Dolphins host Giants in joint practice as Miami eyes Week 2 starters and later-season depth

Miami held a joint practice with the New York Giants on Thursday as both teams turned the page from open training-camp work toward the next preseason test. The session, framed as preparation for Saturday’s Preseason Week 2 game, became a measuring stick for how the Dolphins’ quarterback rotation and front-seven matchups looked against live, competitive reps.

According to the Dolphins’ report from Yahoo Sports, New York repeatedly got to Malik Willis during the practice, coming through with multiple sacks and keeping pressure on the Dolphins’ passing rhythm. Those moments matter in the preseason because they tend to expose protection and timing issues that are harder to spot in controlled team drills, especially when pass-rush looks are amplified against unfamiliar looks.

Beyond the pass rush, the Dolphins’ internal storyline centered on Jacob Rodriguez and his push for a starting role. Rodriguez’s job battle, as described in the same report, is being monitored as Miami tries to clarify the pecking order before the reps narrow and the staff leans more heavily into game-plan-specific practice.

The joint-session setting also offered an extended look at Will Kacmarek, another personnel focus for Miami heading into the final phase of roster evaluation. In a preseason stretch where teams are balancing live evaluation with injury prevention, the ability to identify how a player operates under pressure, in crowd noise, and in red-zone or third-down style segments often becomes more informative than boxscore production.

For the Giants, the key theme was simple: they were able to generate pressure frequently enough to shape the day. When a defense can get consistent quarterback attention even in a joint practice context, it suggests that its front and gamesmanship are translating from walkthrough to live tempo.

For Miami, the next step is translating what the coaching staff saw into its Saturday game plan. Preseason Week 2 typically functions as the first more pointed checkpoint for starter-level continuity, but the Dolphins also still have incentive to sort out complementary roles around the emerging core, not just identify who leads a depth chart.

What to watch next is how the Dolphins handle protection and decision-making in the quarterback rotation after a practice where the Giants’ rush had the most immediate impact. Also, keep an eye on how Miami uses Rodriguez and Kacmarek in practice-to-game usage, because their preseason trajectories are tied to who can be trusted with the next set of meaningful reps.