Hyde5: Giants defense was, in a word, ‘dominant’ against Dolphins line; Dolphins D did better

Don’t take it from me. Take it from New York Giants edge rusher Brian Burns how his defense looked against the Dolphins offense.

“Overall, dominant,’’ he said.

That about sums up this half of Thursday’s scrimmage. Burns was told the Giants might have had six sacks. They had more, he said, about the scrimmage where quarterbacks weren’t touched so sacks were a guessing game in some regard.

That tells you how the Dolphins offense struggled. Willis was under so much pressure most of the practice that he couldn’t throw the ball downfield until some shots in the ending, two-minute drill and center Aaron Brewer appeared to give his line a talking-to on the sideline.

Simply put, the Giants defensive line manhandled the Dolphins offensive line. This is a strong Giants front seven. Burns and Abdul Carter consistently broke down right tackle Austin Jackson and backup Caedan Wallace. Rookie edge rusher Arvell Reese, the fifth pick out of Ohio State, and Chauncey Golston made their consistent moments, too.

Willis began rolling out, possibly to buy time.

“Those guys have a great front,’’ Willis said. “We got to figure out where we went wrong. We weren’t game planning for those guys.”

Some days you win. Some days you learn. This was a learning day for the young offense.

Here’s a Thursday segment on the Dolphins youth with Joe Rose.

2. On the good-news front: Devon Achane busted a run over the right side that would’ve been a 70-yard touchdown. Not that the running game had many plays you’d write home on Substack about, either. But this was a day you walked away from thinking Achane could get the 40 touches a game coach Jeff Hafley joked about.

Twenty would be rushes.

Twenty would be dump-off passes.

3. It was better for the Dolphins defense, but … marginally. Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart completed 17 of 21 passes with an interception and TD, according to New York reporters. The Dolphins had trouble covering Isaiah Likely, who had a handful of those Dart completions.

The interception was by rookie Jacob Rodriguez, who keeps shown an ability to be around the ball. Sure, he was beat for what became a 25-yard run. But that’s part of it. He had a handful of tackles and the interception, too.

The other rookie linebacker, Trey Moore, continued to show why he’s in the starting lineup. He made a couple of nice plays and, like Rodriguez, shows an ability to produce. Again: More than half the 13-member rookie class look like it could be starting. We’ll see how many veterans are picked up after league cuts. But right now maybe nine rookies are in line to be starting.

4. Quick Hits:

Linebacker Tyrel Dodson left during one-on-one drills, but appeared to be walking fine.

Receiver AJ Henning, who was having a good camp between receiving and special teams, was hurt and we’ll have to see what that means.

Fights kept breaking out during the practice. The biggest one had Giants backup quarterback Jameis Winston in the middle.

Fantasy football players take not: Newly signed Giants running back Najee Harris made immediate impact with some good runs.

Giants first round pick (and former UM tackle) Francis Mauigoa left the practice with a reported stinger.

5. What’s it all mean? Well, the Dolphins have a lot of work to do. This was a progress report of where they are against a physical team. The offensive line has to become a strength of this team for it to show improvement across this season. It looked in trouble in this workout. Don’t expect to see too much of the starters in their preseason game Saturday night, considering the work put in Thursday. But that gets to the Dolphins depth. And that’s another issue.