Friday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua Topics, Terron's Status, Trent's Performance, and More
Part 1 of the latest SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag around the preseason home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders:
From FlGuy (@WilliamCebula):
What's going on with Armstead? He left early Wednesday and wasn't seen at all Thursday.
Hey William, hmm, he left early Wednesday and wasn’t seen at all Thursday? Sounds an awful lot like something I wrote in my practice report Thursday. Oh wait, it’s exactly what I wrote, so I’m guessing you got it from me. Anyway, I digress. Wish I had an answer for you here because I’m kind of curious myself. While some NFL teams (Eagles and Steelers come to mind) are very forthcoming about injuries and practice absences, there’s no requirement at this time of year for teams to reveal that kind of information. That obligation for NFL teams only starts on the Wednesday of the first regular season game (or Monday in the event of a Thursday game).
From Rich McQuillen (@rkmcquillen):
Do you think we'll see Greg Little in this one, or is he still day-to-day? … With Skylar playing pretty well for a whole game, do you think we might see Teddy for a whole game this week? With Banwart (72.5PFF), Deisch (72PFF), and Andries (73.8PFF) only playing 3 plays in game 1... and Banwart being cut, should I worry about the other 2?
Hey Rich, I’d put the chances of Greg Little playing against the Raiders after sitting out against Tampa Bay and not practicing all week at 0.04 percent. Skylar Thompson played the whole game against Tampa Bay because it was an opportunity to give him valuable work. As with Little, if the Dolphins sit out Tua Tagovailoa again, I’d put the chances of Bridgewater playing the whole game at 0.04 percent. He doesn’t need all those game reps, while Thompson does. There’s a much, much greater chance of Thompson playing all offensive snaps again than that happening with either Bridgewater or Tua. Lastly, not sure what you mean about “worry” about Diesch and Andries. If you mean their chances of making the 53-man roster, yes, you most definitely should be worried.
From Dave (@angryvet59):
1st appreciate all your reporting Alain it's top notch. Armstead missing in action is disturbing, known history of not playing a whole season. O-line IMO is weakest link. Do they search waiver wires or close eyes & stick with what they got?
Hey Dave, as always thanks for the compliment (but I already told you, the check is in the mail). Armstead missing practice time is concerning to me only because it happened in back-to-back practices (not counting his very brief appearance Wednesday), though we need to know more before we use the word “disturbing” in my opinion. Regardless, yes, the Dolphins will be checking out the waiver wire every day and that’s going to be the case at every position. It’s an essential part of putting together a roster.
From Murph (@murph244):
Are you concerned with Tua throwing interceptions in practice? Or do you see it more of a “irons sharpens iron” situation where offense and defense are getting the best out of each other?
Hey Murph, let me start by saying that if I never have to hear or read “iron sharpens iron,” I’ll be a happy camper. That said, I’m not concerned about interceptions, per se, because that’s too broad a statement. There are interceptions in practices that come in specific situations where the quarterback has no choice but try to make something happen, where he would take a more cautious approach in a game. Having said that, it’s obviously not ideal to throw three picks in a practice and not all of them fell in that category I discussed. Furthermore, I described Tua as having a rough practice Tuesday, but it wasn’t just because of the three picks; he just wasn’t very sharp with the accuracy that day. And that’s going to happen to any quarterback from time to time. I also didn’t think he was particularly sharp Wednesday, but in my eyes he closed out the week with a strong performance Thursday.
From Phil Swain (@PhilSwain6):
What’s the ceiling for the OL from what you’ve seen so far? The floor is where we’ve been the last few seasons.
Hey Phil, I’m first going to start with my obligatory defense of the 2021 offensive line and say it wasn’t nearly as bad as portrayed — not all advanced stats ranked it the same — and it wasn’t even as bad as the 2007 Dolphins line. So that would have been more of a floor. The ceiling based on what I’ve seen, and based on the assumption that Terron Armstead plays at least, say, 13 games, would be a middle-of-the-pack group, maybe as high as top 12.
From J MIAMI TALK (@THATmiamiGUY28):
Could Trent Sherfield steal the #4/5 WR spot?
Hey JMT, if you mean in terms of making the roster, the answer is an absolute yes. In fact, I’ve written for a while now that I think he’s a borderline lock along with Hill, Waddle, Wilson and Ezukanma at WR. The way he’s looked in practice, I wouldn’t even dismiss the possibility he could end up WR3 behind Hill and Waddle; that’s how good he’s looked.
From Martin (@AceOfSpades):
In your opinion, not saying he will be our QB1, but judging from what you’ve seen so far in camp, practice, and 1 game, is Skylar a starter in this league?
