Live Blog — July 30 Training Camp, Morning Practice

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/30/live_blog_july_30_training_cam.html

Live Blog — July 30 Training Camp, Morning Practice

By Ben Volin | Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 09:03 AM

What’s up Dolfan Nation, welcome to Day 5 of training camp! The players are trickling out to the field, and we’ll be joining them in a couple minutes. It’s a beautiful day for football practice — clear blue skies and a heat index of 86 degrees.

It’s good to be back. Missed you guys. Thanks to Edgar for an awesome job yesterday.

The team just passed out an updated roster, and it doesn’t include Terry Glenn. But I wouldn’t be shocked to see him around these parts today.

Updates will start soon. Hit refresh every 20 minutes or so, and feel free to post any questions or things you would like to know.

Enjoy practice!

9:31 a.m.

Let’s get started with a couple hot reads:

Shells and shorts this morning. I believe this is the first morning practice that isn’t full pads.

No Terry Glenn sighting. But there is a new guy, No. 30, probably a defensive back.

Michael Lehan (ankle) still isn’t practicing, but he’s doing drills on the sideline.

Justin Peelle, Aaron Halterman and Daren Heerspink are riding the bike today instead of practicing. Wonder what’s up with Peelle.

Today is Ikechuku Ndukwe’s turn to play right guard with the First Team. Trey Darilek got his chance the first couple of days, and then Donald Thomas the past two days. Rookie Sean Murphy should be getting a chance at some point.

Your First Team offense also includes: Josh McCown, Ronnie Brown, Ginn and Wilford, Anthony Fasano and David Martin.

Ronnie isn’t wearing a sleeve over his right knee anymore, and he doesn’t appear to have any stiffness in that knee today.

That’s all I got for now. I’ll have more when they break out into 7-on-7s and team drills.

10:02

Cornerback Scorpio Babers has been released. No. 30, whoever he is, is the roster replacement. So if the Dolphins do sign Terry Glenn, someone else will have to be waived.

Team breaks out into 1-on-1 drills, or something like it. The running backs and tight ends are working on blitz pickup, and are going 1-on-1 with the linebackers. Each defensive lineman is going against two offensive linemen. And the skill players are doing 3-on-3 drills.

The RBs and TEs are at a disadvantage in this drill. The LBs aren’t having much of a problem getting around them. I guess the goal for of the drill is just to slow down the LB’s progress.

Given that, Lex Hilliard does a real nice job standing up Edmond Miles. Hilliard will need to excel in the little things like blitz pickup to impress the coaches and crack the roster.

Quentin Moses looks really quick. He blows right past Boomer Grigsby to the outside, then later glides right past Anthony Fasano to the inside.

Also, Ronnie Brown is really getting into it. He also takes care of Edmond Miles, keeps those feet moving and drives him back.

In the quarterback/receivers drills, that No. 30 guy makes a real nice play on a deep ball from McCown to Hagan.

John Beck looks good in this drill, hitting Davone Bess on a medium out pattern on the sideline.

Time for 11-on-11 team drills.

Here are the First Teamers of note: Charlie Anderson is ROLB, Joey Porter is LOLB, Vonnie Holliday is the RDE and Matt Roth is the LDE.

More importantly, here are the Second Teamers, the guys who appear to have a leg up on the bottom roster spots:

Phillip Merling is the RDE, and Quentin Moses is the ROLB. Vonnie Holliday stays out there and moves over to LOLB, and Randy Starks is the LDE. Reggie Torbor is an inside linebacker with Junior Glymph, and the safeties are Keith Davis and Chris Crocker. Travis Daniels is the RCB, and Joey Thomas is the LCB.

Holliday also stays at LOLB when the Third Teamers come out. He hasn’t come off the field. They’re really working hard to make him a Jason Taylor type of player.

They’re working mostly on running plays. Four yards and a cloud of dust type stuff. Jason Ferguson is clogging up the middle on every play.

Patrick Cobbs has a great run, breaking a sweep outside for a home run.

As I’m walking off the field, they practice the hurry-up field goal. The team sprints down the field, and Feely nails the 40-yard kick just in the nick of time.

OK guys, be back soon.

10:32

Andy Kent from miamidolphins.com filled me in with a nice tidbit that I missed during our last update. During pooch-punt drills, he saw Bill Parcells giving Jayson Foster a little 1-on-1 instruction. The message was to step into the catch, don’t rock back. Have your momentum going forward.

The skill players break out into 6-on-8 drills, while the trench guys go 1-on-1. I’m mostly watching the quarterbacks.

By the way, since I didn’t mention it, this morning is Chad Henne’s turn to be “down.” So we’re watching McCown and Beck.

McCown goes first. His first pass sails over Ted Ginn’s head along the sideline, and then he throws a slant pass to Camarillo that should’ve been intercepted by Jason Allen.

Another great grab from Derek Hagan, about 25 yards down the right sideline. Joey Thomas got a hand on the ball, but Hagan kept his eye on it while in mid-air and came down with the completion.

Interesting stuff from the defense. Guys like Charlie Anderson and Joey Porter are dropping back into coverage, while the CBs are blitzing. Lots of confusion and deception on the defensive side.

