed to it, you know, it's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
It is pretty good. Jack.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
And he had a lot of run today playing across
multiple units. Just like you saw in the Detroit game.
They're still mixing a match and trying to figure out
the best recipe here, and he made an impact on
each of those groups and it began early when Tua
had to catch rock throw, which if you are new
to the podcast, I've been using that term for a
long time with Tua and it's I learned it from
the Move the Sticks podcast Daniel Jeremiah talking about like
(06:34):
catch the snap, one hitch rock into your throw and
then the ball's out. It's it's quick, right, and there's
it's basically a rep off for the offensive line. And
that's one of the calling cards of Tua tongue Ba
Lowa right, is the ability to catch rock throw and
see things and get it out quickly, and you give
the offensive line a rep off and so you can
reduce the number of true pass sets they have to
get into by ten or fifteen a game by these
(06:56):
that's a sidebar. But the ball is out and like
you know, less than a second and a half and
no one's going to get home on that pass rush.
So you can really, you know, reduce the workload of
the offensive line by doing that. But for the corners
and the defensive backfield, if they can get a beat
on that and they can get in their pre you know,
their their preparation film and their notes and play with
(07:16):
anticipation of their own. They can be disruptive that way too,
and so on this play, Jack isn't even covering Jalen Waddell,
but he comes off of it. And this is what
I love about his game is he knows things and
can take these chances. And I think that the way
this offense can score this year, and I think the
way this defense is going to play, like again, this
is this is the best case scenario.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but this is the
vision that I see for this team. Is an offense
that can score, a defense that stops the run and
forces you into passing plays and might give up some
points here and there, but if you can make enough
big plays, that's all you need. Like I think it
was this, I want to say the Saints in nine.
There's been a lot of teams that have done this
where they rode the coattails of a really good offense
(07:58):
and the defense made big They weren't a top defense,
but they made enough big plays. And I think the
way this run defense can play with this offense can
create a lot of opportunities for those big plays. And
so go get yourself a guy like Jack Jones that
can do this and take some chances. He might get
beat a couple times, but he comes off of this
this play where it's not really even his responsibility and
he undercuts it and damn near picks it off. And
(08:20):
it looked to me like he was just a step late,
which on Tua. That happens a lot, and you get
guys that are like, oh, Tua can't play because I
almost had to pick It's like, yeah, you almost did,
because he knew what you were doing and took advantage
of it. But in this case, Jack almost gets it.
He goes over to after the fact and does that like,
you know, index and thumb close together, Like I was
this close. So I asked Jack after the fact that
you know, I saw that play happen. You had that
(08:41):
one measured? What'd you say to two after the fact.
Here's Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
No.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I was just letting him know, I don't know, I
might have made that play. Yeah, I might have made
that play. He was like, I don't know, brother, I mean,
it was just you know, a competitive talk, good talk.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
He also made the play of the day where Tua
had Nick Westbrook Akine in the corner of the end
zone from about fifteen yards out for what looked like
a touchdown, and Jack is in trail technique underneath Nwi
and he's behind by maybe a step half a step,
and the football descends right into Nwi's hands, but Jack
flies in there and punches through it from the bottom,
not unlike Dave Chappelle's impression of Howard Dean the Bah.
(09:19):
You know, I'm talking about that that punch, and he
knocks it up through the air and Storm Duck corrals
it for the interception, and Storm immediately goes over to
Jack and starts, you know, celebrating with him, and the
whole sideline greets him there for that, and he gets
you know, handshakes and hugs and high fives from everybody.
And to me, this is the entire point of training camp,
the spirit of the training element of training camp. Right.
(09:40):
It's not practice camp, it's not game plan camp. It's
training camp. You're training to get better at football. And
Jack gets here. He has this body of work, you know,
as far as the film goes, that really stands out.
He's been on this team or on his third team
i should say now and in four years. In the
common message for him, and from and from people that
(10:01):
have talked about him here and even past teams, has
been the super talented player that has to get his
head on straight and be on the right path. And
I get the sense that the way the Dolphins have
played this has been nothing short of masterclass. And when
you put together performances like he did today, I mean
that was playmaking number one cornerback stuff, good feeling, zone coverage,
(10:21):
good reroutes, physical competitive, alpha mentality, get in your face
and challenge you at the point.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It was all on display.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
And I say that confidently based on past tape and
what he's done right. The flashes are there. I've shown
you clips on Twitter of him making big plays, and
there's a reason why I think he's a great football player,
because he's put great tape out there at times. But
to slow play him and make him compete and earn
those reps. We saw him rotating with the first group
in the Detroit game, right, and to ask him to
(10:50):
add to his tool belt, and the way that he's
responded and been on the same page and had that
hunger and that urgency. We have a long way to
go and he's got to play like that end game.
But the way that it's going right now, I just
think has been a really good job all around of
identifying the talent, getting him in the program, getting him
on the same page from a developmental standpoint, and saying
you're not gonna come in here and be with the
(11:11):
ones right away. You might be the best player in
the room. Maybe you think that, maybe we think that,
but you're not gonna You gotta earn it. You gotta
come in here and you got to earn that. And
watching the growth of all that come together, you know,
corporate media, shell propaganda machine here aside, Like, we'll see,
we'll check back on this.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I feel confident in this, Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Not prediction, but yeah, I guess kind of a prediction
that I think Jack Jones is going to be a
real player this year that turns heads in the league
and it's it's the quintessential training camp growth that you want.
So to put a bow on all this, I asked Jack,
what has the month been like in terms of trying
that new technique and being in this you know, growth
mindset in the midst of a battle for your position group.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Here's Jack Jones.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Oh, it's been amazing, man. I shout out to coach,
coach rule and coach you know that, and them boys
been locking in and helping me get right. You know
what I'm saying, helped me give one percent better every
day and you know it, that's to go just to
one percent every day and you know, see what it
looked like at the end of the season.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Again, I just I think what it's gonna look like
at the end of the season is going to be
a guy that gets a massive contract on the free
agent market next year here or there, somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I'm not sure, but I think that's where this is
heading at.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That's I would I would put that like in a
Bold Takes podcast fight to one of those here coming up,
maybe I will. He also undercut a deep outbreaking route
to Wadal and got hands on that. Just a really
good practice and I think that's a good place to
put a bow on. The Jack Jones segment, which took
up the entire first part of the podcast, all on
the one player we're gonna stay in, the defensive backfield
on the other side, and the defense as a whole,
(12:38):
including a big first day for Matthew Judon. All of
that's next on the draft Time Podcast, brought to you
by AutoNation. August twentieth is the penultimate day of Dolphins
trading camp, and we have a game on Saturday, and
then it's time for regular season football. And what a
treat that first week is. Man, We get the Cowboys
(12:59):
and Eagles. The Friday game is to me the one
that I care way more about, the Chiefs and Chargers.
Hopefully a SmackDown of the Colts on Sunday at one o'clock.
And then you get to come home and hopefully watch
the Ravens beat the Bills on Sunday Night football. Like,
get me there right now, I can't wait. So watching
practice today, I noticed something early that I hadn't seen previously.
