Live Blog — August 12 Training Camp, Morning Practice

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/12/live_blog_august_12_training_c.html

Live Blog — August 12 Training Camp, Morning Practice

By Ben Volin | Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 09:02 AM

Gooooooood morning Dolfans, and welcome to another exciting edition of the live practice blog!

A cloudless 83 degrees right now in Davie with a heat index of 91. Make sure to drink plenty of bottled water as you read the blog this morning.

Today we will bring you Day 2 of the Chad Pennington Era, as well as updates and insight on the position battles going on all over the field.

I’m interested to see how many reps John Beck and Josh McCown get today in 11-on-11 drills. Yesterday, they combined for four throws. Pennington and Chad Henne, meanwhile, combined for 36. Advantage: Chad.

Feel free to post any comments or questions, and I’ll try to address the good ones after practice ends around 11 a.m.

Enjoy the show!

UPDATE: Kicker Jay Feely called into Joe Rose’s morning show today on WQAM and told Joe that he has been cut this morning. Edgar Thompson will have more on this shortly. Rookie Dan Carpenter is now your kicker.

Edgar here. Yes, It’s true. Jay has been cut following a season in which he set a team record for field-goal percentage, hitting 21 of 23 kicks (91.3 percent).

He doesn’t fit into the team’s long-term plans and said several teams are interested in him.

Jay was a class act from Day 1 and was among the only players who spoke to the media during last year’s 1-15 nightmare season.

It will be interesting to see undrafted rookie Dan Carpenter standing over a 43-yard field goal in Week 6 with the game on the line. The Dolphins might wish they had Feely back then.

9:36

It’s true, Feely has been cut. Not that I don’t believe Edgar, just that the team’s PR staff confirmed it.

Not much for you yet in terms of the 78 guys who are here today:

Shorts and shells today.

Vonnie Holliday (hamstring), Michael Lehan (ankle), Joey Porter (back) and Charlie Anderson (hamstring) are still not practicing. They are all riding the bike.

Donald Thomas is still a First Teamer. I keep waiting for him to be bumped down, but it looks like it may not happen.

Everyone is doing positional drills. The wide receivers are doing tight one-on-one stuff to work on getting separation in man coverage. Tony Sparano specifically mentioned this yesterday as an area to improve.

Be back soon.

9:59

A few hot reads for you:

OL and DL are doing some one-on-one type of stuff, and the quarterbacks are working with one receiver, against one cornerback.

Once again, Pennington and Henne are getting most of the reps.

Pennington throws a real nice ball on a slant pass. I see him complete four in a row, putting the ball exactly where it needs to be.

Henne does well, too, but his final throw is an interception to Will Allen. The INT is probably Ted Ginn’s fault, he didn’t run a crisp route, and Allen was able to undercut him for the INT.

11-on-11 drills

It’s pretty much all running plays. Ronnie, Ricky and Cobbs working on counters, sweeps, bellies, etc. No tackling, so it’s hard to evaluate the running backs or OLs.

What is telling, though, is which quarterbacks are taking the snaps. Pennington gets most of them, and Henne watches while standing next to quarterbacks coach David Lee. When it’s Henne’s turn, Pennington stands next to Lee. Meanwhile, Josh McCown and John Beck are on the other sideline, standing next to quality control coach Steve Bush. Their body language suggests they know they’re not getting many reps in practice.

Matt Roth and Quentin Moses are lining up as the OLBs with Vonnie, Porter and Charlie Anderson out with injury.

Special teams drills. Dan Carpenter hits all three field goals, each from 40-plus. Then they do a fake field goal and a field goal return, with Ted Ginn back deep.

As I walk inside, they break out into kickoff drills. Sparano mentioned yesterday how unpleased he was with the special teams unit last Saturday against the Bucs. I’m sure special teams is a point of emphasis this week.

That’s it for now. More in a bit.

10:45

Last update of the morning. Practice went about 1:45 today. Forget about the players, I’m dripping with sweat.

They start with 11-on-11 drills.

Pennington throws a nice skinny post to Hagan, who goes up high for the catch. Pennington can put the ball just where it needs to be.

Me and my big mouth. Pennington sails a screen pass to Ginn, and isn’t pleased with himself.

Chad Henne does a couple checkdowns, and hits Boomer Grigsby on a playaction roll-out.

