called me on Sunday to discuss the game with me. She has never been into watching games, but has been now after I started my weekly contributions. Here is what she said to me, and I tweeted it out yesterday. Yes, mom, many (or most) of us belie

Titans and Dolphins preview: Dion Lewis Infant Andrew Van Ginkel Jersey , Malcolm Butler will have ‘biggest impact’ The Miami Dolphins will host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in the regular season opener. With every team entering Week 1 at 0-0 on the year and hope springing eternal around the league, this is also the start of figuring out who and what every team really will be. While we think we have an idea of who the Dolphins are in 2018, we will still be surprised when they actually get on the field and start showing things they held close throughout the summer.As for the Titans, Dolphins fans - and the NFL - really do not know who or what they are. But, we do know someone who is pretty close to the team and can give us a better look. Music City Miracles editor-in-chief Jimmy Morris took some time to give us his thoughts on the Titans heading into 2018.And, if you would like to see my aqua-colored glasses take on the Dolphins, check out my answers to Jimmy’s questions. 1. Let’s start with the obvious question: How has Marcus Mariota looked this summer? After two strong seasons to start his career, he fell off last year. What improvement have you seen this year and what do you expect to see from him?He has been up and down this summer. We all expect him to take a huge step forward this year now that he is in an offense from this century, but the results in the preseason were mixed. Some of that was to be expected as the new offense that is being installed is night and day different from what they ran last year. Dan Orlovsky, who was in Rams’ camp with then Rams OC Matt LaFleur how is not the Titans OC, has said on multiple occasions that it takes a while for this system to click. We still have a lot of questions about the offensive, but my faith in Mariota’s ability to succeed in it has not been shaken.As for changes this year, I expect Mariota to look like the confident quarterback he did in 2016. Last year he was coming off a devastating injury and never looked comfortable or confident in what was going on. I think that will change this year and he will go back to throwing no look touchdown passes in the red zone.2. All summer, the Dolphins played a very vanilla version of both their offense and defense, looking to keep things from appearing on film. It sounds like new head coach Mike Vrabel admitted the Titans did the exact same thing, preferring to use practice - away from the public, media, and (potentially) scouts eyes whatever they really want to do. With that said, what can we expect to see from Vrabel’s team, and how is he adjusting to being a head coach?Vrabel’s acclimation as a head coach seems to have gone pretty well. There has been some stress here between him and the media and the fans because of how he (Vrabel) gave absolutely nothing on injuries throughout the preseason, but what else would you expect from a guy that spent so much time with Bill Belichick in New England. The good news is the players seems to love playing for him. That is all that matters at the end of the day.I think Vrabel would hope that you see a disciplined, tough-nosed team (which I guess you could say for every football coach). He has been very big on accountability with guys. That hasn’t always been the case with head coaches here. Outside of that Akeem Spence Jersey , I still have as many questions about what this football team is going to look like on both sides of the ball as you do. 3. Injuries always seem to be a story coming out of the preseason, and the Titans have definitely had some injury issues this summer. Who should we expect to see this weekend, and who could be missing playing time?The Titans really took a hit at the linebacker position throughout camp. Brian Orakpo missed pretty much all of camp/the preseason, but he seems to be a full go. Derrick Morgan reportedly had a procedure to repair a torn meniscus, but he returned to practice in full yesterday and looks to have a good chance to play. Their first two picks in the 2018 draft, Rashaan Evans and Harold Landry, who they are going to need production from to be successful this season, seem like long-shots to play here. Jack Conklin, the All-Pro RT, tore his ACL in the playoff loss to the Patriots. He hasn’t practiced in full yet. There is little to no shot he plays on Sunday. Everyone else should be good to go.Note: Jimmy and I spoke before Friday’s injury report was released, where the Titans officially ruled out Evans, Landry, and Conklin.4. What new name for the Titans excites you the most? What player Dolphins fans do not yet know will play a big role this weekend?The 2 new guys that are going to have the biggest impact on this team are 2 guys that are going to be very familiar to Dolphins fans- Dion Lewis and Malcolm Butler. Lewis is a guy that they are going to use all over the field to exploit match-ups. I expect him to play a big role in this game on Sunday.Butler is a guy that brought energy to camp day in and day out. He should help them have a secondary that is going to be one of the best in the league.As for people you don’t know about, I am intrigued by Taywan Taylor. He was the talk of the fantasy community for a week after he scored on a screen pass in week 2 of the preseason. He is one of those guys, however, that we just still have a lot of questions about. Tajae Sharpe worked ahead of him for most of the preseason. I have no idea what his role will be like in week one.5. What are your expectations for Tennessee this year? This team went 9-7 and won a playoff game last year with the most antiquated offense in the league. I expect them to take a step forward and be in contention for a division title and in the mix in the AFC playoffs. That’s bold, but hey, what else are we supposed to expect about our team before week 1 kicks off?Bonus: What are your thoughts about the new uniforms?I love the helmets. I hated the numbers when they were first released, but they have grown on me over time. They still look kind of silly on some guys- like check out the 77 on Taylor Lewan. It looks really, really thin. I love them other than that!The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Dolphins Third Preseason Game The third preseason game came and went and we’re still left wondering what to expect opening game against the Titans in two weeks. It was disappointing to learn that the Ravens were sitting out most their key players on Saturday night. I get that it was their fourth game and the field was wet from all the rain Christian Wilkins Miami Dolphins Jerseys , but I was hoping to see a quarter or two of our first string against theirs battling it out. I mean even just one quarter would have been cool. With that being said, I was hoping to see our team put up some major points since we were playing their second/third string. Well, that didn’t quite happen like many of us were hoping to see. There were some good things to come from