What Brewer Said About 'Fake' Bears

The Miami Dolphins have held joint practices with all three of their preseason opponents, but Aaron Brewer felt one team pushed things too far.

When asked how practices with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions prepared them for a session with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, Miami’s starting center felt that the Bears crossed a line with their play style.

“That first joint practice with Chicago, I felt like that was just some b.s. because they were out there tackling and this and that,” Brewer said. “It was like fake physicality; if they’re out the re playing tackle football and everybody else was out there playing seven-on-seven or something, it’s fake physicality.”

A Chicago defender barreled through Jaylen Waddle , and even coach Mike McDaniel found himself in the middle of a scuffle. Linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson also got into a heated exchange over matching the Bears’ intensity, an argument later labeled a “ brotherly disagreement.”

Following the drama at Halas Hall, Brewer felt that the Dolphins grew from practicing with the Lions. 

“In Detroit, I’d say that just taught us that you got to have your mind right like every day,” he said. “You've got to approach it the same way. You can’t short-step or do anything like that. I don’t know how to put it, I’d say just coming with that same mentality every day. 

“No matter who you’re going against, who it is. Come with that same mentality and that same dawg in you every day.”

Brewer has moved around the offensive line during his five-year career, but he’s been steady in the middle. Last season, the first year of a three-year deal with Miami, he started all 17 games at center and allowed only two sacks.

Asked if the Dolphins needed to be more physical up front after failing to make the playoffs last season, Brewer said that has been an expectation from the start.

“That’s every day since we’ve come through OTAs and training camp,” Brewer said. “That’s what you want. You want to be that team that g oes out there and dominate whoever is across the field. Wear them down, and they feel you every single play all the way to the end. 

“I feel like we came out there with that today.”

Setting the Tone Against Jacksonville

Thursday was the final practice of training camp, and Brewer was focused on carrying the momentum from Detroit into joint practices with the Jaguars.

“Go out there and put our best [work] on film,” Brewer said. “Go out there and dominate and keep building off what we’ve been doing, like how we finished the second day in Detroit.”

“I feel like we started off exactly how we needed to. We had little bumps throughout practice, but I feel like we got back on track close to the end.”

The Dolphins bolstered the trenches at guard with second-round rookie < a href="/nfl/players/jonah_savaiinaea/899911" class="yard_link">Jonah Savaiinaea and free-agent addition James Daniels. With Patrick Paul stepping in at left tackle, Brewer and right tackle Austin Jackson are the only returning starters from last season. 

While Jackson has been sidelined since early August after being stepped on in practice, Brewer is happy with the offensive line’s progress and is eager to see the unit at full strength. 

“I feel like we have a good chemistry,” Brewer said of the group. “You’re not going to see it until the season starts. But you see it during practice here and there, we’re putting it all together. Even with Larry [Borom] being there filling in for Austin Jackson right now. 

“You still see that physicality, that pad level, that speed off the ball that we play with. I feel like we got it now, we’re in sync.”

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