{"id":366361,"date":"2026-08-08T18:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/366361\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:06:55","slug":"miami-dolphins-without-two-top-dbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/366361\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Dolphins without two top DBs"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins cornerback JuJu Brents, arguably the team\u2019s best defensive back, wasn\u2019t spotted at Saturday\u2019s practice at Hard Rock Stadium<\/a>. It\u2019s not known why Brents wasn\u2019t at practice. Coach Jeff Hafley didn\u2019t speak to the media Saturday. His next availability is Monday. The Dolphins are off on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s practice, the ninth of training camp, was the first practice in which the Dolphins<\/a> tackled to the ground although they didn\u2019t tackle to the ground during every 11-on-11 drill. For example, they didn\u2019t tackle to the ground during the red zone 11-on-11 period. But they did tackle to the ground during the first 11 on 11.<\/p>\n

Brents\u2019 absence meant the secondary was missing two likely starters because safety Dante Trader Jr. was absent. That offered opportunities for cornerbacks Ethan Bonner and rookie safety Michael Taaffe, among others. Newly-signed safety Tanner Wall got some looks with the third team in the red zone 11-on-11 period.<\/p>\n

Other notable Dolphins players that missed Saturday\u2019s practice were guard\/tackle Jamaree Salyer, wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., tight end Ben Sims, safety Lonnie Johnson Jr., and edge rusher Clelin Ferrell. Tight end Greg Dulcich was again wearing the red jersey, symbolic of no contact.<\/p>\n

Overall it was a spirited practice on a sunny day before an estimated crowd of 2,000, which is a decent training camp gathering.<\/p>\n

Tackling to the ground was brief, but enjoyable<\/p>\n

Hafley said the Dolphins would tackle to the ground in training camp, and they did Saturday, much to the delight of players. No one got \u201clit up,\u201d so to speak, meaning absorbing a big hit, but there was physical play, especially on the offensive and defensive lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just battling back to back, getting on each other, competing with each other, talking trash with each other, just, again, just having fun, \u201d edge rusher Chop Robinson said.<\/p>\n

Fight means an ejection<\/p>\n

The Dolphins haven\u2019t had any fights in practice yet, partly because it leads to an automatic ejection. Players push their emotions just to the edge of fighting and then stop, by order of Hafley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what Haf wants us to do,\u201d center Aaron Brewer said. \u201cYou throw a punch, you\u2019re out of practice. So ain\u2019t nobody tryin\u2019 to get thrown out practice. So it\u2019ll probably get intense, but ain\u2019t nobody fightin\u2019. You\u2019ll probably get a push, but ain\u2019t nobody throwing no punches. We\u2019re tryin\u2019 to practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defensive draftees shine<\/p>\n

The red zone 11-on-11 period featured young defenders making statements both, loud and quiet. Rookie cornerback Chris Johnson, the 2026 first-round draftee who normally plays nickel\/slot, continues getting looks with the starters on the outside. And defensive tackles Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers, all 2025 draftees, were on the defensive line for a stop made by rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the 2026 second-round pick.<\/p>\n

Later in that series Johnson showed blanket coverage on wide receiver Jalen Tolbert on second-and-goal from the 2-yard line, which made quarterback Malik Willis go to another look in the progression. Willis ended up running right. Hafley continues to mix up looks among starters on both sides of the ball. The Dolphins have utilized numerous combinations in numerous situations so far.<\/p>\n

Special teams notes<\/p>\n

Special teams coach Chris Tabor has identified the traits he wants in his punt returners \u2014 an ability to make people miss and create. To that end among the candidates are wide receiver Malik Washington, who handled the job last year, running back Ollie Gordon II, and wide receivers Tutu Atwell and AJ Henning.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins are experimenting with a burly \u201cup man,\u201d or blocker in front of the kickoff returner including center Andrew Meyer, Biggers and defensive tackle Matthew Butler.<\/p>\n

Keep an eye on Louis Moore<\/p>\n

Safety Louis Moore, who had an interception Friday, is making a habit of being noticed in camp. Moore, the undrafted rookie from national champion Indiana, didn\u2019t have any standout plays Saturday but he\u2019s usually noticed for his aggression in pass coverage and run support. Moore will likely push for a spot on the 53-man regular season roster or practice squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat jumps out to you about him is he\u2019s tenacious, he\u2019s a football player,\u201d veteran safety Zayne Anderson said. \u201cYou can just see his aggression. He can cover, he\u2019s physical. I think he\u2019s going to be a dog on special teams. I think he could play a huge role on defense from an early start.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dolphins are talent-challenged at safety but they continue searching. They signed Tanner Wall on Friday while waiving\/injured safety Omar Brown.<\/p>\n

Most likely Moore will have to fight for a spot on the 53-man roster behind projected starting safeties Anderson and Trader, and reserves Johnson, Taaffe and Major Burns, the UFL (United Football League) standout.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins also claimed cornerback Ahmari Harvey on Friday off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

Gronowski cut<\/p>\n

Undrafted rookie quarterback Mark Gronowski did not make it to the first preseason game at Miami Dolphins training camp.<\/p>\n

The former Iowa and South Dakota State quarterback was waived Friday evening after consistent struggles in camp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier Friday, Gronowski was intercepted twice in practice, one which could\u2019ve gone for a touchdown the other way for linebacker Jackson Woodard and another by safety Major Burns, which was deflected by Bonner.<\/p>\n

The two interceptions, plus several others over the previous week and a half of camp, came among limited practice reps as Gronowski was the Dolphins\u2019 fourth quarterback on the depth chart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Miami Dolphins cornerback JuJu Brents, arguably the team\u2019s best defensive back, wasn\u2019t spotted at Saturday\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[114,123,1763,125,124,119,110],"class_list":["post-366361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}