Q&A with Miami Dolphins Writer Armando Salguero

Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars – jaguars.com John Oehser

JACKSONVILLE- Senior reporter John Oehser will speak with a reporter or media member covering a Jaguars opponent each week during the 2024 regular season.

This week:

Armando Salguero – a longtime Miami Dolphins reporter, currently at OutKick – on the Dolphins’ preparations for Sunday’s Week 1 game of the 2024 season against the Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Q: The Dolphins have been a playoff team the past two seasons, finishing as a wild card each year before losing in the first round. What is the storyline for this team heading into 2024?

AND: I wouldn’t say the road is clear, but there are a lot fewer obstacles in the way in the AFC East now. The Buffalo Bills are kind of reorganized; they’re a team that has to rebuild because of the salary cap. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have some guys gone, but their key, key players – (wide receiver) Tyreek Hill, (wide receiver) Jaylen Waddle, (quarterback) Tua Tagovailoa, (cornerback) Jalen Ramsey – they’re all there. The expectation right now from the owners is to win and finally get over the hump of winning in the postseason, which they haven’t had since January 2000.

Q: Tagovailoa is obviously a big storyline, having signed a long-term contract extension in the offseason. Where is he as he enters his fifth NFL season?

AND: It’s the same story that (quarterback) Trevor Lawrence has in Jacksonville. They have basically similar contracts based on average annual terms. Obviously, they’re in the same league. They just signed very lucrative extensions. Neither one of them has gone to the heights of, ‘Follow me, I’ll take you to the promised land, and here’s the proof.’ The Jaguars had some playoff success a few years ago. Tua didn’t have any. Tua has to improve. Everybody has to improve. Even (Dolphins head coach) Mike McDaniel said, ‘When you’re the highest-paid employee in the building, the expectations are really high, and you have to work really hard every day to meet them.’

Q: What are his next steps on the pitch?

AND: He’s the perfect animal in the system right now because I can’t imagine anyone better to play in that system. But sometimes things break down. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes other guys on defense… get a voice – and their voice is, ‘You’re going to fail.’ That’s when Tua has to step up. Too often he doesn’t – especially late in the season, especially against high-caliber teams and defenses. The next step is, ‘Dude, in December and January you’ve got to be the guy who actually earns the ‘C’ on his jersey. You’re the captain of the team. Go out there and lead and be the reason the team wins, not one of the reasons the team loses.’

Q: This is one of the best offenses in the NFL. When he’s good, how good can he be?

AND: We’re not going to judge this by what they do against struggling, losing teams. Remember: they scored 70 points against the Denver Broncos last season. They averaged 275 passing yards per game the rest of the season, and then it was just 221 against Baltimore, 167 against Buffalo and 188 against Kansas City in the last three games of the season. Toward the end of the season, when it mattered, when the division was on the line, they got fewer yards per game, fewer points per game, fewer rushing yards per game, fewer passing yards per game. You’re great in terms of the overall scope of the season. But if you look at it more organically and closer to the end of the season, it didn’t live up to what it was supposed to live up to.

Q: The Dolphins this offseason hired Anthony Weaver, the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive line coach the past three seasons, as their defensive coordinator. Why and what does he bring?

AND: You hope he brings toughness and playfulness and — outside of the system — just the production of a typical Ravens defense, especially late in the season. They went out and got some guys like (former Jaguars defensive lineman) Calais Campbell who had been through some struggles and were on good teams when they were fighting to get into the playoffs and have success in the playoffs. You hope Weaver brings that kind of attitude. (Then-defensive coordinator) Vic (Fangio) obviously wasn’t loved by the players last season. He didn’t love them either. You’d think the relationships would be better, the toughness would be better, and the production would obviously be better.

Q: The Dolphins’ story last season was that they were great against struggling teams, but not so good against good teams. Is their 2024 season that easy? Finding a way to beat teams competing for the title?

AND: Can they beat good teams? Of course, a lot of it has to do with injuries, like it does with everyone in the NFL. That’s one caveat that (Dolphins owner) Steven Ross has made and a lot of people in the building have made: ‘We have to stay healthy.’ Because the Dolphins are paying a lot of players — including Tyreek Hill, including Jaylen Waddle, including Jalen Ramsey — their middle class isn’t huge. They have a lot of well-paid players: (offensive quarterback Terron) Armstead is another one. They have a lot of well-paid players, and a lot of players who are on one-year contracts or younger players on rookie contracts, things like that. They don’t have what I would consider a lot of depth.