Day 10 of training camp practice was the last full day of work before the team travels to the nation's capital. The Dolphins will hold a joint practice with the Commanders on Wednesday before the preseason opener on Friday night at Northwest Stadium.
The Dolphins will get an opportunity against an opponent to demonstrate the progress made through two weeks of work. Head Coach Jeff Hafley detailed the first portion of camp and how he coaches his players to approach each practice.
"Let's see what you can get away with in practice and don't worry about the result," he said. "Like, worry about the process of getting better to be the best player you can be and not just being stuck like this, because if you just go through anything in life, just nice and comfortable and I know it's okay, maybe not great, maybe not bad; you're not going to get any better. Like step out of your comfort zone. Don't worry about the results. That's what practice is for."
The team has adopted that message and continues to progress with each day of work. Cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. has been red hot this past week. He had a dominant day Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium and carried that over to Monday's practice, producing two pass breakups.
Marshall's work was supported by a sterling effort from the Dolphins' run defense. It was a team-wide effort on Monday. The unit picked up where it left off Saturday by fitting gaps in run defense and creating chances for linebackers to navigate blockers in pursuit of the Dolphins' ball carriers.
Second-year defensive linemen Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers each had stops at the line of scrimmage. Perhaps more importantly, they held their blocks and kept linebackers Jordyn Brooks, Jacob Rodriguez, Kyle Louis and Trey Moore free to fly around and make plays, which is exactly what the four players did Monday.
The offense had success in the passing game, led by quarterback Malik Willis. He threw a number of passes to the perimeter into tight coverage, but his best play of the day came over the middle of the field.
Willis tried to boot out to his right but had the corner cut off by edge Robert Beal Jr. Where a lot of quarterbacks might take the sack or attempt to throw the ball away, Willis was able to throw football's equivalent of a fadeaway jumper right on the mark to rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas.