Dolphins-Lions Halftime Observations

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was perfect in his only drive against Washington; rookie edge defenders make splash plays.

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell shakes hands with Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniels after a joint practice at Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. | Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins' preseason opener against the Detroit Lions:

We'll start with the list of "inactives," which unlike the preseason opener featured virtually every veteran starter, including with some backups like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

The exceptions included the team's top two draft picks, Kenneth Grant and Jonah Savaiinaea, as well as every cornerback on the roster other than veteran Mike Hilton.

THE DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

The Dolphins started with Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner as the cornerbacks, another indication of the latter's recent surge. At this point, he might even be in the lead for the one open spot (because Duck seems locked in to the other one).

Veteran nose tackle Benito Jones was among the few starters who played on defense.

Derrick McLendon has been impressive as a pass rusher all summer, but he let wide receiver Tom Kennedy come across the field right in front of him instead of bumping him and that led to an easy completion off a rollout.

Dante Trader Jr., who's shown a willingness to throw his body around since he's been back at practice, came around the corner to tackle running back Sione Vaki after a short gain, with help from Grant after he stood up his blocker.

Willie Gay Jr. did a great job of locking on to Vaki on a screen pass on third-and-15 to bring him down for a 6-yard loss.

Bonner took himself out of the game after covering Kennedy across the middle on an incomplete pass and replays showed his right knee seemed to jam a bit late in the play. He then left the field of play.

Kendall Sheffield, in a battle for the starting cornerback job, had good coverage on two straight Lions passes, one a short completion and the next a third-down incompletion.

The next Detroit possession ended with a touchdown when the secondary lost WR Jackson Meeks in coverage on fourth-and-7 from the 11. Not good.

Linebacker Cameron Goode battled the right tackle on the first play and had the outside possession until making a move inside and getting pinned in to allow a 7-yard run.

Rookies Grant and Jordan Phillips each made a nice play in run defense, with Phillips fighting off a block for a 1-yard stop and Grant stuffing the middle to force Chase Reynolds outside where he was dropped by safety Jordan Colbert for a 1-yard loss.

Channing Tindall also shot the gap to meet a running back in the backfield, though he wasn't able to make the tackle — he ended up a run for no gain anyway.

Grayson Murphy came up with a sack on the Lions' last drive of the half with a nifty arm-over move to get inside the left tackle.

Because it's the preseason, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-3 from their 38 and converted.

Jason Marshall Jr. then was victimized by very soft coverage on a 27-yard completion to Jackson Meeks over the middle.

Cornerback Cornell Armstrong had good coverage on rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa, but simply didn't do a good job of preventing TeSlass from getting position on him.

THE OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

The starting offensive line, with three starters out, featured from left to right Kion Smith, Savaiinaea, Daniel Brunskill, Jackson Carman and Larry Borom.

The first drive was ugly, as it featured a false start on tight end Pharaoh Brown and Brunskill failing to pick up a blitzing linebacker up the middle. That created immediate pressure on Wilson and forced a third-down incompletion.

The Dolphins' second offensive possession ended with a Dee Eskridge touchdown after he did some impressive run after catch on two receptions.

Props to fellow wide receiver Tahj Washington for a key block at the point of reception on the 27-yard gain on a wide receiver screen.

Jaylen Wright had little success running the ball — not many holes but not creating anything or breaking tackles either — and he fumbled on a first-and-goal from the 10 but was bailed out by Tanner Conner recovered the fumble.

Eskridge appeared to be shaken up after going down just past the pylon. He was back for the next kickoff after the Lions scored.

The Dolphins had a three-and-out that began with Larry Borom flagged for a strange illegal formation penalty and included Conner failing to make a high catch on a Wilson pass in the face of pressure after Savaiinaea was beaten pretty quickly at the line.

Wilson was much better than he was against the Bears, though he did have some misses, none worse than when he badly underthrew Eskridge after the receiver got wide open behind the Detroit secondary. Wilson later overshot Tarik Black in the end zone on third down.

Kion Smith was beaten for a third-down sack, but the Dolphins were bailed out when Stuard (him again) was flagged for a facemask against Conner while the tight end was getting into his route.

The Dolphins converted a third-and-2 on an easy swing pass from Wilson to rookie Ollie Gordon II, who took it upfield for 14 yards — as Gordon continues to outplay Wright.

That drive ended, after the miss to Black, with Wilson getting sacked on fourth down when Isaac Ukwu beat Kion Smith again.