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Live Blog — July 31 Training Camp Practice

By Ben Volin | Thursday, July 31, 2008, 01:40 PM

Good afternoon Dolfans, and welcome back to another exciting edition of the live training camp blog!

Quick programming note: The team has moved practice from the bubble to the outdoor fields, and it is now open to the public. So if you read this in the next 15 minutes, you can head on down to Davie and check out the team.

Tony Sparano confirmed that Quincy Carter is here today for a try-out. Sparano didn’t say that Carter has been signed, so I’ll be on the lookout during practice to see if Quincy suits up.

We’re also on the Terry Glenn Watch. Sparano wouldn’t say if the team is any closer to signing him, but it wouldn’t shock me to see Glenn running routes today or in the near future.

Practice starts at 2. Make sure to hit refresh every 20 minutes or so. Enjoy practice!

2:28 p.m.

A few quick notes while the team does individual drills:

Full pads and helmets today. First time in a few days.

Another scorcher today. Heat index of 98 degrees.

Michael Lehan is still not practicing. And the same three guys are back on the bike — Justin Peelle (knee), Aaron Halterman (back) and Daren Heerspink (knee). Peelle and Halterman also do some high knee drills. The three are all pretty much day-to-day, while Lehan’s return has not yet been determined.

Donald Thomas is still playing right guard with the First Team. That’s at least four practices in a row, now. Trey Darilek got three with the First Team.

Sparano is watching the running backs hit the blocking sleds. RB coach James Saxon seems pleased with the way Ronnie Brown is attacking the drill.

2:53

Quarterbacks are hooking up with the tight ends and running backs. Safeties and linebackers are defending.

All three quarterbacks do OK, nothing spectacular.

Henne finishes about 6 for 10 by my count. Had a nice throw to Fasano on a seam route, but Sean Ryan also has his second drop of the day, and Matthew Mulligan drops one, too.

McCown starts 3-for-4 and finishes 5-for-8, with a nice catch from Patrick Cobbs but an overthrow by McCown on a wheel route to Boomer Grigsby.

Beck starts off 1-for-5 and finishes 4-for-10. He has some nice throws, but also throws an interception to Renaldo Hill. Not sure if that was a nice play by Hill, bad route running by Reagan Mauia, or a bad throw from Beck.

Beck finishes with a really nice throw to Ryan on a flag route in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Nice effort by Ricky to lay out on a sideline pass. He didn’t make the grab, but you gotta like the hustle.

Channing Crowder and Mulligan come crashing over the chain-link fence and onto the walkway in between the field and the stands.

3:19

We just heard thunder, and practice moves into the bubble.

I missed the field goal drills during my last update, so sorry, I can’t tell you how that went. I caught the punt drills, and Brandon Fields was absolutely killing the ball.

Fields first started out of the back of his own end zone, and his first punt traveled about 75 yards in the air. After every few kicks the unit would move up about 10 yards. Every punt was traveling 45-65 yards in the air. Impressive.

11-on-11 passing drills.

Donald Thomas starts out as the right guard, but Shawn Murphy gets some reps with the first team, too.

John Beck is the only quarterback to participate before the thunder rolls through, and it isn’t pretty.

I counted eight snaps, and five of them ended in a sack.

Vonnie got three of them, playing on both the right and left side. One time he blew right past Jake Long and Justin Smiley and reached Beck untouched. Another time Vonnie blew past Murphy, and then Vonnie gets a coverage sack when Beck holds on too long.

Channing Crowder blitzes up the middle and gets to Beck in the blink of an eye. Yeremiah does the same, coming around the left end. Looks like the team is having protection issues.

Finally, a short completion to Boomer Grigsby.

And another short completion, to Derek Hagan. This was actually a nice one. Looks like Beck made a hot read, sent Hagan over the middle to the empty spot, got him the ball quickly, and Hagan turned it up field for a nice gain.

Quentin Moses also gets a hand in Beck’s face, and the pass is short to Ricky Williams.

OK, back to the bubble. Hopefully I can squeeze in one more update before we talk to players.

