Dolphins Camp 2022: Aug. 18 Practice Observations

Jevon Holland had yet another interception at Miami Dolphins practice on a day when Tua Tagovailoa connected on two long passes

The Miami Dolphins practiced both inside and outside Thursday in their last session before their preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

The practice was highlighted by three long completions, including two by Tua Tagovailoa, and yet another interception by second-year safety Jevon Holland.

So let's dive into the practice report:

ATTENDANCE REPORT

Jaylen Waddle again missed practice, but perhaps the most noteworthy thing here was the absence of tackle Terron Armstead.

While most of the players who didn't practice made an appearance to watch parts of the session, Armstead was not spotted at all. And this comes after he went into the practice facility very early in the session Wednesday and did not return.

While the reason for his absence remains unknown, he's too important a player not to monitor his status.

Along with Waddle, who Coach Mike McDaniel said before practice Wednesday was dealing with a minor issue and is day-to-day, the others who did not practice Thursday were safety Eric Rowe, tight end Tanner Conner, guard Solomon Kindley, linebacker Brennan Scarlett, tackle Greg Little and fullback John Lovett. Conner, Scarlett, Little and Lovett watched at least a portion of practice.

Conner, the impressive rookie free agent tight end from Idaho State, was spotted with a brace on his left knee.

Edge defender Porter Gustin, who has been so impressive in training camp, left practice midway through accompanied by a trainer and did not return.

Holland wore the orange jersey after his two-interception practice Wednesday.

PRACTICE TOP PERFORMERS

— We'll start with Tua, who rebounded from two tough days of practice with a very good outing. His long completion to Sherfield, which happened on the very first play of team drills immediately after practice moved outside, was his best throw of camp. He hit Sherfield in stride some 45-50 yards downfield (couldn't tell the distance from field level) behind Xavien Howard and Holland, and Sherfield turned upfield to complete what would have been a long touchdown. The other long pass was a 40-yard hook-up to Tyreek Hill down the right sideline, which was a nice throw but was completed because cornerback Nik Needham failed to locate the ball in time after having good coverage downfield. Overall, Tua was 12-for-18 for 188 yards per our very unofficial stat keeping and did throw the interception to Holland downfield during a two-minute drill after he had completed three short passes in a row.

— Hate to do this, but we have to go back to Sherfield again (for a third consecutive day) because he also caught Teddy Bridgewater's first pass in team drills, an 18-yarder over the middle.

— Tight end Durham Smythe was a factor as a receiver in the passing game, with three catches in team periods.

QB WATCH

Because it’s training camp, we need to talk about the quarterback performances every practice.

— This was a really good bounce-back performance for Tua, though we'll maintain our position that he should be in the lineup against Raiders on Saturday.

-- Bridgewater had the other long completion on the day, a connection of about 45 yards down the middle to rookie free agent Braylon Sanders where he put a lot of air under the ball but floated it right on target. By our stats, Bridgewater also was 12-for-18, but for only 102 yards. Outside of his first completion to Sherfield and the long pass to Sanders, everything was short. He threw one interception, also in a two-minute drill, when safety Clayton Fejedelem picked him off on the last play of the simulation, though it appeared an offensive lineman committed a false start (not called despite the presence of officials at practice).

— Skylar Thompson again was the victim of bad luck during his more limited team period reps. He also threw an interception, but that came when rookie Erik Ezukanma let a slightly high pass (but highly catchable) bounce off his chest before linebacker Calvin Munson caught it before it hit the ground. Thompson had only two completions on this day, both of them short, and wasn't as sharp throwing the ball as he had been. But that pick wasn't on him.

OTHER PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS

-- Kicker Jason Sanders made all six of his field goal attempts inside the practice facility in the early part of practice.

-- The team did not do 1-on-1 drills on this day.

-- Before he had his long reception from Tua, Hill dropped an easy swing pass.

-- Emmanuel Ogbah and rookie Owen Carney Jr. each had a sack in team periods.

-- Running back Salvon Ahmed had three consecutive receptions from Bridgewater, but all of them were short passes.

-- River Cracraft made a really nice high snag of a Bridgewater pass downfield, but it came on a play when the officials threw a flag and signaled holding in the backfield (could not see who committed the infraction).

-- Linebacker Sam Eguavoen met Ahmed at the line of scrimmage on a running play and Elijah Campbell did the same with Myles Gaskin two plays later.

-- Liam Eichenberg committed a false start in a team period.

-- Mohamed Sanu caught three consecutive short passes from Bridgewater in a two-minute period.

-- Cornerback D'Angelo Ross had great coverage deep and came up with a PBU on a deep attempt from Thompson to Sanders.

-- Cornerback Kader Kohou broke up a Thompson pass intended for Ezukanma.

-- The last play of practice was a swing pass from Thompson to rookie running back Za'Quandre White.