Hey Martin, if the question deals with this season, it’s waaaaaay too early to even go there. Remember that shining in practice and in the preseason when defenses are very vanilla is a long way away from what happens in the regular season. If the question pertains to Thompson’s whole career, I’d say that sure looks like a possibility at some time down the road. Put simply, he has not looked out of place physically, though there are times when you see the common rookie hesitation in the pocket.
From Matthew S (@MTScott17):
After watching the Watson press conference yesterday, in a hypothetical world where Miami traded for Watson, do you think/have faith Watson/Ross/PR would have been handled better than Browns/Haslam, or would our franchise by mired in same embarrassment their franchise is now?
Hey Matthew, considering how poor the performance was in that press conference, it’s difficult to envision any other team not doing better. With all his guaranteed money, Watson is tough to control from a P.R. standpoint because he pretty much can say what he wants with impunity if he fails to see or doesn’t want to accept how bad it makes him look. As for the owner, it would have been (should have been?) easy for a P.R. official to explain how to handle the questions — and certainly avoid declaring that, hey, it’s OK what happened because it’s a young franchise quarterback. Everybody knows that’s what Haslam believes because he made the trade and gave him all that cash, but there was no need to say it out loud.
From Makisi (@Makisi88):
Ruthie Polinsky (@ruthiepolinsky) said Tua looks the same as last year. Do you agree?
Well, Ruthie is a very astute journalist, and I’d say that even if I didn’t totally agree with her take. Yes, Tua looks like the same quarterback to me, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize he’s got a much better supporting cast and that inevitably should help his performance.
From AB (@Brtlnx):
Who do you realistically see taking the biggest step forward this year on the O-line? Which new coaching hire has impressed you most so far?
Hey AB (not THAT AB, right?), I’ve been consistent in my belief that it’s Austin Jackson who’s going to make the biggest jump on the offensive line and nothing has happened to make me change my mind about that. I think the outside zone scheme is much better suited to his skill set (more finesse than power) and that’s a great first step for him. As for the assistant coach question, it’s still very early in the process, so I think it would be unfair to pick one over the other, though I’m usually not shy about doing that.
From fins up (@daash1121):
Will Jevon Holland be better than Minkah?
Hey there, wow, that is a really, really good question. One Twitter follower jumped in to reply, “He already is,” which is nice and all, but not quite accurate. Minkah is not particularly well liked in Miami these days, but give the man his due. He’s very, very good. That said, I think that Holland in time will surpass Fitzpatrick as a safety because he’s got the kind of instincts at safety that are rare, like the ball finds him. I can’t recall a Dolphins safety who had it to that degree — and, yes, that includes Reshad Jones. Jake Scott actually might have been the one that comes to mind, and we’re going back to the 1970s for that. And as he gains more and more experience, Holland’s instincts are going to show out even more than they already have.
From Trevor Jacob (@TrevorJamesMan):
Is it coincidence that you started recording Tua’s passer rating only on his worst day of camp? Lol
Hey Trevor, that’s absolutely a fair question. And, no, it’s not a coincidence in the sense that I only did the calculations for his passer rating because the completions/attempts numbers were so weird for a practice. As you may or may not know, I chart every single play in 11-on-11 periods, and my stats had Tua had 11-for-30, and that’s what sent me to digging up the passer rating. And, believe this or don’t, had his numbers been unusual in a positive way — say, 18-for-19 — I also would have dug up the passer rating.
From Frankie Bizzy (@FrankieBizzy):
My question is: Have you ever done passer ratings for practices for any other quarterback in the entire history of you covering the Dolphins? Or is that just a Tua special? And can you please give passer ratings for every practice you observe, not just the bad practices? Thanks.
Hey Frankie, you really were offended by me doing a passer rating for the first time Tuesday, weren’t you? I included your question right next to the previous one and the explanation remains the same. As for whether I had ever done that before, the answer is no, but then again I never charted every single play of team periods before this year (and you kind of need that to have full, if completely unofficial, stats). I’m also curious as to why you think more information is a bad thing. Would you have been happier had I left it at Tua had a really rough practice? (Spoiler alert: He did … and I know because I was there and saw it with my own eyes and didn’t conclude that from assorted media reports). Finally, because I aim to please, here are the passer ratings for all three quarterbacks for Thursday (keep in mind, those are my unofficial stats): I had Tua at 12-for-18 for 188 yards with one touchdown (the long one to Sherfield) and one interception for a passer rating of 96.5; Teddy Bridgewater at 12-for-18 for 102 yards with no touchdown and one interception (even though it looked like a false start should have stopped the play) for a rating of 58.1; and Skylar Thompson for 2-for-7 for 15 yards with no touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 25.7. I hope that makes you feel better.
