MIAMI GARDENS — Football is back. And I don’t mean that in the sense that the Miami Dolphins held their first day of their rookie minicamp Friday.

When I say “football is back,” I mean the focus is on hand-in-the-dirt, hard hat-and-lunch pail football under general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.

That’s important to note because a few miles away former Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, a Hall of Fame talent — and Hall of Fame knucklehead, was in court, having been sued for $75,000 by a female social media influencer who claims Hill broke her leg while the two were doing football drills in Hill’s backyard.

Yeah, the lawsuit is as crazy as it sounds. And it’s what the Dolphins dealt with on a regular basis under the old regime.

So, when I say “football is back,” I also mean Tyreek’s type of craziness is gone from the Dolphins locker room. Hopefully forever.

Granted, rookie minicamp doesn’t offer everlasting insight into the direction of the new regime or the type of players they drafted a few weeks ago.

But the tone and messaging of the new regime start to surface.

For example, players were running sprints after Friday’s practice, a sight not seen regularly in previous years.

And messaging is being sent.

“We’re trying to be a physical team,” said tight end Will Kacmarek, the third-round pick from Ohio State. “We’re trying to get after people in the run game, the pass game. I think we’re trying to be explosive. We’re still learning a lot of the scheme right now, but what we’ve heard in the first couple of meetings is we’re trying to play fast and physical.”

This is my 17th or 18th rookie minicamp. I lose count. 

Trust me, they’re largely insignificant.

What happens on May 8 won’t matter on, say, Sept. 14, or Oct. 16, or Dec. 10, when you’re well into the regular season.

Here’s what matters most in rookie minicamp: setting a positive, hard-working, no-nonsense tone that still exists on Sept. 14 or Oct. 16 or Dec. 10.

That’s the true value of these offseason gatherings.

You let everyone know the standard to which they’ll be judged every day.

Look, it was great to see guard-tackle Kadyn Proctor, the first-round pick from Alabama, moving around on the field for the 30 minutes or so the media was allowed to watch Friday’s practice.

At 6-foot-7, 352 pounds, he appeared slim, athletic, agile, and, you guessed it, big.

Cornerback Chris Johnson, the first-round pick from San Diego State, seemed smooth and capable as he progressed through the practice that didn’t feature any offense vs. defense drills, and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the second-round pick from Texas Tech, looked good in drills.

Fellow linebackers Trey Moore, the fourth-round pick from Texas, and Kyle Louis, the fourth-round pick from Pitt, who figure to be hybrid players (Moore a cross between defensive end and linebacker, and Louis a cross between linebacker and safety) went through drills with Rodriguez.

On and on it goes through the undrafted rookies, first-year players and tryout invitees.

I noticed defensive lineman Alex Huntley, who spent much of last season on Miami’s practice squad, often being at the head of the line for defensive line drills, an indication of leadership skills among players of his caliber.

Defensive end Jordan Lawson, a 6-foot-4, 251-pound minicamp invitee who recorded 5.0 sacks and 15.0 TFL (tackles for loss) last season for Louisiana, was impressive in both size and actions.

I like the tone that Sullivan and Hafley have set so far. It’s workmanlike. There’s an all-business feeling when they speak. There’s a seriousness in their demeanor. 

And I like what I saw Friday. 

It’s important that the tone is felt by the rookies.

It’s crucial that that tone is carried out by veterans such as linebacker Jordyn Brooks, center Aaron Brewer, defensive tackle Zach Sieler, left tackle Patrick Paul, quarterback Malik Willis and other team leaders.

So far, it seems as though the tone of things is being set.

On a related topic, don’t focus on the Dolphins’ record this season.

They might win four games.

They might win seven games.

The bigger focus is on the team’s tone and demeanor, and whether Sullivan and Hafley have gathered the right types of players.

If you pay attention to the record, you miss the entire point of the 2026 season.

Yes, the Dolphins want to win.

But it’s more important to set the right tone and have the right type of players.

That’s the point of the Dolphins’ 2026 season.

And much of having the right type of player starts with contrasting what happened in Miami Gardens on Friday with what happened in a Broward County courtroom with Tyreek. That’s all you need to consider to understand that a new era is here in more ways than one.