The Miami Dolphins are hosting the New York Giants for a joint practice on Thursday ahead of the two teams’ upcoming preseason contest on Saturday. This will provide the Dolphins with a great opportunity to get some reps against players from a different squad and see where they stack up against them.
Whereas Giants’ head coach John Harbaugh is a veteran when it comes to running joint practices at this stage of his career, this is only the second joint practice Dolphins’ head coach Jeff Hafley has been a part of during his brief time in charge of the team. Ahead of the action, though, Hafley made it clear that, while the players will get a lot of work in, there’s one thing in particular that they will not be doing.
Jeff Hafley Bans 7-on-7 Drills at Dolphins-Giants Joint Practice
After a rough 2025 campaign, the Dolphins turned over their organization from top to bottom. Hafley, who spent the past two seasons working as the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, was obviously brought in to replace the outgoing Mike McDaniel, but the front office and the roster both saw significant changes this offseason, too.
Miami is rebuilding, which is going to make Hafley’s first head coaching gig in the NFL much more difficult right out of the gate. Simply put, expectations for this team are not high. After moving on from several of their star players over the offseason, the Dolphins have a handful of holes on their roster. It’s going to be up to Hafley to find a way to plug those holes with whatever materials he can find.
Throughout training camp, Hafley has made an effort to build a tough football team that can find a way to grind out victories, no matter how talented their opponents may be. That mentality is being carried into this joint practice against the Giants, as Hafley bluntly stated that he and his team will not be partaking in any 7-on-7 drills during this session, saying he would rather have his group play “real football.”
“Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley says there will be ‘no 7 on 7’ with the Giants and Fins in today’s joint practice. ‘We want to play real football.’ Should be a fun one,” Pat Leonard of New York Daily News shared in a post on X.
Jeff Hafley Working on Building the Dolphins’ Identity
GettyASHBURN, VA – AUGUST 12: Head coach Jeff Hafley of the Miami Dolphins speaks with media during a joint practice at BigBear.ai Performance Center on August 12, 2026 in Ashburn, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Hafley has avoided 7-on-7 passing drills all throughout training camp, even though the team’s aerial attack looks virtually unrecognizable from last season. Instead, he has prioritized 11-on-11 drills, as he believes they will better prepare his group for live-game action. The Giants could object to this decision, but it doesn’t seem like they would get anywhere.
This has set the stage for what should be a lively, physical practice between two teams that are looking to prove they can be better than expected in 2026. Fans will surely be keeping tabs on the action, as it will provide a good precursor to what the upcoming preseason clash between these two teams will look like on Saturday.
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