Howard practices, Armstead doesn’t, but both could play
MIAMI GARDENS — Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead, who hasn’t practiced all week due to a toe ailment, wasn’t seen at the portion of Friday’s practice the media is allowed to watch. Cornerback Xavien Howard, who sat out practice Wednesday and Thursday due to groin injuries, was participating.
However, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said for experienced players such as Armstead and Howard, it’s not necessary to practice every day to be eligible to play Sunday at the New York Jets.
“Philosophically, generally when players don’t practice you don’t play them,” McDaniel said, before later adding, “With players like Armstead and X, guys that have played at a high-caliber NFL level for a long time there are exceptions so if X is able to go, kind of like in that Armstead fashion, if he’s able to go on Sunday I won’t treat it like my general philosophy. Him not fully practicing [Friday] won’t be a component to make that decision on Sunday.”
Howard, Armstead, wide receivers Tyreek Hill (quad) and Jaylen Waddle (groin), and cornerback Keion Crossen (glute/shoulder) are among the key contributors listed as questionable for the Jets game in Friday’s injury report. Howard, Hill, Waddle, and Crossen were limited in Friday’s practice.
Based on the seasonlong trend, it’s expected Armstead will play Sunday. However, as far as reserves, the Dolphins could activate tackle Brandon Shell, who has been on the practice squad since he was signed Sept. 19. Tackle Larnal Coleman has already been elevated from the practice squad three times and rules say he’d have to be placed on the 53-man roster if he gets elevated again.
Guard Robert Jones, who missed Wednesday and Thursday practices due to a back ailment, was seen participating in Friday’s practice.
As for the secondary, Crossen, who missed Wednesday and Thursday practices due to glute and shoulder ailments, was seen participating in Friday’s practice.
“We’re being careful not to push the envelope,” McDaniel said of Crossen.
Hill was participating in Friday’s practice. Hill was limited Thursday after being full speed Wednesday.
“He had something come up,” McDaniel said of Hill. “We’re treating it and we’re very hopeful he’ll play.”
Waddle, who didn’t practice Wednesday due to a groin ailment and was limited Thursday, was also practicing Friday.
Among those who missed Friday’s practice are quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (concussion protocol, back, ankle), running back Salvon Ahmed (back), and tight end Cethan Carter (concussion protocol).
Tagovailoa update
McDaniel said Tagovailoa is progressing well.
“He’s been diligently going through the process,” he said. “He’s still in the protocol, obviously. There’s several outside specialists that we’re also utilizing and we’ll just take it from there.”
McDaniel added it’s good to see Tagovailoa around the facility.
“It’s nice when I walk down the hallway and I hear, ‘What up, Beast?’ “McDaniel said. “For whatever reason he calls me ‘Beast’ all the time. I don’t think I give off the ‘Beast’ vibe.”
McDaniel said Tagovailoa won’t travel to the Jets game and added Tagovailoa won’t be added to the injured reserve list Friday or Saturday.
How they were built
Tight end has been injury-slowed among injuries to Carter (concussion protocol), Hunter Long (ankle) and Tanner Conner (knee). But Jon Embree, assistant head coach/tight ends coach, said the roster and scheme were built with enough flexibility to compensate.
Some of the tight ends have obvious limitations, even when the contingent is fully healthy, which isn’t a slight toward anyone. The Dolphins work around those limitations.
“It’s just more of trying to get guys to fit their skill sets,” Embree said. “We’re not going to ask Mike [Gesicki] to block power. So when we’re doing some of the heavy running stuff, that’s obviously going to be Durham [Smythe].”
Embree pointed out wide receiver Trent Sherfield sometimes blocks like a tight end, and tight ends do fullback duties, and tight ends line up as wideouts.
“When you look at like where we came from in San Francisco with [tight end George] Kittle and [wide receiver] Deebo [Samuel] and all those guys, all these different moving pieces,” Embree said, “that’s what you want in this scheme is to have guys that can play multiple positions and do multiple things, so that when you do have injuries or that you’re in a situation where you might be down on something, someone else can step up and keep the machine moving forward.”
Keep an eye out for Fejedelem
One of the Dolphins’ best special teams players, safety Clayton Fejedelem, could be activated this week from the injured reserve, and special teams coach Danny Crossman said it’d be “big” if that happens. Fejedelem’s impact would likely be felt immediately, because he’s a core special teams player.
“He’s been a good player for us,” Crossman said. “He’s been a good player in this league, so any time you get a good veteran player, not only for his performance, but leadership. We’re happy to have him back practicing and we’ll see where that goes here this week and over the next couple of weeks.”
By the way, Crossman confirmed the Dolphins made changes to the up man against Cincinnati in the punt formation, a spot held by Sherfield, also a core special teams player, in the infamous “butt punt” incident.
Crossman seemed to downplay the significance, saying they’ve played “a couple of different guys” as the up man in punt formation this season.
“But yes, in the last game particularly, yeah,” Crossman said, “there was a switch, and that involved a lot of things offensively.”
Praise for Phillips
Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who had 8.5 sacks as a rookie last season, has six tackles, one sack, one pass defended and one fumble recovery this season. But outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie said Phillips has been playing well.
“It’s been pretty impressive,” McKenzie said. “He’s been setting the edge, he’s been using his length, knock-back on those guys.
“We want to set the edge in the backfield, not on the side of the defensive line of scrimmage. He’s doing a great job and he’s improving. He’s accountable and we can use him in many different ways for our defense, depending on what we got that week for our scheme.”
Assessing Wilson
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson returned from a knee injury last week to lead New York to a 24-20 victory at Pittsburgh, and that got the Dolphins’ attention. The Dolphins’ have a banged-up secondary, and the pass rush has only produced seven sacks, tied for 29th in the league.
Wilson provided a spark to the Jets offense and looked good doing so, according to Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer.
Wilson showed athleticism, arm strength and an ability to go through his progressions quickly, Boyer said.
“The fourth-and-7 comes in mind last week against Pittsburgh,” Boyer said of Wilson’s pass to wide receiver Corey Davis in the fourth quarter. “That was a good throw that was right on target, and it was a great read. He has the ability to get the ball downfield. He has an incredibly strong arm. I would say he’s very athletic and he’s really slippery in the pocket, for sure.”
Practice players of the week
The outstanding practice players for the week wear camouflage practice jerseys and this week those players were backup quarterback Skylar Thompson, linebacker Sam Eguavoen and safety Verone McKinley, who is on the practice squad.