Aug. 2 practice report

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/02/aug_2_practice_report.html

Aug. 2 practice report

By Edgar Thompson | Saturday, August 2, 2008, 10:59 AM

Just returned from a walk-through at the indoor practice bubble, where the Dolphins went over a few things before the scrimmage at 2 p.m.

Everyone was present and accounted for other than undrafted rookie WR John Dunlap. Will update his status when it becomes available.

It should be an interesting afternoon, especially seeing how the quarterbacks play. Tony Sparano said they’ll split about 90 reps among them.

It’s a big day for John Beck. Rookie Chad Henne is gaining ground on Beck and Josh McCown in the quarterback race, with Beck needing a solid day to stay ahead.

This morning the team worked on kicking and receiving onside kicks and walked through some plays on offense and defense.

The first kickoff coverage unit on the field remains the same as it’s been all week (from left to right) CB Joey Thomas, WR Ernest Wilford, LB Reggie Torbor, WR David Kircus, LB Edmond Miles, K Jay Feely, S Keith Davis, RB Patrick Cobbs, Chris Crocker and CB Nathan Jones.

Coaches also trotted out the “hands” team to handle Feely’s kicks, where he bounces it off the turf and high into the air.

The front line is Wilford, TE Sean Ryan, Crocker, TE David Martin, Davis, TE Anthony Fasano, Cobbs, with WR Greg Camarillo, S Yeremiah Bell and WR Derek Hagan well behind the front line. (I realize I’m missing someone, sorry).

While this was going on, LB Joey Porter was off to the side once again working on technique with defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni. Porter has been putting in a lot of time with Pasqualoni, fine-tuning hand placement techniques to be a more effective pass rusher this season.

When the offense and defense lined up to runs through some plays, QB John Beck worked with the first-team offense.

Rookie guard continued to line up on the right side, with T Vernon Carey on his right and C Samson Satele on his left. T Jake Long and G Justin Smiley continue to hold down the left side.

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams alternated at TB, with Reagan Mauia at FB. Ted Ginn Jr. and Ernest Wilford lined up at WRs.

Anthony Fasano lined up at TE, but when the team went to a two-TE set on the goal line Ryan and Martin came in. TEs Justin Peele (knee) and Aaron Halterman (back) didn’t practice again.

On defense, Matt Roth continued to hold down the left side at end, with NT Jason Ferguson and Vonnie Holliday the other lineman in the 3-4. Porter, Channing Crowder, Akin Ayodele and Charlie Anderson continue to line up behind them at LB.

The team worked on a formation with three CBs (Will Allen, Andre Goodman and Jones) and Jason Allen lined up as the lone safety. In the base defensive package, Bell lines up with Allen at S.

CB Michael Lehan (ankle) remains out.

Much of the first-team lineups have become common knowledge by Dolfans. But it’s only a starting point heading into the first scrimmage, followed a week from today by the first pre-season game.

Ben will be back with you around 2, blogging from the scrimmage, just in case you aren’t able to to make it out here.

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/08/the-warmup-for.html

The warmup for Saturday's 2 p.m. scrimmage

Alright Dolphins Nation here is the lead up to this afternoon's practice/scrimmage:

The Dolphins just concluded a light walk-thru practice that lasted approximately one hour. It was mostly situational stuff and polishing that prior to the afternoon session.

As a precursor let me give you the POSSIBLE first-team units for the work because, as coach Tony Sparano said earlier this week, he's going to match "goods on goods." These units will apply only to this scrimmage because, as you know, position battles are on-going and I am not suggesting John Beck, for example, is Miami's starting QB.

OFFENSE

WR: Ernest Wilford*

WR: Ted Ginn Jr.