3:48

No Quincy Carter or Terry Glenn, but there is a Wayne Huizenga sighting out here.

Couple quick highlights from the 11-on-11 drills:

Bad drop by Anthony Fasano on a pass from Beck.

Henne to Wilford on a nice 18-yard square-in route. Wilford and Hagan have looked real crisp during camp.

Camarillo also drops one, from Henne. “Come on Camarillo!” Sparano shouts out.

Red zone drills, from the 20:

John Beck goes first. He misses Mulligan on the first pass on a nice play by Jason Allen, then hits Lex Hilliard on a short route.

Henne’s up. Incomplete to Jayson Foster on nice coverage by Andre Goodman. Then a sideline pass to Derek Hagan takes them down to the 5. Another great practice for Hagan.

McCown. Goes short to Ricky and then a sideline pass to Anthony Armstrong. None of the QBs lead the team into the end zone.

Beck’s up again, this time from the 14. Slant pass to Ginn, touchdown.

Henne: Curl route to Camarillo, touchdown. Two in two plays.

McCown gets one shot: Incomplete to Jayson Foster.

More 11-on-11 drills. They’re doing specific down-and-distance situations, but it’s hard to tell what they are from where we’re standing.

Beck goes first. Again, it isn’t pretty. He isn’t throwing a tight spiral. Maybe it’s his mechanics. The coaching staff has been working on moving his arm slot from 3/4 to over-the-top. He just isn’t throwing the pretty spirals that he was throwing last year during camp.

Of four throws, three of them come out of Beck’s hands after the “coverage sack” buzzer has gone off.

He throws a wobbler to Camarillo that is dropped, throws one away, throws another wobbler incomplete to Jayson Foster and then bounces one to Wilford. 0 for 4.

Note: Donald Thomas is the right guard, and Shawn Murphy is the left guard with the first team. Justin Smiley is with the second team, probably to give the coaching staff a better look at the two rookies.

Henne’s up

Completes a nice short one to Davone Bess, a short out to David Martin (nice catch), a square-in to Ginn and a dump-off to Sean Ryan. 4-for-4, with one coverage sack.

McCown’s turn

Overthrows John Dunlap near the sideline, leads Ted Ginn a foot too far on a deep bomb down the left side, throws a nice out pass to David Kircus and then dumps one off to Mulligan (also a coverage sack).

They’re finishing with special teams drills, and that’s about it. Gotta head back to practice and talk to some players.

Thanks for checking in, and feel free to post some comments or questions. I’ll try to answer some later today after I finish writing my stories.

Two more practices tomorrow, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and then a scrimmage on Saturday.

Look forward to live blogging for you.

Later,

BV

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/dolphins-thursd.html

Dolphins: Thursday's practice report

This regime has done everything in their power, and will continue to do everything in their power, to ratchet up the intensity of training camp.

They like to keep people on edge, and as proof I'll give you a sampling of an exchange I heard coach Tony Sparano have with undrafted rookie linebacker Kelly Poppinga.

The Dolphins were doing special teams drills, and Poppinga was on the line to defend a punt. He struggled to shed his blocker and got controlled for the entire play.

Sparano rushes up to Poppinga, follows him back to the huddle and throws one of those gut punches his mentor, Bill Parcells, has become famous for.

"You're not going to make this team that way. You're not exactly freaking Dick Butkus out there," Sparano said.

Take that! A pull no punches approach to a poor performance. For some reason, after hearing that I wondered to myself what would Cam Cameron have said in that instance?

With that said, I'll get to the business of telling you what happened.

Today's session was highlighted by redzone drills at the end, and the pro-John Beck camp isn't going to like what they hear, so if you are pulling for the BYU product don't read any further, and don't read any other practice reports. Just imagine they had the day off.

For the brave....I will no longer refer to Beck by his name on this blog. I'm a nickname guy, and he's officially graduated to "Checkdown," because that's by far his favorite pass.

I'll get into the redzone results a little later, but first I'd like to share my overall observations and thoughts.

