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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — All coaches have their preferences and quirks, and new Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley has one: He doesn’t like 7-on-7 drills in practice. They’re great for wide receivers and defensive backs, and some coaches like that it gives the big guys on both lines a period of relative rest, but Hafley, laying out the ground rules for Thursday’s joint practice with the New York Giants, insisted there would be no 7-on-7 work. “We want to play real football,” he told reporters before practice, “and I want to see if we can block them, if we can pick up the pressures and our protections, if the quarterback can get rid of the ball on time, if the receivers can run the right routes so the ball can get out on time. So it’s going to have to be a team thing.” It’s a bold move against a talented Giants front — there were plenty of would-be sacks whistled dead Thursday — but if you’re trying to stress the importance of winning the line of scrimmage, the message was appreciated there. “Absolutely,” said center Aaron Brewer, a second-team All-Pro in a breakout season last year. “I can’t play 7-on-7, so whenever we’re out there and all working, that’s what it’s going to be. I feel like it translates from practice to the game. There are no days in a game where you’re running 7-on-7.” That’s echoed by defensive tackle Zach Sieler, the longest-tenured Dolphins player, here since 2019 and a leader in a locker room loaded with new arrivals. “My thing is, how do we play on Sundays? It’s 11-on-11,” he said. “When you put every piece together, that’s how the game is played. You want to put game-like stress in practice, pushing us to the limits on every single play, and that’s something we focus on a lot this year.” Miami went 7-10 last year, but traded off key players as part of a rebuild that included hiring Hafley and a new general manager in Jon-Eric Sullivan. There are few NFL teams with lower outside expectations than the Dolphins, too. The oddsmakers’ projected win total for the Dolphins is 4.5. However, you won’t hear Hafley or his players use the low-hanging fruit of the perceived slight to fuel motivation. “I just believe that if that’s what we’re using to motivate, we’re worried about the wrong things right now,” Hafley said. “That stuff wears off after a while. There’s only so much you can use it, only so much you can care about it. I want the motivation to come from within. I want the motivation to come because the players want to be great and the coaches want to be great, because they don’t want to let their teammates down … if you do that, it will last.” Offensive guard is not a sexy position for a high draft pick, but the Giants and Dolphins both took guards in the top 12, with New York getting Miami (Fla.)’s Francis Mauigoa at No. 10 and Miami getting Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor at 12. Proctor is massive, listed at 6-foot-7 and 360 pounds and already making a strong impression. “He’s a big guy. He’s fast, he’s physical, and he’s just a smart young guy,” Brewer said of Proctor. “He buys in and gives his effort, so he’s just a great football player.” Miami left tackle Patrick Paul is 6-7 and bigger than the 326 pounds he’s listed at, so Miami could have the largest left side in the NFL. “Overall, dominant. I feel like we didn’t play to the standard that I hold us to, or our leaders hold our defense to because coming out as our first joint, trying to be smart, make sure everybody gets taken care of, but at the same time, they’re not our team. So, when you have an opportunity to hit them, you hit them. And you hold them up and they get hit again. “We started to do that later on, towards the middle of the day and the rest of the day on. But we had splashes in the beginning, but I wanted to swarm from when we first got out here and it just took a little bit to get going, but I understand it’s our first joint [practice]. But I let it be known, we don’t wait to get punched in the mouth. That didn’t happen, but we don’t wait to get punched in the mouth to fire off on somebody.” — Giants edge rusher Brian Burns on his team’s physicality against the Dolphins.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

INDYCAR is in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the Freedom 250, and the unique event is getting a unique trophy. The Freedom 250 will be a street race to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday. It was designed as a 250-mile race on a 1.7-mile layout across landmark locations in D.C. Winning team owners will receive hardware built specifically for the event. The trophy scales and blends two D.C. icons: the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol dome. The trophy is a representation of this one-of-a-kind venue framed by two historic landmarks on either end of the track. The look, according to designer Michael Montri, reflects the perspective from behind and through the Washington Monument while looking toward the Capitol Building across the National Mall and this incredible course. Here are four things to know about the official INDYCAR Freedom 250 trophy. The upper shaft of the Freedom 250 trophy isn’t a random pyramid. Instead, it’s a proportionally scaled tribute to the Washington Monument. The upper section features a solid clear crystal pyramid modeled after the Washington Monument profile. The crystal pyramid features a 72.6-degree face angle and a 1,600 height-to-base ratio, matching the proportions of the physical monument. A hollow shaft continues down from the crystal at the same 72.6-degree angle in a straight line to the plinth. The owner trophy is produced in three scaled sizes for the podium finishers. Construction specs detail a black hollow base assembled with 45-degree miter joints and a mirror-finish polish where the plinth meets the base. Crowning each trophy is a detailed model of the U.S. Capitol dome, and the components are scaled down across all three podium spots: Tucked right beneath the plinth is a clever optical detail. The underside of the hollow plinth features a mirror-finish polish where it meets the black base. This reflective deck directs light upward into the hollow shaft, illuminating the solid crystal pyramid and Capitol dome from within during victory lane celebrations. The circular black base uses clever fabrication tricks to keep the design sleek. Assembled from a cylindrical wall ring and top deck disk, the base is brought together using 45-degree miter cuts along the slope. This hides the bond line seam completely inside the corner, giving the base a monolithic appearance. The Freedom 250 will be an exceptional race but also expected to be the only one of its kind. INDYCAR could return to D.C. or the general mid-Atlantic area in the future, but this race is a one-time deal. And that easily could be the case for the trophy as well. Only one driver in INDYCAR’s history will be able to say they conquered the U.S. Capitol course, and while there are three versions of the Freedom 250 trophy, there’s still only one first-place trophy. Overall, as our Bob Pockrass pointed out, racing through the streets of the nation’s capital is a rare historic occasion. “Racing on the streets of Washington, D.C., racing around some of the more iconic venues of the nation’s capital,” Pockrass said, “It’s going to test the drivers when it comes to heat. It’s going to test the drivers when it comes to strength, and it will be a test of the pit crews, since they’ll probably have at least four stops.” Freedom 250 is slated to begin Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET, and the green flag for the main race is expected to wave around 1:13 p.m. ET.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports