Dual threat
Dolphins rookie’s talent, drive can’t be exaggerated.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a couple new toys, and he’ll be forced to use them during Friday night’s preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.
An ankle injury has kept Kenny Stills from practicing this week, and he’ll likely miss the second preseason game because the Dolphins don’t want their speedster slowed down by lingering soreness.
A broken finger will keep DeVante Parker, the starting split end receiver for the past two years, from practicing for the next few weeks, and tight end MarQueis Gray, Miami’s in-line specialist, suffered a concussion on Tuesday and is in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
That means Tannehill will have to use a new starting tight end, flankers and split end receiver during the few series he plays against the Panthers. The only familiar weaponry
he’ll have on the field on Friday is tailback Kenyan Drake, and slot receiver Danny Amendola, another newcomer.
Making matters worse, coach Adam Gase has acknowledged that the Dolphins don’t have an offensive identity yet.
“I think our coaching staff has a better feel right now, but I still think we’re trying to sort a few things out of who our starters are going to be and who our role guys are going to be and what they’re going to do,” Gase said when asked about the team’s identity.
Rookie tight end Mike Gesicki and A.J. Derby, who returned from a foot injury this week, will likely serve as Miami’s starting tight ends against Carolina, and Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant have replaced Parker and Stills as the first-team receivers.
Gase has offensive packages specifically designed for Wilson, a run-aftercatch specialist, Grant, who possesses sub-4.3 speed, and Gesicki, a longand-athletic red-zone weapon, so don’t be surprised if Miami experiments with a few of those plays against the Panthers.
Gase’s goal entering training camp was to get Tannehill some work with Wilson and Grant at some point, since both have been excelling with the secondteam offense. Parker’s and Stills’ injuries just sped up the process.
“It’s just a matter of getting the reps and getting comfortable with how each guy moves under duress, when he’s getting pushed and how he’s going to recover and little things like that,” Tannehill said, referring to Grant, who is 5 foot 7, 169 pounds and Wilson, who is 5 foot 9, 186 pounds.
“If you’re throwing and it’s free access then it’s like nothing … but if he’s getting pushed and one guy recovers a different way than another guy, but you have to throw it at the same time. Just knowing how each guy recovers a little differently is the adjustment.”
It’s also possible that Miami could have Frank Gore participate in his first game as a Dolphins player on Friday because Kalen Ballage, the Dolphins’ 2018 fourth-round pick, is also sidelined by a concussion.
Miami held Gore, a 13-year veteran, out of last Thursday’s preseason loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But Gore, a former University of Miami standout, typically plays in the second and third preseason games, and has been anxiously anticipating his debut as a Dolphin, playing for his hometown team.
Gore, who is putting the finishing touches on a career that’s possibly worthy of a Hall of Fame selection, has been one of the pleasant surprises of training camp.
He has performed so well in his limited practice reps the Dolphins named him a co-starter with Drake, and Gase envisions those two sharing the backfield workload in 2018.
Gore’s vision and ability to find open running lanes hasn’t just impressed his coaches. It has also caught the eye of his teammates.
“The [most fun] part for me has been seeing him get through these little tiny cracks. It looks like he’s going to run right into the back of an offensive lineman and somehow he does a subtle little cut, shifts his shoulders and he’s cutting through a tiny little crack. It’s really amazing,” Tannehill said.
“I sit back in the quarterback room and watch these cuts and I’m like ‘Holy crap, did you see that?’ I don’t think people realize how tough that is to do and the vision that you have to see, the anticipation that you have to have to make that type of cut. He’s really one of a kind and I’m excited to play with him.”