Live Blog — July 28 Training Camp, Morning Session

[DolFan619]

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Live Blog — July 28 Training Camp, Morning Session

By Ben Volin | Monday, July 28, 2008, 09:25 AM

Gooooood morning Dolfans, and welcome to Day 3 of Training Camp.

Sorry for the late post. 95 was a mess this morning, took me an hour to get from Boynton to Davie. Ugh.

Edgar Thompson has been watching the first 20 minutes of practice. Says Joey Porter and Michael Lehan continue to watch from the sidelines, and everyone else is healthy and ready to go.

I believe that quarterbacks that are “up” today are John Beck and Josh McCown. This is an important bounce-back practice for Beck, who threw three interceptions yesterday and did not look good.

I’ll be back in a few with more updates. Post anything here that you want to know. Enjoy practice!

9:52 a.m.

Let’s get going, shall we?

Position drills for the first 40 minutes, nothing too exciting. I notice Sparano paying more attention to the QBs than other positions.

In 7-on-7 drills, McCown looks great. He had one especially good throw, stepping up in the pocket to hit John Dunlap over the seam for a 40-yard touchdown. Perfectly placed ball, and a nice catch by Dunlap over Keith Davis.

John Beck is still inconsistent. He can hit the underneath stuff, but he keeps sailing throws on the longer sideline routes, particularly one throw to Ted Ginn.

Speaking of Ginn, since I haven’t said much about him so far this camp, he looks much more polished as a receiver from a year ago. Running crisp routes and looking confident playing next to Ernest Wilford. If he can continue to improve as a receiver, he will be tough to cover with his speed.

Shawn Murphy blows up Reggie Torbor in offense vs. defense drills. Trey Darilek is the starting right guard for now, but Murphy will be given a shot.

Finally, our first scuffle of training camp! Your two high-profile rookies, Jake Long and Phillip Merling, mix it up after the whistle. Some pushing and shoving and arm flailing before teammates step in to break it up.

10:21 a.m.

The quarterbacks are doing a fun drill … they roll out of the pocket and try to throw the ball on the run into a little net. These aren’t easy throws, but Beck does a nice job putting it on the money.

Vonnie Holliday continues to get private tutoring from Paul Pasqualoni, and it looks like he’s learning how to play as a stand-up pass rusher.

Injury … recently acquired offensive guard Reuben Riley is coming off the field. Looks like he’s favoring his right leg, possibly a knee.

More of these 6-on-8 drills (that are really 6-on-6, with two pass rushers putting a hand in the quarterback’s face).

David Martin and Ronnie Brown are working with the first team offense. This is a big camp for Martin, who is certainly no lock to make the team, especially with Anthony Fasano and Sean Ryan in town.

Nathan Jones, who has an interception in each of the first two days of camp, is mixing in with the first team defense, along with Will Allen and Andre Goodman. Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodele continue to start on the inside, and that probably won’t change during camp barring catastrophe.

McCown puts on a good show. He goes 6-for-6 in this drill, by my count, including a beautiful sideline pass to Greg Camarillo.

Beck starts off well, threading the needle on a pass to David Kirkus. Beck is working under center and out of the shotgun.

But again, Beck is falling back into the bad habits that doomed him yesterday. He’s forcing throws into coverage, and targeting the check-down receiver almost every play. McCown rolled out and tried to make something happen, while Beck seems content to hit the running back every time. Beck only completes about 3 of his 6 throws.

Team drills coming up. More updates in a bit.

10:51

Last update of the morning. Sparano talks at 12:30, and we get the players after the second practice.

11-on-11 team drills, the highlight of each practice.

With Joey Porter out, Rob Ninkovich is getting reps with the first team defense. Nink starts out as the LOLB with Charlie Anderson at ROLB, but they flip-flop every few plays.

Matt Roth is first team LDE, Jason Ferguson is the NT and Vonnie is the RDE. Ferguson has been mighty impressive throughout camp, the way he blows off the ball and gets into the backfield.

Reagan Mauia is taking reps with the first team, but it’s a total crapshoot right now between him and Boomer Grigsby.