LT: Jake Long*

LG: Justin Smiley*

C: Samson Satele

RG: Donald Thomas*

RT: Vernon Carey

TE: David Martin

F-back/FB: Anthony Fasano*/Reagan Mauia

QB: John Beck

RB: Ronnie Brown

DEFENSE

LDE: Matt Roth

NT: Jason Ferguson*

RDE: Vonnie Holliday

LOLB: Joey Porter

ILB: Channing Crowder

ILB: Akin Ayodele

ROLB: Charlie Anderson

CB: Will Allen

CB: Andre' Goodman

S: Jason Allen

S: Yeremiah Bell

K: Jay Feely

P: Brandon Fields

* = rookie or new player.

Obviously there will be mixing and matching. Check back after the scrimmage for an update on what the heck happened. I'll also write about in Sunday's Miami Herald so check the website and talk about it (with you, if you like) during my radio show Sunday 4:30-7p.m. on 790 The Ticket, which streams live at 790theticket.com.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/02/live_blog_august_2_scrimmage.html

Live Blog — August 2 Scrimmage

By Ben Volin | Saturday, August 2, 2008, 01:30 PM

Good afternoon Dolfans, and welcome to the Dolphins’ first live football action of the 2008 season.

As of now, the game is still on for 1:50 on the outdoor fields. But we just got dumped on by a 10-minute rain shower, so I’m waiting to hear if we’re moving inside.

All three quarterbacks will receive about 30-35 snaps today. Everyone else should get plenty of reps.

The live blogging will start soon. I’ll try to post a full play-by-play and any pertinent stats.

Enjoy the game!

2:42

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I wanted to watch each quarterback do one series before posting.

All the stars are out here today for the scrimmage. Dan Marino is watching from Media Row along with Jimmy Cefalo. And standing next to Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland is super agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Still no John Dunlap, who was missing from this morning’s walk-through. Justin Peelle and Michael Lehan continue to not participate, and Reuben Riley (blisters) isn’t out here, either.

Before the scrimmage, they did some special teams drills. Kickoff returns, gunner drills, field goals, etc.

Feely’s kickoffs go deeper than Dan Carpenter’s, but Feely misses wide right on a 43-yard field goal and Carpenter nails his kick.

Patrick Cobbs does a great job fighting through two blockers in the gunner drills. Chris Roberson also stands out.

OK, scrimmage time. This isn’t a true scrimmage, because Tony Sparano decides what the down and distance is going to be regardless of the result of the previous play. So I’ll provide you with the highlights.

John Beck goes first, with the First Team offense against First Team defense.

Beck completes 2-of-6 passes, a quick hitch to Ronnie Brown over the middle for a third-down conversion, and another quick pass to Brown for a nice gain against the blitz.

He takes two coverage sacks. Will Allen is doing a nice job covering Ernest Wilford, despite being 6 inches shorter.

Drive ends with an incomplete pass. Beck looks for Ricky Williams on a wheel route in the end zone, but Channing Crowder does a nice job batting it away.

Josh McCown is up. Second Team offense against Second Team defense.

He does a nice job moving the offense down the field, albeit slowly. He connects on 5-of-6 passes, including a hitch to Camarillo, a really nice 15-yard out to Camarillo for a third-down conversion, a quick hitch to David Kircus for a mock TD, and a screen to Patrick Cobbs.

McCown takes one coverage sack. His one incompletion is an overthrow of Davone Bess in the end zone. “Good decision!” Sparano shouts out.

Sparano has Feely kick a 43-yard field goal to end the drive. He doesn’t hit it cleanly, and it hits the bottom of the right goal post. Feely is disgusted with himself.

Henne is up. A mixture of first, second and third teamers.

He completes 5-of-7 passes and also does a nice job moving the team down the field, though he isn’t facing much of the First Team defense.

Henne executes a beautiful playaction pass to Sean Ryan for a gain of 25 yards down the left sideline. Henne looks good selling the playaction.

His two incompletions are because of the pass rush. Lionel Dotson hits Henne’s arm as he throws one time, and Randy Starks does the same thing on the next play. This offensive line includes Smiley, Long and Carey, yet the rushers are still getting to the quarterback.

Lex Hilliard has a couple nice runs, of the 8 and 10 yard variety.

