Barry Jackson
Dolphins assistants tackle 12 key questions, on rookie draft picks, lineup decisions, more
Asking and answering 12 questions during Monday’s session with Dolphins assistant coaches:
▪ It’s inevitable that at some point Jevon Holland — who has had four interceptions in training camp — will overtake Jason McCourty and start at free safety alongside Eric Rowe. How close is that to happening, keeping in mind that Holland missed Saturday’s game with an injury?
“That will come in due time whenever that situation presents itself,” defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander said. “Jevon still has a lot of things to learn. He has never played in an NFL regular-season game. He’s shown some great flashes over the course of camp, and we understand some of the things he is going to be able to bring to our defense.... He has an understanding of what terminology to use in certain defenses but at some point we have to graduate to course 401.”
As far as when the rookie should become a starter, “we’ll cross that bridge when it’s time to get there,” Alexander said. “We have trust in either one operating in our defense.”
▪ We saw Jaelan Phillips play some with the first-team defense Saturday, but how much of a workload can he realistically carry early in the season when he missed two weeks of camp with a hamstring injury?
“This week, he needs to get better,” linebackers coach Rob Leonard said. “He hasn’t practiced. He needs reps. My mind isn’t even there [as far as Week 1] with him. He’s definitely moving faster where he’s not feeling anything.
“Jaelan is very smart. It’s one thing to understand something on a sheet of paper; another to execute it in live action. We’re working through that. In the classroom, he’s great. He needs reps and experience, to take fundamentals from the practice field to the game.
“It’s pretty obvious he knows how to rush the passer coming from college. With him, we talk about patience a lot [against the run]; let the plays come to you that you’re supposed to make. It’s a game of not beating yourself. I told him the other day, ‘if you go out -- outside linebacker in the NFL -- and just fall on the ground, the ball is going to end up in that general vicinity.’ Those are the plays you’re responsible to make, not plays on the other side of the field or doing something that’s not your job.
“Playing outside backer in this league is very simple to understand, harder to do. Guys are always messing with your eyes, messing with your alignments, trying to slow you down and make you think. The job [for coaches] is keeping things simple so he can play fast.
“Our job with Jaelan is to be very specific on first and second down, we’re doing this. Passing downs we’re doing this. Here is how we’re going to try to rush this guy. Here is how we’re going to set the edge in the run game. I talk a lot with him that you’ve got to work hard to be a trusted early down player because of all of the things they try to do to get you to not do your job. It’s a league of not beating yourself.”
Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said of Phillips: “He’s done some good things and some things he’s got a ways to go.”
▪ Dolphins legend and preseason TV analyst Jason Taylor expressed surprise that Phillips was removed from Saturday’s game on a third-and-8. Is it safe to assume that Phillips will play with Emmanuel Ogbah and Andrew Van Ginkel in a lot of third-and-long situations?
“I wouldn’t assume anything,” Boyer said. “Those are things [best kept confidential].”
▪ Liam Eichenberg moved back to right tackle last week (behind Jesse Davis) after playing three weeks at left guard. So is Eichenberg now a tackle again?
Offensive line coach Lemuel Jeanpierre reiterated that Eichenberg’s position hasn’t been decided. But it appears he likely would begin the season as a backup if he stays at right tackle.
Asked if Eichenberg will resume competing with Solomon Kindley at left guard this week, Jeanpierre was noncommittal, saying: “We’ll keep moving all these guys around.”
Co-offensive coordinator George Godsey said of Eichenberg: “He’s going to have to learn and play multiple spots. There’s got to be flexibility to play inside and outside.”
▪ Has Kindley taken steps toward winning the left guard job, as it appears?
Coaches were noncommittal but Kindley — a 13-game starter at right guard last season — played well at left guard on Saturday — and “the cool thing about Solomon is you can see his growth,” Jeanpierre said. “He’s been doing a good job.”
Godsey said of Kindley: “He’s a run blocker, north south, downhill inside run blocker, has familiarity with some top level players.”
Here’s how Pro Football Focus graded the Dolphins’ starting offensive linemen in pass protection on Saturday: Kindley — 81.3; Eichenberg — 78.0; Michael Deiter — 76.6; Robert Hunt — 66.8; Austin Jackson — 39.6.
None of them allowed a sack, and Kindley and Hunt didn’t allow a pressure.
▪ How has Deiter done as the starting center for 15 practices and two preseason games?
“Deiter has done a great job,” Jeanpierre said. “We had Deiter at the Senior Bowl [in 2019] and I had a previous connection of knowing him. He has worked really hard and cares a lot.
“Every time he makes a wrong step, he has this red face. I’m like, ‘Relax, Deiter, I got you.’” He understands we’ve never said, ‘you’re the guy.’ He’s just been the guy.
“He really does study. He’s tough on himself; probably goes back to how he was raised. Because he cares so much, he works so hard.”
Deiter looked decent practicing at center last year and the staff was intrigued.
▪ How does the team believe left tackle Jackson, who struggled in the Bears game, is playing?
“That position, left tackle, at this level is one of the hardest in sports, going against a premier pass rusher every snap,” Godsey said. “We have to make sure we help with chips and tight end [help]. Austin has been nothing but be a pleasant — I don’t want to say surprise — but pleasantry at practice. He run blocks well. He’s aggressive. He’s doing a good job communicating with the guards.”
▪ Is Myles Gaskin the starting running back (seems likely) or is that still an open competition with Malcolm Brown and Salvon Ahmed?
Co-offensive coordinator Eric Studesville insists there’s no decision and “we want to see them all play” more. “We want to experiment with different combinations.”
▪ Will receiver Preston Williams — off PUP — be ready to help in Week 1, considering he hasn’t been cleared yet for team drills after November foot surgery?
Receivers coach Josh Grizzard said he can’t comment, per team policy, but said: “You can tell he’s going in the right direction. As far as timeline, too early to tell.”
(We’ve reported that the Dolphins are optimistic that DeVante Parker, Will Fuller and Albert Wilson will be healthy for Week 1, though Fuller faces an NFL suspension in Week 1.)
▪ Why did Nik Needham jump ahead of Justin Coleman as the first-team slot corner late last week — which continued in Saturday’s game?
“Getting a chance to see Nik get out there with the first unit and show some of the stuff he did last year and some of the improvements he made,” Alexander said. “It’s [also about] getting guys reps with certain guys to make sure communication is on point.”
Which of of those two - Coleman or Needham - plays first-team nickel is something “we’ll revisit on a week by week basis,” Alexander said. “It will be based on matchups and game plan.”
▪ Tua Tagovailoa is doing a bunch of things better. Where is his biggest area of improvement in Godsey’s mind?
It has “be communication with each of the position groups. You can’t play that position without communicating with each one of those players, how they run a certain route or where to run. That takes a lot of conversation.... He expects players to see [a play] through his eyes.”
▪ What do the Dolphins have in former Carolina second-round left tackle Greg Little, who was acquired last week?
“He studied his butt off so he could play in the game [against Atlanta],” Jeanpierre said. “You can see he wants to do well really bad. The tools you see off the bat. Long armed guy, has length, quickness.”
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