The team is practicing on the far field today, making it a lot tougher for us to see what’s going on. Maybe this was done deliberately after John Beck’s performance yesterday, which came on the near field in plain sight of everyone.

The defense is in almost like a “46” formation, with Yeremiah Bell playing up with the linebackers and Jason Allen manning center field. Bell was one of the team’s top playmakers in 2006 and could have a big comeback year.

Josh McCown certainly isn’t perfect, throwing a bad pass in the flat that is almost picked off by Channing Crowder.

Derek Hagan is having a GREAT practice. He makes a beautiful catch, out-jumping Will Allen on a 25-yard route, and is hauling in everything. Several members of the media have remarked that Hagan is having a great day. This is a big year for Hagan, now in his third season. The knock on him is that he has hands of stone, but he’s hauling in everything today.

J-Peezy is standing next to Dan Pasqualoni during drills, ostensibly to learn the defensive signals. Good to see that Porter is trying to learn during practice despite his injury.

This is a really physical practice. Joey Thomas flattens Lex Hilliard on a running play, and then Hilliard gets horse-collared on the next play. Club Med this ain’t.

A Kendall Langford sighting: He busts around the right side (not Jake Long) and sacks John Beck.

Ugh, Beck gets sacked again on the next play, by Keith Saunders. He’s holding onto the ball way too long.

Good run by Patrick Cobbs, busting one about 12 yards up the middle. He’s got to maintain that intensity every play, because he has a lot of competition at running back.

Remember what I said about Jason Ferguson? He busts through Samson Satele and bats down a screen pass from John Beck. Ferguson is 33? Looks more like 23.

And that just about wraps ‘er up. Practice didn’t quite last two hours today. Josh McCown wasn’t great, but once again was head and shoulders above John Beck.

Next practice starts at 5 p.m. and once again I’ll be doing the live blog. In between, make sure to check back in, because I’ll be posting some other stuff, probably a Q&A with Ronnie Brown.

See you soon,

BV

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5902

Camp Dolphins Day 3-Morning Practice Report

July 28, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special to MiamiDolphins.com

Manic Monday in Davie saw the first minor dust-up of Dolphins training camp, and it just so happened to involve Miami's first two draft picks of the 2008 rookie class – left tackle Jake Long and defensive end Philip Merling.

The two became engaged during the 3-on-3/2-on-2 drills where they had the tackle and the guard take on two pass rushers and the center and two guards lined up on two rushing linemen and a rushing linebacker. Merling took a swing at Long after the two separated, drawing a reaction from the crowd on hand, even though the drill took place on the far field, but the coaches immediately quashed the confrontation. It was just another example of how intense these practices are being run under first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano.

"There's nothing wrong with that in training camp, as long as we know we're on the same team and we're shaking hands afterwards," Sparano said. "Both of those guys, when we drafted both of them, we knew one thing – they're both competitors. So you put them in that situation and you get them in that environment, and that's what we're trying to create a little bit out here, and you watch them compete. They're both competitors and it's healthy, and I think the both of them know that they're going to be around here a long time and be able to help each other out and make each other better."

Sparano began the morning practice watching the running backs and fullbacks hit the sled, and then he strategically worked his way around between both fields. What he did see was third-year wide receiver Derek Hagan make some noise with his hands, catching everything thrown his way, including the play of the day, a long bomb down the right side from Josh McCown.

It was McCown and John Beck up again in the rotation featuring two quarterbacks working the team drills, with rookie Chad Henne watching from the sideline and throwing during individual drills. After a rough outing Sunday during which he threw three interceptions, it was important for Beck to bounce back and show Sparano and the coaches how he handles adversity and Sparano actually told him to put it behind him.

"Quarterbacks have days like that and if you're going to be a quarterback in the National Football League it's going to happen. You'll have to show me one that it doesn't happen to," said Sparano, who has not tipped his hand yet as to which of the three quarterbacks is leading the competition. "But that being said, every day out here is a new day, and what we really want to see is, you get him out there for a little bit longer period, you see him nine or ten plays instead of three or four plays and you want to see how they respond.