Beck’s in now, and he hits Anthony Armstrong on a drag route across the middle. Beck has looked good on the short and intermediate routes throughout camp.

Beck is completing most of his passes, but he forces one to Davone Bess over the middle into quadruple coverage. Not even Bess could catch that one.

OK, watching the trench guys now.

Vernon Carey looks great in pass protection, especially his footwork. Charlie Anderson has no chance when the two go head-to-head.

Joey Porter looks like he has gotten past that ankle injury. He plows right past Trey Darilek and eats the imaginary quarterback.

Nice job by Samson Satele against Paul Soliai. The coaching staff hopes that going against Jason Ferguson every day will make Satele a Pro Bowl caliber center.

Two rookies going at it, Shawn Murphy and Phillip Merling. This round goes to Murphy.

10:54

More team drills.

Ooh, some trickery. A flea-flicker from McCown to Selwyn Lymon, with Ricky Williams handling the ball.

Not the sharpest practice by the offense. Lots of dropped passes and tipped balls. McCown sails another throw to Ginn.

Patrick Cobbs drops a John Beck pass, right into the hands of Keith Davis. Not Beck’s fault.

Jalen Parmele takes a screen and bolts up the left sideline for a hefty gain. Parmele has been showing great burst and has been one of the biggest surprises of camp (at least to us).

Another shaky pass by McCown. He was looking for Camarillo down the left side and instead it goes right to Will Billingsley. But Billingsley drops the INT, and immediately hits the ground for 10 push-ups. Reminds me of Willie Mays Hays in Major League.

Trey Darilek is playing left tackle with the second team, by the way. Something to keep in mind if Jake Long ever goes down.

The second-team defense, with Merling, Moses, Torbor and Langford is dominating the second-team offensive line. Neither McCown or Beck can get off a throw without a hand in his face.

Last throw of the day … McCown has Kircus deep down the left hash, but Kircus mis-times his jump.

And that just about does it. The defense looked great today, and the offense still has a long way to go, especially the passing game.

Sorry I haven’t answered any of your questions yet. Now that practice is over I’ll try to address some of them.

Sparano speaks at 12:30. I want to know about Justin Peelle, Terry Glenn, and the progress of the defensive line.

Next practice is at 5 p.m. I believe it is John Beck’s turn to be “down.” Check back for updates in between.

Have a Fin-tastic day,

BV

[DolFan619]

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

Dolphins list: Stock Report (Week 1)

It's fun to keep track of Bill Parcells on the practice field everyday. It's kind of like that "Where's Waldo" game trying to find the pudgy old man.

Is Parcells over there eyeballing the offensive linemen today? Is he pulling his buddy Ricky Williams aside for a chuckle? Is he teaching the receivers and returners how to hold their hands properly, or his pointing out footwork issues the defensive backs need to correct.

Yesterday was the first day Parcells didn't attend ALL of practice. He left early, right after he made a couple of verbal notes in what appeared to be a tape recorder. I'm guessing he has some business to do, like find a veteran receiver to improve this inexperienced corp.

These Dolphins receivers aren't getting separation from the cornerbacks, which means either the secondary has become real good (unlikely) or the wide-outs are real (average), which is a little more likely.

Now that we'll be eight practices into training camp I figured it was time to give you an update on the five players who have moved their way up the depth chart, and the five players who are moving down.

STOCK UP

OLB Quentin Moses - While Charlie Anderson has been EQUALLY impressive, no one on this team turns the corner like Moses when trying to get to the quarterback. Moses is playing behind Anderson because he needs a little work on run support, but don't be surprised if he's on the field during the nickel and dime packages, playing opposite Joey Porter. This defense is going to very sack friendly to the outside linebackers, and because of this I suspect one of the Dolphins starters will generate more sacks than Jason Taylor this season.

CB Nathan Jones - He's small, but quick, and possesses great hips. Jones presently leads the Dolphins in intercepted passes during training camp. This is his fifth season as a pro, so the seasoning is there. Jones admits things are moving a lot slower to him now than they have in past years. But can his productive practices get him promoted from the third-team secondary, moving ahead of Travis Daniels and the injured Michael Lehan.

DE Kendall Langford - He's fast and athletic for such a big man (6-6, 290). The hands are everywhere, which is a clear sign he needs work on his technique. But the potential is there. I can see him pushing Matt Roth for a starting spot if he's productive early in the exhibition season. I give Langford the edge because Randy Starks needs to work on his stamina.

RB Jalen Parmele - The rookie tailback runs hard, and provides smooth cuts. But he's up and down when it comes to catching and blocking. He's clearly ahead of fellow rookie Lex Hilliard, but to be honest the resilient Patrick Cobbs has been equally as impressive as Parmele running the ball. Cobbs is like that roach who survives the first dose of Raid. You realize you're going to have to stomp him out to finally kill him. 

STOCK DOWN

WR Ernest Wilford - After watching Wilford catch about 20 passes during the OTA and minicamp sessions I was exposed to in the spring I was expecting him to be the go-to receiver for this offense. But Wilford has been thrown just as many passes as John Dunlap and Selwyn Lymon since camp started. He needs to start getting plays. His lack of production might be why the Dolphins are shopping for a veteran receiver.

