Dolphins Training Camp UPDATE: Can Tua Lead the Dolphins to Their First Playoff Win in 25 Years?

Dolphins Training Camp UPDATE: Can Tua Lead the Dolphins to Their First Playoff Win in 25 Years?

The seat is getting warmer and warmer for head coach Mike McDaniel as he enters a year still without a playoff win in South Florida. Still, this group of guys believes that they can win championships. Of course, there’s been a lot of conversations coming out of Dolphins training camp. The injuries have dominated the conversation. And when you take a look at the schedule, uh things could be interesting for Miami this year. It all kicks off with the Colts week one. That’s a game you can watch on CBS. The Dolphins also getting one of the international games. They’re going to go over to Spain to take on the Commanders in November. Uh but there are a lot of expectations in the AFC East. Everyone’s chasing the Bills, but the Jets have gotten better. Um the Patriots have gotten better as well. Let’s see if the Dolphins have gotten better. Let’s go out to Miami Gardens where we’ve got our very own Jaclyn Diagustinino alongside Pete Prrisco. Guys, you have been out at Dolphins practice. The weather looks nice. I know you’ve caught up with a couple of players. Um, and Jacqueline, I know you had a conversation with Tua Tonga Aoa. Obviously, his season was marred by injuries last year. He’s looking to bounce back. What did you learn about number one out in South Florida? Hey Haley, great to be here. The weather is nice, a little toasty, Pete. And yeah, I had the opportunity to catch up with with Tua Tonga. We know there are high expectations here. Last season was a down year, right, by Miami Dolphin standards. Eight wins. They they missed the playoffs. And I asked him like, hey, what is a success for for this year? And he said, Super Bowl, period. That was it. And walked away. So, in his eyes, that is what is a successful season for Miami. I’m asking Bradley Chub, you know, about to uh one word to describe him, and he says leadership. And and Pete, we talk a lot about the culture here in in Miami and controlling what you can control. That is a big storyline. That’s what we keep hearing around camp as well. And so, I asked to uh like, what can the fans look forward to? to and he said it’s just a feeling in the locker room, right? I he said I know um the fans are tired of hearing it and tired of being disappointed and tired of us missing the playoffs. It’s been since 2000 that they’ve actually won a playoff game. So when I asked him about that drought, he said, “Just trust us. It’s a feeling in the locker room here and it is so different.” Well, it has to be different because it’s not working and and Mike McDaniel, the head coach, knows that. So, he’s got to change. And I think he’s trying to change the culture. And I think he’s learning uh what his players can do, the veteran players, and leaning on them to help change the culture. I mean, they’re going to go spend 10 days up in Chicago and Detroit in the preseason. That’s a culture building time for them. They have to change the way they do things. It’s been too soft here. Uh look, the coach was too nice and that’s the reality of it. And he knows his job is on the line. And so when it’s not working, you have to change it. And I think that’s the most important thing for them is to change the feeling. and Tyreek Hill talked about that and you mentioned Tua talked about it, but it’s on those guys to do it and make it happen. It’s certainly interesting when we talk about changes being made. We know Mike McDaniel has moved up his press conferences and practice times this year. He’s trying to get them out on a hot start to practice days. But also, Pete, a lot of that culture comes from Tyreek Hill. We saw him kind of have a meltdown at the end of the season last year where he basically said, “I can’t win in South Florida. I want to quit. I don’t know if I’m going to be here.” Those problems have carried over into the early parts of training camp. We’ve heard both Tua and Tyreek talk about those issues. In your conversation with Tyreek, how is he embracing this season and sort of leaning into this as being a reset on that culture? Well, I think it’s a reset on him and and that’s the most important thing. I mean, he’s the first guy to say he hadn’t always put in the effort and made it a priority to become a great player, which is scary when you think about it, how good he’s been, and he hasn’t really focused on being a great player. He’s leaner. He’s down to 188 pounds, back to the weight he was when he was in Kansas City. I mean, he could still run. We know that. I mean, he ran 1015 and he ran his 100 recently. That tells you how fast he is. But he’s been part of the problem. I mean, he admittedly said he was part of the problem. He’s got to win over his teammates. He’s got to find a way uh to rebuild those relationships and it starts with Tua. Until they do that, it’s going to be a problem. But I told him off to the camera and I said, “Look, Dyreek, I said, you only have so many earning years left in your body. You might want to make this version of you the focus for the next four or five years because after that, you’re not going to be playing football anymore.” What did he say to you when you said that? He agreed. He agreed. I mean, I’m a I’m a I give life lessons. You really do. That is one thing I know about Pete Prrisco. you give great life advice and and I just felt like watching that interview too, the vibe and the professionalism and just the way he carried himself was very very different than what we’ve heard and what we’ve seen, you know, in in past offseasons. And I asked Tua as well because the comments and about their chemistry and and on and off the field. It’s it’s a big topic that we’re all talking