"I thought that John came out here today and he bounced back and he had a little bit more of a solid practice this morning. I just think at that position it comes down to decision making, and sometimes a good decision means you have to throw the ball away. … What we need to remember about John is that John really is just a one-year player. He didn't have a lot of game snaps last year, so what he's getting out here is really valuable for him and I like the way he's coming along. I think he's going to be fine. He'll get better and better and he's a pretty conscientious guy that way."

On the injury front, cornerback Michael Lehan and linebacker Joey Porter were once again the only two players not in pads as they are being worked back slowly from ankle injuries.

Lehan is on the Physically Unable to Perform list as a result of his ankle injury suffered during the June mini-camp, while Porter is on the Active/Non-Football Injury list after rolling his ankle during a private workout last week.

"Joey actually went in this morning and got a chance to run in there and do the conditioning test and did a really nice job," Sparano said. "He did an outstanding job in the test today so we're hopeful right now that he'll be out here really soon."

Offensive guard Reuben Riley, who was signed as a free agent Saturday, left the field favoring his right leg a little over an hour into practice, but he returned about 20 minutes later. He most likely was dealing with a cramp that was treated by the trainers.

Sparano also was pleased with how running back Ronnie Brown has looked through four practices as he comes back from the torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered last October. The coach characterized Brown's performance thus far as "solid." He also highlighted the play of Hagan, who was the go-to receiver in the third-down drill being run for the first time today, and he mentioned Ted Ginn, Jr., David Kircus, Greg Camarillo, rookies Davone Bess and John Dunlap and free agent Anthony Armstrong as some of the other receivers who are making good impressions.

As far as in the trenches, the give-and-take between second-year center Samson Satele and 12th-year veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson has been something to watch. Satele is finding out just how tough it is to block a stout and technically sound nose tackle like Ferguson, while Ferguson is getting a chance to identify which moves are most effective against an athletic center like Satele.

"After practice we talked about each individual player, when you're working your matchup, trying to make the guy across from you a little bit better. This is happening with Satele right now," Sparano said. "Jason Ferguson gives a lot of people fits and it's hard to block him. I've said that before, he's hard to move. Even the guys in Dallas, the big strong guys, they would come off saying he's hard to move With Satele this is good work for him. We don't have little noses in our conference; they're all big people, physical people, so this is good for Satele."

The cooler morning temperatures seemed to be a welcome sight for the players and the fans alike as it was the beginning of yet another long day for Sparano, his coaching staff and the 80 players vying for a spot on the final 53-man roster. They will take the field again this afternoon at 5 p.m. for another intense session, and then tomorrow they will practice once at 2 p.m.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/dolphins-prac-2.html

Dolphins practice report: Monday

I find it intriguing that the Dolphins secondary is working in units. They aren't mixing and matching at all. However, sometimes the third unit will work with the starters, and the starting unit will work with the second team front in a rotation. I'm guessing this allows the players to develop a comfort level with one another, which improves communication.

Here are the units: Will Allen and Andre Goodman as the cornerbacks, with Yeremiah Bell and Jason Allen as the safeties.

Today the second unit secondary was Keith Davis and Cris Crocker as the safeties, and Joey Thomas and Travis Daniels as the cornerbacks.

The third unit is Scorpio Babers and Nathan Jones at cornerback, with Renaldo Hill and Courtney Bryan at safety.

I'd say the unit making the most plays so far in practice is the third unit. Jones has three interceptions and Hill has one.  For those keeping tally, Will Allen and Jason Allen also have interceptions from the first three practices. There were no interceptions thrown Saturday morning.

However, there were plenty of would-be sacks again.

After closely monitoring the line play for the past four practice I've discovered C Samson Satele can't handle NT Jason Ferguson one-on-one. Ferguson puts him on skates in passing downs, and one-on-one drills. I'm struggling to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing for the Dolphins. You tell me

By contrast, Satele handles Paul Soliai with ease. (It's not looking too good for his fellow Samoan....

As requested, I paid special attention to Phillip Merling, who was hot and cold during Saturday morning's session. He got into a mild scuffle with Jake Long during a special position drill after he got handled by Long TWICE. After Long finished off a pancake block Merling got up swinging. You could clearly tell he was getting frustrated with his fellow rookie.