Uh oh, Ricky Williams is slow to get up, and he walks VERY gingerly off the field. Looks like his right ankle.

Goal line drills

Pennington does another playaction roll-out to Boomer, but throws it low and outside.

Where are Beck and McCown? They might as well be watching today’s practice from the media tent.

Interesting subplot: With Feely now gone, Brandon Fields is practicing onside kicks, along with Dan Carpenter.

Pennington throws a quick-out touchdown to David Martin.

Lex Hilliard runs one up the gut for a touchdown, and puts a nice thump into Travis Daniels.

Then they break out into 7-on-7 drills. And OL vs. DL 1-on-1. I’m trying to watch both at once.

Pennington goes first, of course. He’s throwing short stuff, outs and slants and checkdowns.

Donald Thomas does a nice job blocking Randy Starks.

Pennington completes a slant to Wilford, throwing it low, giving the defender no chance. Nice fingertip grab by Wilford.

Justin Smiley dominates Phillip Merling.

A quick hitch to Jalen Parmele goes off his hands and into the air, but Davone Bess comes down with it.

Nice job by Rod Wright, blowing past Donald Thomas to the inside.

David Kircus drops a slant from Pennington, which was thrown a little behind Kircus. That’s the first drop we’ve seen today.

Henne’s up.

He throws a post to Anthony Armstrong, a quick hitch to John Dunlap and a quick hitch to David Martin.

Trey Darilek stands up Kendall Langford.

Phillip Merling jumps offside, and Jason Ferguson clearly isn’t happy with the rookie.

And then Quentin Moses is chewed out by a coach for not beating Ikechuku Ndukwe.

Back to 11-on-11, Red Zone drills.

Pennington goes first, of course. Merling and Langford are with the First Team.

A couple runs by Ronnie, mixed in with a check-down to Reagan Mauia and an incomplete pass to Martin over the middle (pass interference on Yeremiah Bell?).

A couple draw plays to Ricky up the middle, and then a beautiful lob to David Martin in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. An even nicer catch by Martin, who goes up and gets it over Courtney Bryan.

Henne’s in now. First pass is out of bounds in the end zone, over Ted Ginn.

A screen to Armstrong is followed with a batted pass by Rod Wright.

Final two plays of the day: First Henne feels the pressure, scrambles up the middle and gets into the end zone. Then he throws a wobbly slant pass to Ginn, but he catches it anyway for the touchdown. Ending on a positive note.

That’s all she wrote. Interesting day, to say the least. McCown and Beck were glorified clipboard holders today.

Still a little shocked that Jay Feely is gone. Another example of the Dolphins’ washing their hands of the Cam Cameron era.

Sparano talks at 12:30. Tune in later this afternoon for updates. Next practice blog starts at 5 p.m.

See you soon,

BV

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/dolphins-repo-4.html

Dolphins report: Tuesday (Week 3)

Since I was forced to pay so much attention to quarterbacks yesterday I needed a trench fix this morning, and the Dolphins obliged, putting one-on-one line battles right in front of me.

What a thrill! I should send Mike Maser and Kacy Rodgers a thank you note because it taught me a lot about this team's line play.

I'll get to that stuff later, but I'm sure you want your daily QB update.

Chad Pennington again took all of the work with the first team, and while he wasn't as impressive as Monday's showing, he was still steady. Rookie Chad Henne took all of the snaps with the second team during team drills while John Beck and Josh McCown watched everything but individual drills.

I know coach Tony Sparano said they are out of the business of worrying "about hurt feelings," but damn. Not a snap? I guess the writing is on the wall. South Florida's a two Chad city.

Maybe McCown and Beck will be worked in during the afternoon session. I'll keep you posted.

As for my practice observations....

Sparano blew up at the first-team offensive line when they half-tailed the first snap of inside run drill. He removed the entire line and put in the second unit to work their reps. When the returned the holes were much more respectable....

While I haven't projected that Rodrique Wright is making this team, I'm starting to second guess myself after watching him the past two days. He stood out on Tuesday as the hardest player to block during inside drills. He recorded a sack and deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage....

The Dolphins new starting kicker connected on one of the three field goal attempts he tried during the morning. I'm guessing the distance on the one he missed was 42 yards. But he followed it up by making a 47-yarder....

