Eagles defense focused on limiting big plays has its hands full with Tyreek Hill in joint practices with Dolphins

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It took exactly one rep for Tyreek Hill to make his presence felt Wednesday.

The Miami Dolphins’ new star receiver lined up across from Darius Slay for the first one-on-one matchup of the Eagles’ joint practice session, and ran past Slay on a go route. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa floated a pass to the former Chiefs wideout for a touchdown as Slay limped into the end zone and then off to the sideline while grabbing at a hamstring.

It’s not a great surprise that Hill, one of the fastest players in football, would toast Slay in a situation with no pass rush and no safety help over the top; there’s almost no in-game scenario in which a coach would ask a corner to keep up with Hill for 40 yards unassisted.

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Still, the opening play was a sign of what was to come for the Eagles defense during joint practices against a Miami offense obsessed with capitalizing on its blazing perimeter speed. Miami had a handful of successful deep shots during the first of two practices before Saturday’s preseason game.

The two joint practices will serve as a measuring stick for the Eagles’ secondary, which has question marks at safety and injuries mounting at cornerback.

“They have some guys with some major gas,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said before Wednesday’s practice. “[It] will be good for our guys to see that type of speed. For three weeks, we saw speed, too. Where they deploy people is a little bit different than our offense, so that’s why it’s going to be good to see if we can execute at a high level with a different skill set of their players and a different scheme than ours.”

After one day, the advantage goes to the Miami offense. The opening one-on-one period featured a heavy dose of fades and go routes from just about every receiver, and the vertical attack continued during team drills.

Slay returned for a second rep matched up against Hill and, even though he surrendered a catch, it was after several seconds and an unrealistically improvised route from Hill.

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The Eagles’ veteran cornerback made it about halfway through practice before coming up lame again and sitting out the remainder. The Eagles were also without Slay’s fellow outside starting corner, James Bradberry, who was limited with a groin injury and didn’t participate in team periods or one-on-ones.

Without their top two cornerbacks, the Eagles surrendered a high number of completions against Miami’s starters. Zech McPhearson started at outside cornerback in Bradberry’s spot and Kary Vincent got most of the first-team reps once Slay’s day was done. Marcus Epps and Anthony Harris were the starting safeties.

The Dolphins were without 2021 first-round pick Jaylen Waddle, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury. They but have built their offense around the vertical pressure Waddle and Hill’s speed can put on a secondary. Hill has established himself as one of the best deep threats in the NFL, which is why the Dolphins traded five draft picks that included a first- and second-rounder for him in March.

“Every team has explosive players, and they obviously have a really special one,” Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “It only challenges us. We’ve got really good DBs and really good cover ‘backers, so that seven-on-seven period is great for us to see things like that.”

Throughout Dolphins’ training camp, Tagovailoa has reportedly been more aggressive downfield than in his first two years, partly because of the addition of Hill. On Wednesday, the Dolphins had several chunk plays while also hitting a high percentage of underneath passes.

“There’s always some good and some bad,” Edwards said. “But seeing things for the first time, you’re seeing how guys can adjust on the fly. ... There’s always some things to correct, but some really good things as well, and just coming out here fighting from the first snap to the last.”

The Eagles did have some variables working against them Wednesday. They had one less rest day following their second preseason game than the Dolphins, and the weather at the Baptist Hill training complex was steamy during the morning practice.

“I think everybody felt it,” Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis said. “I’m pretty sure y’all felt it just standing there. It’s a beautiful day, it’s a hot day, but it’s a little adverse situation. It’s a good thing to put us in.”

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As much as the back seven struggled, the Eagles’ pass rush was productive during team periods. Edge rusher Haason Reddick had multiple pressures and a couple of “sacks.” Tarron Jackson also got to the quarterback a few times.

When asked about the Eagles’ defense, Tagovailoa gave the group credit for playing well in a challenging situation.

“Obviously, it’s a little different with [changing] climate, and I do understand that they just got done with a game in Cleveland,” Tagovailoa said. “They just went back to Philly and they had to come here to Miami and practice already. ... I know they don’t want anyone feeling bad for them, but I think they did a great job coming out here and showing us some really good looks.”

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The Eagles traded defensive back Ugo Amadi to the Titans after having acquired him last week from the Seahawks for JJ Arcega-Whiteside. In exchange, the Eagles swapped late-round draft picks in 2024 with the Titans.