Ernest Wilford is having trouble, big time trouble, getting open. Either Will Allen is a Pro Bowl cornerback or the Dolphins need to try Derek Hagan as a starter. Something has got to give.

Big wallets Wayne H. Huizenga was in the house talking to the warden (Parcells) at the beginning of practice. He never made it inside the bubble (a thunderstorm was coming so they moved inside), and since Parcells left practice before the redzone work I figured they needed to talk about ways to improve this team....like adding a couple of former Cowboys.

Maybe they were identifying which of the Dallas cuts the Dolphins will pick up off waivers. I'm thinking a tackle or two, maybe another cornerback, another outside linebacker would be good....and how about their leftover quarterback....

Finding ANOTHER fullback to compete with Boomer Grigsby might be a real good idea because I'm expecting Reagan Mauia to be cut any day now if he doesn't pick it up....If this regime has turned over every rock why hasn't Najeh Davenport been given a tryout?...

Shawn Murphy was granted the opportunity to work with the starters at left guard in place of Justin Smiley and got steam rolled at least three times for a sack. He's clearly not starter material right now. Vonnie Holliday, who has looked very good, barely had to touch him to get by....

Trey Darilek is working as the backup left tackle, and Reuben Riley is holding it down at right tackle, but the Dolphins need an upgrade here....

Joey Porter is blowing people up. He hits with power, and he's very intimidating on the field. I actually heard him threaten a receiver, warning him he'd f-him-up if he caught the ball. I've concluded Porter should remain on the left side. Charlie Anderson and Quentin Moses can present enough pass rushing threat to concern teams. Porter's ability to stuff the run is critical on the left.

Jay Feely missed a 44-yard field goal....

Brandon Fields booted a couple of 55-yard punts, but he took FOREVER to get his punts off. He needs to speed that up....

Rob Ninkovich is working as the backup long-snapper to John Denney. He didn't do bad....

And finally, drum-roll please....REDZONE DRILLS

Everyone got in. And I'll just give you a blow-by-blow, no analysis so you can come to your OWN conclusions.

JOHN BECK (CHECKDOWN)

1. Buzzer goes off (three seconds have passed and the ball needs to be out) and its a check down to Ricky Williams.

2. Scrambles up gut when buzzer goes off.

3. Buzzer, check down.

4. Boomer run up gut for short gain

5. Pass tipped at line, still caught by Wilford for short gain.....It's over...

CHAD HENNE (THE ROOK)

1. 20-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano on a great read.

2. Check down to David Martin for short gain.

3. Davone Bess caught a bullet on a 15-yard out.

4. Fasano on a good hook route for 10-yards.

5. Throw away on a roll out.

6. Touchdown pass to David Kircus...honestly can't remember the pattern.

7. Junior Glymph gets him on coverage sack....Two redzone TDs by the rook.

JOSH McCOWN (THE VET)

1. Under-throw to Ted Ginn Jr. on slant. Behind him slightly.

2. End-around to Bess for decent gain.

3. Comeback to Bess for short gain.

4. Run up gut (didn't see the back)

5. Lionel Dotson sacks McCown, and buzzer goes off.

Remember, this is ONLY the first week, but I'd love to hear what conclusions you come to.

On Saturday there will be a open scrimmage that starts at 2 p.m. and I think all those who want to see it for themselves should come out....

Holla at your boy.

Deuces.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 3:49:19 PM

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/murphy-beck-str.html

Murphy, Beck struggle at Thurs. practice

One player, it seemed to these eyes, had a tougher time during practice Thursday than John Beck.

That was rookie guard Shawn Murphy.

The Dolphins just finished almost 2 1/2 hours of work and this should tell you all you need to know about the struggles of the offense: At one point offensive line coach Mike Maser, quickly becoming one of my favorites, yelled, "WTF is going on with you," to center Matt Spanos.

A little while later, tight end coach George DeLeone angrily yelled, "What are we doing out there?"