FB Reagan Mauia - This incumbent starter couldn't catch a cold in Alaska. He appears to be the best blocking option at fullback, but so far he seems VERY one dimensional, and is losing ground to Boomer Grigsby. He needs to spend 30 minutes a day on his own working with the jugs machine because that's the only way he's going to save his NFL career.

TE Sean Ryan - I haven't seen him make a play once during 11-on-11 drills. Of course I haven't seen Aaron Halterman and Matthew Mulligan do anything either, but he was the only free agent addition. I know he's primarily a blocking tight end, and special teams guy, but he's got to do more to unseat David Martin and Justin Peelle for one of the final two roster spots.

K Dan Carpenter - This talk about Jay Feely being challenged for the starting kicker job because he lacks leg strength on kickoff IS just that, talk. During a special teams drill Tuesday both Carpenter and Feely got five kickoffs. Here's the results: Everyone of Carpenters kickoffs landed at the 5-yard line or WORSE, but did feature good hang-time. All but one of Feely's kicks was in the endzone. However, only one had good hang-time. Unless the Trifecta have a vendetta against the outspoken Feely, which very well could be the case, his job is safe. After all, he WAS the most accurate kicker in Dolphins history last season.

HOT SPOT

These are players who should be thankful every day their able to take the practice field wearing a Dolphins jersey because their days are numbered if they don't get it popping.

ILB Kelly Poppinga (haven't noticed him once), TE Matthew Mulligan (how many tight ends do they really need?), S Chris Crocker (this veteran needs to start pushing himself), WR Anthony Armstrong (this AFL standout is behind everyone because he was only signed last week, but he still needs to consistently showoff his speed), WR Jayson Foster (love the speed, but he's extremely raw as a receiver).

To provide a little inspiration for those in need of a push I want to quote something I heard P. Diddy say on his new show that I thought was profound.

"To succeed in anything in life you need vision. If you can't see the forest through the trees you need to chop them (M-Fers) down."

It'll be interested to see which Dolphins are swinging their ax the rest of this week. I will let you know next week who is stepping it up when I update my weekly training camp stock report.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 7:05:16 AM

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/receivers-situa.html

Receivers situation intrigues on many levels

The Dolphins have made a roster move this morning. No, not the addition of Terry Glenn.

The team cut the guy with the roster's best name: Scorpio Babers. The team signed cornerback Chris Roberson, who last played in the NFL with the Jaguars in 2005.

Glenn?

Very interesting situation when you really think about it. It is outgrowth of the receiver problem the Dolphins have. And that affects the quarterback position. It affects the salary cap. It is big!

I have this morning been able to independently confirm Glenn is likely to sign with the Dolphins within the next week or so. There is still a couple of sticking points -- such as a Glenn passing a physical and getting some personal issues resolved -- that are yet to be resolved.

But I'm back now and will work on this and the greater receivers topic all day long. Check back in about an hour for the morning practice update.

At the start of practice today tight ends Justin Peelle and Aaron Halterman were on the bikes and not practicing. Cornerback Michael Lehan was on the field but still not taking part in drills. He's a week or so away.

Post practice update:

Not exactly an inspiring two hours. Let me put it this way: It could be said punter Brandon Fields had the best practice of anyone on the field.

During special teams drills he kicked four attempts inside the 5 yard line. He kicked one that landed at the 1 yard line and then bounded parallel to the goal line before going out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Great job by him.

The rest of the work was typical of what the first couple of days of practice were like: I saw more dropped passes than a professional team has the right to make -- David Kircus, Ted Ginn and Reagan Mauia stood out in that regard.

And the receivers simply didn't get very much separation from the DBs.

Will Allen seemed to stick to his receivers like he was part of their uniform.

The team drills included some blitzes by the defense. Rookie left guard Donald Thomas blew an assignment and allowed Joey Porter to come untouched on one play.

Chad Henne was "down" for the morning practice, meaning Josh McCown and John Beck got the work in team drills. McCown looked better than Beck although neither was stellar. Let me make this point for perspective: This Miami offense seems to throw more checkdown passes than any I've ever seen.

And while that is good in that it is a safe pass and it does gain four or five yards, it does not bode of an explosive down-the-field unit. And there can be no excuse that we saw so many checkdowns because that was the plan. It is impossible, you see, that the team would make the checkdown the plan in practice after practice after practice.

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolmove073008,0,2430887.story

Miami Dolphins altering roster, add cornerback

By Harvey Fialkov
Sun-Sentinel.com

10:02 AM EDT, July 30, 2008

DAVIE - The Dolphins front office continues to churn the training camp roster, apparently cutting undrafted rookie cornerback Scorpio Babers to sign another defensive back on Wednesday.

The Dolphins have not disclosed the identity of the new addition, but Babers is absent from Wednesday's morning session, and a new cornerback is wearing No. 30 on the practice field.

Babers, who played at Sam Houston State, earned a training camp invite when he performed well during a rookie camp tryout in May. But the Texas native has struggled sticking with receivers during the first week of practice.