But don't get too excited about Long, he's still struggling against the speed guys (Quentin Moses and Charlie Anderson). If Long gets his hands on you it's over. Your in cement. But if he doesn't he struggles to recover against those speedsters.

McCown and Beck took the team work today, with Henne being the guy who was down.

The top performer of the day was Derek Hagan, who caught everything thrown his way, and made some really nice catches in traffic, and against tight coverage. First, McCown connected on a drag to Hagan, who was playing the slot.

Beck also hit Hagan for a good pass in traffic on his very first pass of team drills. He threw away his second pass to avoid a sack, but followed that up by taking a would-be sack from Kendall Langford. His fifth pass was a good one to David Kircus (I didn't see who was defending because I was paying attention to Moses lining up as a defensive end on the same side with Anderson as the outside linebacker....It looked promising).

For those keeping tabs, the dime package on Monday featured a front line of Anderson, Matt Roth, Vonnie Holliday and Moses, with Channing Crowder as the lone linebacker, and the first team secondary with Jones as the extra cornerback.

But back to offense highlights because I know what you want....Hagan's best catch was during the final session of 11-on-11 when he caught a long bomb from McCown. He beat Will Allen on the play that would have been good for a 30-plus gain.

When Beck took over for the final team work he was sacked again by Langford (I've got to start paying more attention to him), handed off, got sacked potentially sacked by Junior Glymph, who didn't touch him but jumped in the passing lane, preventing him from throwing the ball before the timer expired. His fourth play was a hand-off to Patrick Cobbs, who I must admit has impressed me with how hard he's running. Then Ferguson, who collapsed the pocket, tipped his fourth pass. His final play of the scrimmage like situation was a pass in the flat to Lex Hilliard.

That's it. No interceptions, but nothing sensational. Ask me any question, hit F5 to refresh, and come back later for a summary of the afternoon.

Deuces.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 10:11:35 AM

[DolFan619]

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Live Blog — July 28 Training Camp, Evening Session

By Ben Volin | Monday, July 28, 2008, 04:43 PM

… And we’re back!

Evening practice starts in about 15 minutes. We’ll be in the bubble, and practice is closed to the fans, so you guys can’t contradict my observations (but feel free to keep calling me names).

It’s John Beck’s turn to be “down,” so we’ll be watching Chad Henne and Josh McCown. And Ronnie Brown’s knee was a little stiff this morning, so we’ll be monitoring him.

Thanks for checking in, and remember to hit refresh every 20 minutes or so. Post your questions here or things you want to know. I’ll try to address as many as I can.

Enjoy practice!

5:29 p.m.

Helmets and shells in the bubble today. A few quick notes during position drills …

Joey Porter (ankle) is back at practice. Sparano didn’t drop any hints that Porter would be present this afternoon, but Porter is in pads and participating fully. He’s not running at 100 percent, but he is playing LOLB with the first team. Charlie Anderson is playing ROLB, and Rob Ninkovich is back with the second team.

Michael Lehan (ankle) is still out, and it looks like G Steve McKinney won’t be participating. He did the same thing on Saturday, participating in the morning and sitting out in the afternoon.

Former Packers GM Ron Wolf (and current Jupiter resident) is in attendance today, decked out in Dolphins gear from head to toe. Parcells and Ireland are chatting along the sideline. I’m trying to read Parcells’ lips. It’s harder than it looks.

Sparano still has his shades on, even though the team is indoors. Love it.

Ronnie Brown looks like he’s favoring the right knee a little bit when he’s walking, but he goes full speed during drills. The soreness is something he’ll just have to work through.

That’s all I got for now. I’ll have more for you later when they break out into team drills.

5:54

Quarterbacks and receivers going against DBs with no pass rush. Everyone else off to the side.

Ernest Wilford nearly breaks Travis Daniels’ ankles on a post route. Very crisp, clean break by Wilford. Impressive route running.

Davone Bess continues to prove why he caught so many passes at Hawaii. He fakes Scorpio Babers out of his shoes on a down-and-in, and Babers lets out an audible cuss word that is not suitable for print.

Bad overthrow by Josh McCown on a deep pass to Selwyn Lymon. Andre Goodman comes up with a nice INT.

Jayson Foster may be just 5-foot-7, but he’s a little speed-demon out there and can run a clean route, too. Chris Crocker has no chance when Foster pulls off a 12 yard button hook.

John Beck really does throw a nice ball in these drills, with no one in his face. He airs one about 45 yards to David Kircus that is right on the money.

… Then again, Beck misses incomplete on four of his last five throws. They were all deep bombs, so it’s excusable.

Great play by CB Will Billingsley to break up a pass intended for Anthony Armstrong. Billingsley, Daniels, Joey Thomas and Nathan Jones are all going to be competing for that Dime spot.

Tony Sparano said this morning he has been impressed with Ted Ginn’s speed. Ginn runs a post route, and has a good eight yards of separation between him and Andre Goodman.

Bill Parcells takes CB Joey Thomas aside for a little 1-on-1 instruction. Almost like Parcells can’t help himself.

Team drills, and Donald Thomas is now playing RG with the first team, replacing Trey Darilek. You get the feeling Thomas, Shawn Murphy and Ikechuku Ndukwe are all going to get a shot with the first team.

OK, be back in a few.

6:59

Hey guys, sorry about the delay. Wasn’t able to break away for one last update for fear of missing player availability.

A few more quick hits:

In team drills, the offense is using a four-wide set. Wilford, Ginn, Hagan and Camarillo are the top four … for now.

Ronnie Brown works with the first team, while Ricky works with the second team. Not sure if I should read too much into that.

Henne sails a pass in the flat — it may have been tipped, hard to tell — but it lands right in Will Allen’s hands for a Pick 6.

Phillip Merling bats down one of Henne’s passes. That’s the second one today Merling has batted down. That 6-foot-4 wingspan sure helps.

I told you how Vonnie Holliday has been learning how to play standing up … well now he’s lining up as the LOLB, and yes, even dropping back into coverage. Boomer Grigsby does a wheel route, burns past Holliday and hauls in a 25-yard pass. Holliday gets an A for effort though.

Ted Ginn has looked pretty good during camp, but he does have a bad drop over the middle. McCown led him a bit too far, but Ginn did get both hands on it.

Say this about McCown: He knows how to avoid a rush much better than Beck. McCown rolls out right away from pressure, and John Dunlap makes a great fingertip catch along the sideline.

Joey Porter has been lining up mostly as the LOLB, but he briefly switches to ROLB and blows past Jake Long on one play, sacking McCown.

But on the next play, Long and Smiley open up a hole bigger than a Mack truck for Ronnie Brown.

Beautiful job by McCown stepping up in pressure and hitting Camarillo on a 25-yard seam route. Just one man’s opinion, but Camarillo has looked good as a fourth WR.

Look at this, a wide receiver option pass. But David Kircus doesn’t see anyone open and smartly holds onto the ball.

And that’s all she wrote. Good practice in the bubble. Again, one man’s opinion, but McCown looks the most polished of the three quarterbacks.

Only one practice tomorrow, at 2 p.m. Edgar Thompson will be doing the heavy lifting. Please be nice to him. Tonight, I’ll try to answer some of your questions in the comments section.

Have a Fin-tastic Monday night,

Ben

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/dolphins-prac-3.html

Dolphins practice report: Monday afternoon

During the weekend coach Tony Sparano admitted he likes to keep his players on edge. On Monday, Sparano confessed he sees nothing wrong with a feisty skirmish or two, like the one two of the Dolphins more high profile rookies had early into Monday morning practice.

Left tackle Jake Long finished off a pancake block by pushing a staggering Phillip Merling to the ground. It was the second straight time the Clemson standout was handled by Long, and when he got off the ground he was swinging.

The pushing and shoving lasted a few seconds before it was broken up. But a nearby Sparano wasn’t the one defusing the situation.

“I kind of like it a little bit,” Sparano said. “There’s nothing wrong with that in training camp as long as we know that we’re on the same team, and we’re shaking hands afterwords…. When we drafted both of them we knew one thing, they are both competitors.”

By the afternoon everything was squashed and the two were going at it again.

"It was nothing," Long said. "We're out there working hard. Tempers flared."

The afternoon session was inside the bubble, which means it was closed to everyone but the media. So that means you'll have to take my word (and other media members doing great blow by blow breakdowns) for what happened.

Josh McCown was up all day Monday. He outperformed John Beck in the morning, and dusted Chad Henne in the afternoon. In MY OPINION, he is beginning to put a little distance between himself and the two youngsters.

I'm not saying he's going to be a world, but if you threaten my life and tell me to give you an answer on which quarterback gives the Dolphins the best chance to win a game on Sunday (which should always be the question) I'd have to say McCown. FOR NOW. Things can change people. It's a fluid situation. But I'm sure you'd get that as a consensus from all your beat writers and people in the know.

There's one thing I missed from the morning I'd like to correct now. Donald Thomas started ahead of Trey Darilek at right guard. Again, that's a fliud situation and Sparano said things will be changing routinely.

Ronnie Brown had a mild limp in the afternoon, but appeared recovered in the afternoon session.

Joey Porter participated in his first practice of training camp and looked like a beast. He ate up Vernon Carey a couple of times. To check out stories on each of those players click on their names.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 7:33:48 PM

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5905

Camp Dolphins Day 3-Porter Practices; Receivers Catching On; Other Camp Notes

July 28, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special to MiamiDolphins.com

Three days was all it took this time to get Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter back on the practice field, as the 10th-year veteran was eager to avoid the type of layoff he experienced last year in training camp when he was recovering from an arthroscopic knee surgery.

Porter, 31, allowed the trainers and coaching staff to dictate the pace of his recovery from a minor ankle injury suffered last week when he rolled the left ankle while working out on his own. After watching three practices from the sidelines, Porter passed the team's conditioning test with flying colors this morning and after sitting out that practice, he donned the pads inside the practice bubble for the afternoon session and went full speed.

"I told you it was just something minor, but there wasn't any use in me rushing out there on the first day when my ankle was still tender, so I came out today, ran the running test and now I get the chance to practice." said Porter, who had 5.5 sacks last year in his first season with the Dolphins. "I just wanted to see how I was going to run around out there with my pads on. I haven't put these things on in a while and I was watching my teammates die out there in the heat, so I got the easy practice today in the bubble. I knew I would be all right, but I still wanted to see how I was going to feel after the practice and I feel pretty good."

His role in the 3-4 defense expected to be run by first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni is a familiar one for Porter because that's the same defense the Pittsburgh Steelers ran during Porter's nine-year career with them. He made it to three Pro Bowls (2002, 2003 and 2005) because of the success he had as an outside linebacker, so he is excited about what he can do this season.

"This is what I've been waiting for and we've got it now," Porter said. "So we're going to have to go out there and try to put pressure on a lot of different offenses we see, and I just want to do whatever I can to help the team."

Rookie left tackle Jake Long, Miami's first overall pick in April's NFL Draft, is looking forward to the challenge of facing Porter in practice because of how invaluable the learning experience it will be for him.

"It was great (seeing Porter back out there)," Long said. "He's a leader. He's a great presence on the field and blocking against him is definitely going to make me better and it's really good to see him."

CATCHING ON: No matter who's throwing the ball and who's doing the blocking, somebody still has to catch the passes, and the Dolphins coaching staff is anxious to find out just who the reliable receivers are going to be in 2008.

Three days into training camp, second-year wideout and former first-round draft pick Ted Ginn, Jr., and free agent signee Ernest Wilford appear to be the front-runners for the two starting spots in the base offense, but third-year receiver Derek Hagan out of Arizona State helped his cause this morning when he became the go-to receiver in the third-down drill being run for the first time.

Sparano began the morning practice watching the running backs and fullbacks hit the sled, and then he strategically worked his way around between both fields. What he did see was Hagan make some noise with his hands, catching everything thrown his way, including the play of the day, a long bomb down the right side from Josh McCown.

"We have to have some guys in critical situations step up, and I thought out here he made a few plays here today Derek did," Sparano said. "It's about consistency. This was a solid day for him. He had it his way today. The ball went his way."

As the quarterbacks continue to get comfortable with the offense being installed by Sparano and offensive coordinator Dan Henning, the ball distribution among receivers will become more balanced, but Sparano explained how early on there will be days when one receiver benefits more than the others. Between the pressure coming from the defensive line and linebackers and the pressure to get rid of the ball within three seconds or so, the quarterbacks end up forcing the ball to their favorite target.

Eventually, Ginn and Wilford will get to prove their worth against players looking to trump them on the depth chart like Hagan, Greg Camarillo, David Kircus, Anthony Armstrong and even rookies Davone Bess, John Dunlap and Jayson Foster. Those other receivers are rooting even harder for McCown, John Beck and rookie Chad Henne to start finding their rhythm so they will have more chances to catch passes and run routes.

"I've never really been in a camp like that before where there's three guys fighting for the starting spot," said Kircus, who was out of the league last year after playing one season in Denver (2006) and two in Detroit (2003-04). "It's pretty intense and it's good for us because we know that whoever we're getting there in the huddle, we're getting his best and he's working hard."

Bess set all sorts of records in college at the University of Hawaii and considers his pass-catching skills and knowledge of the offense as two of his strengths since he was a in a pro-style offense at Hawaii.

The 22-year-old speedster who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 190 pounds caught 293 passes for 3,610 yards and 41 touchdowns in just three seasons for the Warriors and he is working hard trying to develop chemistry with all three quarterbacks while also trying to stand out to the coaching staff.

"I've got to catch the ball, make plays and hopefully everything will open up for itself," Bess said. "I've just got to continue to be smart and don't make any mental errors and continue to work hard. I feel good but there's definitely plenty of work ahead of me. I still have to get more comfortable with the offense and just continue to go out there and make plays and try to separate myself."

Camarillo, 26, is best remembered for catching the winning touchdown pass against the Baltimore Ravens in overtime of last year's lone win by the Dolphins, a 64-yard catch-and-run of a ball thrown by Cleo Lemon that cemented a 22-16 victory. With the new regime promoting the idea of a "New Beginning," he knows he can't rest on the laurels of that moment.

"As far as the receiver spot, there is a lot of competition and there is a lot of talent in the room and they said from the get-go that the best receivers will play so I'm just trying to put myself in a position to get on the field," said Camarillo, who originally signed with San Diego as an undrafted free agent in 2005. "It's a new team so it's as though they took a draft of 80 guys out here and they picked their 80 guys. He's giving everyone a fair chance, whether you were here before or you're one of the guys they brought in, they're giving everyone an equal opportunity to get on the field."

Bess, Camarillo and Kircus all stressed consistency as the key thing the coaches have stressed so far, but each one knows he can bring something special to the position. Bess' route-running has stood out the first three days and that was on display inside the bubble as he stopped on a dime during one play and tricked cornerback Travis Daniels into running a good 10 yards down the field.

Camarillo has a knack for holding onto tough passes and is not afraid to go up in traffic in order to make a catch, while Kircus likes to think his speed is his most effective weapon.

"I've got to do everything," Kircus said. "I've got to be able to work on the running game and getting my fits in the blocks, and I've got to go downfield. I think they're starting to see me as a deep threat, which I know that I am, and I've got to keep going downfield and making those long catches and showing them I can make plays. I've been a guy that likes to go deep but I've been on teams where I just haven't been in the position to do that; I've been the No. 4 or No. 5 guy and I'm just trying to show them that not only do I think I can do it, I can do it, and they're giving me the chances out here in practice."

SPARANO LIKES INTENSITY: Manic Monday in Davie saw the first minor dust-up of Dolphins training camp, and it just so happened to involve Miami's first two draft picks of the 2008 rookie class – left tackle Jake Long and defensive end Philip Merling.

The two became engaged during the 3-on-3/2-on-2 drills where they had the tackle and the guard take on two pass rushers and the center and two guards lined up on two rushing linemen and a rushing linebacker. Merling took a swing at Long after the two separated, drawing a reaction from the crowd on hand, even though the drill took place on the far field, but the coaches immediately quashed the confrontation. It was just another example of how intense these practices are being run under first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano.

