The Miami Dolphins are slated to have the second and third of their four preseason joint practices this week. After battling the Bears last week, Miami will stay in the NFC North and travel to Detroit to practice against the Lions on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Lions finished last season 15-2 and are considered to be one of the best teams in the NFC still, so the two practices before the team’s play on Saturday should be a good test for the Dolphins.
Just like we did for the Bears, we’ve identified three crucial storylines that fans should pay attention to during joint practices.
This will be the dominant storyline this week for a few reasons. Obviously, that has a lot to do with what happened in joint practice against the Bears.
Both teams had agreed not to tackle to the ground before practice, but the Bears’ defense wasn’t following those rules, leading to big hits on players like Jaylen Waddle, who is now day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
On the other side of the field, linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson got into a fight because Brooks wanted Dodson to be more physical with the Bears’ offensive players. Those two worked things out, and it’s unclear if Brooks knew the Bears were tackling to the ground at the time.
Preseason practices get chippy all the time, but the Dolphins are fighting against a narrative that they’re not a tough team. It could be one of the reasons Brooks wanted Dodson to be more physical in the first place.
“I don’t know if they’re ready, I’m gonna keep it a stack,” Lions linebacker Grant Stuard said in a recent interview. “I’ve played at other places and played against that team last year, and joint practiced against that team twice when I was in Tampa. I don’t know if they practice how we practice.”
Regardless of where you land on how the Dolphins and Bears handled joint practice last week, it’s clear the Dolphins have something to prove against the Lions. So, don’t be surprised if things get even more intense.
The backup quarterback position will be a storyline in Miami for as long as Tua Tagovailoa remains the team’s starter. His unfortunate injury history means the Dolphins need to be more prepared than most teams at the QB2 spot.
Well, our first look at Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers against the Bears wasn’t exactly inspiring.
Against the Bears, Wilson completed five of nine passes for 96 yards, but he took four sacks and looked overwhelmed in the pocket quite a bit.
Ewers struggled from start to finish. He completed just five of his 19 passes for 91 yards and had two fumbles. The Texas product was not accurate or playing on time at any point, and his ball security out of the pocket was rough.
Neither had stellar days during joint practice, either. Wilson clearly looks like the best option at QB2, but that bar isn’t exactly high at the moment.
The key for Wilson is still getting the ball out faster. He’s mentioned it’s a coaching point for him this season, but his performance against Chicago didn’t show much change. The Lions blitzed a ton last season (fourth most dropbacks), so they’ll likely test him during practice.
As for Ewers, he just needs to get more comfortable. It’s easier to forgive his performance since he’s a seventh-round pick working with fellow third-stringers. Still, Ewers’ appeal was that he’d hit the ground running because he ran a similar scheme in college.
Miami isn’t using its full playbook right now, and Ewers already looked overwhelmed. Like Wilson, he should benefit from facing an aggressive Lions’ defense.
We could talk about the battle for CB1 and the poor performance of the backup offensive linemen, but those have been covered quite a bit.
Instead, we can look at the battle Miami’s defensive line will have this week because Detroit’s offensive line is a talented group despite having some turnover this offseason. It’s unclear if players like Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb will practice this week, but Miami’s depth players have flashed so far.
On the interior, Zach Sieler is a stud, while rookies Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips had a solid performance against the Bears. There is also a competitive battle between Matt Dickerson, Zeek Biggers, Matthew Butler, and Ben Stille for one or possibly two roster spots.
On the edge, Derrick McLendon was all over the field on Sunday, and he’s in a tight battle with other edges like Quinton Bell, Cameron Goode, and Grayson Murphy.
Going up against linemen like Penei Sewell, Taylor Decker, and Graham Glasgow should be a good test for everyone involved. It’ll also provide an opportunity for some of the players in roster battles to stand out.
While it was good to see the Dolphins’ defensive line make some plays against the Bears’ backups, it would be far more encouraging to see preseason Week 1 standouts like McLendon, Grant, and Phillips show up against a Lions group known for its physicality.
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