The Dolphins presently have eight cornerbacks in camp, and five or six will likely make the 53-man roster.

This isn't the only move the Dolphins might make today. The Dolphins front office is discussing adding veteran receiver Terry Glenn to help bolster an inexperienced receiving corps according to a source.

[Sunstroke]

>>"Cornerback Scorpio Babers has been released."

Bummer...I was really hoping to cheer for a guy named Scorpio.

[Doc-phin]

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

CB Nathan Jones - He's small, but quick, and possesses great hips.
> Posted by Omar Kelly at 7:05:16 AM

I usually let stuff like this go, but damn that sounds gay.   

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/new-corner-in-c.html

New corner in camp; morning practice report

Hey bloggers, another morning practice bites the dust and the summer campers in attendance seem to have a great time. The Dolphins do a great job bringing in the kids for practices and autograph sessions.

Even coach Tony Sparano was over there signing.

Bad news for blog reports. We’ve been told we can’t disclose specific plays and positional changes unless the coach admits it at press conferences. So I have to cut out some of the detail. It’s in the media policy. Paranoia reigns supreme.

As for on the field, more moves were made today as the Dolphins cut undrafted rookie CB Scorpio Babers and replaced him with former Jaguars CB Chris Roberson, who played six games his rookies in 2005 before a shoulder injury stalled his career over the past two years.

No sign of WR Terry Glenn yet, but that deal is certainly contingent on Glenn passing the physical after two surgeries last year.

The stationary bicycle crew added a few new members today including TE Justin Peelle (knee), TE Aaron Halterman (back), OT Daren Heerspink (undisclosed but he was cramping up on Tuesday). CB Michael Lehan (ankle) is still on PUP, but he’s doing more every day.

They were in shells and pads today, obviously, saving the quarterbacks working in 11-on-11s today were veteran frontrunner Josh McCown and John Beck, who has a rough start to training camp. McCown excelled with the first-team Oline which once again had rookie Donald Thomas, the sixth-round walk-on at UConn, at RG. Thomas is kicking some major booty out there. But when Beck and McCown playing in front of mish-mash of second- and third-team Olinemen, both struggled as the pocket was continually collapsed, especially by a lightning-quick Joey Porter, who seems over that mysterious ankle injury.

As per Sparano, versatile lineman Trey Darilek, pronounced Darjilek, is all over the place and has moved from RG to backup LT.

Ikechuku Ndukwe has been playing more at tackle than guard, especially since Heerspink went down. Rookie G Shawn Murphy, who was penciled in as the starter on the right side has some formidable comp with Thomas, who nailed DE Randy Starks in a one-on-one pass-rushing drill.

Receiver David Kircus struggled today while WR Derek Hagan continues to be the best receiver on the field since camp opened.

Coolest pass play of the day was the old fleaflicker, a favorite from old Giants days when Fran Tarkenton was scrambling for his life. Sorry, no details allowed.

Love watching Tuna give private instruction to petite return man Jayson Foster in the end zones.

By far the hit of camp so far is RB Jalen Parmele, who runs just as fast when he’s cutting side to side. The kids has speed, jukes and power, the whole package. Trust me, he will be handling most of the running in the early exhibition games.

CB Will Billingsley is looking sharp out there, in on several breakups.

More later.

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOR THOSE FANS WHO WANTED TO ATTEND THE AFTERNOON PRACTICE DONT BOTHER.  ITS POURING AND PRACTICE HAS BEEN MOVED INSIDE.

> Posted by hfialkov at 11:14:50 AM

[TonyB0D]

MAN this guy needs to take a 5th grade writing class

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/30/live_blog_july_30_training_cam_1.html

Live Blog — July 30 Training Camp, Evening Practice

By Ben Volin | Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 04:44 PM

The rainstorms have passed, but the Dolphins will still be in the bubble for their 5 p.m. practice.

I believe it is John Beck’s turn to be “down,” so we’ll be keeping an eye on Chad Henne and Josh McCown.

Also, the live blogs are going to have to be a little less descriptive. The Dolphins weren’t happy with a few of the things I was writing, and I have to be more careful about giving away “game strategy.” It’s a fine line we’re walking here.

Practice starts in 10 minutes, and the updates will start shortly thereafter. Enjoy!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5:29 p.m.

Shells and shorts again. Same three guys are riding the bikes — Peelle (sprained knee), Daren Heerspink (knee) and Aaron Halterman (sore back).

A few quick notes during position drills:

Steve McKinney once again is sitting out with a knee injury. He’s been practicing at least once a day, but never twice. Guys like Ndukwe, Donald Thomas and Reuben Riley get the reps instead.

My bad: I wrote before that Ndukwe was still working with the First Team as right guard, but that was still Donald Thomas. And Thomas is still getting reps with the First Team for the afternoon practice, because “he moved peopled and he played physical,” Tony Sparano said earlier today.

Michael Lehan is testing out that right ankle, which he separated during minicamps. He’s doing criss-cross drills and lots of planting and cutting, but you can tell he’s in a lot of pain. Lehan is able to catch passes and finish the drills, but he might remain on the sidelines for awhile. The Dolphins are counting on him to be a Top 3 cornerback.