Well, what Murphy was doing was getting a hard-learned lesson in NFL offensive line play from Vonnie Holliday. Getting a chance to work with the first unit at left guard, Murphy gave up sacks to Holliday on consecutive plays. He also yielded a couple of pressures before getting a tiny bit better later in the practice.

It was hard to figure out if Murphy was truly improving or Holliday was holding back a bit. Welcome to the NFL, rook.

One rookie who had a pretty productive practice was Chad Henne. He had a sweet pass to tight end Anthony Fasano despite tight coverage. He also had a string in which he completed passes to David Martin, Ted Ginn Jr., Davone Bess and Sean Ryan. Good stuff.

By contrast, John Beck had a tough day. Again. He had a ball batted early in the practice. He was 0-for-4 in another team portion, although one of those was dropped by Greg Camarillo, and he generally looked out of sorts. Camarillo dropped a couple of passes today.

The good?

Derek Hagan continues to be the most impressive and productive receiver on the field.

Quentin Moses had a sack and a couple of pressures.

Holliday, after a productive afternoon, didn't seem to be sweating all that hard after the drills. He looks like a beast right now. The offseason program definitely has helped him.

The kickers?

Punter Brandon Fields had a 74-yard punt and few kicks later followed with a 55-yarder.

In the field goal battle, Jay Feely connected on 2-of-3, missing the 44-yarder. Rookie Dan Carpenter connected on 1-of-3, missing from 36 and 41 yards but hitting from 44.

One guy that seriously has to improve on special teams is rookie Selwyn Lymon who got destroyed as a gunner on punts by the blocking ends. He got only 1 yard off the line of scrimmage before being taken to the ground. Then one of the guys basically sat on him.

Not good for a rookie who must shine on teams if he's going to make the team.

By the way, Davone Bess looked good catching punts and was generally efficient in team drills. Jayson Foster dropped a punt despite a two-minute tutorial from Bill Parcells in the middle of the field.

Probable statements from recent coaches:
- Cam: well, that wasn't very nice; you do that again and there will be no snack and you will have to stand in the corner.
- 'S' - the shithead, I mean 'S' the Coach: That's f'n BS, next year no college player (whoops I mean NFL rookie) is going to do that again!
- Wannadummy: Look, if you do that again I gonna make you play with my pornstache and have a threesome with me and Fiedler.
- Jimmy J: What the hell were you thinking ... wait a minute; wow! who does your hair, I like that!

I like that the coaches want to rough em up a little ... this team doesn't have enough talent but if they played tough, played with heart and could execute with teamwork then they could be OK. This could be like the movie "Major League" where the shitty team pulls one outta their ass; but that was a movie ... oh well!

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5913

Camp Dolphins Day 6: Parmele Running Strong; Class In Session; Other Notes

July 31, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special for MiamiDolphins.com

Rookie running back Jalen Parmele is not only trying to soak in as much as he can on the practice field by watching veterans Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, but he also intends to seize whatever advantage he can from the calculated approach being taken with Brown by the coaching staff and stand out on his own.

Brown has looked impressive through the first six days of training camp, but since he is coming back form a torn ACL in his right knee suffered against the New England Patriots last October, first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano and offensive coordinator Dan Henning don't want to overwork the former first-round pick so they are keeping him on a virtual pitch count.

"I am sure that's part of the process, the growing pains a little bit right now for Ronnie as he is going through this whole thing and for us," Sparano said. "But we are watching him closely, trying to guard his reps, making sure that he gets the specific things he needs. We got him involved in the blocking drill yesterday in the morning. These are some of the things that he needs to have, and certainly he needs to have now early in training camp. He is doing really well, and I am really pleased with the amount of work that we are able to get out of him."

In the meantime, Parmele and his roommate, fellow rookie Lex Hilliard, have been giving plenty of opportunity to make their mark and push for a spot on the final 53-man roster. From the first day of camp, Parmele's ability to hit the hole quickly and kick it into another gear once he reaches the second level of the defense has been noticeable.

