Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has experience playing behind an offensive line that’s given him time to throw, and he also has ample professional experience not having time in the pocket.

The third-year quarterback, after having the NFL’s worst pass protection last season, may have been growing used to having that lengthier internal clock to find a receiver this year before left tackle Terron Armstead went down with a pectoral strain in Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans.

Tagovailoa, in the best stretch of his career over the Dolphins’ five-game winning streak, had only been sacked two times between four wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. In the latter three, he combined to throw nine touchdowns to zero interceptions.

With a 27-0 lead in hand late in the first half when the Miami offensive line had to make do without Armstead, suddenly it was a parade of pressure Tagovailoa faced from the Texans.

He was hit once for a sack that was negated by a facemask penalty. He was officially sacked another time before the first half’s conclusion. The left-handed quarterback then came out for the start of the second half and was sacked three more times in two possessions before the Dolphins opted to sit him with a commanding 30-6 lead.

It was a stark contrast in pass protection once Armstead made his early exit and Brandon Shell, a right tackle much of his career, had to sub in on the left side.

But, along with coach Mike McDaniel for his play-calling, Tagovailoa also shouldered a portion of the blame postgame for the run of Houston sacks that occurred.

With a San Francisco 49ers pass rush, one that’s far more potent than the Texans’, about to face off against the Dolphins’ banged-up offensive line, Tagovailoa reflected on what he wanted to do better to face that pressure.

“Picking plays that were more sustainable to our offense’s success in that game than just thinking, ‘All right, we need to make a play, and we need a play to happen now,’ ” he explained Wednesday.

“We weren’t necessarily running the ball, so our [play]-action game wasn’t necessarily perfect when we did do it. It made it tougher on guys to sustain blocks. It made it tougher on guys to seal blocks and get on blocks and stay on guys. I would say, just going with the open-mindedness of things like that.”

McDaniel left the possibility open of Armstead making a speedy recovery, but it seems like an uphill battle to be ready in time for Sunday. Right tackle Austin Jackson, in his first start since Week 1, re-injured his right ankle against Houston. McDaniel said he would be “surprised” if Jackson could return in San Francisco.

A Jackson absence means the Dolphins could turn to the veteran Shell at right tackle, where he was solid previously filling in for Jackson. Armstead’s absence, though, then puts Miami in a position where it might need Greg Little at left tackle to block 49ers star pass rusher Nick Bosa and his 11 1/2 sacks.

If Tagovailoa has little time to throw, it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. In 2021, Tagovailoa had an average of 2.1 seconds of pocket time, according to Pro Football Reference, which was tied for the lowest with the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger. He may need to reach back to that experience if San Francisco (7-4) is getting to him in a hurry Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

Tagovailoa sat in on the offensive line’s Monday meeting this week, and he got to witness the voice that Armstead has with the unit.

“It was really cool to see him take charge in that room,” said Tagovailoa, adding he noticed Armstead taking ownership with his own play. “Nothing slips. No one gets a free pass, not even himself.

“It’s been really good having a veteran as himself help out with the guys up front. When Liam [Eichenberg] went down, how he kind of took Rob Jones under his wing and kind of help mentor him throughout the process of what it means to be a starting left guard and how you go about your business.”

Tagovailoa’s 9.0 yards per pass attempt leads the NFL. If the 49ers are effective in bringing pressure, he may have to look to get the ball quickly to wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and have them help with yards after catch.

“It’s hard when guys are playing so far back,” said Tagovailoa of the opportunities for YAC with the way opponents play Miami. “Defenses are getting a lot deeper than usual with linebacker depth and you also see the shell of the safeties. They’re getting really, really deep. So they do play, I would say, our team a little different in that regard, I would say, just because of the speed that we have.”

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The Warriors might be back on the right path and in the thick of things in the Western Conference, but they are still experimenting with lineups.

Draymond Green moving to the second unit might have solidified the Warriors’ non-Steph Curry minutes, but it also weakened those non-Green minutes.

The Warriors had proven to be one man short in their top-eight — a team’s true depth come the playoffs.

James Wiseman wasn’t the guy for the job. JaMychal Green doesn’t appear to be it, either. Moses Moody had a shot — the Warriors coaches didn’t like what they saw. Anthony Lamb has been a nice contributor, but he’s a two-way player.

All this experimentation has left the Warriors lamenting the exit of last season’s ultimate glue guy, Gary Payton II, who signed with the Portland Trail Blazers this past offseason

But over the past week — and, in particular, over the last two games — the Warriors might have found Payton II’s replacement: Jonathan Kuminga.

Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman has spoken with Stanford about its head coaching vacancy, coach John Harbaugh confirmed Wednesday.

Roman, who worked under then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh as the Cardinal’s tight ends coach and offensive tackles coach in 2009 and 2010, had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the job after David Shaw resigned Saturday. Shaw, a former Ravens assistant coach, went 96-54 in his 12 seasons at Stanford but ended each of his final two seasons with a 3-9 record.