Tough drop by TE Matthew Mulligan on a deep seam route. He’s a longshot to make the team.

Nice hands by Ted Ginn. He runs a button hook, and a position coach pegs a throw at him from about 8 yards away, but Ginn holds on.

OK, that’s it for now. Practice will hopefully pick up soon.

5:58

Special teams drills, working on kickoff coverage. It’s only walk-through stuff, nothing live.

Almost all of the offensive skill players are kickoff returners, including Ginn, hagan, Bess, Armstrong, Jayson Foster and the like. The big guys are practicing rolling off their blockers. Compelling stuff.

Here is what appears to be the First Team kickoff coverage unit: Anthony Armstrong, Jalen Parmele, David Kircus, Selwyn Lymon, Keith Davis, Joey Thomas, Jay Feely, Edmond Miles, Patrick Cobbs, Rob Ninkovich, Chris Crocker, Nathan Jones.

Meanwhile, Vonnie and Porter are working with Paul Pasqualoni off to the side. Vonnie has been getting a ton of 1-on-1 attention this camp as he tries to transition to a DE/LB.

Quentin Moses is part of the second team kickoff coverage unit. I find that interesting.

Time for 7 on 7s.

Chad Henne goes first. He’s got a quick release, getting rid of the ball before the three-second “buzzer” goes off.

He’s also showing off his strong arm. He flings one to Derek Hagan about 55 yards. Hagan burns Will Allen and does a nice job catching up to the ball. Touchdown.

Henne goes 3-for-4. Nice job.

McCown’s up. He goes 2-for-4, with a bad overthrow to John Dunlap followed with a nice middle post route to David Kirkus.

Beck’s turn. Starts off with a nice pass to Anthony Armstrong, leading him well on a 15-yard post.

Beck then overthrows Ernest Wilford on a short out, and you can hear Derek Hagan yelling that he was open. Next throw, Beck does another check-down, but panics and chucks it at Parmele’s feet for an incompletion. Beck finishes 2-for-4.

Team drills coming up. Be back soon.

6:36

Last update of the day.

11-on-11 drills, and Henne looks pretty good. He throws a nice 20-yard out to David Martin, out of Channing Crowder’s reach, and also shows good timing on an out to Hagan and a curl route to Davone Bess.

Have to take the good with the bad, though. Henne also fumbles a snap and takes a couple of sacks.

To finish the day, they’re practicing the Hurry Up offense. Henne goes first.

He starts off slow, holding onto the ball too long and getting a pass batted down by Vonnie Holliday.

Comes back by doing a great job selling the screen to Ricky Williams, who takes it up field for a hefty gain.

Beautiful slant pass to Bess, about 20 yards down field. Bess breaks the coverage, and in a game would’ve had a 50 yard touchdown.

They work the ball down to the 29, and Feely hits a hurry-up 39-yard field goal as time expires.

Beck’s turn, from his own 40 and 1:45 on the clock.

By the way, Rod Wright is playing nose tackle with the second unit.

Wobbly pass to Anthony Armstrong, but it’s complete. Armstrong doesn’t get out of bounds, and the clock is still running.

Beck completes consecutive passes to Fasano and Jayson Foster to work the Dolphins down to the 35.

Consecutive draw plays to Patrick Cobbs. Nice runs by Cobbs, ripping off major chunks of yards.

Instead of going for the touchdown, the Dolphins let the clock wind down and Beck takes a time out with 3 seconds left.

Dan Carpenter nails a 31-yard field goal, everyone goes home happy.

That should just about do it. Overall, a nice showing by Henne and Beck, with far fewer incompletions and batted passes than this morning’s practice.

Thanks for reading today. Dolphins have one practice tomorrow at 2 p.m. that is closed to the public. But have no fear, the live blogging will be here.

Feel free to post some questions, and I’ll try to answer a few tonight.

Until tomorrow,

BV

[fyo]

He’s been practicing at least once a day, but never twice.

I know this is a blog and therefore not as formal as an article (even an online one), but WTF?

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/ted-ginn-all-fo.html

Ted Ginn all for Glenn acquisition, other stuff ...

Ted Ginn Jr. kind of likes the idea of adding Terry Glenn to Miami's receiver corps.

I kind of hate it but that's another story.

"I don't think it's a bad idea," Ginn said after today's second practice. "It's going to be great. It would be great to have two or three coaches in the [meeting] room and that's what it would be like with his experience."

Meanwhile, quarterback Josh McCown is monitoring the Brett Favre situation because his brother Luke is one of 34,245 quarterbacks on the Bucs' roster. "That's a tough situation," Josh said.

I suggested to him it could be worse because the Dolphins could be interested (they are not). "Yeah that would be bad," he admitted. "But at least I would get a lot of money for No. 4."

This afternoon's practice was interesting in that the receivers who have been getting ripped on lately seemed to improve dramatically. Rookie quarterback Chad Henne was also pretty good.

Derek Hagan had a couple of fine plays in which he not only caught the ball, but had considerable separation from the defender on deep sideline patterns. Jayson Foster also did some good work in the middle of the field.