Maybe I'm just not doing a good enough job paying attention,
(13:22):
and I haven't seen this in my six years of
doing this, yere is, maybe I never pay attention to
close enough. But I saw that the special teams group,
you know, in their their pre practice walkthrough, they have
the group that's on the field going through the drill,
like the one that's you know, taking the actual physical
rep in punt team. But then there's this entire second
group that is mirroring the drill without the football doing
(13:43):
the exact same thing. So while you're on the sideline,
you're getting the same rep as the guys that are
out there. Like, let's double this, let's double this drill
and get reps for you know, twenty two guys instead
of just the eleven that are out there. So I
thought that was cool to see. I hadn't seen that before.
So Jack Jones takes the entire first segment. We'll go
ahead and say in the defensive backfield here and pick
(14:04):
it up with Jason Marshall Junior, who has caught my eye.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
We'll go ahead and say it that way.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
We covered the comments from Minca and weave on him
yesterday on the show, and it prompted me to fire
up the Lions tape this morning while I ate breakfast
ahead of practice.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And look, it's been a week of this.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm not trying to project some ten year career here
for a Pro Bowl player or anything like that, but
it just looked really damn good in an exhibition game.
And I watched it with an eye on his landmark drops,
the way he carried routes and passed off to his
help A little crash course football lesson here. So zone
defense has completely taken over the league, right, so when
you get passing stats on cornerbacks, it is a dubious
(14:43):
operation at best. Like I had a conversation with Clay
Ferraro today from WPLG ABC down here in Miami and
about how difficult it is to assess blame and credit
for offensive line production when you're not in the meeting
rooms and you're trying to make grades because you don't
know the assignments and when these guys are asked to
and how somebody else's poor angle or poor get off
can affect what you do next to them. And Clay
(15:04):
referred to, you know, sometimes the coaches will have these
sessions with the media where they'll they'll like coach them
up on things and be like, here's what we're looking for,
trying to help bridge that gap between what they report
on and what's actually happening on the field. And he
talked about when Adam Gaze did that for Jamon bush
Rod and showed like, you guys have been getting on
Jamon bush Rod for you know, for the whole season,
(15:25):
But what if I showed you these four reps where
Juwan James didn't do his job and that impacted Jamon
bush Rod, and it's like, yeah, that's that's why it's
really tough to go out there and say this player
was terrible because you don't know what he was asked
to do. And it's the same thing in zone defenses. So, like,
I watched this rep against the Lions in the game,
and it's a completion down the middle, and it was
(15:46):
a nice read and a nice ball by the quarterback
who played on time and got the football to his
man who beat the coverage. But on the play, Jason
Marshall is pressed up and they they show split field
safety at the snap and then they buzzed one of
the safeties down to a robber, which turns it into
a single safety. Right, So you get a rotation where
someone comes down and spams the middle of the field
trying to take away crossing routes, and then you would
(16:06):
assume that the safety from there would play the post,
but he winds up sliding into a half field position
and Jason Marshall has a quarter of the deep half,
So it's a cover six where it's quarter quarter half.
One player has a quarter of the deep part of
the field. Another player has another quarter of a deep
part of the field, and the third player has a
half part of the field. So it's like you spam
one area with two guys. One guy has the other
(16:27):
big portion of grass, partition of grass, irish, I guess.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
So he's in quarter quarter.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Half and he what he has to do is get
this width and depth to try to cut off his
deep third because the number one receiver to the field
is going to run a vertical and so he has
to make sure he's on top of that. But they
run the second receiver, the slot receiver, on a post
and it goes right past marshall and before that safety
can get over there to help you recover the balls
(16:54):
out it's on time and so I can't be sure
that was what the coverage was or the call there,
but he gets charged a catch of twenty yards allowed.
But his rule is to run with that one on
the vertical release, and that's exactly what he does. Again,
not saying that he's you know, that that was his
particular role, but rather a descriptor as to why it
can be hard to evaluate what's asked of these guys
(17:15):
and who is giving up, you know, the the production
because the stats will tell you it was Jason Marshall,
but I can't be sure that it was his responsibility
to cover that guy, so tangent. Aside from that position,
you have rules against pattern combinations to your side of
the field. So if you're in a curl flat, which
again football one on one, curl flat is basically playing
(17:36):
wide coverage outside, but you also have the flat which
is as you guys probably know, the short area of
the field, like we're running backs run their routes right,
So curl flat is kind of a high low representation
of zone coverage in the intermediate part of the field.
And when he's in that position, you have to reroute
the release of the vertical route down the middle into
the seam, and you have to make sure the safeties
(17:58):
that are carry it before you pass it off and
get to your landmark, or if you don't, that's a
lack of connection in your coverage. And as I'm watching
the tape, the way he collisions a guy, the way
he makes sure to gets to the right shoulder, like
if I'm aligned on the inside, but I have to
collision him back to the inside and kind of reabroute
him this way he works over the top to get
to the outside shoulder and collisions it over there.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
It's good, like he knows what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
And Mika Fitzpatrick talked about this on his Wednesday press
conference about how impressive it was that he knew where
to go and his coverage and communication in his first
real game reps doing that. Then there's the work in
the running game. And I checked his Relative Athletics scorecard
one five to four to ten split eighty eight percent
for cornerbacks, the broaden the vert same category, and he
hits like Mike Hilton does, but he's twenty pounds heavier
(18:40):
and three inches taller. So I watched him throughout the
course of this practice working with the ones again like
he did in the game a little bit, and he's
doing more of that, Like Tua had a couple of
throws to the perimeter at or behind the line of
scrimmage where he's sinking into that cloud coverage and he's
getting depth on that spot and then he just eyes
in the backfield, drives upfield, and rallies up and makes
(19:00):
the play. Like I think there's a lot there with
this guy, and I'm not gonna hang my hat on
it the way I'm hanging my hat on Jack Jones,
but the signs are there and it's it's something we
should watch on Saturday in Jacksonville or versus Jacksonville, because
I think I think there's something there to this guy.
And like right away he challenged Waddle on a one
on one throw to the end zone and broke it up,
stayed in FaZe, got on the hip pocket and punched
(19:21):
through the hands, very patient at the point of the
catch point. I'm just I'm really excited about this. And look,
I might have to take a massive l here because
I was. I was pretty brazen about like the Mike
Hilton stuff, and I said that before I they even
tried Jason Marshall on the slot and if it wasn't
for Marshall's emergence, then I think I would still have
that take.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
But there's a chance here.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
I think that that maybe Mike Hilton's getting pushed for
his job in that slot position, and I you know,
if he does, great, I don't give a damn. I
don't care if I was wrong. I want to see
this football team win. I don't like my pride interrupting
what's ultimately best for the team is not only crazy
from a fan perspective, because who cares whether or not
you're stacking wins losses on your Twitter takes. But it
(20:01):
would be disingenuous coverage from my perspective. Again, even the
corporate shill with no credibility, But this would be a
great thing, not a good thing, a great thing if
they found a legitimate nickel in the fifth round with
this draft class that right now looks like freaking everybody
has a role on the football team, and the entire
secondary was playing with that edge today too. I love it, man,
the physicality of the group, the energy. I'll repeat what
(20:24):
I said in segment one. I think this is what
you were trying to accomplish this month with how you
approach this cornerback position. And the last time I said
this talking about the idea of giving these guys the
reps and letting the competition change level of play and
then you can drop the veterans in here. The very
next day they signed Jack Jones and Mike Hilton, So
you know, maybe this is my way of getting another
cornerback in here. And if they do drop in that
(20:44):
proven vet, good, I don't care. Like you still accomplish
what you wanted to accomplish, and you improve the room
in the process.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Will it work? We don't know.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
That's why they play the damn football games. But the
thinking is clear. And to take it a step further,
I mean, they dumped the entire defensive backfield last year,
right the five names on the list on the athletic article,
four more defensive backs. One of them was Tyrekkill. And
now you have this hunger and this urgency. You've rebuilt
the culture. So now a veteran steps in and if
(21:15):
he has the mindset ia, I'm gonna come in here
and be the odd man out in the outcast. I'm
gonna cash one more paycheck and retire in Miami and
just take this stuff chill. And you know, I'll everyone
else is going to adhere to my mindset. That's not
gonna happen because before that might have permeated and infected
the rest of the room. But now you can, you know,
you can bring them in here and they better fall
(21:35):
in line, otherwise they're not gonna be here. And I
can see why you want to add a body.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I do. I think they still need one.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
But the thinking in terms of resetting the culture of
the room was needed, and in the process, I think
the residual is getting the best out of these guys.
