The Miami Dolphins are preparing for Thursday Night Football against the Ravens on a short week, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa emphasizing communication, alignments, snap points and execution. The Ravens will travel to South Florida while expecting the return of quarterback Lamar Jackson, a Pompano Beach native. Miami must prepare for Jackson and running back Derrick Henry as it returns to Thursday Night Football for the second time this season.
Tagovailoa said the Dolphins must maintain their focus during a preparation period that includes walkthrough tempo. He identified communication and understanding the reasons behind each play as priorities. Tagovailoa also stressed the importance of executing snap points and efficiently moving players in and out of the huddle.
“Even more so now this week, we’ve got to be on the details. There’s an emphasis more when it’s walkthrough tempo of communication with everyone – knowing the alignments, knowing reasons as to why we want this play the way we want it. For me, snap points, executing that for our operation and then just getting in the flow again and continuing to get guys in and out of the huddle so we can operate,” Tagovailoa said.
Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb said the Dolphins must match the physical approach associated with the Ravens, Steelers and Browns. He said Miami must respond to that challenge with its own physicality. Chubb also said the Dolphins must exceed that standard if possible.
“The Ravens are in that division of what they say is the hardnosed with the Steelers, the Ravens, the Browns. All those teams play a physical brand of football, so it’s going to on us to step up to the challenge and match the physicality, if not outdo it,” Chubb said.
Miami Dolphins Prepare for Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver described Jackson as a special talent and discussed his partnership with Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Weaver said the pairing allows Jackson to use his strengths, control more of the huddle, check in and out of concepts and run when opportunities develop. The Dolphins are preparing to slow down both Jackson and Henry on the short week.
“He is such a special talent and I think his skillset now paired with what Todd Monken has brought from just a schematic standpoint is the perfect mesh because it allows him to utilize all of his strengths. He can have a little more control of the huddle. He can kind of check in and out of some concepts, and then obviously he can pull the ball down and run at any particular point whether it’s a designed or not. I think the partnership between him and ‘Monk’ (Todd Monken) has been successful and you’re seeing the results of all that,” Weaver said.
Head coach Mike McDaniel said limiting Henry will require a team effort. He pointed to third-down conversions, time of possession, effective running and limiting the Ravens’ opportunities as factors that can reduce Henry’s impact.
“Derrick Henry is about as good as it gets. You have a guy that has Hall of Fame numbers that you collectively have to really commit to stop and that’s in groups, but that also has to do with how many opportunities are you going to give him, how many times are you going to allow a team to stay on the field, and then conversely what is our offense doing to minimize his touches. How do you do that? You convert third downs, you have time of possession, you’re running the ball well, those things contribute as well. It takes a team to minimize that guy. You don’t stop him, and that’s what we’ll take on Thursday,” McDaniel said.
Defensive tackle Benito Jones said stopping the run must be the starting point for Miami’s defensive plan. Jones said limiting Henry to fewer than 100 rushing yards would help the Dolphins execute that approach. He also referred to Jackson and Henry as great players.
“They’re both great players, and like last week, we’ve just got to stop the run. That’s what all offenses do. They want to start their run game first the venture out to passing. But if we stop Derrick Henry and limit him to X amount of yards, under 100 yards rushing, then I think we can do the same thing,” Jones said.
Aaron Brewer Points to Previous Sunday Game
Center Aaron Brewer said the Dolphins put everything together in their previous Sunday game. He said the team avoided hurting itself and did what it needed to do. Brewer said that execution produced the results the Dolphins wanted.
“This past Sunday, we put it all together. As you’ve seen, when we put it all together and we’re not hurting ourselves and doing what we need to do, we get the results we got Sunday,” Brewer said.
The Dolphins’ comments were published by Travis Wingfield on Oct. 29, 2025, ahead of the short-week game against the Ravens.
Source: Original report