The running backs are quickly becoming the exclamation point of the offense. Ronnie Brown is showing absolutely no ill effects from his knee surgery. He is taking every repetition. He is running hard. He isn't wearing a knee brace. Excellent so far.

Ricky Williams is looking quicker than he did in the offseason. On one breakaway run this afternoon, he got outside and into the secondary and safety Jason Allen, who runs a 4.4, had to seriously scoot and use the angle advantage he had to only pull even with Williams.

Then there's rookie Jalen Parmele. He runs a little high, which coach Tony Sparano said the coaches are trying to address, but every practice he flashes at least one play in which he shows surprising burst and quickness.

Anyway, Justin Peelle, Darren Heerspink, Michael Lehan, and Steve McKinney did not practice this afternoon. The team worked in the Nick Saban Memorial Bubble because it had rained earlier in the afternoon.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/finally-2-minut.html

Finally, 2-minute drill

Points were officially put on the board during Wednesday afternoon's practice.

At the end of the bubble workout the Dolphins had all three quarterbacks run a 2-minute drill, and not surprisingly the two veterans lead touchdown drills and the rookie's unit fizzled.

I'll give you a in-depth look at what happened in a minute, but let me first take care of some house keeping stuff.

The Dolphins have backed off A LITTLE on the blogging embargo, but it really didn't pertain to Sun-Sentinel land because I don't do play-by-play. I do big picture, observations, and assessments.

The running lanes were massive today. So big you might have been able to drive a fast moving golf cart threw them. I'll continue to investigate if this was a fluke (maybe they were experimenting with a new defense), or something created by the O-line shakeup.

Donald Thomas has been holding down the starting right guard spot for a minute and I think he has what it takes to stick there. He's the rawest of all the candidates, but potentially has the most upside because of his core strength. He told me last time he checked he squatted 515, which is pretty good.

Rookie Shawn Murphy is now working as the second team left guard, with Ikechuku Ndukwe serving as the backup right guard, and Trey Darilek is the primary backup tackle....

CB Michael Lehan is no where near close to returning to practice. He struggles moving laterally because of his high ankle sprain. I believe he'll start the season on the PUP list. If he plays in any exhibition games I'll be shocked. That means the Dolphins need to start looking for a cornerback for the nickel package. Travis Daniels, Nathan Jones, and Joey Thomas are the top contenders....

I payed real close attention to the secondary in the afternoon and I must say I've seen real improvement from Jason Allen. I THINK he's really stepped up his game. Last year this time he was getting picked on by every and any quarterback. He stood out for the mistakes he's made. The only times I've noticed him this season is because he's made good plays. I must admit I'm pleasantly surprised....

Edmond Miles and Kelly Poppinga as working together and I've concluded (maybe for today) that Miles is able to change directions twice as fast as the rookie. That's big because those inside guys are going to have to read and react more than most of the other defenders....

And now for what you've all been waiting on, my QB report.

Chad Henne and Josh McCown were the the two QB's up in the afternoon, but John Beck got involved in the action during the one 2-minute drill each quarterback got to run.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 6:19:57 PM

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5911

Camp Dolphins Day 5-Ginn Handling Juggling Act; Roberson Signed, Babers Waived; Other Notes

July 30, 2008
   
Speed and the ability to stretch the field are two of the things most often associated with Dolphins second-year wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., and the 23-year-old former Ohio State Buckeye showed enough of both in college to convince the previous Miami regime to select him in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft with the ninth overall pick.

As a rookie, Ginn made his mark on kickoff and punt returns, taking three the distance for touchdowns although only one counted - the other two were called back due to holding penalties. When veteran Chris Chambers was traded in Week 6, Ginn was pushed into playing a more integral role in passing situations, and now he is being looked at as a potential No. 1 receiver by first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano.

Of course, the threat he poses on kickoff and punt returns is still viable enough to force Ginn to have to balance his receiving duties with his receiving duties, and it's as a receiver that Sparano really wants to see more progress being made.

"When we came here I think Teddy was playing faster after he caught the ball than before he caught the ball. And some of that has to do with learning the offense," Sparano said. "Right now, Teddy is starting to play really fast and he's putting pressure on the defense and I really like that. You could see it. It's jumping off the film a little bit how fast he is playing and all of the sudden the ball is finding him. That tells me the game is slowing down a little for Ted and that's a positive for us."

Sparano made it a point after he was hired to go back and look at film of the players from last year's team that he, first-year General Manager Jeff Ireland and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells knew they were going to hold onto, like Ginn, and he wanted to identify that player's strengths. By doing that, Sparano then could figure out what areas needed to be worked on.

The next challenge for Sparano and his coaches was to communicate to those players their findings and how they wanted each player to approach the offseason, the OTAs, mini-camps and now training camp. How the message is delivered, according to Sparano, is just as important as the message itself.

"What I find in our league, with our players, is if you make it important to them, and you make it seem important to them, all of a sudden they focus on this a lot more," Sparano said. "I think you throw out the positives to them and you say, 'Hey this is what we need to do, this is what we need to work on.' And one of the things me and Teddy talked about early on in the spring is that, 'Hey, your catching the ball fast at the end, but from A to B its taking you a little bit of time, we need that.' And I told him,' That will improve when you start to learn the offense.' And it has."