Throws a touchdown to Matthew Mulligan, who holds on despite getting crunched by Renaldo Hill and Courtney Bryan.

The defense is figuring out this earpiece thing. Paul Pasqualoni keeps saying into his walkie-talkie to Kelly Poppinga, “Can you hear me?!?!”

Dan Carpenter finishes the drive by nailing a 42-yard field goal.

So that’s how they stacked up after one series apiece. Edgar has been keeping tabs of the action while I’ve been doing this update, so we won’t miss a beat.

Be back soon.

Edgar here, filling in while Ben is back in the bubble.

While he was gone, it was a tough few series for the Dolphins passing game, filled with sacks, bad passes and drops.

McCown started things off, working with the first-team offense. vs. the second-team defense.

On the first play, he threw an interception to DB Travis Daniels … a case of miscommunication between the QB and receiver.

It didn’t get much better.

Two plays later, Ted Ginn Jr. dropped a first down catch.

When McCown’s series ended seven incompletions later. He was 0-of-9.

At one point, Tony Sparano yelled, “Gotta play faster quarterbacks. Everything has to speed up … everything.”

It didn’t help.

Henne was up next with the second-team offense against the second-team defense.

Finally, a completion, even if it was a screen to RB Jalen Parmele.

Henne was under pressure quite a bit, leading Sparano to bellow, “C’mon guys, compete.”

The series ended with FB Reagan Mauia dropping a screen pass, making Henne 1-of-5.

Beck opened his series with back-to-back incompletions, followed by a coverage sack.

A WR screen to Anthony Armstrong was followed by an incompletion and a sack. Following a few running plays, Parmele dropped to screen to end the series.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

CONTINUING WHERE DOLFAN619 LEFT OFF

3:14

Edgar here, filling in while Ben is back in the bubble.

While he was gone, it was a tough few series for the Dolphins passing game, filled with sacks, bad passes and drops.

McCown started things off, working with the first-team offense. vs. the second-team defense.

On the first play, he threw an interception to DB Travis Daniels … a case of miscommunication between the QB and receiver.

It didn’t get much better.

Two plays later, Ted Ginn Jr. dropped a first down catch.

When McCown’s series ended seven incompletions later. He was 0-of-9.

At one point, Tony Sparano yelled, “Gotta play faster quarterbacks. Everything has to speed up … everything.”

It didn’t help.

Henne was up next with the second-team offense against the second-team defense.

Finally, a completion, even if it was a screen to RB Jalen Parmele.

Henne was under pressure quite a bit, leading Sparano to bellow, “C’mon guys, compete.”

The series ended with FB Reagan Mauia dropping a screen pass, making Henne 1-of-5.

Beck opened his series with back-to-back incompletions, followed by a coverage sack.

A WR screen to Anthony Armstrong was followed by an incompletion and a sack. Following a few running plays, Parmele dropped to screen to end the series.

4:25

BV back with you for a few last updates. Sorry for the delay. We had to interview the players and Sparano after the scrimmage ended.

There were a couple more series after Edgar’s post.

Chad Henne’s turn. He completes 4 of 7 passes, but it isn’t his best showing. After missing Ricky Williams on a screen pass, an unidentified coach shouts out, “C’mon Henne, lets go!”

Henne takes one coverage sack, and Samson Satele snaps the ball over his head out of the shotgun formation on another play.

Vonnie Holliday is moving all over the place. On one play he is not only playing OLB, but he is WAY outside the hashmarks, lining up almost as a DB. Then on the next play, he’s got his hand in the dirt, lining up as a nose tackle.

Henne finishes with a nice 20-yard out to Hagan on the left side.

Beck is up next. He completes 6 of 8 throws in this series, mostly check-downs to Parmele and Hilliard and quick hitches to David Kircus.

Junior Glymph jumps the snap and is in the backfield before Beck can handoff to Parmele. Daren Heerspink was the left tackle.

Beck also throws a pass intended for Kircus that instead goes right to Charlie Anderson, who drops an easy interception.

Carpenter nails a 40-yard field goal.

Now McCown is up with a mixture of first, second and third teamers.

He completes 2 of 6 passes, with mixed results.

McCown throws a beautiful bomb to Anthony Armstrong down the left sideline, but it goes right through the bread basket.

And then McCown rolls out right and tries to hit Jayson Foster, but instead throws it right to Quentin Moses, who drops an easy interception.

The drive ends with McCown throwing a nice fade pass to the right corner of the end zone, and Selwyn Lymon out-jumps Chris Roberson to haul in the pass for a touchdown.

The scrimmage ended at about 3:30, meaning they played for about 70 minutes or so.

Sparano wouldn’t reveal much about the quarterback race, except to say that the passing game “is not where I want it to be, not a week in.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

That’s about all we got. Check out Edgar’s story later this evening on the quarterback race.

Oh, and John Dunlap was excused for personal reasons.

The team is completely off on Sunday. No practice, no press conference for Sparano. I’m sure Sparano and his staff won’t be enjoying a day at the beach, though.

Next practice is Monday at 9 a.m.

Have a Fin-tastic weekend,

BV

[fyo]

Man, our quarterbacks are sucking out there right now. I know it's early, but McCown 0-9? Followed by Henne 1-5 and Beck 1-6? Combined 2 of 20! That's just disgusting.

[Sunstroke]

One thing I noticed from today's blog...it seems like Miami is really working on repetitions in the short passing game. Dumps to RBs, short hitches, passes within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. I think this makes sense with a young inexperienced QB-WR corps, with Miami focusing in on the running game, and using the short pass when they need to put it in the air.

[CF DolFan]

From everything I gather ... it appears they are not given much time in the pocket.  We have a new regime but it's the same old story ... for now anyway.  Hopefully they can build some confidence in each other and start some sort of progression.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

One thing I noticed from today's blog...it seems like Miami is really working on repetitions in the short passing game. Dumps to RBs, short hitches, passes within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. I think this makes sense with a young inexperienced QB-WR corps, with Miami focusing in on the running game, and using the short pass when they need to put it in the air.

Similar to the Raiders in the early part of this decade.... they would just dink and doink you to death.  It got them deep in the playoffs several times, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2002.

[Jim Gray]

Our quarterbacks can't hit a receiver.....but that's okay, because our receivers can't catch the ball.......even if they could, they won't get a chance because the line can't protect the QB long enough to get the ball away.    One of these will kill the passing game, so what happens when you have all three?  

I'm very concerned about the offensive line.  I know the defense will be ahead at this point, but it sounds like the pass protection is non-existent.  I don't believe our d-line is anything more than average, so what will happen when the offensive line has to face a strong unit?   I was expecting the offensive line to be one of the bright spots.  

I haven't heard much about the run blocking.  Hopefully, the line will excell on running plays and we won't be faced with long 3rd downs.  

It's still early, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the line can come together.  I can't wait for the 1st pre-season game to see for myself.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/first-scrimmage.html

First scrimmage favors rookie QB

While Dolphins coach Tony Sparano refuses to rank his quarterbacks' performances against each other, it's beginning to look like rookie QB Chad Henne is gaining momentum after a decent outing in Saturday's controlled scrimmage in the bubble.

Sadly for the fans who drove long distances to watch the scrimmage, it was moved indoors because lightning detectors picked up lightning within a 5-mile radius. Safety first.

As to the scrimmage, the defense continues to dominate the offense as only two touchdowns were scored in the 90-snap practice in which Sparano barked out situations, including down and distance.

Although John Beck started with the ones, that was only because it was his turn. He continued to struggle getting rid of the ball or getting it downfield to his receivers, going 2 of 5 in his first series with two sacks. He did improve later on in with accurate check-downs to RBs, and hit Kircus on a rollout.

With Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino watching along with a plethora of Dolphins alumni (they had a barbecue afterwards but no ribs for the press!), none of the QBs shined, but Henne did march his third-stringers downfield and into the end zone on a nice hook-up with rookie TE Matthew Mulligan. Mulligan got an opportunity because fellow TEs Justin Peelle (knee) and Aaron Halterman (back) are sidelined. He took advantage of it. Henne had a nifty 20-yard connection to Ted Ginn Jr. He wasn't helped by a ridiculous snap over his head from center Samson Satele or a drop by Ronnie Brown.

Veteran QB Josh McCown had his ups and downs, as he ended his last series with a nice lob pass to rookie Selwyn Lymon in the end zone. However, a floater in the flats was nearly picked off by LB Quentin Moses.

Sparano said his QBs weren't helped by all the dropped passes and that he is very anxious to see them in game action against the Bucs next week. WRs David Kircus and Greg Camarillo worked  well with McCown.

Most of the running plays were given to rookie Jalen Parmele, and he continues to impress with his burst, as well as his ball-catching skills. FB Reagan Mauia continues to drop passes and is probably losing his grasp on a roster spot to FB Boomer Grigsby, who catches everything in his vicinity.

WR Ernest Wilford has been virtually invisible.

Defensively, LB Junior Glymph was all over the field making tackles and breaking up passes - right in front of a cheering Dolphins VP Bill Parcells. Glymph nearly intercepted a handoff from Beck and center Mike Byrne.

Tuna had a couple of long pow-wows on the sidelines with super agent Drew Rosenhaus (and GM Jeff Ireland), and later with Marino - who I'm sure Parcells wish was out on the field throwing passes.

Kicker Jay Feely, a perfectionist, couldn't have been happy with his performance, missing a couple of field goals (37 and 42) inside the bubble, while Dan Carpenter made his. Of course, Sparano wasn't concerned because of Feely's solid track record.

Rookie G Donald Thomas stays with the ones and it doesn't look like anyone will be moving him out of there - but lets not get to excited before the games begin.

Add LB to Vonnie Holliday's DT-DE resume as he is getting snaps at playing with his hands out of the dirt for the first time. RB Ronnie Brown, who had a bad drop but isn't being pushed too hard yet, laughed when asked if Holliday could guard him in the flat.

McCown was tough on himself, but he took it easy on rookie WR Anthony Anderson, who dropped a bomb down the sidelines that hit him in the worst spot - his hands. McCown said he should've 'eaten' an errant throw that ended up intercepted by CB Travis Daniels, for the only turnover of the scrimmage.

DE Kendall Langford continues to pressure the QBs, as he sacked McCown.

... Former Chaminade-Madonna receiver John Dunlap had an excused absence from the scrimmage. ...

Here's my order of QBs, guys...

Josh McCown - best grasp of offense

Chad Henne - improving steadily in confidence and accuracy

John Beck - pressing to impress and regressing

Quincy Carter - getting in shape somewhere in case he gets the call

> Posted by hfialkov at 4:47:15 PM

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/08/defense-good-of.html

Defense good, offense not in Sat. scrimmage

I would like to tell you that either John Beck or Josh McCown stepped out of the early training camp muck and took the lead in the quarterback competition. But that would be a lie.

John Beck opened the scrimmage as the starter and completed only one of his five passes against the first-team defense. He struggled against the second team defense also when when completed only one of five passes again. He recovered in his last at-bat against 2s and 3s when he completed 6 of 8 passes.

Beck was the only QB that didn't get his offense in the end zone Saturday.

Josh McCown starting with the second-stringers was hot early. He completed 5 of 6 passes in his first possession and threw a TD pass to David Kircus. But as is sometimes the problem with McCown, he wasn't consistent. He completed only 1 of 5 passes when he took his next reps with 1s and 2s and threw an interception to Travis Daniels. His final series of the day saw two completions in six attempts with a TD pass to Selwyn Lymon. In that same, final series he also threw what should have been an interception in the hands of Quentin Moses that the LB dropped.