Former Green Bay G.M. Ron Wolf was again at practice hanging with fellow retiree Bill Parcells. Get this guy a consulting job already....

While I wasn't pleased with the play of the inside linebackers on Saturday, I must say they were balling during Tuesday's session. Channing Crowder was everywhere....

It seemed as if Ricky Williams hurt his right leg or ankle during a team drill when Quentin Moses ran him down and actually tackled him. But Williams returned to the field about 10 plays later. He was till running hard afterwords....

Before I get into what I saw during trench work, I'd like to summarize what happened during redzone drills....

Boomer Grigsby dropped what would have been a sure touchdown from Pennington on a play-action roll out....

Matt Roth is looking a lot better as an outside linebacker. He's been fairly effective in run support....

Tight end David Martin caught two touchdown passes during the morning practice, but only one of them was good because of a penalty. There were plenty of flags thrown this morning, and that can't please Sparano considering how many controllable mistakes the team made against Tampa Bay....

Ted Ginn Jr. also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass on a quick slant from Henne. Andre' Goodman was on the coverage.

Now onto the good stuff, line play. I'll just give you a blow-by-blow of the one-on-one work so you can come to your own conclusions.

Randy Starks eats up Donald Thomas with a bull rush and forearm shiver....next, Samson Satele stands up (complete stop) Paul Soliai....Phillip Merling commits a false start and earns a slap on the wrist.... Justin Smiley seals out Merling on his second try....Jake Long stands up Keith Saunders....Daren Heerspink washes out Titus Brown....Kendall Langford commits a false start and earns a slap on the wrist....Anthony Toribio metrorails Steve McKinney into the imaginary QB....Rod Wright beats Shawn Murphy with an inside move. Murphy starts beating himself up afterwords....Ikechuku Ndukwe washes out newcomer Maurice Fountain....Starks shakes Vernon Carey to easily get around him....Rod Wright surges past Thomas on a great move....Mike Byrne stands up Soliai with ease....Matt Spanos gets off the line real slow, but he stops Lionel Dotson in his tracks with ease....Long stands up Saunders again....Brown powers past Heerspink getting to the imaginary QB....Langford bull rushes Ndukwe to collapse the pocket....Satele stands up Toribio with little difficulty....Merling false start again (time to go to the Principal's office)....Ndukwe easily washes out Quentin Moses, earning the starting outside linebacker an earful from his position coach....finally, Carey washes out Roth to end the drill.

Now wasn't that good. I need a cigarette now, and I don't even smoke anymore.

For those UM fans trolling my blog I'd like to point out that former Hurricane receiver Jason Geathers, who starred for the AFL San Jose Sabercats, which made it to the Arena Bowl, came to Dolphins camp looking for a tryout. Geathers, who caught 37 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns, is trying to latch onto an NFL team and left the Dolphins his game-film.

You know the routine. F5 to refresh, holla at your boy with any questions or comments, and come back for my summary of the afternoon session.

Deuces.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 10:18:47 AM

[DolFan619]

[UPDATED] Tues. morning practice report

Easy morning for Josh McCown and John Beck at practice this morning. Neither quarterback took a snap in team or 7-on-7 work.

Basically, the Dolphins are showing their hand with the Chads. Or as Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland calls them, "Penny and Henne."

One is the Mr. Right Now. The other one seems like Mr. Right for the longterm future of the team. Coach Tony Sparano said it is pretty obvious that Pennington will play versus Jacksonville Saturday evening. I would imagine, based on the work so far this week, either he or Henne would start.

Pennington took 33 snaps this morning. He was 5 of 9 with a TD to David Martin. Henne took 25 snaps and was 4 of 8 with a TD to Ted Ginn.

By the way, the catch by Martin in the corner of the end zone was the best play I've seen from the tight end since he's been a Dolphin. The throw to Ginn by Henne was zipped between two defenders on a slant. Good stuff on both counts.

Receiver Anthony Armstrong, who had a good night on returns Saturday, seems to be in the mix on starting kickoffs now. He got as many reps with the first-team kick return team as Jayson Foster and Ted Ginn Jr.

Matt Roth continues to work at OLB, getting ALL his snaps at that position.

Rookie Donald Thomas continues to run with the first team OL, at right guard.

