One Lions player doesn't think the Dolphins are ‘ready' for joint practice

Miami Herald

3 days ago

One Detroit Lions player just gave the Miami Dolphins some extra juice ahead of the teams' joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday.
Linebacker Grant Stuard claimed the Dolphins will not be prepared for the Lions, explaining that Miami doesn't practice 'how we practice.'
'I don't know if they're ready, I'm going to keep it a stack,' Stuard said to Detroit Lions on Sports Illustrated. The 26-year-old played for the Tampa Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts before landing with the Lions. 'I've played at other places and played against that team last year, and joint practiced against that team twice when I was in Tampa. I don't know if they practice how we practice. I'm excited to see our guys for sure, and I'm excited to get out there and do something against somebody else, who doesn't know every in and out of what we're doing.'
This comes less than a week after the Chicago Bears reportedly manhandled the Dolphins in Friday's joint practice. From Bears cornerbacks consistently rerouting receivers to actually putting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on the ground several times, it was clear Chicago's physicality bothered some Dolphins players. Although many initially downplayed Friday's showing, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was brutally honest.
'Results based, bad,' Tagovailoa said Sunday after the Dolphins tied the Bears 24-24. 'But then within the process, I think those are good days to have, especially as you're starting training camp. You go through training camp with the team and then you face another team. They coach a little different, do things a little different. So, it's sticking with the fundamentals and technique that you do every day.'
The Dolphins have battled the 'soft' label for the past few years. It also doesn't help that at least one former player described the team that way as well.
'I haven't been able to play against Baltimore the way I wanted to because last year I played up for a team that was soft as [expletive],' Pittsburgh Steelers safety DeShon Elliott said in November 2024. Elliott, who played for the Dolphins in 2023, later added that 'there were some guys who were tough, but like for the majority of the team, there was not mentally tough individuals. So, to be on a team with the full team of mentally tough guys going against another mentally tough team and AFC North ball, it's going to be fun.''
Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks even called the team's play 'soft' after a disappointing Thanksgiving showing against the Green Bay Packers.
'I thought we were soft,' Brooks told ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques in Nov. 2024. 'Simple as that, I thought we were soft today. I don't know if guys was too cold. ... I don't know what it was. I feel like the elements played a part in how we played as a group, and that was the result that we got.'
The Lions, on the other hand, have become known for their extremely physical brand of football — in large part due to coach Dan Campbell. Look no further than Campbell's introductory news conference for some insight into the intensity that he wants from his players.
'We're going to kick you in the teeth,' Campbell said in 2021. 'And when you punch us back, we're going to smile at you. And when you knock us down, we're going to get up. And on the way up, we're going to bite a kneecap off. And we're going to stand up and then it's going to take two more shots to knock us down. And on the way up, we're going to take your other kneecap. And we're going to get up and then it's going to take three shots to get us down. And when we do, we're gonna take another hunk out of you. Before long, we're going to be the last one standing. That's going to be the mentality.'
The Dolphins appeared intent on shedding the soft label in 2025. Between the draft capital invested in the trenches, an emphasis on the run game during the preseason opener against the Bears and a defense that appears hellbent on sending pressure, Miami no longer wanted to be the squad that can't beat good teams or wilts in the cold. The first chance to showcase this new identity will come Wednesday.