And I'm not allowed to go into detail on this,
but I think we're starting to turn the corner on
these practices in terms of rolling out the actual plan
versus evaluation.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
And I like what I see.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
I'm looking and I'm a liking Meet the parents, Meet
the Yeah, I think it was meet to parents, all right.
So what else happened in the defensive backfield today? Elijah
Campbell had to pick on an overthrow from Zach Wilson
and the nice run stuff on an Ali Gordon play,
Ali Gordon run, I should say down by the goal line.
Cornell Armstrong had two pass break ups today and Cam Smith.
(22:20):
Something clicked for Cam Smith. He's been a different player
for the last week. And I'm not talking about a
skill standpoint. I'm talking about he's kind of a standoffish, quiet,
lone wolf, but.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
He's mixing it up.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
He's dancing, he's hitting guys all of a sudden, he's
a hitter now, Like, I don't think we're going to
confuse him with freaking you know, prime Brandon Browner, Prime
Cam Chancellor. But I saw him jam Todje Washington on
a route at the line of scrimmage and then chase
the screen to the other side of the field and
go put a shoulder on a ball carrier. I saw
him lay out and tackle a returner and special teams
(22:51):
working Detroit last week, I saw him come off of
a plaster re route and then get downhill and go
tackle a quarterback. Like a good week in Detroit, a
good game Detroit has carried over here, and he's stack
in some days. I saw Minka Fitzpatrick playing some big
nickel in the slot. We'll see, man, we'll see. But
I'm excited what we've has had from this group. They've
what they've grown and show in the last several weeks.
The idea of Minka and Marshall on the field together. Man,
(23:15):
the way you can you can use either guy as
an invert, you know, inversion, the way you can blitzee
the guy off the edge, the way you can man
up in the slot and fit the run. You talk
about confusing quarterbacks, We've notes what the hell he's doing.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
And you get two guys that can.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Both play in the slot like that and do multiple
roles from different positions. It's a fun variety to pair
with your Russian coverage there in this front seven. Speaking
of that front seven and newcomer Matt Judon here in
just a moment, let's get let's see some quarterback talk first, actually,
because I thought Tua was off today, and in fact,
Tua hasn't really had one of those like two of
practices in a while, and rather than panic about it
(23:50):
and be like, this is what he is now, I'm
pretty sure. I'm almost certain. I can't say for sure,
but I'm pretty certain. It's what we talked about with
the Lions and how they flipped a switch before the
Dolphins practices, where it was like we're trying to find
out what we can get away with and then we'll
change towards what he and the offense are comfortable with.
(24:10):
I think they're still in that tinkering phase and it's
gonna switch any minute now. In fact, I would I
bet you will see it switch tomorrow, That's my guess.
I wouldn't bet on it, but I would guess tomorrow
against the Jags, we see that, and then Week one
he throws for three twenty and two touchdowns and we
win by fourteen points and no one cares anymore.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Just watch.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
But anyway, he had some good plays in rhythm here
and there, but some throwaways, a couple of sacks, a
lot of short throws, some off target. I get the
sense that a lot of these plays are called outside
of the structure of their bread and butter offense, and
it's more about like true third and seven drop back
to cipher coverage, cipher rush, make a play from there,
which no quarterback is you know, better than fifty percent
on those those down distances, So let's do it in practice.
(24:49):
And if you can hit on fifty percent, it's a
good thing. And that's kind of about Ben what he's done.
So not the most visually polasing quarterback play as far
as fans go, in the media goes. But he threw
a pick that wasn't on him, had a ball that
should have been picked earlier. Just some up and down
stuff from Tua. Zach Wilson had some really nice throws
on time, including back to back shots to Eric Azukama
for thirty yards on combined two plays. There in the
(25:11):
move of the ball period, he threw the ball high
to Tage that was a pick by Elijah Campbell and
his best ball was a high low throw where he
had the cornerback was off and playing on the top
shoulder of the receiver, and there was a hookbacker getting
depth trying to undercut this inbreaker to D s Gridge,
and he threw the ball before d cleared that hook
defender and it hits him right in stride out of
(25:31):
the break for about twenty yards, which, again, if Zach
can do that a handful of times a game with
the playmaking ability, I strongly feel that he would be
the best backup quarterback we've had in quite some time here.
Quinn Ewers had the throw of the day, though, and
again I think fans are pushed back on my take
on his preseason tape and what it meant and what
it means going forward. I think Quinn's been very impressive,
(25:53):
especially compared to what I thought of him coming out
of Texas. I think he's given himself a chance to
maybe make the roster and you know, maybe have a
few in this league. But I think there's still a
lot of work to go there. But on that deep
throw on the corner to aj Henning, he puts a
bunch of air under it for about forty or fifty
yards and he had some misses too, some sacks as well,
but he had the best throw of the day.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So there you go. That's the cornerback talk.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Let's go ahead and take our last break, come back
and finish strong here with Matthew Judon, talk about his day,
the front seven and the rest of the defense. All
that here coming up on the Draft Time podcast brought
to you by AutoNation. So Jalen Phillips had a couple
of plays on this particular practice from Dolphins camp back
to back pass rush reps where he got to and
(26:34):
moved to off the spot. One I think was a sack.
One I think was an effective step up and scrambled
from Tua had some good work against the running game,
so did Bradley Chubb who there was a rep where
both Jonah and Paul drove the interior surge of the
defensive line back into the defensive second level, but Bradley
Chubb was able to get outside the tight end who
wanted to kick him out. He plants the flag and
(26:54):
then works back over the top and makes the play.
And Matthew Judon talked about these two guys, man about
the impact of Chubb and Phillips out there together with
him and of course Chop as well, but he's had
a relationship in the past with with Jalen and Bradley.
Here he is talking about what it means to join
this room here with Bea, Chubb and Jalen Phillips.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
I think, I think, uh, I kind of got to
follow the lead of the guys that been here man
JP and Chubb. Uh. They also have a body of
work that they even put on tape. So from far,
I've been watching those guys and we kind of know
each other off the field as well. Uh, And so
I think that's a big thing. I don't have to
come in here and be the guy right away, like
(27:34):
I can let them, let them guys go out and
do what they do, and I can just plug and play.
