Ranking the Top 10 Stories of the Summer
Regular season week arrives Monday, with the full focus for the Miami Dolphins squarely on the New England Patriots and the Sept. 12 opener at Gillette Stadium.
It gives us one last chance to take a look back at training camp, more precisely the top stories of the summer.
Here's how we'd rank our top 10:
1. THE HOWARD CONTRACT SITUATION
It makes sense that this would come at number 1 considering that Xavien Howard clearly is the best player on the team. This was a story with a happy ending, at least in the short term, though it was unnerving for a while after Howard requested a trade on Instagram.
2. THE INJURIES AT WIDE RECEIVER
The Dolphins assembled all this depth at wide receiver after adding Jaylen Waddle and Will Fuller and with the return of Albert Wilson, and yet we barely got to see the whole group in action together because of injuries to Fuller, Wilson and DeVante Parker and Preston Williams not coming off PUP until late in camp.
3. THE JOINT PRACTICES
Forget about the preseason games against Chicago, Atlanta and Cincinnati, the Dolphins probably got their best work of camp when they practiced with/against the Bears in Lake Forest, Illinois, and the Falcons at the Baptist Health Training Complex.
4. McKINNEY MOVES
Linebacker Benardrick McKinney was viewed as a significant addition to the defense when the Dolphins acquired him in a trade from Houston in the offseason, but things started taking a different tone when it was revealed the Dolphins had restructured (read: cut) his contract in late July and then came the pretty significant surprise of watching McKinney be among the players released in the cut to 53.
5. O-LINE TRADES
The Dolphins have tinkered with their offensive quite a bit over the past two-plus years and it's less than certain the desired results are in store. Maybe that's why the team acquired not one but two offensive linemen in trades in the latter stages of camp, Greg Little from the Carolina Panthers and Greg Mancz from the Baltimore Ravens.
6. ANOTHER BAD BREAK FOR BIEGEL
Linebacker Vince Biegel was looking good in his comeback attempt after tearing an Achilles tendon last August when out of nowhere he showed up for one of the joint practices in Chicago in a walking boot. From there, it was another lost season for Biegel, who wound up being put on injured reserve again.
7. SCARY SCENE WITH LONG
There was a brief moment when it was reasonable to think that rookie tight end Hunter Long also had sustained a significant injury when he went down between the two fields in a Sunday practice and had to be carted off to get inside the facility. That proved just one big scare because Long was back at practice before too long and even ended up missing only one preseason game.
8. BACKING TUA
By all measures, Tua Tagovailoa made strides in his second training camp, but that didn't stop reports of Dolphins interest in Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson, which led to head coach Brian Flores having to reaffirm last week that Tua was "our starting quarterback," followed by a somewhat unnecessary declaration that he would start in Week 1 after Flores was asked to confirm that.
9. GRANT STICKS AROUND
Given all the acquisitions at wide receiver of the offseason and the fact that Waddle was a dynamic returner at Alabama, there was a school of thought that Jakeem Grant's days with the Dolphins were over and that he'd be either released or trade. But Grant instead is getting ready for a sixth season with Miami after he agreed to restructure his contract.
10. SHAHEEN'S STANCE
Because COVID-19 remains a big part of life in 2021 and because of the NFL's stricter rules regarding unvaccinated players, it's newsworthy whenever a player is revealed to not have gotten the vaccine. That's what happened with tight end Adam Shaheen, who discussed his stance during an early media session and proceeded to be among the most impressive performers at camp before he was sidelined by an injury.