During his last two years of college at Toledo, the 21-year-old native of Midland, Mich. Rushed for 2,642 yards and 22 touchdowns, including 241 rushing yards on 38 attempts against Ohio on Oct. 20, 2007. He earned first-team All-Mid-American Conference honors as a senior after racking up 1,511 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns and he's focusing on making every carry count in camp.

"I think everybody knows that you have to take advantage of every one of your reps. You might not get a lot of reps but when you get the reps you want to take full advantage and prove that you know what you're doing out there," said Parmele, who was born about 30 minutes north of Miami's practice facility in Boynton Beach. "It's just a matter of knowing you know the play and going out and performing and executing the play well. You know when you mess up and you know when you're making right plays, you've just got to keep improving and keep learning."

Complacency is not an issue for Parmele as he quickly identified the area he needs to work on most in order to give him the best shot of staying on the team, and that is his pass protection. It has been made very clear early on to all the running backs that the ability to block in the passing game is just as important as the ability to run with the ball or catch the ball out of backfield.

Sparano has been impressed with what Parmele has been able to do with the ball in his hands but he stressed the importance of being able to protect the quarterback in third-down situations and against regular defenses for all the running backs. Still, being able to get up the field quickly and create mismatches on linebackers and defensive backs cannot be underestimated.

"I like the way he hits the hole," Sparano said of Parmele. "I think he runs with speed, a little upright sometimes, we're trying to get him to bend down a little bit more, but I like what he does. I see a little bit of burst out of him and he's got pretty good vision."

Parmele and Hilliard compare notes back at the team hotel after practices and agree on one aspect of Coach Sparano's approach, and that is how he preaches the importance of winning and what it takes to win. They also have seen the difference in speed from college to the pros by going up against the likes of linebackers Joey Porter and Channing Crowder and defensive end Vonnie Holliday, with Crowder having delivered the hardest hit on Parmele so far.

Going through drills with Brown and Williams also has given Parmele a unique perspective on what it takes to compete at the NFL level for a running back. In fact, being as he and Hilliard are rookies, they have to carry Brown's and Williams' pads in from the practice field along with their own, but it's all part of the learning process and their indoctrination to life in the NFL.

"They're getting on us, and if they ask you to bring (their pads) in you're kind of obligated to but I'm getting used to it," Parmele said. "This has been it so far. Sometimes we just get them drinks like water or Gatorade to the meeting rooms and that's been it so far, but I'm expecting it to get a little worst."

If he continues to impress with his running and improves in the other areas, Parmele could be able to shirk some of those duties down the road.

INJURY UPDATE: Cornerback Michael Lehan (high ankle sprain) is still rehabbing from the injury he suffered during the June mini-camp and Sparano said he is progressing "pretty good right now." But Sparano said he and the staff have not set a timetable for his return. The status of tight ends Aaron Halterman (back) and Justin Peelle (knee) and offensive tackle Darren Heerspink (knee) remains the same as all three are listed as day-to-day.

OFFICIAL REVIEW: Class was in session this morning for the media as NFL officials gave a 40-minute presentation on some of the rule changes being enacted for the 2008 season and some of the points of emphasis being looked at more closely.

Probably the most revealing notion to emerge from the session was the fact that for the first time in a while, the defense has been given an advantage over the offense thanks to the new force-out rule that basically eliminates a force-out from being reviewed or even called, and to the advent of a helmet equipped with a speaker so one defensive player can receive communication from the coaches.

"I don't know about conflicts, but I think early on in the preseason it'll be interesting to see how the whole process goes," said Dolphins first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano, who was an offensive line coach before. "It doesn't really mean that you're not going to continue your defensive signals. You have to have them ready. If something happens during the course of the game and one of these systems goes down, there is the backup plan with the secondary guy that can where the other helmet.

"But at the same time, with the transition and the time it takes, you've still got to hand signal and do all these things. We'll look at it in preseason and see where we go from the thing. You treat at as a luxury and to be honest with you, I was on the other side of the ball and you're talking to the quarterback constantly so I'd always think, 'Why don't they talk to the defense? What's the big secret?' But it gives us a chance and we'll take a look at it."

