MIAMI GARDENS — Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice due to hip and left (throwing) thumb ailments, will start Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Tagovailoa was a full participant in Thursday’s practice and is expected to fully participate in Friday’s practice.
Tagovailoa missed six games last season due to a hip injury (two games) and a concussion (four games). He missed three games in 2022 due to concussions.
McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s hip ailment this year, the right hip, is the opposite hip from last year, meaning it’s the same hip he injured while in college at Alabama.
McDaniel seemed to say Tagovailoa’s thumb injury won’t affect his ability to grip the football.
“He fully particpated the whole week,” McDaniel said.
Injury update
Saftey Elijah Campbell (quad) and linebacker Tyrel Dodson (concussion protocol) are out Sunday, McDaniel said Friday morning before practice. The offcial injury report comes out around 4 p.m. Friday.
Campbell is a core special teams player and one of the top performers on those units. Dodson, who was wearing a red (no contact) jersey at Friday’s practice, is a starting inside linebacker and second on the team in tackles (46). He also wears the green dot on his helmet, meaning he’s essentially the quarterback of the defense from the standpoint the green dot designates him as the one with the radio communication device in his helmet so he can communicate the call from defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver to the defense while in the huddle.
Center Aaron Brewer (pectoral), tight end Darren Waller (hip), cornerback Storm Duck (ankle) and wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. (knee) were all limited Thursday. Wilson will be available Sunday, McDaniel said.
McDaniel said Brewer’s status is “physically unknown” and added, “I would say I’m hopeful.” Brewer was seen at Friday’s practice but didn’t appear to be particpating during the portion of practice media is allowed to watch. If Brewer is unable to play it’s unclear who’d play center although Daniel Brunskill and starting right guard Cole Strange could both be candidates. The Dolphins have a couple of other center options — Liam Eichenberg and Andrew Meyer — on injured reserve.
Duck is “questionable” McDaniel said before Friday’s practice, adding “we’ll see how that goes.”
Coaches attend player meetings
Coaches have recently attended some player meetings, McDaniel said.
“I think some of the guys requested some of the coaches go to it for various reasons,” McDaniel said.
Rookie Kenneth Grant said Thursday coaches had begun attending player meetings. Last season the Dolphins said they had plenty of players-only meetings.
McDaniel said he thinks coaches attending meetings “cccured on the line a couple of times.”
No play action without run game
The Dolphins weren’t able to successfully utilize the play action element of their offense, one of their strengths, in last week‘s 27-24 loss at Carolina because the Panthers shut down their run game. The Dolphins ended with 19 yards rushing on 14 carries. In the first half, when the Dolphins had a 17-10 lead, largely because of tight end Darren Waller’s five receptions for 78 yards, they only had 14 yards rushing on nine carries.
“I think ultimately from us as you look at it, it’s that the second half execution was not where we needed it to be,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “The first half, even though the run game wasn’t necessarily where it was, the pass game was moving us down the field and that normally is they’re now having to defend something else to take away, then you can work in conjunction as an offense.
“It’s unfortunate that you have to have a game like that, and we understand now what we need to do to make sure that we’re on it for this game.”
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Watch Chargers WRs, especially McConkey
The Chargers’ top three wide receivers – Keenan Allen (29 receptions, 289 yards, three touchdowns), Quentin Johnston (26 receptions, 377 yards, four touchdowns) and Ladd McConkey (21 receptions. 213 yards, one touchdown) – will challenge the Dolphins’ defense. But McConkey, the slot receiver who totaled 82 receptions, 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie last season, could be especially troublesome because the Dolphins are struggling to find a nickel/slot cornerback due to injuries to Cornell Armstrong and Jason Marshall Jr,
“The receivers all present different amounts of issues, problems from a defensive perspective,” said Ryan Slowik, the defensive backs coach/pass game specialist.
“They’re solid players. And Ladd does a good job creating space, taking advantage of the underneath zones, taking advantage of the intermediate zones. And he’s pretty good with the ball in his hands. So he’s done a good job for them. He’s definitely someone that you have to be aware of where he is at all times.”
Dolphins are ‘locking in’
Edge rusher Bradley Chubb said players are staying focused despite the Dolphins’ disappointing 1-4 record.
“My coaches in college used to tell us ‘E plus R equals O’ – event plus reaction equals outcome,” he said. “If you have a bad reaction, you’re not going to get the outcome you want. So everybody is locking in, making sure we’re doing all the same things, all the right things to put us in a position that we want to be, and 1-4 doesn’t sound the best, but who knows what that could turn into.
“So it’s just about responding, showing up each and every day and being the best version of yourself.”
This story will be updated.
