In this article, I will be taking notes primarily on the Dolphins’ offensive performance. (The defense was practicing on the further end, and I didn’t bring my binoculars)

The Miami Dolphins faced off against the Atlanta Falcons in a joint practice today at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.

It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t ugly either.

Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was still missing most of his starting wide-receiver corps. But he made do with what he had. Tight end Adam Shaheen and Jaylen Waddle seemed to be his favorite targets today. However, it led to less exciting plays than usual. One could feel that the offense wasn’t clicking at its full potential.

The run game is still a work in progress, and it could be that way throughout the season by the way things have been looking in practice and this preseason. The combination of the offensive line creating limited space and a mediocre squad of running back talent hasn’t been doing the offense any favors. This area of the team is somewhere between “inconsistent” and “non-existent.”

The offensive line didn’t do any favors for Tua either. Multiple times the young quarterback was under pressure today. Some time because of coverage, others because of poor protection from the edge.

Yesterday, head coach Brian Flores touched on some players returning from injury but stated the team likes to ease those players back into practice.

Those players included CB Noah Igbinoghene (red no-contact jersey); LB Jaelan Phillips; and receivers DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson, and Will Fuller.

Phillips practiced on a limited basis. But I had difficulty finding Parker, Wilson, or Fuller anywhere on the field without my binoculars. Those three could’ve been there, but they didn’t practice.

Offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg was back at starting left guard. Jesse Davis, who missed practice yesterday, was back at right tackle. This left Solomon Kindley, who was filling in at LG, to fall back to 2nd-team.

Dolphins 1st-team offense in 11 on 11’s:

— O-line: LT Austin Jackson, LG Liam Eichenberg, C Michael Deiter, RG Robert Hunt, RT Jesse Davis

— Tua Tagovailoa hands off to Myles Gaskin, who makes a side-step move, and takes it up the middle for a big gain.

—Tua misfires over the middle to a Mack Hollins in tight coverage.

—Falcons defense closed in on Tua. Sack.

—Tua got Falcons d-line to jump off-sides, which led to a free play. Tua showed great awareness and chucked one deep to the left sideline to Mack Hollins, who was tightly covered and couldn’t make the plays.

—Tua got sacked by the Falcons. He kept looking downfield for an open receiver. Coverage sack.

—Tua fires over the middle to a slanting Jaylen Waddle. Tua hits him in stride, right on the hands; Waddle drops it. Tremendous speed, though.

—Tua drops back to find an open Malcolm Brown sitting in a zone. Short pass, but Brown’s acceleration was impressive.

—Tua takes off running up the middle after all his options were covered.

—Waddle makes a jumping catch that was slightly off-target by Tua. Waddle was wide open on an in-route.

—Salvon Ahmed was swallowed up by Falcons defenders on an outside handoff.

—Tua to Jakeem Grant on a deep comeback route. Grant sat in the zone and caught a low throw.

Dolphins 2nd-team offense in 11 on 11’s:

—Brissett handoff to Doaks, who takes it right for a big gain. Outran Falcons defenders.

—Brissett fires to Robert Foster on in-route from the sideline for completion. Nice cut by Foster, who flashed his speed.

—Brissett handoff to Gerrid Doaks, who makes contact with the defender and stiff arms him off. Short gain.

—Brissett’s quick sideline pass to Patrick Laird coming out of the backfield. Short gain, but -nice quick throw.

—Brissett zips one to Jakeem Grant on a slant for a short completion in isolated coverage. Brissett put some pepper on that one.

—Brissett outside handoff/or end-around to Malcolm Perry. Perry hit the edge and turned upfield while flashing his speed.

Redzone:

—Tua rollout left, throws back across the field to a wide-open Shaheen for a touchdown.

—Tua gets coverage sack.

—Handoff to Malcolm Brown up the middle for a short gain.

—Tua zips one to Durham Smythe on a slant on the goal line. Incomplete.

—Brissett under center. Handoff to Doaks, who bulldozes his way through the middle. Possible score if this was game day.

Goalline offense:

—Tua rolling right, short pass to Shaheen, who is moving with him—Score.

—Brissett, looking, throws to the receiver cutting across the back of the endzone for a score.

Dolphins D vs. Matt Ryan & Falcons Offense:

(2 of the few highlights that I could catch)

— Falcons near Dolphins 35. Matt Ryan fires deep to a receiver in the corner of the endzone. Incomplete. Failed to see Kyle Pitts.

— Dolphins defender got cooked by Falcons receiver Juwan Green. Possibly, Xavien Howard or Terrell Bonds (It was a corner, and I saw that 2nd-digit as a “5”). I can’t say for sure.