Commanders joint practice vs Dolphins is more interesting than Friday’s preseason game – survey results

In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked what Hogs Haven readers were interested in with respect to the scheduled joint practice at Ashburn and preseason game in Landover vs the visiting Miami Dolphins next week.

The results underscore the relative sophistication of the survey respondents and reflect recent NFL trends in training camp and preseason preparation.

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These poll results are indicative of a greater truth: the traditional NFL preseason game is dying. In its place, a more efficient, high-stakes alternative has taken over the month of August: the joint practice.

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For decades, NFL training camps were isolated grinds. Teams stayed on their own campuses, hitting the same teammates for three weeks before playing highly scripted preseason games where starters barely saw the field. Today, the landscape is completely different. Joint practices, where two franchises meet at a training facility for a few days of controlled, intensely competitive scrimmages, have become the focal point of the summer.

The numbers trace a clear shift in league philosophy. In 2014, roughly one-third of the league participated in joint sessions. By 2019, that number had climbed to more than 20 teams. In the wake of the 2020 pandemic disruptions, the trend accelerated rapidly. When the NFL officially reduced the preseason from 4 games to 3 in 2021, joint practices shifted from a useful option to a near-absolute necessity. By 2024, a record 28 of the 32 NFL teams scheduled at least one joint practice, with several teams booking multiple sessions across the month.

The primary driver of this growth is control. In a standard preseason game, a head coach cannot control the environment. They cannot, for example, risk their starting quarterback taking a blindside hit from an opposing defensive end who is on the roster bubble and trying to make an impression on his coaches. Joint practices do a lot to solve this issue. Coaches are able to agree ahead of time on specific rules such as no tackling of the quarterback, quick whistles on run plays, and specific situational drills like third-and-long or two-minute drills.

This environment allows starters to get high-quality, game-speed repetitions without the standard game risks. A starting offense can run 40 plays against a premier first-string defense from the opposite conference—something that never happens in modern preseason games where starters sit on the bench to avoid injury. Coaches get film of their top players executing the actual playbook against unfamiliar schemes and elite talent.

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Dan Quinn discussed some of the benefits of joint practice during his press conference prior to Saturday’s practice:

One, I like it for the competitiveness. You know, going against the same guys, you starting to learn formations and players and people. So, [I] like [joint practice] for the sake of [going] against I new group.

I also like it for the evaluation of that too — of seeing who steps up.

And then, in the practice itself, it might be a little bit more creative than the actual games, meaning…where you may not show some of those in the games, but in the practice you may work [on them] a little bit more.

I like that we get skill work, one-on- ones, and then, in the team period, some scripted, some not.

[Also, is the evaluation versus another team]; are we behind in an area? Is this an area that needs more attention? Or, this is taking longer than we [want] to get ready.