It’s only the preseason, but this is not the run game the Miami Dolphins envisioned coach Mike McDaniel bringing to South Florida after his San Francisco 49ers ranked top seven in rushing yards two of the past three seasons.
Through two preseason games, the Dolphins are averaging 2.6 yards per carry. In last Saturday’s exhibition loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, Miami had 4 rushing yards at halftime.
Working out the kinks in the run game will be a focal point in the Dolphins’ final preseason week with joint practices against the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the teams squaring off for a preseason finale at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night.
McDaniel is not overly concerned this week, noting it’s commonplace for a run game to struggle in the preseason and become explosive come regular season or vice-versa. He is identifying what’s wrong on individual plays, whether it’s multiple missed assignments or one block destroying the play.
“I want stuff to be better from that Raiders game and I want, I want us to run the ball well,” he said Tuesday. “At the same time, I think our players are pretty confident — and the coaching staff I know is — that we’re going to be fine moving forward.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa indicated after the Raiders game it’s a series of vanilla run calls the Dolphins are running in preseason and not their full allotment of plays on the ground, a message coaches have echoed.
“I would think that what’s going to come in the future, from the in-season, will be more detailed to our opponents,” said offensive coordinator Frank Smith on Sunday. “Right now, we’re trying to execute the core concepts we’ve been running in training camp, so there will be, I think, differences for each opponent that we need to fix.”
Running backs coach Eric Studesville also noted that much of the regular-season run calls will be game plan-oriented, based on what can work against an opposing defense.
“That depends on the opponent and what we’re doing,” he said. “A lot of it depends on what they show and what we think is going to be best against them. So, it’s not like we have a set — we just have this and this is what we’re running.”
Whether there’s more to add or not, the offensive line still needs to create the holes in this new wide-zone scheme the unit is learning.
“I guess it’s pretty vanilla, but that’s still our bread-and-butter stuff, so we want to get it running and we want to get it running efficiently,” said center Michael Deiter. “I don’t really know how much more we’ll put in, but it doesn’t really matter. We need to be able to run whatever they call, no matter if it’s the most vanilla stuff we have. We need to be able to be consistent.”
Prized free-agent acquisition in left tackle Terron Armstead figures to provide a boon on the ground once he is fully integrated. Armstead did not play in either preseason game but has increased his practice workload in spurts through training camp, making progress with his surgically repaired knee. He was back on the practice field in 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday after not participating in team portions of practice last Wednesday or Thursday.
The Dolphins have also progressively worked fullback Alec Ingold, who sat both preseason games, into the mix. McDaniel’s run game will feature the position and hasn’t had he nor John Lovett, who was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, available to fill that role.
McDaniel said Tuesday that Ingold, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament his knee in a Nov. 14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs while with the Raiders last year, is the one player he can confirm will play in Saturday’s preseason finale.
“It’s been a long time coming. I love playing football,” Ingold said. “I’ve spent way too long in film rooms and on practice fields. It’s time to go strap up with these guys, so I’m really excited.”
Ingold has been watching the Dolphins’ run game get off to a slow start from the sideline and feels it’s on the verge of a turnaround.
“It’s all about the details, and I think we got a lot of guys that are detail-oriented, a lot of talent, a lot of character,” he said. “It’s staying on all these installs and not taking anything lightly. So, every detail every play we have on the practice field, you have to have all of the intent in the world to make it better, make it go, and then it’s time to get it to translate onto the game field.”
The Dolphins feel they just need a little more time to piece the run game together, and they also know that time they need will soon bleed into the regular season if it’s not fixed imminently.
“We’re a work in progress,” said Studesville. “That’s why we’re practicing. That’s why we have camp — to get this stuff in. It’s a new system. It takes time for all of us to gel. I think every room has been involved in really staying focused and dedicated to wanting to make this work.
“Obviously, the clock is ticking. We’re aware of that, but we’re pushing forward and we’re trying to make all the corrections and get everybody on the same page so it does look better than it has.”
