The Miami Dolphins’ first joint practice of training camp came with all the usual noise, and then some. On Tuesday, they worked against the Washington Commanders for the first time, but spotty cell service reportedly kept much of the Miami media from filing steady updates. That left Washington reporters to paint the picture, and the early version sounded ugly for the Dolphins.
But the full story was more complicated than a simple beatdown.
Before practice, head coach Jeff Hafley made it clear what Miami wanted out of the day.
"Here's what's really important for me today ... This isn't 'I want to try to out scheme Washington today.'
The stuff that's really important for me, is to see who can get off blocks, who can cover somebody, who can play base football with really good fundamentals and technique so we can evaluate and see where we're at. So it's going to be more base defense, base offense.
Let's play with fundamentals and technique, let the guys calm down and then see what we got."
That approach mattered. Miami was trying to evaluate basic football: communication, decision-making, blocking, tackling, covering, and all the other core pieces teams drill from the start. It was not about unveiling the most creative looks in Bobby Slowik’s offense or chasing a practice win with exotic pressure.
Travis Wingfield, speaking on The Drive Time podcast, said Washington came at the session from a very different angle.
"The Commanders had an approach: it was to empty the kitchen sink," Wingfield said." I think offensively and defensively, they unloaded the clip.
In terms of defensive pressure, overload [blitzes] - they would walk up [and fill] every gap in zero-sim pressures. They were run blitzing."
"Offensively, I could probably count on one hand the number of times that Jayden Daniels stayed in the pocket - Marcus Mariota, too, for that matter. It was bootlegs, crossers, and then a hook and ladder. The best way I can describe the way the Commanders approached this practice was that they ran a hook and ladder - that’s definitely something I haven’t seen before."
That kind of session can make the scoreboard in practice look lopsided fast. Washington leaned into pressure and trickier looks, while Miami stayed much closer to the basics. In that sense, the Commanders treated the day like a real game; the Dolphins treated it like an evaluation period.
The contrast also says plenty about where the two teams are right now. Washington is a veteran group with an established franchise quarterback, and the staff is feeling pressure after a 5-12 season that followed a magical 2024 NFC Championship run. That 2024 season also included a loss to the Dolphins in Madrid.
Miami, meanwhile, is at the beginning of a rebuild with one of the youngest rosters in the league and an almost entirely new coaching staff. The Dolphins are still sorting through who fits, who can handle the basics, and who can be trusted when the games count.
So yes, Washington may have won the day on the field. But the Dolphins were never chasing the same thing.
For them, this was about fundamentals, not fireworks. Fans can file away the reports, but there’s no reason to turn a training camp joint practice into something bigger than it was.
In Other News...
Troy Aikmans Quiet Dolphins Role May Matter More Than Fans Think
Troy Aikmans presence around the Dolphins has stayed more intriguing than defined, which is part of what makes his role worth watching. He remains in an undefined consultant position with Miami while also doing his regular work as an ESPN Monday Night Football analyst, a pairing that puts him in a rare corner of the league and keeps his footprint with the team quietly in place.
What is clear is that Dolphins CEO Danny Sillman was the key figure in getting Aikman into the organization in the first place, giving the arrangement real weight even without a public roadmap for what it involves. The details of how much Aikman helps, and in what areas, still have not been spelled out, which leaves Miami with a behind-the-scenes connection that feels more meaningful than the title suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Get Their First Real Test As Big Questions Start Mounting
The Dolphins head into joint practices and a preseason game against the Commanders in Ashburn, Virginia, with plenty still to sort through on a roster that looks different in a few key spots. This stretch should give Miami its clearest look yet at how the pieces fit together, especially with rookies and newcomers getting a chance to show how quickly they can absorb the system and handle the pace of a real opponent.
Among the players drawing attention are Chop Robinson and Jacob Rodriguez, along with quarterback Malik Willis, whose every snap will be watched closely as Miami tries to gauge where things stand under center. The practices and game should offer a useful read on cohesion, depth and overall readiness, even if the answers are still likely to come slowly as the regular season gets closer. [Read more 🡒]
De'Von Achane Just Confirmed A Big Shift In Miami's Offense
DeVon Achanes rise has become one of the clearest signs that Miamis offense is changing shape again. After earning a No. 26 ranking on the NFL Top 100 list, the highest placement for a Dolphins player since Tyreek Hill, Achane is coming off a career-best season and looks positioned to be even more central to what the team wants to do next.
The bigger picture is the shift around him. With new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik in place, the Dolphins are expected to lean more heavily on the running game, and Achanes role as both a runner and a receiver should grow with it. For a team that has spent recent seasons built around explosive passing, that kind of balance would mark a meaningful adjustment, and Achane appears ready to be one of the main beneficiaries. [Read more 🡒]