Examining one key to McDaniel’s good work. And Dolphins notes on both Wilsons, Hill, guard

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:

▪ The excellent work that first-year head coach Mike McDaniel has done with play designs and play calls shouldn’t be overlooked during this 6-3 start, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made a point to acknowledge that this week.

“Coach Mike does a great job putting us in great situations offensively,” Tagovailoa said. “He has a lot of [what] people would say [is] window dressing. He doesn’t like that term, because it’s just a part of our offense with the movement, shifting, motioning. It’s a part of what we do. So I think it’s a lot of credit to what our head coach has done within installs and things like that to help put us in those situations.”

The Dolphins are using presnap motion on 75 percent of their offensive plays this season, which leads the NFL.

On plays when they use motion, they’re averaging 8.5 yards per pass attempt (best in the league) and 6.4 yards on all plays, which is third in the league, according to ESPN metrics.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, whose team plays Miami at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, said: “I think everybody kind of shares a little bit of DNA. What’s so interesting to me is how different they can seem as well.

“What they’re doing in Miami with a lot of the presnap motion is unique. The way they’re throwing the ball, the actions off which they’re throwing the ball is unique to them. There are similarities, but the differences are pretty stark when you watch the team.”

As ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky noted: “You use motion for two different reasons: information and impact. Miami does it for both. Sometimes they’re trying to gather information: Is it man? Is it zone? Is the backer covering or is it a safety?

“And then it’s for impact. Trying to move people from one spot or another, trying to get a numbers advantage in the run game and the pass game. They’re probably the best team in the NFL when it comes to using both forms of motion to help their quarterback play well.”

Motion, as Orlovsky explained, also leads to defenders moving which creates “bigger windows” and makes it easier for Tagovailoa to see over defenders.

“The thing that Coach Mike has helped us offensively with is he’s kind of tailored the offense towards what we do best,” Tagovailoa said.

“If you look on film, he tries to tailor it to what Tyreek [Hill] runs the best, what Jaylen [Waddle] likes running, what I like throwing, what I’m good at throwing and things like that, whereas you watch their film from when they were with the 49ers, they did things a little different because of what those guys were good at and what they liked.”

▪ McDaniel was asked this week about what was the first off-field moment when he thought ‘Hill, is a different dude.’

The coach gave a good answer: “The first time I took the trust fall and called him out in a team meeting, I think. I shouldn’t really say call out because it’s not. It’s more [a case of] in team meetings, I think it’s very important to state the facts, and the facts are what’s on tape. So anything that’s on tape, we should be able to discuss openly. There was something that he didn’t do, I can’t remember what it was, but I vividly remember his response that day was corrected. So I kind of made note of that.

“Two days later, at the beginning of team meetings in training camp, we were showing the fastest GPS of the practice the previous day, and he was fifth that day. So I made a big deal about it, I went over the top and said something like, ‘Dude, congratulations, you’ve been working hard. This is a great achievement.’ I think Keion Crossen was the fastest that day, so I was just like — no, actually it was Braylon Sanders at the time. Whoever it was, I was like, ‘Man, you’re the fastest guy on the Dolphins. This is awesome.’

“This is in front of the whole team, and then that practice, he ran the fastest ever recorded in practice here or that I’ve seen. It was something absurd like 23.48 [mph] or something like that. So I was like, ‘Ok, yeah, you’re different.’ On the field, off the field, it’s not happenstance that he’s able to have success.”

And what was the first on-field moment when McDaniel realized Hill was different?

“There was a particular route that I think we came up with in 2013,” he said.

“It was Leonard Hankerson against the Chargers. That’s a deeper outbreaking route that not all that many people can run, because the timing of the play and to push it that deep, you don’t always have protection for it. So I’ve been running that – it kind of got steam and ran it the most when we had Julio Jones, who was unbelievable at the route.

“And then seeing Tyreek in, I think it was probably OTA 4, if my training camp install schedule is correct in my brain, when he ran that. I just had a lot of deliberate reps at viewing that route ran at an exceptional speed, depth, intent, and it was like, ‘Whoa.’ I’ve been fortunate to be around Andre Johnson in his prime, Julio Jones in his prime, Josh Gordon, Pierre Garcon, leading the league in receiving. All these great, great players, and he is different. We knew then in OTAs that yeah, this is a different deal.”

▪ Tight end Hunter Long (concussion protocol/illness) was the only player on the 53-man roster who did not practice on Thursday.

Terron Armstead (toe, calf), Tanner Conner (knee), River Cracraft (undisclosed illness), Austin Jackson (ankle/calf) and Durham Smythe (hamstring) were limited.

▪ Offensive coordinator Frank Smith assessed Robert Jones’ first start at left guard this way: “I thought he did a good job. There were some things [where he needs to make] sure you’re looking at the right things. Overall, we felt he executed the game plan, was physical. The things he needs to improve on, he’s well aware of. Very pleased how he started.”

Jones is starting in place of Liam Eichenberg, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.

Jones allowed three quarterback pressures and two hits against Chicago, and Pro Football Focus rated him 13th among 16 Dolphins players who logged snaps on offense.

Smith was noncommittal about whether right tackle Austin Jackson would get a look at left guard (where he played a lot last season) when he returns from an ankle injury that has sidelined him since the opener. Jackson practiced on Thursday.

Brandon Shell has played well at right tackle the past four games.

But there’s no indication, at this point, that the team is planning to use Jackson at left guard.

“We’ll evaluate when he gets there,” Smith said of returning to full health. “Our goal is to play the best five. Whatever combination.”

▪ Running backs coach Eric Studesville said Jeff Wilson Jr.’s best on-field NFL skills are “effort and competitiveness. He’s a smart guy that runs the ball hard” and “can catch the ball out of the backfield.”

Offensive coordinator Smith cited Wilson’s “versatility within the offense, understanding of it. His last Sunday was a good representation of what he’s going to bring. Not a one dimensional back.”

That Sunday debut against the Bears included nine runs for 51 yards (a 5.7 average) and three catches for 21 yards, including a touchdown.

▪ Cedrick Wilson Jr., given a three-year, $23 million contract 11 days before the Dolphins acquired Hill, hasn’t played 30 offensive snaps in any game this season.

His per-game snap count: 28, 22, 5, 16, 15, 4, 14, 13.

He had two catches for 23 yards against Chicago, his first receptions since Oct. 9. He had been targeted just one time combined during the previous three games.

“Ced has been awesome, has handled everything like a pro, done what he needed to do,” receivers coach Wes Welker said. “Not enough good things to say [about him].”

But he hasn’t played ahead of Trent Sherfield because “Trent has played really, really well,” Welker said. “Been on top of all his assignments.”

Here are more Thursday Dolphins nuggets, including the situations with Xavien Howard, Erik Ezukanma and Jason Sanders.