Harbaugh was asked what would happen if Roman accepted the Stanford job with a substantial portion of the Ravens’ season remaining.

“I really don’t have a reference point on that. We’ll just cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said, describing Roman’s discussions with Stanford as preliminary. “I think we’re pretty far from that at this point.”

The Athletic first reported Wednesday that Stanford had talked with Roman about its vacancy. Shaw’s salary over his final seasons at the Pac-12 Conference school was estimated to be about $9 million annually.

Roman, 50, was named the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019, when the Ravens led the NFL in passing efficiency and rushing efficiency, according to Football Outsiders, and quarterback Lamar Jackson earned unanimous league Most Valuable Player honors.

Roman is considered one of the NFL’s most innovative run-game designers, but the Ravens’ passing game has come under criticism in recent years.

“We have really great coaches, they’re going to have opportunities, and we always try to encourage that,” Harbaugh said.

Baltimore Sun reporter Childs Walker contributed to this article.

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Mark your calendar: There are several planned releases for the next two days. OnThursday, Dec. 1, see one sea lion and one elephant seal released back into the wild. On Friday, Dec. 2, at least three sea lions are scheduled for release — and possibly more, pending veterinary review. 

Not a lot of us look forward to texts from the bank, dentist or in-laws. But pretty much everyone can agree, it’s an absolute treat to get an urgent notification that tells you that – in mere minutes – you can watch the live-streamed release of a previously hospitalized but now-healthy seal or California sea lion.

Now you can, thanks to a new service from the Marine Mammal Center and the Webcams for Coastal Observations and Operational Support (WebCOOS), a consortium of video cameras around the country affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Simply text RELEASE to 65179 and sit back and wait. When the center is about to return a critter to the ocean at Point Reyes National Seashore, it’ll ping you with a message like “Sea lion patient Bushes is being released soon!” Then you pull out the popcorn and watch the little fella as it reacquaints itself with the beach, maybe peers around a bit, then makes a hump-de-humping beeline for the water, hopefully to never return as a patient again.

The center takes in animals for a number of reasons. “Bushes,” for example, was rescued from Jenner suffering from malnutrition and leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can cause kidney failure. “Related to fatal urogenital cancer, it’s seen in approximately one in four of our adult California sea-lion patients,” says Giancarlo Rulli, the center’s public relations manager. Monitoring the well-being of the furry and flippered isn’t just for their good. “They are near-coast foragers and important species to be paying attention to, not just for the health of marine mammals, but humans as well because we’re eating the same foods.”

Aside from California sea lions, the center and WebCOOS will broadcast the releases of northern elephant seals, harbor seals, northern fur seals and Guadalupe fur seals. Even on days without releases, it’s just a cool livecam to have on in the background. For instance, a recent afternoon featured a group of northern elephant seals bumping bodies with each other:

A little video of that action:

“Typically what happens around now is we start to see juvenile males return to beaches and, for lack of a better term, ‘play fight’ with one another,” says Rulli. “That’s natural behavior in terms of what sexually mature males down the road will have to display in order to mate.”

Other times, it just seems like a supremely relaxed place to chill – note the big’un flopped all the way to the right:

SUNNYVALE — Fortinet has widened its shopping spree for Sunnyvale sites where the tech company can undertake future projects to expand its Silicon Valley footprint.

All told, Fortinet has spent slightly more than $127 million buying up an array of properties near and next to its headquarters in Sunnyvale, this news organization’s review of numerous public records shows.

In the most recent deal, Fortinet paid $3.3 million for a nondescript building at 140 San Lazaro Ave. at the corner of Kifer Road in Sunnyvale, according to documents filed on Nov. 29 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

Fortinet obtained the building in an all-cash deal, the county property records show.

Starting in 2012 and including the most recent deal, Fortinet has spent roughly $127.3 million on an array of sites in Sunnyvale.

The slew of Sunnyvale properties that Fortinet has been purchasing over the past decade are mostly unassuming industrial or commercial sites.

Along the way, Fortinet built and opened a new headquarters building at 909 Kifer Road in Sunnyvale. The new headquarters is on a site that Fortinet purchased during its real estate buying efforts.

The cybersecurity company has also been assembling properties in Union City in a fashion that could enable Fortinet to create an East Bay outpost. Numerous tech workers commute from the East Bay to Silicon Valley’s job hubs.

In Union City, Fortinet has spent at least $166.9 million purchasing properties in the East Bay municipality, Alameda County public records show.

SANTA CLARA — What attracted veteran cornerback Jackrabbit Jenkins to the 49ers? “Well, they have a nice defense, to be honest,” Jenkins said Wednesday as he settled into his new locker, a day after joining their practice squad.

