NFL

Miami Dolphins' Brian Flores addresses Austin Jackson-Liam Eichenberg dynamic

Joe Schad
Palm Beach Post

Rookie Liam Eichenberg started at left tackle in Miami's season opener, so it was logical to ask coach Brian Flores on Monday if that might continue.

"Austin is our left tackle," Flores said of second-year player Austin Jackson.

Jackson did not practice last week as he was on the NFL's COVID-19 list. He was cleared to suit up before the game, and did, as an emergency reserve.

After Miami's 17-16 victory at New England, Flores said Eichenberg was tabbed because: "We just wanted to start the best five guys.”

What Flores obviously meant was the best five guys for that game.

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Eichenberg committed two penalties (one was not accepted) and was run over by Josh Uche for a sack. But it should be noted Eichenberg seemed to get his feet tangled with Solomon Kindley on the sack.

Overall, Eichenberg's performance really was not terrible. This is especially true when considering he had spent almost all of camp working at right tackle and left guard.

"Liam did a nice job yesterday," Flores said Monday. "That was obviously a tough environment against a team that shows a lot of different fronts and gave him a lot of different looks. I thought he played well."

Miami Dolphins offensive tackle OT Liam Eichenberg, 74, pratices during OTA's at training facility in Davie, Florida on May 26, 2021.

Eichenberg, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, can now compete with Jesse Davis at right tackle and Kindley at left guard. He is also, for now, the second choice at left tackle, ahead of recently-acquired Greg Little, who did not dress.

After the game, Eichenberg said he found out for sure he would be starting on Sunday morning. Clearly he had gotten a lot of work at left tackle throughout the week, though.

"I though it went all right," Eichenberg said after the game. "Obviously, there was some mistakes – two penalties, I was on the ground a little bit and just overall there are a lot of things I need to clean up.

"But went out there, we got the win and that’s the most important thing. But it was great. It was great to be out there with the team, especially the offensive line. It was a good experience.”

Tagovailoa was hit only four times and sacked twice on Sunday.

By comparison, the Patriots' Mac Jones was hit nine times and sacked once.

Miami also ran for 74 yards, averaging 3.2 yards per carry.

Considering the Dolphins' offensive line is still inexperienced, it was not an atrocious beginning for arguably the most important position group on the team.

“Like every position, there is a lot of improvement that needs to be made," Flores said. "The first game – the first 60-minute ball game for everyone on the offensive line, and defensive line and really the entire team. I think improvement is the big mantra or coaching point right now across the board at all positions."

In other news, Flores said it's too early to say how significant Raekwon Davis' knee injury is. Davis did not return to the game after an injury in the first quarter, but he was spotted moving around quite well on the sideline.

"We held him out so that’s the decision we made," Flores said. "We are running tests now. Look, nothing is more important than the health of a player. That’s the approach we will take and that’s the approach we took with him yesterday. We held him out."

Flores also hinted that Will Fuller, returning from his NFL-mandated one game suspension, may be eased back into action.

"He missed some time in training camp," Flores said. "We really only had him for, I would say, a handful of practices. We’ll work him in and see how to best utilize him in the offense and see how things go during practice this week. I think we got a lot of guys in that room."