MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Dolphins and the Falcons took part in a spirited joint practice Tuesday that featured one minor scuffle and the Falcons’ inability to cover the speedy Tyreek Hill.
Before things got started, former Falcons defensive end Calais Campbell called both squads together. He signed with the Dolphins over the offseason.
“Yeah, a lot of friends on that side over there,” Campbell said. “A lot of good memories. I just connected with everybody. We talked about what to expect, the expectations for practice: no fighting. Really making it about the work and getting better.”
Well, they didn’t listen regarding the “no fighting” part.
After Falcons wide receiver Drake London caught a pass over the middle and was pummeled by Dolphins safety Elijah Campbell, a little scuffle broke out that also included Dolphins defensive back Ethan Bonner.
“I was in the back,” Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. “I thought about going, but I was like ‘nah.’”
The fight was broken up and practice resumed.
“It was just guys playing football,” Penix said. “At the end of the day, we are professional. We teach guys to stay up. Soon as things go left, some people might not like it. That’s how it was today.”
Calais Campbell helped to restore order.
“I wasn’t in on that play, but of course, I tried to play peacemaker and make sure that it didn’t get out of hand,” Campbell said. “We are emotional people, and physicality is a part of the game. Sometimes, it’s going to be intense like that, but the biggest thing is don’t let it stop us from practicing.”
Campbell said he’s seen joint practices go south, where the teams end up practicing alone on separate fields.
“That doesn’t help anybody,” he said. “You made the trip for no reason. The biggest thing was just getting back on par, for what we need to do.”
The Falcons have a competition at right cornerback opposite A.J. Terrell. Cornerback Mike Hughes was beaten by Hill on a 50-yard bomb, and Clark Phillips III had a nice interception while playing on the second team.
“It was beautiful,” Hill said. “We’ve been trying to hit that all camp against our defense. Unfortunately, our defense has been doing a great job of not giving us the correct look. We came out here today and got the look that we wanted. Obviously, we executed the play.”
Hill raved at the throw by Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
“I don’t know what you call that,” Hill said. “People can no longer say that he can’t throw the ball deep. That, right there alone, showed his improvement from when I first got here to now. That’s crazy. That’s light years.”
Hill and Terrell had good battles in the one-on-one drills.
“It was good,” Hill said. “It was fun. To go against somebody else besides hearing Jalen Ramsey chirp all practice. It was fun going against A.J. Terrell. He’s a real good young player in this league. (Safety Jessie) Bates is obviously a real smart guy. They’ve got a real good core group of guys over there. It was a lot of fun today. I had a blast.”
On offense, the Falcons struggled running the ball against the stout Miami defense, even though there was no tackling to the ground.
“That’s what we’ve been working on every day,” Campbell said. “This defense is built on stopping the run. Creating pressure through different blitzes and different things. I think we are building something here.”
The Falcons’ passing attack caused the Dolphins some issues.
“They do look a lot different,” Campbell said. “Even just the scheme, competing against the offense in training camp (last year) and then this year, they do a lot of different things. But you know Kirk Cousins is a legend in this game. He’s had a lot of success. He made some beautiful throws today. Then the Penix kid looks pretty good, too.
“He made a couple of really, really nice throws and good reads. I definitely have a lot of respect for that team over there. I think they are going to be really good this year.”
Falcons rookie defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus enjoyed his first NFL action against another team.
“The biggest thing we wanted to do was come in, when you’re playing football, (coach Raheem Morris) said you’re either getting punched or you’re doing the punching,” Dorlus said. “The biggest thing that he was telling us was that we’re not getting punched.”
The Falcons will practice against the Dolphins again Wednesday and play them in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Friday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Falcons have said that Cousins, who’s recovering from an ruptured Achilles, is not going to play.
Penix said he’ll be ready to start.
“I’m going to be ready, whatever it is,” Penix said. “I’m ready to play. I’ll wait for Coach to say so.”
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