Tannehill’s skills
Dolphins QB used off time to learn for his return.
DAVIE — Dolphins coach Adam Gase wasn’t pleased with his offense’s performance Tuesday, the first day of Miami’s threeday minicamp. The defense almost lived in the backfield, frequently pressuring quarterback Ryan Tannehill and his fellow quarterbacks. And there was a dropped pass or two to go along with general choppiness.
“It was probably not one of our better practices,” Gase said. “We put a lot of new stuff in today, we’ve just got to be a little quicker absorbing it, getting out there, executing it.”
Mind you, Gase, a former offensive coordinator who is regarded as something of an offensive wizard, was only talking about the offense in his practice assessment. “I’m biased to one side,” he cracked. And Gase wasn’t talking about Tannehill, who apparently is absorbing things more quickly than ever.
Tannehill, according to those who see him frequently, seems to be having one of his best offseasons. According to accounts, he’s throwing the ball well, moving well and making good decisions.
“He’s looking great in practice,” quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree said.
And Tannehill has incorporated the offensive knowledge he obtained while sitting out last season into this year’s showing.
“You can tell he has a total grip of the offense,” Gase said. “It just moves smoother. That’s just experience whether it’s in this offense or football in general.
“He’s been in the league for a little bit and when the defense throws something differ-
ent at him he has a way to solve the problem faster than probably what he did three or four years ago.”
Tannehill’s high performance level is nothing new.
Cornerback Tony Lippett, who like Tannehill missed the 2017 season (Lippett had an Achilles injury), said Tannehill has been working hard for months. They did rehabilitation work together every day last season.
“I didn’t see any frustration,” Lippett said of Tannehill. “I just saw him attack every day like he was still in season.”
The evidence of that is on the practice field every day.
Gase was sure to credit the defense for Tuesday’s performance. The pass rush was led by ends Cameron Wake, Robert Quinn, Andre Branch, William Hayes and Charles Harris, and the pass coverage was led by cornerbacks Bobby McCain, Xavien Howard and Cordrea Tankersley as well as safeties Reshad Jones and T.J. McDonald.
“Defense did a good job today,” Gase said. “They’re moving well up front and playing tight coverage on the back end.”
But the bottom line is the defense didn’t totally stifle Tannehill, who has missed the last 20 games, including the wild-card playoff game against Pittsburgh, because of a left knee injury.
Early in practice Tannehill appeared efficient and agile, even as he was flushed out of the pocket by the pass rush. Midway through practice it was the same thing.
Tannehill did, however, notice something about the offense late in practice.
“I feel like toward the end of practice maybe the heat caught up to us a little bit,” he said.
That’s a bit of an issue because the weather — especially those 1 p.m. September games when the humidity is oppressive — is supposed to be Miami’s advantage. Tannehill said the heat and humidity — the heat index was around 101 degrees at practice time Tuesday — definitely affects the opponents.
“I see it definitely,” he said. “I don’t think it’s every week, but we do see teams come down here and be affected by the heat. So it’s just something that we’re going to have to deal with throughout the whole year, throughout training camp so we have to prepare for it and be acclimated for it.” That’s for later, though. The encouraging thing about this minicamp, and Tannehill, is that the Dolphins are seeing improvement in their quarterback as he’s able to implement what he learned while sidelined last season.
“It just helps you make quicker decisions,” Hardegree said of Tannehill’s year of observation.
“The big thing at the quarterback position is being able to play fast and think less, and just go out and react, and knowing the offense which … [Tannehill] being in his third year, he is handling all of the [middle linebacker calls]. He’s up there getting everybody lined up. We’re rolling, trying to play fast and he’s doing a really good job of that.”