Saturday’s game, some things that will need to be addressed, and possibly some things that hopefully won’t happen again. I’ll share what I thought was the good, the bad, and the ugly (kinda embarrassing).The GoodWe have no major injuries from the game. I bet if you asked other teams what their main goal of preseason would be, that would state to have all their players remain healthy. Honestly, that should always be the top priority. Jakeem Grant went out of the game on a concussion protocol, but the Dolphins informed us later it wasn’t major and he should be ready by week one.What else was good from Saturday and overall from the last three games? Our quarterback. As Adam Beasley tweeted on Saturday, and I agree with him, the Dolphins have had some issues this preseason but Tannehill is not one of them. Each week he is becoming more confident and decisive. When Tannehill steps out on the field I see a guy who is taking command of the offense. He has a plan in place that he is ready to execute without hesitation. Our offensive line was hit or miss at times, but they have been helping him become more comfortable and mobile in the pocket. I saw some fans on twitter express how they believe Tannehill has no pocket presence and gave the example during the 1st quarter with 3:42 remaining. It was 3rd & 4, and once the ball was snapped, Tannehill has maybe two seconds before he was sacked. Here is the play I’m discussing. What do I call that? A really good defensive play by the Ravens. Period. Remember last season when we had Cutler. You know what would have happened if that was him? Most likely he would have panicked and just thrown the ball, and probably right into the hands of a Raven’s player. Oh, I’m so glad those days are over. Anyways, let’s move on to what we all want to see more of this season and that is Tannehill to Amendola for a touchdown. Such a beautiful thing to see, am I right?! I’ve been waiting to see a play like that during a game. You hear about those two connecting hundreds of times during practice, but seeing them connect during the game gives you hope. It’s something to smile about my friends. That play was an improvement for our offense from the last couple games. We converted a third down, inside the red zone, and our starting offense finally scored their first touchdown. I’m always the person who tries to see the positive in things (the glass is half full kinda person) and that drive was encouraging. Remember Gase stated last week that he is holding back much of his play calling till regular season games. Well Christian Wilkins white jersey , I’m excited to see what they have in store. I discussed in depth about Drake like week, but I have to briefly mention him. The guy is a beast. Yeah, we have veteran RB Frank Gore who had a brief presence in Saturday’s game, but I think after Drake has been playing these last few weeks, and end of last season, we may be seeing much more from Drake. In Saturday’s game he had a 30-yd run (his second carry of the game) and then had a 36-yd catch (on Dolphins next possession) to put us on Raven’s 41 and got us in field goal range. It seems others are expecting some impressive playing from Drake as we begin this season. If you play fantasy football, it would be a shame to not have him on your team. I’m expecting so much more from this guy. I finish the Drake discussion with this tweet from Cameron Wolfe. I think he perfectly sums up my exact feelings.Let’s discuss a few players from the defense. First off, real quick since I spent time on him last week, Robert Quinn had another quarterback sack on Saturday night. He should have had two, but either way, him and Wake together are going to be a threat to quarterbacks this season (especially if the refs can stop missing holding calls on Wake).Now, moving on did you all notice 4th year DT Jordan Phillips making his presence known on Saturday? It was about halfway through the first quarter and here you see Phillips bring Griffin down. Here is a clip that Omar Kelly tweeted out ( the best footage of this play I could find).Kinda funny considering Omar has never been a big supporter of him, but seemed to be singing a different tune on Saturday night (not a shocker). Phillips was giving the Raven’s oline a difficult time for sure. Will we see a lot more of him this season? If he continues to play like he did on Saturday, I hope so. One other player to mention would be rookie safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who had some impressive playing this week. His awareness and agility is going to help him become one special player this season. Gase stated his transition into the NFL has been rare. They are expecting big things from him. Did you hear Bob Griese mention during the game that Minkah was the Dolphins best draft pick in quite a while. Now, I’m not saying I completely agree with that, but I think he could turn out to be a top player for sure. The BadLet’s go ahead and mention Kiko’s play, Yes, I know it’s been mentioned on the thephinsder.com and several other articles, but let’s see this embarrassing play one more time. He already doesn’t have the best reputation around the league because of a questionable hit last season, but that mistake (yes kinda funny at the time) just has more people around the NFL laughing at the Dolphins. So he made my bad list this week, because we don’t need more reasons to be laughed at as a team. Kiko Christian Wilkins Jersey Womens , get it together buddy. I like ya, but come on. The Ugly and EmbarrassingNo, we don’t have a reliable backup quarterback. I’m a bit terrified of this and we all should be. If anything is to happen to Tannehill, our season is over as of now. I hope Gase goes with Fales, rather than Osweilier, but neither one have made a strong case for themselves. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see Petty on Saturday and based on reactions from social media, others shared my same feelings. It’s kinda funny though, my mother called me on Sunday to discuss the game with me. She has never been into watching games, but has been now after I started my weekly contributions. Here is what she said to me, and I tweeted it out yesterday. Yes, mom, many (or most) of us believe Osweiler should be cut, but apparently Gase may have other intentions for him. I hope for our sake it’s not the latter. I’m hoping some veteran quarterbacks are cut in the next week or so and we are able to snag a better backup option. However, today Gase was asked about the backup situation and if our backup quarterback is on the roster and he replied with, “Yes”. Well, I really hope it’s Fales. The Week AheadWe have one more game left this Thursday night in Atlanta. I will be attending that game since I live in Atlanta. I will be surprised to see any of our starters playing. Quarterback wise the game will be split up between Fales/Osweiler and players hoping to have their last few chances to seal their roster spot. I’m going to enjoy a live stress-free football game, take some pictures of our players, and enjoy a few beers at the Falcon’s stadium with some of my fellow Dolphins’ buddies. One last week people and then it’s showtime.