about and he said again reiterated that it takes time. It’s not like you snap your fingers and and it goes away. But he also mentioned Tyreek not only just working on himself when it comes to him on the field and Tyreek on the field but also as a father as a man and really in all aspects of his life. And you know what Haley regardless the fans as soon as he left Pete’s interview they are screaming for Tyreek for for autographs for pictures. Certainly still a fan favorite. Of course everyone loves the cheetah even when his teammates are maybe not loving him at the present moment. We’ll have to see if they can fix that relationship. Let’s talk about the defense, guys, because they they’ve have some injuries in the secondary we’re going to get to in a minute, but they do get a couple of key pieces back. Bradley Chub and Jaylen Phillips both expected to be very important pieces on this Dolphins line. And Jacqueline, you had a chance to talk to Bradley Chub. What’d you hear? How excited is he to be back out on the field and contributing for the Fins? You know what, Haley? after getting hurt in the 2023 season, coming off of that ACL injury and missing all of 2024. He said he’s eager, he’s hungry, and and him and Jaylen Phillips as well, working on their relationship. He said they worked so hard to rehab together, to get back on the field. And he also asked for for Dolphins fans, too, to just trust them and be patient with what they’re trying to build there um on the defensive side of the ball. Of course, with the secondary, we’re going to talk about that a little bit more in depth. That’s a different situation, but there are high expectations, right, with a healthy Bradley Chub, with a healthy Jaylen Phillips and also with Chop Robinson. So, uh, he was very positive and again just asking for Dolphins fans to be patient and very, very eager. He also said, “I feel blessed, right, to be out here and have this opportunity after missing all of the 2024 season.” And Pete, we know that they are they’re friends. We saw the chemistry on the field during practice, but they really haven’t played that many games together in the regular season. 16 a total of 16 and they’re 10 and six in those games and they have 18 sacks I think combined in those two in those 16 games. That tells you when they’re on the field together they’re a force and they’re able to generate a pass rush. The question is where are they? Is he the same Bradley Chub? Is he the same Phillips? I mean are those guys the same guys? Because if they are the front seven’s going to be good. I mean they get after the quarterback. They have Zack Celler inside. He’s a big power player in there. Uh they’ve gotten bigger and stronger up front. Chop Robinson you mentioned. So, I think from a front seven standpoint, they’re going to be pretty good. The question is in the secondary. Yes. And Haley, before we get to that, I just want to let you know that Bradley Chub does watch Love Island. I asked him. He said that his fiance was was watching it and he’s like, “No, I’m not going to do it.” Um, but I asked him and he seemed like a very invested Love Island viewer, which I thought was a fun fact and I know you’ll appreciate that as well. So, obviously he was excited when the Love Island crew was at practice yesterday. Oh my goodness. All right, Bradley Chub, a Love Islander. We love to see it. Um, I do want to talk about the secondary, but before we do so, Pete, one of the things that you guys were talking about was Chop Robinson, and there’s been kind of a he’s kind of a polarizing guy in South Florida. Some people believe he’s going to be the truth, others aren’t convinced. Jaylen Phillips said yesterday that he believes Chop Robinson can be a future defensive player of the year. What have you seen out of him at practice and the conversations you’re having that lead you to believe that can come true? Well, Chop Robinson was one of my favorite guys in the draft a couple years ago. I love them. I I still think what we saw from him last year is only scratching the surface. I mean, once he learns how to play the position, he’s going to be that much better. I think as a pure situational pass rusher, if these two guys are healthy, if Phillips and Chub are healthy, he’s going to be a situational pass rusher, which is fine for now, but I think he could develop into a big time player. You can’t teach what he could do. the ability to bend, the ability to explode off the edge, and you know, he made a comment this week about how people have criticized him for his run defense. Uh, he holds the edge. Look, he’s got to get better playing the run because if you’re just a pass rusher, people will run right at you over and over and over again. He did a lot of that last year. So, how many games do you think we can expect to see where we get him to a level where he’s, you know, really acclimated and playing at the level of those other guys? Well, he he should be a double- digit sack guy. I think if if you spot him in and situationally if they are playing and he spots in there and third down, you know, third and long, second and long, I think he’s one of those guys that can get you double digit sacks. And you know what, Haley, we also, you know, we played some some social games with the guys and I asked Bradley Chub, I gave him, you know, certain teammates and said, “Hey, what is a word that you think of?” And when he said Chop Robinson, Haley, he said, “Bendy.” That was the that was the one word that came to mind for Chop Robinson. Okay. Bendy. Uh, his nickname is Pork Chop. So, I don’t know. Bendy pork chop. Maybe we’ll work chop it here. Um guys, we’ve been talking about it this whole we’ve been teasing it really. The secondary is going to be a problem for Miami and not the good kind of problem. This team continues to rack