And however they see me fit or however they see
us all four working together, especially Chopp he coming into
his own and I don't and I'm not here to
step on toes or nothing like that. But however they
see me playing. So that's gonna be a week to
(27:55):
week thing. But it's never a bad thing to have
more than one rush.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
It certainly is not.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And also a Chop had a pretty good battle with
Larry Born at one stage of practice, a nice rep
where he bent the edge but Borne was able to
get him. He got around Borham, but he was able
to run and past the quarterback. The next one Chop
wins for a sack, and the third one he shoots
up field and Zach Wilson tries to throw a now
like screen to the receiver, but Chopp rejects it for
(28:22):
the incomplete pass. And Matthew Judon had sacks on back
to back plays like he arrived and made plays right away.
And I gotta say the juice looked like it's still
there on those plays. I talked about his tape last
year not having the same juice, but he looked pretty
active out there on the field today. On one he
splits the tight end of the tackle where he pried
the elevator door open, which is a fun scouting term
to use, and I saw it today in the field.
(28:43):
Then he won with pierce speed around the edge. Let's
do a little bit more Matthew Judon coverage here. I
asked him after practice, how does your experience playing in
both Baltimore and New England and somewhat similar defenses prepare
you for what's here in Miami. And he told me, well,
that's not really how it works.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
I think more Baltimore than New England. But I think
New England just helps me with the kind of division.
I'm comfortable in it, comfortable in the division, familiar.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
With how we plan, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
But I think every everywhere is different and every year
is different. So it's gonna be it's gonna be a
week to week thing. I can't just say I'm gonna
be good just because I played in the system before.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And then we'll finish up here with Judaan, who was
asked about the potential of this group of edge rushers.
He also kicked in some names on the interior one
more time, Matthew Judon.
Speaker 6 (29:30):
For sure, you can't one a game plan nobody, uh.
And if you got to chip both ins, that's great
for us. And then we have a guy in Seiler
that can go and you know, get it hisself, and
so the inside outside is gonna help. So we just
got to see how every week paying out. You know,
untapped potential. You know, you can talk about it. It
(29:53):
can look good on paper, but right now we gotta
go out there and put the work in everybody collectively,
and Dan got to understand how we all rush together.
So I rushed with Celia a little bit, and we
kind of we kind of speak the same language from
where we're from, our background, and so he's made it
easy for me, and he's just kind of talking to
me and as we go, even though we're not in
(30:15):
the same room, he just like he showing me more
ropes and just talking because he a big talker, big communicator,
and so it is making it easy for me.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
All right's finished up with some more practice notes here.
So Ben Stilly swatted back a Zach Wilson passed. That
was an effective stalemate rush. Gets your hands up and
reject that thing. Jordan Phillips made a play outside the numbers,
and he was with the ones because KG was down today,
and he carried James Daniels all the way out, rode
the wave, kept the chest clean, got off the block
(30:45):
and made the play at the crucible moment I gave.
They got a freaking play man. Offensively, the ground game
had more success in it, and the passing game did.
Jalen Wright had some good runs some nifty one, so
did Olie Gordon with wright. He had a really nice
slashing run where he pressed plays and found the cutback
lane and got to the second level with the head
of steam.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
That was good to see from him.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Ollie Gordon had a really nice backside shift where he
was able to get back to full speed into the
second level and it would have been a fun one
on one matchup with Jordan Brooks where he's parallel to
Brooks in a live period, but it was blocked for
about four or five yards and then they tag off
and call it good because it's practice. That's all I
got for you guys today. So one more practice tomorrow.
Jaguars in Town open to the media, open to the public,
so we'll have live tweets for that. We'll cover it
(31:26):
off Friday on the podcast. The Jags Recap podcast is
going to be up early Sunday morning. We'll have a
film review podcast sometime late Sunday night, probably early Monday
morning as well, and then we'll get into the initial
fifty three man roster coverage on I think Wednesday. I'll
have Chris Greer Presser on that podcast as well. We'll
have a special guest on the podcast next Thursday. No spoilers,
(31:48):
just yet we'll do the annual NFL Predictions podcast and
start getting ready for the Colts because it's almost here.
But until then, you all please be sure to subscribe
to the podcast, leave us a ready and leave us
a review. You can follow me on social at wink
NFI and the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the
YouTube channel for a brand new episode of Dolphins HQ
next Thursday, the twenty eighth, our premier episode with that
special guest. On that show, I'll have my three camp
(32:10):
takeaways on that show as well as well as drivetime content,
media availabilities, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Until next time, Finn's Up, Caroline Cameron Willow Daddy, He's
coming home.
To remove Daarlan Deep Speedways peas Doll.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex,
this is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Who's job my avs
in the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Old intro? Who is is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
And Welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. On today's show, the penultimate day of Dolphins
camp is in the books. One more tomorrow against the
Jacksonville Jaguars. But today we have a lot of notes
from a good session in the smoky, sunny South Florida heat.
We're gonna discuss Jack Jones, Jason Marshall Junior, and the
entire secondary plus the immediate impact of Matthew Judon, who
(00:50):
is here and he is glorious, with some splash plays,
some practice notes and audio from Jones and Judon. All
of that and a heck of a lot more from
the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Drive Time Podcast, Practice number nineteen out
of twenty. Tomorrow the finale and a strange day here
at the Baptist Health Training Complex. The Everglades Fire providing
(01:13):
us with a let's call an ominous backdrop, gray skies,
a little bit of wind, smoky air, but it was
healthy air. They know better than to doro that, so
just be aware of that. But first, thanks first, and
stop me if you've heard this before, but this is
a banged up football team, man. Hopefully we get it
out of the way right now and get guys back
for the opener. But right now, like damn Diarren, let's
(01:35):
up with all these books. No Kenneth Grant on the
field today. Julian Hill has been working off to the side,
Tyreek Hill off to the side, eight Chan Austin Ashton,
Davis cater Coo who out for the year. Like I
wish we had our full squad because it's it's banged
up right now and we'll get a good look at
them as we go forward into the season hopefully. But
I think it's worth noting that we did see alec
Ingold back on the field, absent of the red medical jersey,
(01:57):
so he's back and ready to roll. Darren Waller activated
off PA but was not part of the team drill
today again, one more practice and hopefully the time between
Saturday's game and the fifteen days before the Colts game
the Colts opener when it counts for real, is a
good opportunity to take a rest and get our squad
back to as close to full strength as it can
possibly be. Let's go ahead and start today with the
(02:17):
work on the defensive backfield. And one of the players
that I haven't shut up about in quite some time
is Jack Jones, right, and I've been vocal about it
the minute he got here. He was my Orange Jersey
Player of the Day today and I've been asking about it.
When's he going to get that promotion to the first team,
And perhaps it coincides with the injuries of an Ethan
Bonner and a Kendall Sheffield, But the day was today,
(02:39):
he was out there and he's not given that job back,
not with what he did today.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
What a performance by twenty three Jack Jones.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
I think I ran this sound bite yesterday, but I
want to give it some more air here because it's
part of a larger story. We've talked about Jack Jones
and the stuff they've been asking him to do so
far in camp and how it's different than what he's
done in the past, and his coverage responsibilities.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
But the one thing I love about Jack is is
some of the things we're asking him to do are
kind of foreign to him or really just aren't in
his wheelhouse. We know what he does best. We're just
asking them to trust us and trying to trying to
build and add some tools to his toolbox. But I
thrilled where Jack said, and just know he's gonna he's
gonna make place for us this season.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Yeah, when he said is gonna make place for us
this season, I thought that was pretty telling. I want
to go back to Jack Jones who spoke to the
media after practice and he addressed the practice in Detroit
where I'm and Ross Saint Brown per Jack Jones cooked him.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
It was good, man. I knew it was gonna be,
you know, the best work out there possible, you know
what I'm saying. I mean, I've seen the tape he
cooks me, man, But you know I got better from
that and I'm learning the technique that I'm not used
to doing. So you know, he he made me better.
So if anything, you know, I'd rather it be him
than anyone knows.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I love that commentary because this is the entire spirit
of training camp. In fact, let's go ahead and go
back to Jack on the idea of trusting the coaches
and trusting that technique and just trusting the process.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I know it's a kind of a dirty phrase in
sports these days, but it's pretty true.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
I would like to consider myself an off corner. But
you know, coming here, you know, they just pretty much
changed it all around, and I'm pressed all the time.
You know, I got to get up in your guy's face,
you know, just just learning different techniques, different tricks to
help me get myself in a right position.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
And that will explain to you why they love Storm
Duck so much. Right, He's a physical, in your face cornerback,
and that's how they want to play it this year.
And I know it's not Jack Jones's bread and butter,
and there's a technique that goes along with playing press
and getting up in guys faces, but the mentality and
the alpha type of personality he has it coincides with that.
Plus there's reps on his tape with the Raiders where
he's playing press and getting on the inside shoulder of
(04:37):
guys and riding out those slant routes and cutting under
the ball and making plays in the football. So it's there.
The skill set is there. I think the fact that
they're going to teach him all of that and just
making the best version of himself Underweave, under coach or
Rougo is all a good sign. And what I saw
today and what I've seen all throughout camps a guy
that has the chops to be a cornerback one. I
really do believe that with his talent and with the
(04:58):
way he's kind of wired. Now we'll talk about that
here in just one second, but man, he is. He's
bringing it, and he's invested, and he's he's engaged, and
he's urgent, he's hungry, and I think that when you
get a player like that who's had some issues in
his past, you know, keeping the right mind frame and
the right you know, track of consciousness in terms of
how he approaches being a professional, when you can uncover that,
(05:19):
and I feel like the Dolphins have with that talent,
that's when you can get these big time seasons from
these guys. And that's kind of what I expect from
Jack Jones. I've been on that train for a while now,
and what he's done this month has only solidified that
belief in him. Let's go ahead and go back to
Jack Jones right here on more of that same stuff,
and how comfortable he's getting with this new technique and
new approach to the cornerback position.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
I'm getting comfortable with it, you know.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
The first couple of days.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Man, if you would have seen me look like a
high school out of here, you know what I'm saying.
But I mean from where I was to where I
am now. You know, it's a big jump. But the
thing that I need I've been working on. I need
to keep improvement is my feet and trusting the technique.
Because when I don't trust the technique and I just
out there and be an athlete, you know that, And
(06:02):
that's when I lose reps and you know, and that's
when it looks bad and you get the amenra reps.
But when I played a technique and I shoot my
hands when I was supposed to, I take the steps
when I was supposed to it, you know, it's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
It is pretty good. Jack.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
And he had a lot of run today playing across
multiple units. Just like you saw in the Detroit game.
They're still mixing a match and trying to figure out
the best recipe here, and he made an impact on
each of those groups and it began early when Tua
had to catch rock throw, which if you are new
to the podcast, I've been using that term for a
long time with Tua and it's I learned it from
the Move the Sticks podcast Daniel Jeremiah talking about like
(06:34):
catch the snap, one hitch rock into your throw and
then the ball's out. It's it's quick, right, and there's
it's basically a rep off for the offensive line. And
that's one of the calling cards of Tua tongue Ba
Lowa right, is the ability to catch rock throw and
see things and get it out quickly, and you give
the offensive line a rep off and so you can
reduce the number of true pass sets they have to
get into by ten or fifteen a game by these
(06:56):
that's a sidebar. But the ball is out and like
you know, less than a second and a half and
no one's going to get home on that pass rush.
So you can really, you know, reduce the workload of
the offensive line by doing that. But for the corners
and the defensive backfield, if they can get a beat
on that and they can get in their pre you know,
their their preparation film and their notes and play with
(07:16):
anticipation of their own. They can be disruptive that way too,
and so on this play, Jack isn't even covering Jalen Waddell,
but he comes off of it. And this is what
I love about his game is he knows things and
can take these chances. And I think that the way
this offense can score this year, and I think the
way this defense is going to play, like again, this
is this is the best case scenario.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but this is the
vision that I see for this team. Is an offense
that can score, a defense that stops the run and
forces you into passing plays and might give up some
points here and there, but if you can make enough
big plays, that's all you need. Like I think it
was this, I want to say the Saints in nine.
There's been a lot of teams that have done this
where they rode the coattails of a really good offense
(07:58):
and the defense made big They weren't a top defense,
but they made enough big plays. And I think the
way this run defense can play with this offense can
create a lot of opportunities for those big plays. And
so go get yourself a guy like Jack Jones that
can do this and take some chances. He might get
beat a couple times, but he comes off of this
this play where it's not really even his responsibility and
he undercuts it and damn near picks it off. And
(08:20):
it looked to me like he was just a step late,
which on Tua. That happens a lot, and you get
guys that are like, oh, Tua can't play because I
almost had to pick It's like, yeah, you almost did,
because he knew what you were doing and took advantage
of it. But in this case, Jack almost gets it.
He goes over to after the fact and does that like,
you know, index and thumb close together, Like I was
this close. So I asked Jack after the fact that
you know, I saw that play happen. You had that
(08:41):
one measured? What'd you say to two after the fact.
Here's Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
No.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I was just letting him know, I don't know, I
might have made that play. Yeah, I might have made
that play. He was like, I don't know, brother, I mean,
it was just you know, a competitive talk, good talk.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
He also made the play of the day where Tua
had Nick Westbrook Akine in the corner of the end
zone from about fifteen yards out for what looked like
a touchdown, and Jack is in trail technique underneath Nwi
and he's behind by maybe a step half a step,
and the football descends right into Nwi's hands, but Jack
flies in there and punches through it from the bottom,
not unlike Dave Chappelle's impression of Howard Dean the Bah.
(09:19):
You know, I'm talking about that that punch, and he
knocks it up through the air and Storm Duck corrals
it for the interception, and Storm immediately goes over to
Jack and starts, you know, celebrating with him, and the
whole sideline greets him there for that, and he gets
you know, handshakes and hugs and high fives from everybody.
And to me, this is the entire point of training camp,
the spirit of the training element of training camp. Right.
(09:40):
It's not practice camp, it's not game plan camp. It's
training camp. You're training to get better at football. And
Jack gets here. He has this body of work, you know,
as far as the film goes, that really stands out.
He's been on this team or on his third team
i should say now and in four years. In the
common message for him, and from and from people that
(10:01):
have talked about him here and even past teams, has
been the super talented player that has to get his
head on straight and be on the right path. And
I get the sense that the way the Dolphins have
played this has been nothing short of masterclass. And when
you put together performances like he did today, I mean
that was playmaking number one cornerback stuff, good feeling, zone coverage,
(10:21):
good reroutes, physical competitive, alpha mentality, get in your face
and challenge you at the point.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It was all on display.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
And I say that confidently based on past tape and
what he's done right. The flashes are there. I've shown
you clips on Twitter of him making big plays, and
there's a reason why I think he's a great football player,
because he's put great tape out there at times. But
to slow play him and make him compete and earn
those reps. We saw him rotating with the first group
in the Detroit game, right, and to ask him to
(10:50):
add to his tool belt, and the way that he's
responded and been on the same page and had that
hunger and that urgency. We have a long way to
go and he's got to play like that end game.
But the way that it's going right now, I just
think has been a really good job all around of
identifying the talent, getting him in the program, getting him
on the same page from a developmental standpoint, and saying
you're not gonna come in here and be with the
(11:11):
ones right away. You might be the best player in
the room. Maybe you think that, maybe we think that,
but you're not gonna You gotta earn it. You gotta
come in here and you got to earn that. And
watching the growth of all that come together, you know,
corporate media, shell propaganda machine here aside, Like, we'll see,
we'll check back on this.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I feel confident in this, Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Not prediction, but yeah, I guess kind of a prediction
that I think Jack Jones is going to be a
real player this year that turns heads in the league
and it's it's the quintessential training camp growth that you want.
So to put a bow on all this, I asked Jack,
what has the month been like in terms of trying
that new technique and being in this you know, growth
mindset in the midst of a battle for your position group.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Here's Jack Jones.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Oh, it's been amazing, man. I shout out to coach,
coach rule and coach you know that, and them boys
been locking in and helping me get right. You know
what I'm saying, helped me give one percent better every
day and you know it, that's to go just to
one percent every day and you know, see what it
looked like at the end of the season.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Again, I just I think what it's gonna look like
at the end of the season is going to be
a guy that gets a massive contract on the free
agent market next year here or there, somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I'm not sure, but I think that's where this is
heading at.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
That's I would I would put that like in a
Bold Takes podcast fight to one of those here coming up,
maybe I will. He also undercut a deep outbreaking route
to Wadal and got hands on that. Just a really
good practice and I think that's a good place to
put a bow on. The Jack Jones segment, which took
up the entire first part of the podcast, all on
the one player we're gonna stay in, the defensive backfield
on the other side, and the defense as a whole,
(12:38):
including a big first day for Matthew Judon. All of
that's next on the draft Time Podcast, brought to you
by AutoNation. August twentieth is the penultimate day of Dolphins
trading camp, and we have a game on Saturday, and
then it's time for regular season football. And what a
treat that first week is. Man, We get the Cowboys
(12:59):
and Eagles. The Friday game is to me the one
that I care way more about, the Chiefs and Chargers.
Hopefully a SmackDown of the Colts on Sunday at one o'clock.
And then you get to come home and hopefully watch
the Ravens beat the Bills on Sunday Night football. Like,
get me there right now, I can't wait. So watching
practice today, I noticed something early that I hadn't seen previously.
Maybe I'm just not doing a good enough job paying attention,
(13:22):
and I haven't seen this in my six years of
doing this, yere is, maybe I never pay attention to
close enough. But I saw that the special teams group,
you know, in their their pre practice walkthrough, they have
the group that's on the field going through the drill,
like the one that's you know, taking the actual physical
rep in punt team. But then there's this entire second
group that is mirroring the drill without the football doing
(13:43):
the exact same thing. So while you're on the sideline,
you're getting the same rep as the guys that are
out there. Like, let's double this, let's double this drill
and get reps for you know, twenty two guys instead
of just the eleven that are out there. So I
thought that was cool to see. I hadn't seen that before.
So Jack Jones takes the entire first segment. We'll go
ahead and say in the defensive backfield here and pick
(14:04):
it up with Jason Marshall Junior, who has caught my eye.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
We'll go ahead and say it that way.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
We covered the comments from Minca and weave on him
yesterday on the show, and it prompted me to fire
up the Lions tape this morning while I ate breakfast
ahead of practice.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And look, it's been a week of this.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I'm not trying to project some ten year career here
for a Pro Bowl player or anything like that, but
it just looked really damn good in an exhibition game.
And I watched it with an eye on his landmark drops,
the way he carried routes and passed off to his
help A little crash course football lesson here. So zone
defense has completely taken over the league, right, so when
you get passing stats on cornerbacks, it is a dubious
(14:43):
operation at best. Like I had a conversation with Clay
Ferraro today from WPLG ABC down here in Miami and
about how difficult it is to assess blame and credit
for offensive line production when you're not in the meeting
rooms and you're trying to make grades because you don't
know the assignments and when these guys are asked to
and how somebody else's poor angle or poor get off
can affect what you do next to them. And Clay
(15:04):
referred to, you know, sometimes the coaches will have these
sessions with the media where they'll they'll like coach them
up on things and be like, here's what we're looking for,
trying to help bridge that gap between what they report
on and what's actually happening on the field. And he
talked about when Adam Gaze did that for Jamon bush
Rod and showed like, you guys have been getting on
Jamon bush Rod for you know, for the whole season,
(15:25):
But what if I showed you these four reps where
Juwan James didn't do his job and that impacted Jamon
bush Rod, and it's like, yeah, that's that's why it's
really tough to go out there and say this player
was terrible because you don't know what he was asked
to do. And it's the same thing in zone defenses. So, like,
I watched this rep against the Lions in the game,
and it's a completion down the middle, and it was
(15:46):
a nice read and a nice ball by the quarterback
who played on time and got the football to his
man who beat the coverage. But on the play, Jason
Marshall is pressed up and they they show split field
safety at the snap and then they buzzed one of
the safeties down to a robber, which turns it into
a single safety. Right, So you get a rotation where
someone comes down and spams the middle of the field
trying to take away crossing routes, and then you would
(16:06):
assume that the safety from there would play the post,
but he winds up sliding into a half field position
and Jason Marshall has a quarter of the deep half,
So it's a cover six where it's quarter quarter half.
One player has a quarter of the deep part of
the field. Another player has another quarter of a deep
part of the field, and the third player has a
half part of the field. So it's like you spam
one area with two guys. One guy has the other
(16:27):
big portion of grass, partition of grass, irish, I guess.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
So he's in quarter quarter.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Half and he what he has to do is get
this width and depth to try to cut off his
deep third because the number one receiver to the field
is going to run a vertical and so he has
to make sure he's on top of that. But they
run the second receiver, the slot receiver, on a post
and it goes right past marshall and before that safety
can get over there to help you recover the balls
(16:54):
out it's on time and so I can't be sure
that was what the coverage was or the call there,
but he gets charged a catch of twenty yards allowed.
But his rule is to run with that one on
the vertical release, and that's exactly what he does. Again,
not saying that he's you know, that that was his
particular role, but rather a descriptor as to why it
can be hard to evaluate what's asked of these guys
(17:15):
and who is giving up, you know, the the production
because the stats will tell you it was Jason Marshall,
but I can't be sure that it was his responsibility
to cover that guy, so tangent. Aside from that position,
you have rules against pattern combinations to your side of
the field. So if you're in a curl flat, which
again football one on one, curl flat is basically playing
(17:36):
wide coverage outside, but you also have the flat which
is as you guys probably know, the short area of
the field, like we're running backs run their routes right,
So curl flat is kind of a high low representation
of zone coverage in the intermediate part of the field.
