The Dolphins are off this weekend. What do they need to do to improve for the rest of the year?
The Miami Dolphins do not play this weekend, instead they are enjoying their Week 6 bye before preparing for a 12-week sprint to the finish line of the 2024 NFL regular season. Entering the weekend, the Dolphins are a game out of the AFC East lead, sitting at 2-3 for the season and trailing the 3-2 Buffalo Bills. The early start to the season for the Dolphins has been anything but ideal, but they are still in a position to threaten the Bills for the division championship and to be a factor in the AFC playoff picture.
What do they need to do to make sure they stay a factor down the stretch this year? We take a look at some of the bye-week improvements the team can make to get ready for their final 12 games.
1. Get healthy
There may not be a lot the team can do to prevent future injuries, especially when they are seeing concussions and torn knee ligaments lead to major contributors missing playing time – or the rest of the season. They can, however, make sure they are coming out of the bye week as healthy as possible. Rehab and rest has to be the number one rule for the players this week.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has at least one more week on injured reserve after a Week 2 concussion. Safety Jevon Holland has a broken hand that could cost him some playing time following surgery. Running back De’Von Achane has a concussion. Quarterback Skylar Thompson has an injury to his ribs. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips is out for the year with a knee injury. Linebacker Bradley Chubb is still on the physically unable to perform list following last year’s season-ending knee injury. Offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn is also on the physically unable to perform list for a leg injury. Running back Raheem Mostert returned last week after missing two weeks with a chest injury. Safety Jordan Poyer missed the Week 5 game with a shin injury. Tackle Terron Armstead is dealing with a myriad of issues, including dealing with a concussion. Wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., returned from a knee injury that had him start the year on the physically unable to perform list in Week 4, making his debut as a Dolphins player. Cornerback Cam Smith remains on injured reserve, though his practice window was opened, as he deals with a hamstring issue.
The injured reserve list includes Tagovailoa, Phillips, and Smith, along with linebacker Cam Brown, wide reciever River Cracraft, wide receiver Grant DeBose, safety Patrick McMorris, linebacker Grayson Murphy, wide receiver Anthony Schwartz, tackle Kion Smith, and wide receiver Tahj Washington. The PUP list, along with Bradley and Wynn also includes linebacker Cameron Goode.
Injuries have been an issue with the Dolphins early this year. Again, there is not a lot the team can do to stop injuries from happening over the remaining 12 weeks of the year – but they can get themselves as healthy as possible with 14 days between games.
2. Remember Raheem Mostert is a Pro Bowl running back for a reason
At 31 years bold, Mostert was named to his first Pro Bowl last year and led the league in rushing touchdowns. The Dolphins seemed to suddenly remember that down the stretch against the New England Patriots in Week 5. Now, they need to remember that for the remainder of the season.
Head coach Mike McDaniel previously served as the run-game coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. His offensive system is built with play action a large part of the passing game. Yet, this team has been and remains a pass first, pass often, pass always type of offensive system. That can work when Tagovailoa is healthy and the team is clicking. When Tagovailoa is not playing at his peak or the team is relying on backup quarterbacks, the run game needs to be the focus. When Miami ran the ball against the Patriots, they started moving the ball and won the game. When the team gets back from the bye, they have to remember Mostert is a Pro Bowl running back.
They also need to remember that Achane, rookie Jaylen Wright, and veteran Jeff Wilson, Jr., can also have an impact coming out of the backfield. Achane is such a mismatch all over the field that the team spent the offseason creating a package where he is spread out as a receiver. Mostert’s presence and effectiveness running the ball can allow the Dolphins to use Achane in those other ways.
If Miami remembers they have a Pro Bowl running back, everything else they want to do should fall into place.
3. Break out the JUGGS machine and keep it running
The Dolphins have had a drops issue this year. It seems to have hit all of the receivers, including Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as well as tight end Jonnu Smith. The team needs to break out the JUGGS machine and get the receivers catching pass after pass after pass. Or figure out what is wrong with their gloves. Something is strange and the team needs to figure out what is going on.
I meant this satirically when I wrote it, but…maybe????
Random thought with all these drops – is the right handed spin throwing off the receivers?
Trying to find something that makes any sense.
— The Phinsider (@thephinsider) October 1, 2024
4. Fix the indiscipline
The Dolphins (43) are the fourth most penalized team in the league, trailing just the Houston Texans (47), Seattle Seahawks (46), and Baltimore Ravens (44). Of the Dolphins’ 43 penalties, eight have been false starts and five have been for some form of an illegal shift. The team also has nine offensive holding penalties. The Miami offense cannot overcome these penalties – they have to get the discipline back to stop making stupid mistakes.
The offense is not the only one making mistakes. The most blatant bad penalty the Dolphins have had this year was a roughing the passer penalty on cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who just shoved Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett in the face long after the pass had been thrown. No reason for it, just a bad choice in the moment.
Miami needs to introduce pushups, sprints, laps, or something to practice to penalize players for committing penalties. They need referees at practices. They need something that makes them realize they cannot keep making these mental mistakes.
5. Special Teams
The team does not appear set to replace Danny Crossman as the special teams coordinator, but something drastic needs to be changed here. The special teams are a mess right now – missed or blocked kicks, poor coverage, poor return decisions, penalties, bad snaps, and more. It just keeps going wrong. Something drastic needs to happen here.
Bonus: Pass Rush improvement
Miami has nine sacks on the season. They trail the New York Giants, who lead the league, by 13 sacks. The Dolphins are tied for the 25th position in sacks this season. The loss of Phillips will only make this harder for the rest of the year. Chubb returning should provide some assistance, but the team cannot rely solely on linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah to be the sole effective edge rusher. This may come down to rookie Chop Robinson, who was a first-round pick despite knowing he probably needed development time, fighting through a steep learning curve and getting after the quarterback. There needs to be a very deliberate plan to develop Robinson each week and get him reaching his potential sooner than maybe was expected or planned.