Ginn, 23, worked hard in the offseason on his speed during the pattern and he is focusing on it again in training camp. He also confirmed that the speed of the game is indeed slowing down for him and it actually started slowing down near the end of last season when he went up against tough defenses like New England's and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Another thing the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Ginn has been trying to learn at this level is creating separation from the defensive backs by watching film and also by getting help from some of his teammates in the defensive side of the ball, like cornerbacks Will Allen and Andre Goodman.

"The older guys as far as on the defensive side are telling me different things to work on and showing me how to get open and showing me when I'm doing things right and when I'm doing things wrong," Ginn said. "That's what training camp is about is to work together. That's just how we're going right now. I'm telling them how to help me and then I'm helping them."

No matter how much work Ginn is putting in to improve his pass-catching skills and his route running, he is still expected to devote enough time to special teams drills so that he remains dangerous as a punt returner and a kick returner. Ginn doesn't consider that aspect of his game to be as difficult as learning the nuances of being a receiver and is not concerned about balancing the two.

"I like both," Ginn said.

Undrafted rookie free agents Jayson Foster, Davone Bess and John Dunlap are among the players spelling Ginn in practice, but whether or not any one of them can do enough between now and the start of the regular reason to allow Ginn to shed one of those two responsibilities remains to be seen.

"No, I see it as a separate deal completely. I think Ted and everyone else knows right now, from a special teams standpoint, that if you're the best guy, you have to go back there and play for us," said Sparano, who is putting as much emphasis on special teams as he is on offense and defense. "You have to catch kicks, whatever the case might be, if you're the best guy.

"That being said, we can't be in the business right now of saving people, not that way, not on special teams. It's a critical part, particularly the return game. If Ted Ginn is our returner so be it. Right now we haven't settled on that at all. We're trying some people out back there and we'll see what happens when we get into the games. The problem there is at-bats, they're few and far between in the games, and we'll see what happens that way."

Foster was a quarterback in college at Georgia Southern but is by far the one of the fastest players on the field. At 5-7 and 175 pounds, he also is the smallest guy out there, but he has shown some quickness on punt returns and kick returns and a knack for heading straight up the field, following his blockers and hitting that extra gear once he gets into the open field.

In fact, the youngster has been getting some valuable tutoring from none other than Parcells during practice. During the morning drill when punter Brandon Fields was practicing his pooch punt in an effort to down the ball inside the 20-yardline, Parcells was standing in the end zone watching. He pulled Foster aside to give him some pointers on how to field a punt, emphasizing the tactic of leaning forward when receiving the kick so his momentum will give him a good running start during the return instead of leaning backward.

"First of all it was very helpful, especially knowing that he's been coaching for such a long time and had so many great players," said Foster, who gave 4.31 seconds as his fastest time in the 40-yard dash. "He's got a lot of information and a lot of knowledge to give you so if you get a chance or an opportunity where he comes to speak to you then you're able to hone in and listen to what he's got to say. If you listen to what he has to say hopefully you end up doing the right thing and doing well."

ROBERSON SIGNED; BABERS WAIVED: And on the fifth day, Miami swapped out cornerbacks.

The Dolphins signed free agent cornerback Chris Roberson this morning to compete in the secondary, and to make room for Roberson on the 80-man training camp roster, undrafted rookie free agent cornerback Scorpio Babers was waived.

Roberson, 24, was a seventh-round draft choice of the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Eastern Michigan in 2005 and appeared in six games as a rookie, registering two tackles after occupying a spot on the practice squad for the first 10 games. A shoulder injury cost him the entire 2006 campaign as he was placed on injured reserve. The Jaguars waived Roberson before training camp last year.

"It's all part of trying to stir the bottom of the roster a little bit and trying to make the bottom of the roster a little bit better," said first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano after the morning practice. "Roberson is a player that we knew a lot about certainly and when we saw that he was out there and available we just thought this would be a good guy to bring in, work out and see what happens.

"He had a good workout for us so we ended up signing him and letting Scorpio Babers go. He's been out there for a little bit and we're just trying to do our due diligence right now to make the bottom of the roster better as we get closer to these games. Sometimes it just depends on the player and when some of these guys are ready to work."

In his training camp debut for Miami in the first of two practices, Roberson chose to make a little statement in regards to how the South Florida heat might not bother him by wearing long sleeves underneath his jersey. At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, he is the same height as Babers and five pounds heavier and showed off some of his skills during 2-on-2 passing drills when he deflected a pass away in the end zone. He is now one of eight cornerbacks in camp.

BICYCLE RACE: Tight ends Aaron Halterman and Justin Peelle were joined on the exercise bikes by offensive tackle Darren Heerspink during practice, which meant more work for the other four tight ends and Trey Darilek. Halterman had his back evaluated Tuesday and it's still sore according to Sparano and Peelle slightly sprained his knee in the practice bubble last night, while Heerspink also sprained his knee. All three are day-to-day.

