MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins have one preseason game left, but they’re already in a regular-season mindset.
Miami’s Tuesday practice — which was closed to the public — was held without pads and featured scout teams. It also featured a bunch of faces that hadn’t been seen in a while. We break it all down in our training camp Day 16 Miami Dolphins practice report.
Miami Dolphins Practice Report | Day 16
Since this was a different type of practice than what we’ve seen so far, this will be a different kind of practice report.
As a way of housekeeping, here were a few of the highlights:
- DeShon Elliott intercepted Tua Tagovailoa in team drills.
- Eli Apple vs. Tyreek Hill was won by the defender, with Apple breaking up a pass in the end zone.
- Tagovailoa connected with Tyreek on a perfect deep ball with Ethan Bonner in coverage.
Another @tua to @cheetah highlight? YES. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/VCd4ERvEf5
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 22, 2023
But the real news of the day was the medical update.
Miami Dolphins Injury Update
The biggest news? Rookie cornerback Cam Smith practiced without the red non-contact jersey and got his heaviest workload since hurting his shoulder in the preseason opener 10 days ago.
Smith told reporters that not only is he on track to play in Week 1, he could potentially see the field Saturday in Miami’s preseason finale against the Jaguars.
“I felt good today,” Smith said. “Really first time back getting into contact, jamming, getting on the sled, stuff like that. It felt good today. I’m not promising anything. But it felt good today.”
Is Cam Smith on track for Week 1? pic.twitter.com/I48gxF7w2t
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) August 22, 2023
Other injury tidbits:
- The Dolphins will be without De’Von Achane for some time but did get back two other members of their backfield: Myles Gaskin and Alec Ingold. Both had been held out of the Texans game due to injury.
- While Achane did not practice with a shoulder injury, he was present and did not appear to have a harness on his left shoulder. There appears to be a real chance he’s back in time for the season opener.
- Liam Eichenberg was also back at practice after missing time — and not a minute too soon, with Lester Cotton and Robert Jones both dealing with injuries. Eichenberg, Cotton, Jones, and Isaiah Wynn all entered camp with a shot to win the left guard job — a competition that has yet to be resolved.
- Cotton was spotted doing strenuous rehab, while Jones is on crutches due to an MCL sprain. The knee in question was in a brace.
- The last time we saw Terron Armstead (Saturday in the preseason game), he was in a walking boot, the result of a lower leg injury. Not only was that boot gone Tuesday, he was comfortable enough to watch practice on two feet.
- In the secondary, Keion Crossen and Brandon Jones both did some work after sitting out the preseason game.
- An encouraging sign for Mike White, who is in the concussion protocol: He was on the sidelines during practice.
- Two Dolphins who practiced Tuesday but are dealing with some sort of issue: Bradley Chubb (who appeared to wear an elbow brace) and Robert Hunt (who had his right ankle taped and walked with a bit of a limp).