up the injuries. Before we get to that though, Pete, I want to talk about Mika Fitzpatrick because we know that this team traded away Jaylen Ramsay. They bring in Minka Fitzpatrick. Uh the fans seem to be excited, but what did you see out of Minka at practice today that makes that trade worth it? Well, he had a big- time interception today on the practice field. Looked like Ma Fitzpatrick. The problem with Ma Fitzpatrick in the past has always been Mika Fitzpatrick likes to play Mika Fitzpatrick’s defense. And in Pittsburgh, there was some rumblings that he didn’t always play the right defense. And that’s a concern. Look, he’s a ball hawk. He wants to go make plays. I like that. But sometimes you have to play within the structure of the defense. They have to make sure he does that here. If he does that, he’s a good player on the back end. That’s not the concern. The concern is the quarterback position. Look, Jaylen Ramsay was a problem. You know, we talk about guys being late and the culture problem. Well, he had a big part of that. That’s who he was. So, they sent him packing, rightfully so. But you look at that quarterback room, it’s the worst in the league. And they signed a couple guys. Look, Jack Jones, uh, played for the Patriots, played for the Raiders, also went to my school, Arizona State. He’s a good player, but there’s also been issues with him in the past. You bring him in here, you wonder if he’s going to stay focused. Mike Hilton’s a pros pro, guy from Cincinnati, been one of the best slot guys in the league. great slot corner. Problem with Mike Hilton is he’s up in the age and he can’t run that well anymore. So, are they any better in the quarterback to quarterback position than they were maybe before today even happened? Yeah. And Pete, is there anything else that they can do? I know they’ve signed these, you know, one-off situations, but still dealing with injuries. Ari Burns, as you mentioned, Jaylen Ramsey no longer there, but can they do anything else? And Kater Coo went down today with an injury. We don’t know the extent of that either. So, uh, this is how bad the quarterback position is in Miami. Kater Koho a couple years ago first burst first onto the scene they said he’s going to be a good little Nickelback player when he went down today everybody in the crowd went oh no I was sitting around them they said no we can’t afford to lose him that’s how desperate they are at the quarterback not to say he’s not a pretty good player because he is but they don’t have star players at that position which means you better be able to dominate up front in the pass rush you have to dominate and it’s looking we’ll see it’s trending that direction we’ll see if they’re back healthy again maybe yeah we always say you know make all these big statements and any any sort of touchdown pass looks incredible. But it it’s looking good in that sense. But yeah, Haley, uh the Kater Coo situation, it felt like like it was complete silence everywhere when when he went down on the field. It is certainly been interesting to see how that cornerback room has shaped out. Guys, before we let you go real quick, Pete Prrisco, is this a playoff team in 2025? And Jacqueline, what do you think? Is this team going to the postseason? They’re not making the playoffs. This is this is the worst team in the division. And that says I don’t know about that. Yeah, they’re the worst team in the division. You look at it on paper and everybody say, “Well, what about New England?” Well, New England has Drake May who’s going to be better in the second year. They’ve added a lot of guys in free agency. They had a good draft. Uh they’re going to battle New England for the seller. I think the Jets will be the second team. And I think Buffalo runs away with the division. Clearly the class of the division. I agree with that. Obviously, I think Josh Allen and the Bills are going to run away with the division. What they do in the in the postseason, that’s a whole other story whether they can get past Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. I think we talked about it. the floor. The ceiling. The floor is maybe what, seven games, the ceiling with with 10. I think maybe they could squeeze in. I I agree with you. I think they’re going to be right at it with the Patriots. I think they’re going to be better than the Jets. I really do. I don’t. You don’t? I think the Jets roster is better. I think their culture is better with a new coach. I I don’t think they’ll be better than the Jets. Okay. They’re going to battle New England for the seller in the division. I know Miami doesn’t want to hear that, but that’s what they are. And the schedule is tough, right? You have within the first four games of the season, you have what, three divisional opponents. two of those in prime time. So Haley will certainly figure out pretty quickly what this team is made of when we look at the first four games of the schedule. But they do give an orange jersey to the guy who practices hard so he can play his music every day in practice because you have that going for that training camp. We’re we’re on the same page. Pete loves that orange jersey. Pete loves the Dolphins. Guys, so much fun catching up with you today. Enjoy the rest of the sights and sounds. Can’t wait to see all of your interviews coming up throughout the day. Great stuff from our CBS Sports HQ crew out at Dolphins Training Camp. We’ll leave you with one final look at that schedule. Week one, the Colts, and then they get the Pats, the Bills, and the Jets through the first four weeks of the season. We will learn a lot about this Miami Dolphins team by week four.

Pete Prisco joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss the Miami Dolphins’ 2025 NFL Training Camp.

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