MIAMI GARDENS — Football is back, and for the Miami Dolphins, that means something different this year.

When we say "football is back," we're not just talking about the first day of rookie minicamp Friday. We're talking about a new era defined by hand-in-the-dirt, hard hat-and-lunch pail football under general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.

This shift matters because just a few miles away, former Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill — a Hall of Fame talent and, as it turns out, a Hall of Fame knucklehead — was in court facing a lawsuit. A female social media influencer claims Hill broke her leg while they were doing football drills in his backyard. The lawsuit demands $75,000.

Crazy? Absolutely. But it's the kind of chaos the Dolphins dealt with regularly under the old regime.

So when we say "football is back," we also mean Tyreek's brand of craziness is gone from the Dolphins locker room. Hopefully for good.

Now, 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 start to surface.

Take Friday's practice: players running sprints after the session — a sight not seen regularly in previous years. It's a small detail, but it speaks volumes about the culture shift.

"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. We're trying to be explosive. We're still learning the scheme, but what we've heard in the first few meetings is we're trying to play fast and physical."

That's the new mindset in Miami. And for fans who've watched the Dolphins navigate years of distractions, it's a welcome change. The hard hat is on. The lunch pail is packed. Football is back — the right way.