Chad Henne started strong, completing 5 of 7 passes against the third-teamers, but when he faced better competition with a group of starters and second-teamers he completed only 1 of 4 passes. Henne had a TD throw in that first series against the third-teamers but nothing the rest of the way. He did not throw a pick and his third series was situational no-huddle stuff that I did not chronicle.

Bottom line: Nobody is winning the QB competition off of today's scrimmage. But Beck continues to lose ground, IMO.

There were too many drops, particularly by running backs coming out of the backfield. Ronnie Brown dropped one, Jalen Parmele dropped one, tight end Matthew Mulligan dropped one that pretty much erased the TD catch he made, and Anthony Armstrong dropped what would have been a loooong TD pass down the sideline from McCown.

Center Samson Satele snapped the ball over Henne's head on one play.

Rookie Jake Long didn't stand out and, believe it or not, that is a good thing. No he didn't truck anyone because this was not a full-speed deal. But he didn't give up any sacks or make any obvious mistakes. That really is good so far.

All in all, another tough day for the Miami offense. The players over there have much work to do. Much work.

By the way, the Dolphins invited their alumni to attend the scrimmage. Mark Higgs, Bobby Harden, Troy Drayton, Shawn Wooden, O.J. McDuffie and others were there. Dan Marino was there and spent time talking to Bill Parcells.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus also spent an extended period of time talking to Parcells. Rosenhaus represents several Dolphins, including Yeremiah Bell, who may be in line for a contract extension during the season if he stays healthy.

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5919

Camp Dolphins Report Day 8: Defense Shines In Scrimmage; Riley, Halterman Waived; Other Notes

August 2, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special for MiamiDolphins.com

Chalk one up for the defense in the Dolphins' first live scrimmage of the 2008 training camp.

Inside the climate-controlled practice bubble this afternoon, the offense was held to two scores - a 6-yard touchdown pass fro rookie Chad Henne to rookie tight end Matthew Mulligan and a 9-yard touchdown pass from Josh McCown to rookie Selwyn Lymon in the right corner of the end zone. More importantly, nobody got hurt over the course of the 90-play scrimmage that was moved inside due to lightning in the vicinity.

The tempo of the scrimmage pleased first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano, as did the execution overall of both units. Sparano also was impressed with the fact that Henne was able to drive his unit down the field and get them into the end zone, and how he did not turn over the ball, but he also was aware that all three quarterbacks could have gotten more help from their receivers.

"During the course of the scrimmage, without watching the tape, I felt all three of the quarterbacks at different times made some pretty nice throws," Sparano said. "One thing I didn't think that we did a good job of today is I didn't think we caught the ball very well today. There were quite a few dropped balls out there. I thought from the backfield we dropped a few balls that could've been big plays, and those are plays that we have to make. Even downfield there were a couple of deep balls that were dropped, so when we evaluate that we have to look at the quarterback position and thing that throw was good or that decision was good and so forth."

Overall, Sparano said he didn't think the passing game was where he wants it to be one week into training camp and he would like to see the quarterbacks be able to get the down the field more. He credited the defensive pressure and coverages with impacting the lack of success in the deep passing game.

Linebacker Junior Glymph stood out on the defensive side of the ball as he recorded 2.5 sacks, disrupted the running game and was solid in pass coverage. On one play he got into the backfield so fast that he almost took the hand-off from Beck to rookie running back Jalen Parmele. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound strong side linebacker in his fourth season out of Carson-Newman and felt more comfortable reacting to the play in front of him because he is familiar with this defensive system and has been that deep in the backfield before.

"I think in a game I would have tried to slap the ball out," Glymph said. "There's something with defensive ends and linebackers when we see a ball it's like seeing a pork chop or something. I was just doing my assignment and a lot of it is just doing my job and being prepared."

Mulligan, 23, came out of the University of Maine and was experiencing his first live scrimmage and his first taste of game speed, and he feels better about what to expect next Saturday in Miami's first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dolphins Stadium.

As much as the offense was struggling, Mulligan knew somebody had to come through in the Red Zone drill so he was that guy, going up in traffic near the goal line for the sharp pass from Henne and holding onto it after taking a good shot from safety Renaldo Hill.

