Dolphins Preseason Schedule Finalized; Are Joint Practices on the Horizon?
The Miami Dolphins have finalized the schedule for the preseason games that were announced last week when the 2023 regular season schedule was released.
All that’s left to be determined is which — if any — of these preseason opponents will schedule joint practices with the Dolphins in the next few weeks.
The first of Miami's preseason matchups will take place Friday, Aug. 11, at Hard Rock Stadium versus an Atlanta Falcons team breaking in a new starting quarterback, whether its second-year player Desmond Ridder or veteran journeyman Taylor Heinicke.
That game will kicko ff at 7 p.m. and be broadcasted locally by CBS, which will air all three preseason games.
The next week Miami travels Houston to face a Houston Texans team breaking in a new coach (DeMeco Ryans), and a new quarterback (C.J. Stroud). That game is slated for 8 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff Saturday, Aug. 19.
Miami wraps up its 2023 preseason with an inner-state matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, Aug. 26, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
THE DOLPHINS' JOINT PRACTICE POSSIBILITIES
What’s missing from the schedule is an announcement that the Dolphins will hold joint practices with one, maybe two of those teams — it can't be all three because two joint practice weeks is the maximum allowed per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Joint practices have become the norm of the NFL training camp and preseason the past few years, especially since teams trimmed down from four to three exhibition games in 2021.
Last year the Dolphins held joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles days before those preseason games.
Head coach Mike McDaniel is an advocate for joint practices because it helps the team get a better assessment of its roster, identifies areas of concern, and contributes to the players locking in with better focus.
“Training camp does get monotonous to guys, so it’s a great way to really break stuff up and keep that competitive nature,” McDaniel said last offseason.
The Dolphins hosted joint practices with the Falcons in 2021, so it’s possible that Miami could do so again in the third week of training camp (Aug. 7-9), scheduling two joint practices before the preseason kickoff that Friday.
However, McDaniel’s relationship with Ryans, with whom he worked as a member of Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers coaching staff, could be the selling factor on Miami and Houston holding joint practices the week before that Aug. 18 game.
The second preseason game is usually when teams fit in joint practices. But it's also possible they could schedule a week of work in Jacksonville.
No matter the opponent selected, the logistics would have to make sense for the Dolphins, who would need to move their training camp setup to the hosting team and hold meetings to a hotel setup for a week.
