4 things we learned in the Miami Dolphins 1st preseason game

This portion of this wonderful Miami Dolphin article contains my notes. I saw and wrote down these notes and I really think you should see them. I take stupendous notes.

Amazingly, Preston Williams is returning punts. Not sure if this is supposed to entice teams to try and trade for him because I don’t know what kind of a market there is for 6’5 punt returners.

Sony Michel is slow. Like he’s really slow. I knew he didn’t have much burst but yikes does he go nowhere? I think he makes the team but there is no good reason to have him go wide. Keep him between tackles as often as possible.

Jaelan Phillips used his brute strength to bull tackles for near sacks but the best play I saw of him was a running play early in the game. Phillips was the contain defender and instead of jumping inside and letting the back get outside of him, he squatted and squeezed and forced them back inside for no gain. A small play but an important one.

Brandon Jones loves being a missile that blows up blocks and running backs. That guy has zero fear and enjoys getting up in the snuff of a running play.

Mike McDaniel’s wardrobe was a very comfortable one. I described it as a college kid heading out to breakfast on a Sunday morning after a major night out and about.

Darius Hodge applied nice pressure and one sack. Something to monitor.

A guy who had a sneak good game was defensive tackle, Benito Jones. From what I saw, Jones was making tackles and creating piles using his enormous size. Keep an eye or two on him.

Of all the fringe players, Lynn Bowden Jr had the best night. Bowden Jr. had three catches for 55 yards and a TD. He also had an 18-yard punt return. Maybe he’s just a gamer?

Mike Gesicki was the only veteran good player who started the game. I think it’s interesting. Maybe McDaniel wants him to get more reps as a blocker. I noticed that he was on the line of scrimmage a great deal or was motioned to the backfield instead of being lined up as a receiver. I think those days are gone. He did have a catch for 13 yards. I’m down for all of that.

One thing about the Mike McDaniel offense that I think will be a staple; is first-down play-action passing. That had to have happened 3-4 times and it was effective. Keep that up. This video made by the great Brian Baldinger really illustrates my point. Keep in mind, that I wrote this article in the early morning hours on Sunday and had to go back and make revisions. You could say that Baldinger and others are stealing from me.

Nice to see Byron Jones walking around.

This is great to see;

Here’s the box score from last night.

What sticks out is going 2/10 on 3rd down. Not great but that’s what happens when you have a non-existent running game. You get 3rd and longs. Also having 45 plays compared to their 71 really leaves your defense in a bad spot. Again, when you don’t chew up any clock this is the outcome.

Outside of the Trill Williams injury, the Miami Dolphins got out of there healthy. That might be the #1 thing that happened on Saturday night.

Look at this grin from Mike McDaniel after he iced the kicker thus leading to a missed FG which gave the Miami Dolphins the win.

Overall, there are plenty of things to clean up. There are also some position groups that need retooling. Grier needs to make some calls. But, it was a win and there were positive things that happened. It was also the first win in the Mike McDaniel era. First, of many, I hope.

Enjoy the start of your week. We’re on to Las Vegas.

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