O-LINE OBSERVATIONS: Darilek lined up at left tackle with the second unit in Heerspink's place and was tested by speed rushers like Quentin Moses. Rookie guard Donald Thomas continued to impress in his third day at right guard with the first unit, standing up Porter and Randy Starks and showing his mobility during one play in 11-on-11 drills when he pulled to prevent Porter from getting in on the quarterback.

"He moved people and he played physical," Sparano said about why Thomas was given an extra look with the first unit. "There's no timetable. I know Trey went three practices so it's natural to think maybe we'll go three, it just depends on what we've got scripted and maybe what we want to see him work at a little bit. So Donald went an extra practice today and we'll see as we go on here what we do with the rest of this, but there'll be some other guys that get some turns in a few other spots."

Rookie left tackle Jake Long showed some growth in his ability to contain the outside when he pushed Moses away from the quarterback and well behind him during pass rushing drills. Rookie guard Shawn Murphy did a nice job on rookie defensive end Philip Merling, holding his ground after Merling grabbed hold of his facemask.

However, during 11-on-11 drills, the second unit of Reuben Riley, Ikechuku Ndukwe, Steve McKinney, Murphy and Darilek had trouble preventing the pocket from collapsing on quarterbacks Josh McCown and John Beck. Cornerback Will Allen and safety Keith Davis managed to intercept Beck twice and cornerback Will Billingsley nearly had one off of McCown as the pressure forced a rushed throw.

The first unit did do a nice job on the play that took the longest to develop, a flea flicker from McCown to Selwyn Lymon.

BEATING THE BUZZER: Sparano went into more detail about the method behind the madness of the buzzer that goes off during passing drills as well as 7-on-7s and 11-on-11. The most important piece of information dispersed by Sparano was the exact timing of the buzzer, which is three seconds from the moment the ball is snapped.

"We're trying to put them in stress environments, we really are, and I think that that's good for a quarterback," Sparano said. "The game's not easy at that position, it really isn't. Those guys go out and they have a lot of things to think about. … This is part of managing the game, so what we talk about at that position is look, 'You are a game manager. You have to be able to juggle all these balls.' And I think that's what we're trying to get accomplished out there."

As for the history of the buzzer, Sparano explained how they started using it in Dallas more as a message to the quarterbacks. The coaches don't necessarily beat up the quarterbacks about not getting the ball off before the buzzer sounds, but as long as they are aware of how fast the ball needs to come out in an actual game situation.

MORE UNIQUE DRILLS: Two days removed from the "80 State" drill where the offense and the punt unit worked on taking an intentional safety by either having the quarterback throw the ball out of the back of his own end zone or the punter running into the end zone and taking a knee, the Dolphins unveiled another "special situation" drill this morning. This one involved the quarterback dropping into the pocket, holding the ball for a second or two and then floating a pass high and wide out of bounds.

"In Dallas we won a game like this," Sparano said. "We played the 49ers and we had about four seconds left, five seconds left in the game. I believe at the time we were up by maybe four points and we were on our 15-yardline and didn't want to risk this punt snap maybe getting the punt blocked and losing the game at that point. It wasn't a take a safety situation or any of those things, you don't want to give the ball back to them, but it was a fourth-down play, a 4th-and-1.

"So we take the snap from center, we can protect it by max protecting this thing, keeping everybody in and the quarterback will throw it as high and as far as he can and then the ball lands the game is over. It's out of bounds intentionally and we've won games like that. I've seen New England win some. This is a play in the league that I think everybody has, it's just the situation coming up in the game and whether or not you're in that situation."

DEFENSE MUST SHOW RESTRAINT: Although Sparano's practice have been intense and full of energy, one thing he has stressed to the defensive players is to be sure not to bring the running backs, quarterbacks and receivers down to the ground when tackling during situational drills. He described this as a touchy subject around the league because everyone has different approaches.

"You really don't want to do that and I have not been part of that where you're bringing the back to the ground," Sparano said. "It's a thud situation. I think when you start to bring the ballcarrier to the ground you start to get into people rolling on people and ankles and all of those things, and I don't think that's where we want to be. We have to do a great job as coaches in our individual periods of coaching the fundamentals of tackling."

MEET THE COACH: Head Coach Tony Sparano took the time to sign autographs after the morning practice as the stands were filled with kids from seven local day camps invited by Twan Russell, the Dolphins' director of youth programs. In addition to Sparano, Porter, linebacker Channing Crowder, Ndukwe and center Samson Satele were among the others signing autographs. Porter and Crowder also provided a moment of levity after they combined on a sack when they celebrated by leaping in the air and bumping shoulders.

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: Henne made a few nice throws inside the bubble during the afternoon session, including a nice one down the right sideline to Derek Hagan in between safeties Chris Crocker and Jason Allen. He hit Hagan in stride, allowing him to take off down the sideline ... Running backs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown played catch with a medicine ball during kickoff drills as they tried to stay fresh, and Williams looked quick as usual running through the holes on the inside and getting to the outside ... Practice ended with McCown and Beck each getting a turn taking the team down into the red zone in the two-minute drill. McCown got the offense close enough for Jay Feely to drill a 39-yard field goal as the clock expired, and Beck got rookie Dan Carpenter a little closer, setting up for a 32-yarder ... The team will practice once tomorrow afternoon inside the bubble again.