Four Winners And Four Losers in the Miami Dolphins Preseason Loss Against the New York Giants

Now that the second game of the preseason is in the books for the Miami Dolphins, it's time to look at those who left a decent impression and those who are running out of time to prove that they belong here.

With most of the big-name starters out for this game, it opened the door for Miami's reserves to get the spotlight. The opportunity presented itself, but a 26-3 loss to the New York Giants only reinforced the constant criticism of the Dolphins' depth.

Again, it's wise to never overreact to what you witness in the preseason. In this instance, however, it would be nice to have something to overreact to. And the defense isn't safe, either. At the very least, some names on both sides of the ball walked away from this with something to be proud of.

Winner - WR Kevin Coleman Jr

Let's address the elephant in the room: There's no clear-cut winner to come from this offense. To say Coleman is a major winner is a stretch, but from the limited sample size we saw, at least there was some good.

Two catches for 32 yards off five targets isn't amazing, but his 30-yard one-handed grab while being interfered with might have been the only offensive bright spot of the game. It brings a similar vibe to the reception that Caleb Douglas pulled off against Washington a week ago.

The fifth-round pick out of Missouri appears to be keeping up the new tradition of rookie receivers making spectacular catches in the preseason. For Miami's sake, they could use even more of these young receivers taking advantage of the opportunities given to them.

Loser - RB Jaylen Wright

With De'Von Achane not playing in this game and Ollie Gordon II exiting early with an injury, this was Wright's moment to prove that he should be considered the main backup runner.

That did not happen. Even before Gordon got injured, the running game looked off. Wright did not fix the issue, recording 9 yards on six carries. More egregious than that, however, was his fumble, having the ball stripped away on first contact and adding to his consistent problems with ball security.

On special teams, Wright looked decent with a couple of kick returns. But the depth of the running back position has taken a massive hit. If Gordon is seriously hurt, Wright did not do himself any favors in making people believe he can be the main backup.

Winner - LB Jackson Woodard

Woodard had a sneaky good performance in this game with an exceptional play that has done great PR - a fumble recovery in the red zone that killed a drive that began on Miami's 39-yard line. Similar to Coleman's catch, it might have been the biggest highlight on defense the whole night.

Woodard didn't see a ton of action in this game, but he was fast and physical when he was near the ball. He racked up five total tackles, four of them being on his own. He was one of the few defenders who stood up to New York's ground game. On special teams, he made a pair of tackles on punt coverage, though one of them was negated by a holding penalty.

He came into this summer trying to earn a spot on the practice squad, and that's where he'll most likely end up. But he led the team in total tackles last week and kept up the momentum against the Giants. If he can pop off one more time in the preseason against Atlanta, he might just sneak into the 53-man roster.

Loser - WR Tutu Atwell

It almost seems unfair to note either quarterback as one of the biggest losers of this game because of weapons like Tutu Atwell struggling from the jump. This has been a brutal summer for Atwell, who ended the day with no yards on no receptions — straight cardio.

The story of the night for Atwell was his inability to reel in targets. He had two drops against the Giants — one was contested, while the other was a straight miss on third down, which would have been helpful considering Bradley Pinion had to punt from inside the end zone to close out that drive.

Miami almost needs to be grateful for what they've gotten out of the rookie receivers so far in the preseason, because a lot of the veteran pass-catchers they've brought in haven't lived up to expectations. Atwell is, unfortunately, high on that list.

Winner - QB Cam Miller

The quarterback room needed someone to give it hope in case something were to happen to Malik Willis. Quinn Ewers is still dealing with a groin injury, so the Dolphins turned to Miller once again and got clear improvement from a week ago.

Miller's performance was miles better than what he and Ewers put on last week, especially considering the shortcomings of just about everyone around him. He recorded 60 yards off six completions with no interceptions. Both of his sacks were nearly impossible to avoid, and he can't control the drops his receivers managed.

He threw some accurate passes and wasn't afraid to get out of the pocket, leading the team on the ground with 18 rushing yards. That said, his decision-making is still under question, with some completions just so happening in double coverage.

Loser - LT Charlie Heck

Yet another week where the backup offensive linemen didn't impress, and they got significantly more time to do so against the Giants. Heck struggled to contain the Giants' pass rush, and even when Gordon managed a gritty run before he got hurt, Heck wiped it off the board with a holding penalty.

Since Heck was signed back in March as an unrestricted free agent, he's been an experiment that has struggled all camp. There have been little to no flashes of progress in either preseason game, though you can say the same thing for a good chunk of the reserve linemen Miami has to offer.

Winner - K Riley Patterson

Yep, we're at this point as far as winners go. Miami only scored three points today, and they were off the foot of Patterson on a 53-yard field goal attempt.

Patterson was certainly an accurate kicker in 2025, converting 27 of 29 field goals. The sample size is small, with just this field goal and an extra point last week against Washington. However, it looks like he's continuing to be a reliable answer on special teams, exactly what Miami wants at the position long-term after releasing injured veteran Zane Gonzalez back on August 19.

Loser - WR Tahj Washington

As a wide receiver, Washington made the most of his single target, a contested catch for 12 yards. But this placement is solely for his work as a returner, muffing a punt in the final two minutes to close out the game - a fitting end to Miami's performance as a whole against the Giants.

This muffed punt made no real impact on the game. But all in all, Washington is running out of time to prove that he can be a reliable weapon to the coaching staff. Miami is clearly impressed with what they've seen from Coleman, Douglas, and even Chris Bell now that he's off the non-football injury list.

Instead, this is the second straight week that Washington is featured on one of these lists, and that's not a good thing.

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