And when he's in that position, you have to reroute
the release of the vertical route down the middle into
the seam, and you have to make sure the safeties
(17:58):
that are carry it before you pass it off and
get to your landmark, or if you don't, that's a
lack of connection in your coverage. And as I'm watching
the tape, the way he collisions a guy, the way
he makes sure to gets to the right shoulder, like
if I'm aligned on the inside, but I have to
collision him back to the inside and kind of reabroute
him this way he works over the top to get
to the outside shoulder and collisions it over there.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
It's good, like he knows what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
And Mika Fitzpatrick talked about this on his Wednesday press
conference about how impressive it was that he knew where
to go and his coverage and communication in his first
real game reps doing that. Then there's the work in
the running game. And I checked his Relative Athletics scorecard
one five to four to ten split eighty eight percent
for cornerbacks, the broaden the vert same category, and he
hits like Mike Hilton does, but he's twenty pounds heavier
(18:40):
and three inches taller. So I watched him throughout the
course of this practice working with the ones again like
he did in the game a little bit, and he's
doing more of that, Like Tua had a couple of
throws to the perimeter at or behind the line of
scrimmage where he's sinking into that cloud coverage and he's
getting depth on that spot and then he just eyes
in the backfield, drives upfield, and rallies up and makes
(19:00):
the play. Like I think there's a lot there with
this guy, and I'm not gonna hang my hat on
it the way I'm hanging my hat on Jack Jones,
but the signs are there and it's it's something we
should watch on Saturday in Jacksonville or versus Jacksonville, because
I think I think there's something there to this guy.
And like right away he challenged Waddle on a one
on one throw to the end zone and broke it up,
stayed in FaZe, got on the hip pocket and punched
(19:21):
through the hands, very patient at the point of the
catch point. I'm just I'm really excited about this. And look,
I might have to take a massive l here because
I was. I was pretty brazen about like the Mike
Hilton stuff, and I said that before I they even
tried Jason Marshall on the slot and if it wasn't
for Marshall's emergence, then I think I would still have
that take.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
But there's a chance here.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
I think that that maybe Mike Hilton's getting pushed for
his job in that slot position, and I you know,
if he does, great, I don't give a damn. I
don't care if I was wrong. I want to see
this football team win. I don't like my pride interrupting
what's ultimately best for the team is not only crazy
from a fan perspective, because who cares whether or not
you're stacking wins losses on your Twitter takes. But it
(20:01):
would be disingenuous coverage from my perspective. Again, even the
corporate shill with no credibility, But this would be a
great thing, not a good thing, a great thing if
they found a legitimate nickel in the fifth round with
this draft class that right now looks like freaking everybody
has a role on the football team, and the entire
secondary was playing with that edge today too. I love it, man,
the physicality of the group, the energy. I'll repeat what
(20:24):
I said in segment one. I think this is what
you were trying to accomplish this month with how you
approach this cornerback position. And the last time I said
this talking about the idea of giving these guys the
reps and letting the competition change level of play and
then you can drop the veterans in here. The very
next day they signed Jack Jones and Mike Hilton, So
you know, maybe this is my way of getting another
cornerback in here. And if they do drop in that
(20:44):
proven vet, good, I don't care. Like you still accomplish
what you wanted to accomplish, and you improve the room
in the process.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Will it work? We don't know.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
That's why they play the damn football games. But the
thinking is clear. And to take it a step further,
I mean, they dumped the entire defensive backfield last year,
right the five names on the list on the athletic article,
four more defensive backs. One of them was Tyrekkill. And
now you have this hunger and this urgency. You've rebuilt
the culture. So now a veteran steps in and if
(21:15):
he has the mindset ia, I'm gonna come in here
and be the odd man out in the outcast. I'm
gonna cash one more paycheck and retire in Miami and
just take this stuff chill. And you know, I'll everyone
else is going to adhere to my mindset. That's not
gonna happen because before that might have permeated and infected
the rest of the room. But now you can, you know,
you can bring them in here and they better fall
(21:35):
in line, otherwise they're not gonna be here. And I
can see why you want to add a body.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I do. I think they still need one.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
But the thinking in terms of resetting the culture of
the room was needed, and in the process, I think
the residual is getting the best out of these guys.
And I'm not allowed to go into detail on this,
but I think we're starting to turn the corner on
these practices in terms of rolling out the actual plan
versus evaluation.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
And I like what I see.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
I'm looking and I'm a liking Meet the parents, Meet
the Yeah, I think it was meet to parents, all right.
So what else happened in the defensive backfield today? Elijah
Campbell had to pick on an overthrow from Zach Wilson
and the nice run stuff on an Ali Gordon play,
Ali Gordon run, I should say down by the goal line.
Cornell Armstrong had two pass break ups today and Cam Smith.
(22:20):
Something clicked for Cam Smith. He's been a different player
for the last week. And I'm not talking about a
skill standpoint. I'm talking about he's kind of a standoffish, quiet,
lone wolf, but.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
He's mixing it up.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
He's dancing, he's hitting guys all of a sudden, he's
a hitter now, Like, I don't think we're going to
confuse him with freaking you know, prime Brandon Browner, Prime
Cam Chancellor. But I saw him jam Todje Washington on
a route at the line of scrimmage and then chase
the screen to the other side of the field and
go put a shoulder on a ball carrier. I saw
him lay out and tackle a returner and special teams
(22:51):
working Detroit last week, I saw him come off of
a plaster re route and then get downhill and go
tackle a quarterback. Like a good week in Detroit, a
good game Detroit has carried over here, and he's stack
in some days. I saw Minka Fitzpatrick playing some big
nickel in the slot. We'll see, man, we'll see. But
I'm excited what we've has had from this group. They've
what they've grown and show in the last several weeks.
The idea of Minka and Marshall on the field together. Man,
(23:15):
the way you can you can use either guy as
an invert, you know, inversion, the way you can blitzee
the guy off the edge, the way you can man
up in the slot and fit the run. You talk
about confusing quarterbacks, We've notes what the hell he's doing.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
And you get two guys that can.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Both play in the slot like that and do multiple
roles from different positions. It's a fun variety to pair
with your Russian coverage there in this front seven. Speaking
of that front seven and newcomer Matt Judon here in
just a moment, let's get let's see some quarterback talk first, actually,
because I thought Tua was off today, and in fact,
Tua hasn't really had one of those like two of
practices in a while, and rather than panic about it
(23:50):
and be like, this is what he is now, I'm
pretty sure. I'm almost certain. I can't say for sure,
but I'm pretty certain. It's what we talked about with
the Lions and how they flipped a switch before the
Dolphins practices, where it was like we're trying to find
out what we can get away with and then we'll
change towards what he and the offense are comfortable with.
(24:10):
I think they're still in that tinkering phase and it's
gonna switch any minute now. In fact, I would I
bet you will see it switch tomorrow, That's my guess.
I wouldn't bet on it, but I would guess tomorrow
against the Jags, we see that, and then Week one
he throws for three twenty and two touchdowns and we
win by fourteen points and no one cares anymore.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Just watch.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
But anyway, he had some good plays in rhythm here
and there, but some throwaways, a couple of sacks, a
lot of short throws, some off target. I get the
sense that a lot of these plays are called outside
of the structure of their bread and butter offense, and
it's more about like true third and seven drop back
to cipher coverage, cipher rush, make a play from there,
which no quarterback is you know, better than fifty percent
on those those down distances, So let's do it in practice.
(24:49):
And if you can hit on fifty percent, it's a
good thing. And that's kind of about Ben what he's done.