"I just tried to pull it down for the team," Mulligan said. "On offense, when we get in the Red Zone, Coach always says we've got to convert and that's what I was trying to do, just keep my eyes on the ball and hang onto the ball. I've just got to focus on the ball and I can't think about who's around me, I've just got to catch it."

Henne was pleased with completing the pass to Mulligan because he ran a similar pass to that in college at Michigan, but he also acknowledged that he missed some throws and still has to work on making some reads. He did see a few of his passes dropped and on one play in the Red Zone out of the shotgun, the snap from second-year center Samson Satele sailed over his head and he had to fall on it.

McCown is in his seventh season in the league and his fourth team and prior to his touchdown pass to Lymon he had suffered through a rough scrimmage, throwing one interception to cornerback Travis Daniels under pressure and going 0-for-7 on another drive. But he began to find his rhythm as the scrimmage went along and had one long throw down the left sideline to Anthony Armstrong that went right through Armstrong's hands. He was able to end things on a positive note.

"It was just good to finish up that way," McCown said. "As a quarterback in these situations you know there's not going to be a passer rating at the end, but you know after having that goofy interception you want to come back and equal it out. So even at the end to come back and get a touchdown it makes you feel a little bit better about your day."

Quarterback is where the media and fan microscope is pointed, as is to be expected for a team coming off of a 1-15 season, and Sparano has maintained his stance that it's still an even competition. He did offer up the notion that he is seeing some separation in different situations but not on a consistent basis and it's too difficult to come to a conclusion based on one week of practice and one live scrimmage, which is why he is looking forward to next Saturday.

"I feel like we have to get to the game and we've got to get these guys in the ballgame to see what's happening there," Sparano said. "The truth be told, I'm really anxious to see them in the game. That's where it's at."

ROSTER MOVES: The Dolphins on Saturday waived G Rueben Riley and waived/injured TE Aaron Halterman.

INJURY UPDATE: Cornerback Michael Lehan (ankle) and tight end Justin Peelle (knee) did not practice again. Peelle is still day-to-day and Lehan remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list ... Offensive guard Steve McKinney (knee) also did not participate in the practice.

RONNIE STILL ON TRACK: Running back Ronnie Brown was limited to three series, one with each quarterback, as Ricky Williams, Jalen Parmele, Patrick Cobbs and Lex Hilliard shared the bulk of the load. The fifth-year Auburn grad who was taken in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft is coming back from a torn ACL in his right knee suffered last October against the New England Patriots and the Dolphins are being careful with him, while at the same time eager to see how effective he can be.

"I feel pretty good and I'm real comfortable," said Brown who was leading the league in all-purpose yards with 991 at the time of his injury. "The knee's holding up pretty good and everything's going according to plan. I'm hoping to continue to improve and get better next week. We did a pretty decent job but obviously we've got a lot of work to do before we have that first game, but at the same time we saw some things that we can build on."

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: The only player from the morning walk-thru and the scrimmage was rookie undrafted wide receiver John Dunlap, who was excused for family reasons. He is expected to be back in town sometime tomorrow afternoon ... Defensive end Vonnie Holliday lined up at outside linebacker for a few plays, and Sparano said that was by design so that he and his staff could see how the 11th-year veteran could handle the position in the event of injuries dictating a move from the front ... The winners of the Miami Dolphins Summer Reading Program attended today's scrimmage. The kids participated in the Broward County and Miami-Dade County Public Library Systems Summer Reading Program Presented by the Miami Dolphins Foundation. This is all part of the Miami Dolphins Most Valuable Reader Program. The Miami Dolphins Foundation is sponsoring summer reading state-wide ... Although the public was unable to watch the scrimmage after the weather forced the move inside, some notable Dolphins alumni did make it into the practice bubble before the alumni Bar-B-Q. Hall-of-Fame Dan Marino quarterback was the most notable and he chatted with General Manager Jeff Ireland and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells on the sidelines.