Dolphins Drop Ugly Preseason Finale
The preseason finale was one to forget for the Miami Dolphins in almost every possible way. And it ended in the worst way after both teams agreed to suspend the game with 8:32 left in the fourth quarter.
The game was stopped after Dolphins rookie wide receiver Daewood Davis was carted off the field after he was placed on a board, the result of a hit to the head by linebacker Dequan Jackson after a short slant.
Davis laid motionless on his stomach for several seconds before eventually being turned over and put on the board, with players from each team surrounded him before he was carted off.
Head coach Mike McDaniel and Doug Pederson then spoke with the officials and later were joined by player reps Christian Wilkins and Brandon McManus before the officially announcement that both teams had agreed to stop the game.
By that point, that Jacksonville was ahead 31-18 mattered very little given the concern for Davis.
CBS Miami reporter Mike Cugno said after the game that Davis was transported to a Jacksonville hospital but was conscious and had movement in his extremities, and McDaniel later confirmed that Davis could move his fingers and his toes.
The team later released a statement.
While nothing else mattered much after the fact, this was a sloppy performance by the Dolphins in their preseason finale, with some bad mistakes on offense, some porous run defense and big plays given up by rookie cornerbacks.
And there also were some injuries beyond the one sustained by Davis. Defensive back Elijah Campbell was injured on a kickoff return when he immediately grabbed his right knee before walking off the field accompanied by trainers. Running back Salvon Ahmed sustained an apparent head or neck injury after being tackled high from both sides after catching a short pass from Skylar Thompson.
TUA STARTS, LEADS GOOD DRIVE
The Dolphins put together a solid drive with Tua Tagovailoa and their starting offense on the field, but the story of the night was the defense getting gashed and rookie cornerbacks getting beat on double moves.
The final score was 31-18 for the Jaguars, with the Dolphins closing their preseason with a 1-2 record.
Tagovailoa played two series and led the Dolphins to a field goal at the end of a drive highlighted by a 42-yard run by Ahmed after he bounced to the outside.
The first drive started off great with a 32-yard completion to Tyreek Hill but was derailed after a high shotgun snap by Connor Williams caused a 25-yard loss.
Thompson had his moments while passing for 135 yards, but he also was picked off twice.
Rookie free agent James Blackman got his first preseason action and completed both of his pass attempts, but he unfortunately will be remembered on this night for throwing that ill-fated pass to Davis.
Rookie free agent running back Chris Brooks scored both Dolphins touchdowns, both on 4-yard runs, and Jason Sanders kicked field goals of 24 and 28 yards.
DISAPPOINTING EFFORT ON DEFENSE
The Dolphins defense played without starting defensive linemen Zach Sieler and Wilkins, and the lack of depth on the up front was exposed as Jacksonville often created big holes up front.
Jacksonville rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns, all of them through gaping holes.
All told, the Dolphins gave up 413 total yards, and that included a 74-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Beathard to Tim Jones after he beat rookie second-round pick Cam Smith with a double move. Fellow rookie corner Ethan Bonner later was beaten for a 43-yard pass to Seth Williams on another double move.
Maybe the one highlight on defense came on Jacksonville's first drive when safety Jevon Holland stripped Tank Bigsby on a running play and recovered the fumble in the end zone to stop a Jaguars scoring threat.
Rookie Randy Charlton had a sack, and Andrew Van Ginkel and Jaylen Twyman split another.
The next order of business for the Dolphins will be making the decisions to get their roster down to the 53-player limit by the deadline of Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