The force-out rule is something Sparano admitted could affect the offensive play-calling when it comes to sending in sideline routes and routes taking the receiver into the back or the corner of the end zone. In essence, the defensive backs can now shove the receiver out of bounds without worrying about the referee ruling that he would have come down inbounds, with the exception being if the defender holds the receiver in the air and carries him out.

"You have to think about it a little bit," Sparano said. "You don't want to be giving away throws and in the past, those things from a statistical standpoint have worked a little bit more offensively than they did defensively. So I think you have to think about it but it's not much one way or another. The bottom line is to get your feet inbounds."

The other major rules changes involved the elimination of the 5-yard facemask penalty, instant replay being used on field goals and extra points, the ability for teams to defer to the second half on the coin toss and all muffed hand-offs now being considered a fumble.

NO TAKING SIDES: This Saturday afternoon, the Dolphins will experience a little change of space when the team will go through an intrasquad scrimmage of sorts. Sparano said the 80-man squad will not be split in half, but they will simulate live situations covering the gamut from third-downs to two-minute drills and Red Zone scenarios. This afternoon will be the first time any Red Zone scenarios will be practiced so come Saturday the intensity will be even higher.

"What we'll do is we'll compete against other and we'll try to get our goods on our goods as much as we can right now," Sparano said. "When I say 'goods on goods' I mean you'll work your first units and then your second units together. Then you might even cross over and maybe see the second units versus the first units to see how somebody responds to a little bit maybe better competition. But we're going to hit all situations. More importantly just get them out there and just let them play; get people off the field and start getting this coach the quarterbacks and create a game environment."

Sparano emphasized that there will be no hitting in terms of bringing players to the ground, just "thudding," and all three quarterbacks will play.

TURNING OVER ANOTHER STONE: In keeping with their philosophy of seeing what's out there in terms of talent, the Dolphins brought in quarterback Quincy Carter today for a workout. The 30-year-old former Dallas Cowboy who played for Sparano and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells in 2003 hasn't been on an NFL football field since 2004, but he is familiar with Miami's offense.

"I think familiarity with the offense and maybe our familiarity with him (is why Carter was brought in)," Sparano said during his pre-practice press conference. "But again, this is just a workout, that's all it is, it's a look-see to see what's happening out there. Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells will do their due diligence on every player that's out there and every player that's available one way or another to try to help our football team."

Sparano emphasized that this workout, which will entail basic fundamentals and throwing drills, in no way means he is not pleased with the three quarterbacks he has on the roster - John Beck, Chad Henne and Josh McCown. He said in fact he has been pleased with all three and is not concerned about any of them being overworked because of how he has rotated them each day in situational drills.

Carter's best season in the league came in 2003 when he led the Cowboys to a 10-6 record and back to the playoffs, completing 292-of-505 passes for 3,302 yards, 17 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while rushing for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Sparano recalled Carter's mobility and leadership as two of the qualities that made him a success that year.

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: One day after going in shorts and shells for two practices the team returned to full pads on Thursday, with the first half of practice taking place outside. Lightning and the threat of inclement weather forced everyone inside the practice bubble for the remainder of practice ... Rookie Donald Thomas was working at right guard with the first unit for the fourth day in a row, while the other guards were shuttled in and out among the second and third units due to a shortage of tackles. Justin Smiley was at left guard with the first unit and then moved over to the right side to allow rookies Shawn Murphy and Mike Byrne to get some time on the left side next to rookie first-round pick Jake Long ... One scary moment happened outside during 7-on-7 drills when Crowder and tight end Matthew Mulligan both flipped over the protective fence separating the field from the stands. Both players bounced back to their feet and returned to the huddle ... Linebacker Rob Ninkovich served as the backup long snapper to John Denney during punt drills ... The defense recorded five virtual sacks outside ... Practice ended once again with the team running wind sprints ... Tomorrow the team will practice twice, once in the morning at 9 a.m. and again in the afternoon at 5 p.m. Both practices are open to the public, but if there is lightning or enough inclement weather in the area, practices can be moved inside the bubble and then they are no longer open to the public.