Jenkins, who prefers going by his college nickname, rather than his given name of “Janoris,” said he made some calls around the league to ask about the 49ers’ reputation, and the feedback he got was players “love it” here.

“They were calling me for a minute, but it was just on me, like ‘I’m not ready, and I’ll let you know when I am,’ ” Jenkins said.

Forgive him for not paying too much attention to their 7-4 start, their four-game win streak, or their depth chart that’s seen Emmanuel Moseley and Jason Verrett exit with season-ending injuries.

Jenkins, 34, had been rehabilitating from arthroscopic ankle surgery and training in Atlanta before the 49ers finally closed the courtship for him.

“I’ll tell you the truth, I haven’t been watching football. I wasn’t focused on football,” Jenkins said. “I had (arthroscopic ankle) surgery so I was rehabbing to get that right.”

Jenkins, a 10-year veteran, was released in March by the Titans, for whom he made an end-zone interception in the first quarter of their 20-17 win over the 49ers last December. “It was a big game for us at Tennessee at the time. I just made a play,” Jenkins said.

Whether he can rush into their defense Sunday against the Dolphins is up to the coaching staff, he said.

“(The Dolphins) have some fast guys. They’re not as big, but they keep them off the ball so they can get out of their cuts,” Jenkins said. “None will get deeper than me.”

Will he play Sunday? “Whatever they do with me, I don’t know,” Jenkins added. “I’ll just work to get better every day.”

Justin Fields felt better Wednesday than he did a week ago as he continues his recovery from a separated left shoulder.

But the Chicago Bears quarterback said he won’t fully know if he’s ready to play Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field until he gets through more practices.

Fields again was limited at the first Bears practice of the week, held inside the Walter Payton Center because of high winds in Lake Forest. In the portion of the practice open to the media, he ran through ball security drills holding the football with his left arm and threw several times on the move.

Last week, he said he felt pain handing the ball off and finishing his throws. He spoke before practice Wednesday but indicated he needs to get to a point where he feels like he can be productive while playing through the discomfort.

“There’s (only) a few people in this league that are quote-unquote 100% (in Week 13),” Fields said. “So I’m just going to go out there and if I feel like I can help my team win, help my team score and put points on the board, then I’m going to go out there and play. So we’ll just see how practice goes today and see how I feel.”

Fields said he thought he had a chance to play against the New York Jets in Week 12 but didn’t feel comfortable enough in warmups. Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Fields also didn’t have medical clearance or the OK of coaches or general manager Ryan Poles.

“It was basically just seeing how I felt throwing the ball, throwing on the run … just seeing how I felt throughout warmups,” Fields said.

The Bears quarterback situation is in such a state of flux that the team had to bring in a fourth-string option, signing Tim Boyle off the Detroit Lions practice squad.

Trevor Siemian, who injured his oblique before Sunday’s loss to the Jets but played through the injury, didn’t practice Wednesday. Third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman, who briefly was slated to start against the Jets if Siemian didn’t play, was expected to take some team reps Wednesday and should be in line to start if Fields and Siemian can’t play.

Peterman was a Buffalo Bills’ fifth-round pick in 2017 and has four career starts, his last in 2018. He threw three interceptions in a Bears’ 41-9 victory in that game.

Eberflus said they brought in Boyle as a “precaution to make sure we’re covering all of our bases.”

Boyle and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy worked together for two seasons with the Packers in 2019-20 before Boyle moved to the Lions. Boyle started the first three games of his career last year, completing 61 of 94 passes for 526 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Bears have a bye in Week 14, so Fields would have extra time to heal if he doesn’t play Sunday. But Eberflus said that isn’t a factor in determining his game status this week.

“If he feels really comfortable and feels great and his mobility and strength’s back for the medical staff and then the GM and head coach look at it and say, ‘Hey, green light,’ then it’s a green light,” Eberflus said. “So we’ll see it during the course of the week. (It’s) day to day for this week.”

If Fields does play, Eberflus acknowledged the Bears will have to examine the game plan to make sure they put him in a position where he can protect himself.

“We’ve always got to be protective of the quarterback,” Eberflus said. “We’ve got to keep him safe. He’s got to keep himself out of harm’s way. The situation this week is no different. Certainly we look at all that every single week. That’s our quarterback. We want to make sure he’s safe.”

Fields — or any quarterback that starts — will have the challenge this week of playing without wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who went on injured reserve with a season-ending ankle injury Tuesday. Mooney was one of Fields’ favorite targets, and Fields said it was tough to lose him as a player and a leader.

But Fields also said he’s looking forward to seeing what other players can do.

“I don’t think it’s a challenge actually. I think it’s an opportunity,” Fields said. “I’m excited to build that connection more with other receivers on the team. So it’s going to be fun finding out what different guys can do because in our offense we usually game plan on certain routes what Darnell could do. But it’s going to be fun figuring out what other guys can do out there and just getting together with them.”

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