Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: More Tua/Teddy, Mostert, O-Line, Reasons for Concern

From Craig M (@Dolfan2334):

What did you like from the Dolphins in the Cinci game? Let’s imagine Tua is our for a few games. What does that do to their season?

Hey Craig, what I liked the run defense, which completely shut down Joe Mixon, I loved the way Raheem Mostert ran the ball, I loved the bomb to Tyreek Hill, I loved the two-minute drive at the end of the first half. Look, this was a game that could have gone either way despite the 12-point margin under really trying circumstances for the Dolphins heading into the game and obviously during the game. From where I sit, as well as Tua has played so far this season, what makes this offense is the combination of the play designs and the speed that produce open receivers. It’s an offense with which Jared Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo both had great results, so let’s just decide that things will fall apart with Teddy Bridgewater in the lineup.

From Larry in the Dirt (@GardeningLarry):

At beginning of season, 2-2 was seen as positive, or at least acceptable, outcome. We're 3-1. BUT ... uncertainty reigns. How do we overcome this massive uncertainty to take advantage of the upcoming softening in the schedule?

Hey Larry, first off, I always caution about the “softening” of the schedule because game circumstances game and what might appear easy before the season starts may not be that way at the time of the game. As I’ve mentioned earlier, the offense designed by Mike McDaniel is very QB-friendly and assuming that things will fall apart with Tua out of the lineup (however that long that ends up being) is a massive overreaction — and that’s not taking anything away from the start of the season Tua had.

From sweetpou812 (@pfs0u812):

The record says 3/1 but I could make a great case for 1 and 3! The defense has been getting gashed and other than Baltimore this offense is not running the ball, and sputtering. Should we be concerned, and am I the only one that sees this?

Hey there, well, first off, sure a couple of plays here and there and the Dolphins easily could have lost against Baltimore and Buffalo, but the same thing could be said about the loss at Cincinnati. The bottom line is the Dolphins indeed at 3-1, but it absolutely is not a team without concerns — and it was that way when they were 3-0. I’d be more concerned about the pass defense at this time than I would be about the running game because the offense is built around the passing game at this time.

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From Dixon Tam (@DixonTam):

The Dolphins are on the cusp of having a decent OL. Armstead, Williams & Hunt are having a really good start to the season, but LG and RT are huge concerns. How much patience does McDaniel have before he makes changes? Could we see see Jackson back at LG? What would Coach Alain do?

Hey Dixon, that’s a good questiond, but here’s where I stand on this. I completely agree with you about the three O-linemen who have stood out in the first four games, but I don’t see great separation between Liam Eichenberg, Austin Jackson or Greg Little, so at this point maybe continuity would make more sense for the time being. So the only change I would make upon Jackson’s return from IR, if any, would be putting him back in the starting lineup at right tackle (he was there in the first place for a reason).

From Cliffy Mac (@mclifford):

Do you think we’ll start seeing more rushes from Mostert? He appeared to be the better of the 2 backs so far.

Hey Cliffy, answering this question right after the Cincinnati game will influence me into saying yes because I love the way he ran against the Bengals, whereas I didn’t necessarily see a big difference between the two in the first three games. Mike McDaniel and his coaches saw it too because this was the game where there was the biggest gap between snaps among those two, as I pointed out in my weekly snap count observations.

From Adam Smith (@usfrasmith):

How does the team bounce back emotionally from the injury? Feel like Waddle specifically took it hard, he’s been on the field with Tua twice on major injuries. Can everyone compartmentalize and refocus? Also, HCMMD, genuine? He seems like, from the outside.

Hey Adam, NFL players are programmed to deal with bad and scary injuries because they all know it’s part of the game and that they all signed up for it, no matter how shaken they will be at the time of the injury. Just look at the Cincinnati game itself, the Dolphins were in position to win if not for the late interception. There’s not a lot players can do after an injury like we saw other than to be there for Tua when they can and support him, and one way to do that is to play hard for him. As for Mike McDaniel, yes, he’s absolutely genuine based from what I’ve observed and I’m pretty sure every player in the locker room would say the same thing.

From yolo (@MollyCharlieDog):

Are you confident Teddy will keep starting role while Tua is out?

Hey there, yes, I am very confident that Teddy Bridgewater will remain in the starting lineup while Tua is sidelined because, first off, I think he’ll produce much better results than a lot of fans seem to think and also because I think Dolphins coaches understand that Skylar Thompson’s preseason brilliance will mean nothing once he faces defenses who will scheme things up to confuse him, as they would any rookie quarterback.

From Chris Thompson (@ct2000ec):

Are the Dolphins going to get any veteran help in the secondary?

Hey Chris, yes, that help will come in the form of Byron Jones once he returns from his lower-leg injury, which could happen as early as next week. Understand that Xavien Howard was playing at less than 100 percent against the Bengals. Once those two guys are back there operating at full capacity, I’m pretty sure you won’t see a major need for secondary help anymore.

From Craig Paterson (@CraigyP83):

Was the Miami defense always on a hiding to nothing after 92 snaps against Buffalo? Surely always going to fizzle out.

Hey Craig, if fatigue was going to be a major issue for the Dolphins against Cincinnati, I think it might have manifested itself a lot more against the run than against the pass, and the Dolphins were great against the run. The issues on defense against Cincinnati were three long passes were cornerbacks were beaten one-on-one (though a better pass rush might have helped).

From Taylor Simpson (@TaylorS34728333):

Did the Bengals follow the blueprint the Ravens did to break the cover 0 pass rush? Also, any chance we see Skylar if Teddy does not move the ball?

Hey Taylor, I don’t recall seeing a ton of cover 0 blitzing against Cincinnati and the reason is there’s too many top-notch wide receivers to cover man-to-man if you do that. The chances of Skylar Thompson getting any action in a game barring injuries or at the end of a blowout are very, very slim. I cannot stress enough or repeat often enough that no matter how great he was in the preseason the regular season is an entirely different ballgame and assuming he'll just pick up where he left off is dreaming.

From David (@dkar84):

Which FA QB should Miami consider assuming Tua is out for a while? Any chance they can lure Fitzpatrick out of retirement?

Hey David, I understand the question and I’ll play along with your hypothetical scenario and stop you right there and tell you the Dolphins are not making a move for a veteran quarterback because Teddy Bridgewater would be the starter and Skylar Thompson would be the backup.

From Jan Magnussen (@FeelTheBurnter):

Would it make sense for Bridgewater and Thompson to battle it out for starting QB while Tua is out?

Hey Jan, I don’t think it makes sense and it’s also flat-out not going to happen. The Dolphins signed Bridgewater to a $6.5 million fully guaranteed contract in the offseason for a very specific reason and that reason was to give the Dolphins an experienced starting quarterback in the event something happened to Tua. That plan is not going to change because Bridgewater didn’t light it up after coming in mid-game the last two weeks or because Skylar Thompson was great in the preseason — against very basic schemes and a lot of players who didn’t make their team’s 53-man roster. That’s no knock on Thompson, who deserves big props simply for convincing the Dolphins to carry three QBs because they couldn’t afford to lose him. But his time is not now.