Dolphins 2023 Camp Day 3: Practice Observations

Highlights, lowlights and observations from the third practice (day 3) of Miami Dolphins training camp:

-- In the first practice after the Jalen Ramsey knee injury, his defensive teammates did him proud with about as dominant a practice by one side of the ball as we remember seeing — and this training camp 35 for me.

-- In addition to the four players on PUP, three others were missing from practice Friday, including obviously Ramsey, cornerback Keion Crossen and wide receiver Freddie Swain. DBs Brandon Jones and Trill Williams were back at practice after sitting out Thursday, while Jaelan Phillips was in uniform but didn't take part in any of the team sessions. As a reminder, the four PUP players are Terron Armstead, Isaiah Wynn, Nik Needham and Tanner Conner.

-- It was linebacker Bradley Chubb who wore the orange jersey as the practice player of the day Thursday.

-- Practice was held indoors at the Baptist Health Training Complex because of lightning around Miami Gardens.

-- As we indicated, this day was all about the defense. With the understanding that sacks are unofficial and subjective — because defenders let up when they get close to the quarterback for health and safety reasons — the media members who actually watched practice agreed the number of sacks reached double digits.

-- The sacks were a combination of good coverage, some blitzes not picked up properly and then defensive linemen simply beating the pass blocking up front.

-- This was my tally of sacks: Chubb, Duke Riley, Riley again, Jerome Baker, Chubb again, Christian Wilkins, Josiah Bronson, Wilkins again, Zach Sieler with Chubb, Sieler again, Wilkins/Sieler.

-- Yes, not a good day for the offense, and Wilkins made sure to let players on that side of the ball know about it with a heavy dose of animated trash talking.

-- Before 11-on-11 periods, there was some one-on-one work featuring pass protection at the far end of the practice field and one-on-one work featuring receivers vs. DBs toward the end where the media watched practice.

-- Cornerback Kader Kohou did some very good work in that session, with good coverage against Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Jaylen Waddle twice. The last of those was a deep pass into the end zone from Tua Tagovailoa that was on target but Kohou was able to knock it away.

-- Safety Jevon Holland had blanket coverage against Braxton Berrios from the slot before Noah Igbinoghene did the same against Robbie Chosen outside.

-- Rookie cornerback Cam Smith had a pass breakup against Daewood Davis.

-- And understand that those one-on-one WR/DB battles heavily favor the receivers because they're working with half the field.

-- Linebacker Malik Reed had a productive practice that included meeting running back Salvon Ahmed in the backfield on a running play.

-- There were a lot of center-QB exchange issues with included Mike White fumbling a snap, a slightly high shotgun snap from Uluave Alama,

-- None of the quarterbacks shines, but then again it's not like they had much of a chance. White, though, had a couple of bad throws over the middle that were behind the receiver, one of which allowed DB Elijah Campbell to break up a pass.

-- Rookie free agent Brandon Pili had a couple of stops at the line on running plays.

-- Rookie De'Von Achane had the best run of the day when he found a hole on the left side.

-- Cedrick Wilson Jr. had a great catch on the sideline when he reached up to grab a Tua pass, but that came on a play where Chubb got close to Tua and it might have been a sack in a game situation.

-- The most productive play on offense was a completion of about 20 yards from Skylar Thompson to Tyreek Hill at the right numbers after Thompson stepped up to avoid pressure.

-- Holland broke up a short Tua pass intended for Berrios by knocking the ball by reaching over Berrios' shoulder without committing a penalty.

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