‘My Blood Is Boiling for Tomorrow’ – Miami Dolphins-Atlanta Falcons Joint Practices Should Be Hot

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Atlanta Falcons are one of the few who actually want to visit South Florida every August.

For the third time in four years, the Miami Dolphins have invited their friends from North Georgia to their swampy home for joint practices. The teams will begin working against each other at the Dolphins’ training facility on Tuesday.

Miami Dolphins Host Atlanta Falcons for Joint Practices

Expect it to be a hot week — in more ways than one.

“We’ve got to come and set the tone,” said Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith, who played for the Falcons in 2023. “It’s just that simple. They’re coming into our house. We’ve been knocking each other’s heads off for the past couple of weeks, man. It’s time to just take it out on somebody else. Just so happened to be them. We’ll handle that tomorrow.”

Added Dolphins linebacker Quinton Bell: “I can’t wait. My blood is boiling for tomorrow.”

Tuesday marks the start of a new stage of Miami’s preseason. They have joint practices or exhibition games set for seven of the next 18 days.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel thinks he has a good team in 2024, but really won’t know for sure until he sees how they fare against first the Falcons, then the Washington Commanders, and finally the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For Dolphins competing for starting jobs or even roster spots, the next three weeks will probably determine their fates.

“I think you’re going to see a couple teams that are really excited to play against someone else,” McDaniel said. “We are at that time of training camp where it’s tough sledding in terms of, you’ve used all of your moves and counters. It’ll be a breath of fresh air.”

For McDaniel, it’ll be a chance to try out his offense against a defensive mind that knows the system as well as anyone.

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The Falcons in the offseason hired Raheem Morris as their head coach. McDaniel and Morris go back more than a decade. They worked together for four years total, first in Washington and then in Atlanta.

McDaniel on Monday called Morris “one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever worked with. A very impactful one for me because of his defensive prowess.

“… I think in joint practices, where you have extensive working history with the other head coach, I think it’s a little bit easier in terms of the flow of practice. There’s more similarities to the flow of practice to your normal practice because just of our paths and what we believe in. I think you’re going to see two hungry teams try to establish who they are and practice while being able to protect each other. Should be pretty intense.”

The Dolphins’ new-look defense can also expect a tough test. The Falcons — with dangerous weapons in Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson — should be far more dynamic this year with Kirk Cousins under center.

“It’s just the competitive itch it’s gonna bring out of us and them,” said Dolphins safety Marcus Maye. “They got a number of guys that can do a number of things too. So just coming in this week, you know, going against those guys in practice and stuff like that is gonna be good for us.”

Added Smith: “Whoever lines up in front of me tomorrow, I’m treating it like I treat game day. So it just is what it is, man. So I’m excited about the opportunity. Excited to go out, excited to let loose on these guys, man. Excited to do it with this group of guys.

“One more sleep, one more sleep.”