With NFL training camps underway across the league, it’s a time for excitement and things are no different in Miami Gardens. If you’re a fan, this is a brief reminder to check yo’ self before you get too carried away with any player’s performance in a given day.
While there are hints at how things may be going at certain positions as to how a player is doing or better yet going to do this year – like if a quarterback is throwing it all over the place – most of what’s viewable at practice can only be judged internally by the team and coaching staff.
In part because of the excitement, we get a lot of content and training camp reports. It’s to be expected and they are fun. But don’t take them as much of gospel for anything, especially before players are in full pads.
PRACTICE HAS PURPOSE
NFL teams practice with purpose. They work to sharpen where they excel, but more than that, the future of the team is best-served right now putting every player into the toughest scenario they are bound to see on Sundays. Ultimately, that is what they will be judged by.
ATHLETICISM REIGNS EARLY
In preseason camp, when players are in shorts or in shells (helmets/shoulder pads), it’s pretty predictable which players will excel – the most athletic. That sounds like a dullard’s explanation, but it’s true – straight up athleticism wins the day. Not athleticism relative to size. Instead, how quick and fast a guy is.
The best example so far in camp is Willie Gay Jr., a veteran who is showing out and has always had athletic ability on display. It will be nice to find out the extent of his role in the defense in a few more weeks.
As for his athleticism, he was one of the most athletic of his draft class in 2020, when he was selected in the second round out of Mississippi State by the Chiefs. In his five years (four with Chiefs, one with Saints), however, he’s posted just seven sacks and no more than 2.5 in a season.
WATT GETS WORKED UP
Judgment made by the outside on what they see at practice had future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt a bit hot about it.
“Training Camp ‘stats’ are insane and ridiculous,” wrote Watt in a post on X. “Used to think it was always just people joking, but now seeing them seriously reported. You have no idea what the purpose of that period is, what the goals are, what the context is, etc. It could be a strictly 3rd & Long blitz period where every play is skewed to the defenses advantage. Coaches could be asking the QB to focus specifically on one route concept. D-Line may be focusing only on bull rushes one day or just speed rushes
He went on.
“More importantly, practice is for practicing. You’re supposed to fail. You’re supposed to try new things, see what works and what doesn’t work, etc. If you only do what works, you’ll never grow, adapt, change. The entire point of training camp is to build and grow towards the season so that you perform your best when the real games start.”
STAY HYDRATED, ENJOY THE BIG NEW FANS
So, enjoy the excitement, especially those of you lucky enough to make it down to see camp and just how the team functions over the course of a practice session. It’s quite an efficient thing at the NFL level.
And when an unknown pass rusher suddenly becomes the talk of camp because he is getting around tackles when they’re all in shorts a few days in a row, remember what one of the all-time greats said and try to temper your enthusiasm.
We’ll start to figure out who the Miami Dolphins are when they start trimming the fat of the roster, put on full britches and go full contact, and have a practice or two against a team other than themselves, who will ultimately piss them off and vice versa.
Then we’ll find out what players are for real.
Aqua & Coral Report 