"There's nothing wrong with that in training camp, as long as we know we're on the same team and we're shaking hands afterwards," Sparano said. "Both of those guys, when we drafted both of them, we knew one thing – they're both competitors. So you put them in that situation and you get them in that environment, and that's what we're trying to create a little bit out here, and you watch them compete. They're both competitors and it's healthy, and I think the both of them know that they're going to be around here a long time and be able to help each other out and make each other better."

Long, who was excited to see Porter back on the field in the afternoon, downplayed the scuffle with Merling when he spoke to reporters following the afternoon practice inside the bubble.

"It wasn't nothing," Long said. "We were just working hard out there one-on-one blocking and a little tempers flaring. It was nothing too big. We shook hands to make sure we're still good with each other. It's all part of the game and when we're working hard, tempers flare up, but it was nothing too much."

BECK REBOUNDS FROM SHAKY OUTING: It was McCown and John Beck up again in the rotation featuring two quarterbacks working the team drills, with rookie Chad Henne watching from the sideline and throwing during individual drills. After a rough outing Sunday during which he threw three interceptions, it was important for Beck to bounce back and show Sparano and the coaches how he handles adversity and Sparano actually told him to put it behind him.

"Quarterbacks have days like that and if you're going to be a quarterback in the National Football League it's going to happen. You'll have to show me one that it doesn't happen to," said Sparano, who has not tipped his hand yet as to which of the three quarterbacks is leading the competition. "But that being said, every day out here is a new day, and what we really want to see is, you get him out there for a little bit longer period, you see him nine or ten plays instead of three or four plays and you want to see how they respond.

"I thought that John came out here today and he bounced back and he had a little bit more of a solid practice this morning. I just think at that position it comes down to decision making, and sometimes a good decision means you have to throw the ball away. … What we need to remember about John is that John really is just a one-year player. He didn't have a lot of game snaps last year, so what he's getting out here is really valuable for him and I like the way he's coming along. I think he's going to be fine. He'll get better and better and he's a pretty conscientious guy that way."

LEHAN STILL ON THE MEND: On the injury front, cornerback Michael Lehan remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list as a result of his ankle injury suffered during the June mini-camp.

Offensive guard Reuben Riley, who was signed as a free agent Saturday, left the field favoring his right leg a little over an hour into practice, but he returned about 20 minutes later and offensive guard Steve McKinney, as has been his pattern, practiced in the morning and sat out the afternoon to rehab his knee.

FERGUSON, SATELE GOING NOSE-TO-NOSE: As far as in the trenches, the give-and-take between second-year center Samson Satele and 12th-year veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson has been something to watch. Satele is finding out just how tough it is to block a stout and technically sound nose tackle like Ferguson, while Ferguson is getting a chance to identify which moves are most effective against an athletic center like Satele.

"After practice we talked about each individual player, when you're working your matchup, trying to make the guy across from you a little bit better. This is happening with Satele right now," Sparano said. "Jason Ferguson gives a lot of people fits and it's hard to block him. I've said that before, he's hard to move. Even the guys in Dallas, the big strong guys, they would come off saying he's hard to move With Satele this is good work for him. We don't have little noses in our conference; they're all big people, physical people, so this is good for Satele."

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: Rookie guard Donald Thomas lined up next to right tackle Vernon Carey and the rest of the projected starting offensive line in the morning and the afternoon after Trey Darilek had done so the first two days. Sparano indicated on Saturday that he would be shuffling among Darilek, Thomas and rookie Shawn Murphy until one of them wins the starting spot ... Sparano also was pleased with how running back Ronnie Brown has looked through four practices as he comes back from the torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered last October. The coach characterized Brown's performance thus far as "solid" ... The cooler morning temperatures seemed to be a welcome sight for the players and the fans alike as it was the beginning of yet another long day for Sparano, his coaching staff and the 80 players vying for a spot on the final 53-man roster ... Long, Murphy, linebacker Channing Crowder and tight end Anthony Fasano were among the players signing autographs after practice.