Pro Football Talk, last year, published an article / opinion piece under the headline:
A quick summary of the article’s key points:
A week or two after the draft, rookie draft picks, UDFAs and tryout players are brought together after months of not playing football. Veterans, on the other hand, have a phased re-entry to football. Players (like Dante Fowler in 2015, or receiver Mike Williams & DB Howard Wilson in 2017) get injured.
The Miami Dolphins have ditched the traditional rookie mini-camp, changing it to an ‘orientation’ weekend.
“For us, it’s really get them acclimated to what we’re doing, what we expect of them between lifting, meetings,” coach Adam Gase said after this year’s opening weekend, via the team’s official website.