Training Camp Practice 4 Observations: Offense Goes Deep

The Miami Dolphins had their first open practice of training camp Sunday, and the solid crowd at the Baptist Health Training Complex was treated to more wide open offensive work than we'd seen before this summer.

Quarterbacks Malik Willis, Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller all had long completions on a day where the defense made its share of plays but the offense overall had the upper hand.

As further evidence that this is a totally different approach with new head coach Jeff Hafley, no players went close to the stands to hype up the fans before the start of practice. Hafley said before practice he was hoping that big plays on offense or defense would take care of exciting the crowd.

After having perfect attendance in the first three practices, the Dolphins were missing two players for this practice, tight end Greg Dulcich and offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer.

As always, many fans in attendance were wearing Dolphins jerseys, many of them of former players like Dan Marino, Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey. From this vantage point, the black Rivalries jerseys from 2025 stand out as the best, and we saw versions with Chop Robinson and De'Von Achane.

This practice lasted about 1 hour, 45 minutes.

THE BIG STORY OF THE DAY

The big story clearly was the long completions, with wide receiver A.J. Henning in the middle of a lot of the action.

The passing game so far in training camp had been limited mostly to short throws, and maybe it was coincidence (or maybe not) that the first practice in front of fans featured the deep ball.

It also was by far the best combined performance of camp for the quarterbacks, particularly for Ewers and Miller.

Willis also looked very sharp, showing off his customary lively arm and different arm angles.

For those fans who came out to see the Dolphins work, it was an encouraging on offense.

OTHER PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

-- On the second play of team work, Jordan Phillips quickly got by Jonah Savaiinaea to apply pressure on Malik Willis.

-- Willis showed some great touch to get a completion to tight end Cole Turner over a defender while rolling out.

-- Willis delivered a nice completion downfield to Malik Washington after pressure from Chop Robinson and Josh Uche.

-- Savaiinaea came back witha good block against Phillips on a running play.

-- Quinn Ewers' first play ending with a good completion over the middle to — who else? — Theo Wease Jr. Those two have had a great connection since last summer.

-- Rookie first-round pick Chris Johnson had a great pick against Ewers down the sideline when he got in front of and outfought A.J. Henning for the ball.

-- Willie Gay Jr. did a perfect job of setting the edge on an outside run by rookie Anthony Hankerson.

-- Cameron Goode recovered a fumble on a muffed exchange between Hankerson and QB Cam Miller. For all the talk about the defense creating takeaways so far in camp, that was just sloppy work by the offense.

-- Kenneth Grant and Zach Sieler got into the backfield right away to meet De'Von Achane on a running play.

-- Josh Uche got around Austin Jackson to get pressure on Malik Willis, who might or might not have gotten sacked but continued the play and overthrew Caleb Douglas in double coverage.

-- Rough stretch by Jackson, who got beat by Chop Robinson on the next play.

-- Great defensive play by JuJu Brents after an apparent completion to Douglas over the middle.

-- The sloppiness on offense continues with a bad center exchange between Aaron Brewer and Willis.

-- Our first big play of training camp comes with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Kevin Coleman Jr. after he got behind CB Marco Wilson after Wilson fell.

-- Kyle Louis and Jacob Rodriguez teamed up to disrupt an end-around by Malik Washington.

-- Willis threw a strike down the middle of the field to Tutu Atwell on a deep slant that looked like a 60-yard gain or thereabouts.

-- Good pressure by Rodriguez and Jordyn Brooks on a blitz to force a Willis incompletion.

-- Cole Turner made a nice high catch over the middle on a Ewers pass.

-- Ewers had another long completion, this one to A.J. Henning, though it came on a play where pass rusher Robert Beal Jr. was held.

-- Kevin Coleman Jr. had a drop over the middle when Ewers had to get rid of the bal quickly because of pressure by Kyle Louis.

-- The last play of practice was another long completion, a bomb from Cam Miller to Henning, who made a diving catch against cornerback Miles Battle.