So not the most visually polasing quarterback play as far
as fans go, in the media goes. But he threw
a pick that wasn't on him, had a ball that
should have been picked earlier. Just some up and down
stuff from Tua. Zach Wilson had some really nice throws
on time, including back to back shots to Eric Azukama
for thirty yards on combined two plays. There in the
(25:11):
move of the ball period, he threw the ball high
to Tage that was a pick by Elijah Campbell and
his best ball was a high low throw where he
had the cornerback was off and playing on the top
shoulder of the receiver, and there was a hookbacker getting
depth trying to undercut this inbreaker to D s Gridge,
and he threw the ball before d cleared that hook
defender and it hits him right in stride out of
(25:31):
the break for about twenty yards, which, again, if Zach
can do that a handful of times a game with
the playmaking ability, I strongly feel that he would be
the best backup quarterback we've had in quite some time here.
Quinn Ewers had the throw of the day, though, and
again I think fans are pushed back on my take
on his preseason tape and what it meant and what
it means going forward. I think Quinn's been very impressive,
(25:53):
especially compared to what I thought of him coming out
of Texas. I think he's given himself a chance to
maybe make the roster and you know, maybe have a
few in this league. But I think there's still a
lot of work to go there. But on that deep
throw on the corner to aj Henning, he puts a
bunch of air under it for about forty or fifty
yards and he had some misses too, some sacks as well,
but he had the best throw of the day.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So there you go. That's the cornerback talk.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Let's go ahead and take our last break, come back
and finish strong here with Matthew Judon, talk about his day,
the front seven and the rest of the defense. All
that here coming up on the Draft Time podcast brought
to you by AutoNation. So Jalen Phillips had a couple
of plays on this particular practice from Dolphins camp back
to back pass rush reps where he got to and
(26:34):
moved to off the spot. One I think was a sack.
One I think was an effective step up and scrambled
from Tua had some good work against the running game,
so did Bradley Chubb who there was a rep where
both Jonah and Paul drove the interior surge of the
defensive line back into the defensive second level, but Bradley
Chubb was able to get outside the tight end who
wanted to kick him out. He plants the flag and
(26:54):
then works back over the top and makes the play.
And Matthew Judon talked about these two guys, man about
the impact of Chubb and Phillips out there together with
him and of course Chop as well, but he's had
a relationship in the past with with Jalen and Bradley.
Here he is talking about what it means to join
this room here with Bea, Chubb and Jalen Phillips.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
I think, I think, uh, I kind of got to
follow the lead of the guys that been here man
JP and Chubb. Uh. They also have a body of
work that they even put on tape. So from far,
I've been watching those guys and we kind of know
each other off the field as well. Uh, And so
I think that's a big thing. I don't have to
come in here and be the guy right away, like
(27:34):
I can let them, let them guys go out and
do what they do, and I can just plug and play.
And however they see me fit or however they see
us all four working together, especially Chopp he coming into
his own and I don't and I'm not here to
step on toes or nothing like that. But however they
see me playing. So that's gonna be a week to
(27:55):
week thing. But it's never a bad thing to have
more than one rush.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
It certainly is not.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And also a Chop had a pretty good battle with
Larry Born at one stage of practice, a nice rep
where he bent the edge but Borne was able to
get him. He got around Borham, but he was able
to run and past the quarterback. The next one Chop
wins for a sack, and the third one he shoots
up field and Zach Wilson tries to throw a now
like screen to the receiver, but Chopp rejects it for
(28:22):
the incomplete pass. And Matthew Judon had sacks on back
to back plays like he arrived and made plays right away.
And I gotta say the juice looked like it's still
there on those plays. I talked about his tape last
year not having the same juice, but he looked pretty
active out there on the field today. On one he
splits the tight end of the tackle where he pried
the elevator door open, which is a fun scouting term
to use, and I saw it today in the field.
(28:43):
Then he won with pierce speed around the edge. Let's
do a little bit more Matthew Judon coverage here. I
asked him after practice, how does your experience playing in
both Baltimore and New England and somewhat similar defenses prepare
you for what's here in Miami. And he told me, well,
that's not really how it works.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
I think more Baltimore than New England. But I think
New England just helps me with the kind of division.
I'm comfortable in it, comfortable in the division, familiar.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
With how we plan, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
But I think every everywhere is different and every year
is different. So it's gonna be it's gonna be a
week to week thing. I can't just say I'm gonna
be good just because I played in the system before.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
And then we'll finish up here with Judaan, who was
asked about the potential of this group of edge rushers.
He also kicked in some names on the interior one
more time, Matthew Judon.
Speaker 6 (29:30):
For sure, you can't one a game plan nobody, uh.
And if you got to chip both ins, that's great
for us. And then we have a guy in Seiler
that can go and you know, get it hisself, and
so the inside outside is gonna help. So we just
got to see how every week paying out. You know,
untapped potential. You know, you can talk about it. It
(29:53):
can look good on paper, but right now we gotta
go out there and put the work in everybody collectively,
and Dan got to understand how we all rush together.
So I rushed with Celia a little bit, and we
kind of we kind of speak the same language from
where we're from, our background, and so he's made it
easy for me, and he's just kind of talking to
me and as we go, even though we're not in
(30:15):
the same room, he just like he showing me more
ropes and just talking because he a big talker, big communicator,
and so it is making it easy for me.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
All right's finished up with some more practice notes here.
So Ben Stilly swatted back a Zach Wilson passed. That
was an effective stalemate rush. Gets your hands up and
reject that thing. Jordan Phillips made a play outside the numbers,
and he was with the ones because KG was down today,
and he carried James Daniels all the way out, rode
the wave, kept the chest clean, got off the block
(30:45):
and made the play at the crucible moment I gave.
They got a freaking play man. Offensively, the ground game
had more success in it, and the passing game did.
Jalen Wright had some good runs some nifty one, so
did Olie Gordon with wright. He had a really nice
slashing run where he pressed plays and found the cutback
lane and got to the second level with the head
of steam.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
That was good to see from him.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Ollie Gordon had a really nice backside shift where he
was able to get back to full speed into the
second level and it would have been a fun one
on one matchup with Jordan Brooks where he's parallel to
Brooks in a live period, but it was blocked for
about four or five yards and then they tag off
and call it good because it's practice. That's all I
got for you guys today. So one more practice tomorrow.
Jaguars in Town open to the media, open to the public,
so we'll have live tweets for that. We'll cover it
(31:26):
off Friday on the podcast. The Jags Recap podcast is
going to be up early Sunday morning. We'll have a
film review podcast sometime late Sunday night, probably early Monday
morning as well, and then we'll get into the initial
fifty three man roster coverage on I think Wednesday. I'll
have Chris Greer Presser on that podcast as well. We'll
have a special guest on the podcast next Thursday. No spoilers,
(31:48):
just yet we'll do the annual NFL Predictions podcast and
start getting ready for the Colts because it's almost here.
But until then, you all please be sure to subscribe
to the podcast, leave us a ready and leave us
a review. You can follow me on social at wink
NFI and the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the
YouTube channel for a brand new episode of Dolphins HQ
next Thursday, the twenty eighth, our premier episode with that
special guest. On that show, I'll have my three camp
(32:10):
takeaways on that show as well as well as drivetime content,
media availabilities, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Until next time, Finn's Up, Caroline Cameron Willow Daddy, He's
coming home.
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