The Miami Dolphins finally got to hit somebody else. Wednesday’s joint practice with the Washington Commanders in Ashburn, Va. — the lone road joint session of this training camp — gave Jeff Hafley’s rebuilt roster its first live test against an opponent, and the honest reading from the beat corps was that Washington earned the edge on both sides of the ball.
That verdict stung after two weeks of building optimism in Miami Gardens, but the day produced news that matters far more than a practice scorecard: Malik Willis is in line to play in Friday’s preseason opener, Caleb Douglas kept climbing, and Zach Sieler’s absence now has a timeline attached.
The Miami Herald‘s Omar Kelly offered the most measured read of the session, calling it a very good day of work in which nobody dominated anybody, even while acknowledging that Jayden Daniels was the best player on either field. That context is worth holding onto, because the takeaways below are less about who won an August practice and more about what Miami’s coaching staff revealed about its plans.
Malik Willis is set to play Friday — and Hafley explained why
Hafley told reporters before practice that the plan, as of now, is to play Willis in Friday night’s preseason opener against these same Commanders. The coach cautioned that final decisions will come after the staff evaluates the joint practice, but his reasoning for leaning toward playing his starter was blunt.
“We’re young,” Hafley said, explaining that a roster this inexperienced simply does not have many veterans who have earned the traditional August rest, and that his team has to gain experience wherever it can find it.
That philosophy extends beyond the quarterback, but it lands hardest on Willis, who continues to answer the question that has hung over this camp since the day Miami handed him the starting job.
Hafley volunteered that Willis took a real step this week as a leader, telling reporters, “I saw more leadership this week, not just with the wide receivers, but the whole offense.”
For a quarterback who entered camp under real scrutiny after an uneven first week, the endorsement matters — even if Wednesday’s on-field results were a reminder of how much runway remains. Willis and the first-team offense struggled to move the ball for most of the session.
Washington’s Mike Saintristil jumped a Willis throw for a pick-six and punted the football in celebration, and Charles Omenihu sacked Willis to snuff out Miami’s final two-minute chance.
The offense was not helpless — Willis ripped off a six-yard run and hit a handful of quick throws — but against the first real defense it has seen, the unit looked like what it is: a work in progress that needs the preseason reps its coach intends to give it.
Caleb Douglas keeps forcing his way into the No. 1 receiver conversation
If the day had one unambiguous Dolphins winner, it was the rookie third-round pick. Douglas “has probably been one of our most consistent guys” in camp, Hafley said Wednesday, a day after the team listed him as a starter on its first unofficial depth chart. Then Douglas went out and backed the billing against another team’s defensive backs.
Dolphins rookie WR Caleb Douglas "has probably been one of our most consistent guys" this training camp, Hafley said
The 3rd round pick was listed as a starter on the team's first depth chart yesterday
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) August 12, 2026
On an afternoon when clean completions were scarce, when a play was made for Miami’s offense, it was usually Douglas making it, and the rookie is establishing himself as Willis’ top target. The practice log bears that out: Douglas drew a pass interference penalty earlier in the session, then converted a first-down catch to the 15-yard line with 45 seconds left in the closing two-minute drill.
Miami spent the offseason signing veterans like Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell in hopes one would stabilize the receiver room, and instead a rookie has simply taken the job week by week. Friday offers Douglas his first chance to do it in a game setting.
Zach Sieler is out week to week
The day’s worst news arrived before practice began. Sieler, the anchor of Miami’s defensive line, will be “week to week” with an undisclosed injury, Hafley announced, and he sat out Wednesday’s session. The Dolphins have not characterized the injury beyond that, but the timeline language makes his availability for the preseason irrelevant — the real question is whether it lingers toward September.
In the short term, the absence hands meaningful reps to Miami’s young interior linemen, the biggest beneficiary of the opening. Second-year tackle Kenneth Grant delivered one of the defense’s better moments Wednesday, stuffing a Jacory Croskey-Merritt run before it could develop.
With Sieler sidelined and the preseason opener two days away, the defensive tackle rotation just became one of the most important evaluations left in camp.
A shorthanded secondary got tested — and finished strong
Miami’s defensive backfield went into the practice depleted. Rookie cornerback Chris Johnson was not seen working in team drills, and Dante Trader and JuJu Brents remained out.
Washington made the shortage hurt immediately: On the first play of an 11-on-11 period, Treylon Burks beat Zayne Anderson and Michael Taaffe for a 70-yard touchdown from Daniels, and Daniels mostly had his way against the Miami defense.
The finish told a better story. On the final play of the last joint 11-on-11 series — both full rosters watching — undrafted rookie safety Michael Taaffe broke up a Daniels pass intended for Luke McCaffrey in the back of the end zone as time expired, setting off a Dolphins defensive celebration.
Between Taaffe’s closing stop, Saintristil’s earlier takeaway on the other side and Jacob Rodriguez’s continued run-defense flashes, Miami’s young defense gave Hafley something real to build on, even on a day the consensus went to Washington.
What to watch in Friday’s preseason opener
The rematch comes quickly. Miami opens its preseason Friday, Aug. 14 at Washington at 7 p.m. Eastern, airing on CBS 4 in Miami and WPTV in West Palm Beach, before hosting the New York Giants on Aug. 22 and the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 28.
Newly acquired lineman Caedan Wallace, who went from believing he had been cut by New England to joining Miami in a trade to practicing in Ashburn within 48 hours, could make his Dolphins debut two days after his first practice.
Three things are worth tracking. First, how long Willis plays — Hafley’s stated approach suggests more than a token series for a young roster that, in his words, has to gain experience.
Second, whether Douglas gets run against Washington’s starting secondary and keeps stacking evidence in the receiver competition. And third, who eats Sieler’s snaps inside, because that answer may shape Miami’s defensive front long after the preseason ends.
Wednesday showed how far this team has to go — Friday starts showing whether it is getting there.
