Tagovailoa comes back strong after 5-pick day
A day after throwing five interceptions in a single practice, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa rebounded well at mandatory minicamp on Wednesday, looking generally sharp and not throwing any passes to the defense.
Among the highlights from Tagovailoa: He completed a 40-yard TD pass to Jaylen Waddle; delivered a 30-yard TD pass to DeVante Parker; hit Will Fuller on a 20-year crossing route; connected on a deep ball with Jakeem Grant, who made a great catch with two defenders in coverage; completed a nifty 20-plus-yard pass to Salvon Ahmed; and connected on a 20-plus-yard slant to Albert Wilson.
In red-zone drills, Tagovailoa hit Mack Hollins for a touchdown.
The only negative on Wednesday: During one of the goal-line drills, Tagovailoa went 0 for 3 and was holding the ball too long and looking for open receivers instead of throwing in anticipation of where his receivers would be. Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene had strong coverage on Parker on one of those throws, forcing Parker to catch the ball out of bounds.
After that sequence, Tagovailoa stopped Parker and the two players chatted good-naturedly for several minutes.
Before Wednesday’s practice, coach Brian Flores indicated he wasn’t too concerned about Tagovailoa’s five interceptions on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, you never want turnovers anywhere,” Flores said. “We need to limit those.”
Tagovailoa’s picks, which came in a driving rainstorm, were at least partially a result of a coaching strategy to push the ball downfield and into tight targets on Tuesday — which Tagovailoa wasn’t altogether comfortable doing as a rookie.
“I don’t think Tua’s going to go into a shell,” Flores said. “I tell him [after a practice like that] to continue being aggressive. The conversations are a lot of what we’ve already talked about here — use this time to practice pushing the ball downfield. Then we’ll make the adjustments and the corrections.
“I think practice is a time where, not just at the quarterback position but every position, you test the waters and see what works, what doesn’t work.”
While Flores decided to have his team practice in heavy rain on Tuesday, he moved the team inside the bubble on Wednesday after practicing about 10 minutes in a downpour.
As for the backup quarterbacks, Jacoby Brissett threw an interception to cornerback Javaris Davis but excelled in red-zone drills, throwing touchdowns on three consecutive throws, to Grant, Hunter Long and Robert Foster.
THIS AND THAT
Cornerback Xavien Howard remained away from the team in a contract dispute. Howard’s boycott could cost him more than $90,000 in fines.
Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah did not participate in practice because of a minor injury. Receiver
Preston Williams was again a practice observer, as he works his way back from foot surgery late last season. Linebacker Elandon Roberts — coming off a significant December knee injury — was present but not practicing.
Asked specifically about guard Solomon Kindley’s conditioning, Flores responded: “I don’t think anybody’s where they need from a conditioning standpoint. It’s hard to think anyone’s ready to play 70, 75 plays
in an NFL game right now.”
Other notable highlights from Wednesday: Foster made a great lunging catch on a deep ball from Brissett and continues to impress. … Jason Sanders went 4 for 4 on field goals, with a long of 51. … Benardrick McKinney had a nice pass breakup. … Third-string quarterback Reid Sinnett threw a TD pass to Kirk Merritt in red-zone drills.
The Dolphins will have meetings on the final day
of minicamp on Thursday. Then the players will be off until training camp begins in the final week of July.
Wednesday’s session was the final practice at the team’s Nova Southeastern training facility in Davie. The Dolphins will move into their new practice site at Hard Rock Stadium at the start of training camp.