Speaking about the decision to cut Jay Feely, Sparano said the veteran simply got beat out by rookie Dan Carpenter. According to Sparano, Carpenter has connected on 93 percent of his 40 field goal tries and until he missed one in practice today, he had connected on 23 consecutive kicks.

"The numbers weren't close," Sparano said.

Sparano also noted the Feely has, "been hurt twice," since the spring, the most recent a groin injury that sidelined him the past week or so.

On the injury front: Vonnie Holliday (hamstring), Michael Lehan (ankle), Joey Porter (back), Charlie Anderson (hamstring) missed the practice. Ricky Williams seemed to tweak his ankle on one play but returned later.

Sparano said he expects Porter back on the field pretty soon -- I would guess as early as this evening.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/dolphins-repo-4.html

Dolphins report: Tuesday (Week 3)

Since I was forced to pay so much attention to quarterbacks yesterday I needed a trench fix this morning, and the Dolphins obliged, putting one-on-one line battles right in front of me.

What a thrill! I should send Mike Maser and Kacy Rodgers a thank you note because it taught me a lot about this team's line play.

I'll get to that stuff later, but I'm sure you want you junkies want your daily QB fix.

Chad Pennington again took all of the work with the first team, and while he wasn't as impressive as Monday's showing, he was still steady, which is a step in the right direction. Rookie Chad Henne took all of the snaps with the second team during team drills while John Beck and Josh McCown watched EVERYTHING but individual drills.

I know coach Tony Sparano said they are out of the business of worrying "about hurt feelings," but damn. Not a snap? I guess the writing is on the wall. South Florida's a two Chad city. Sparano flat out said they - the coaches and receivers - need to get a look at Pennington, and Henne needs the work.

Maybe McCown and Beck will be worked in during the afternoon session. I'll keep you posted with my afternoon report.

As for my practice observations....

Sparano blew up at the first-team offensive line when they half-tailed the first snap of the inside run drill. He removed the entire line and put in the second unit to work their reps. When they returned the holes were much more respectable....

While I haven't projected that DE Rodrique Wright is making this team, I'm starting to second guess myself after watching him the past two days. He stood out on Tuesday as the hardest player to block during inside run drills. He recorded a sack and deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage in the morning. Wright's fighting to make this a tough cut for the Dolphins....

The Dolphins new starting kicker Dan Carpenter connected on two of the three field goal attempts he tried during the morning. I'm guessing the distance on the one he missed was 42 yards. But he followed it up by making a 47-yarder....

Former Green Bay G.M. Ron Wolf was again at practice hanging with fellow retiree Bill Parcells. Get this guy a consulting job already....

While I wasn't pleased with the play of the inside linebackers on Saturday, I must say they were balling during Tuesday's session. Channing Crowder was everywhere....

It seemed as if Ricky Williams hurt his right leg or ankle during a team drill when Quentin Moses ran him down and actually tackled him. But Williams returned to the field about 10 plays later. He was till running hard afterwords. I'll let you know if I notice anything in the afternoon session.

Before I get into what I saw during trench work, I'd like to summarize what happened during redzone drills....

Boomer Grigsby dropped what would have been a sure touchdown from Pennington on a play-action roll out....

Matt Roth is looking a lot better as an outside linebacker. He's been fairly effective in run support, but he does need work dropping back. Sparano said it's an experiment the coaches are still gathering information on. If you think about it, Roth is only a few months behind Moses in making the transition....

Tight end David Martin caught two touchdown passes during the morning practice, but only one of them was good because of a penalty. There were plenty of flags thrown this morning, and that can't please Sparano considering how many controllable mistakes the team made against Tampa Bay....

Ted Ginn Jr. also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass on a quick slant from Henne. Andre' Goodman was in on the coverage. Someone needs to put out an APB on Ernest Wilford.

Now onto the good stuff, line play. I'll just give you a blow-by-blow of the one-on-one work so you can come to your own conclusions.

Randy Starks eats up Donald Thomas with a bull rush and forearm shiver....next, Samson Satele stands up (completely stops) Paul Soliai....Phillip Merling commits a false start and earns a slap on the wrist.... Justin Smiley seals out Merling on his second try....Jake Long stands up Keith Saunders....Daren Heerspink washes out Titus Brown....Kendall Langford commits a false start and earns a slap on the wrist....Anthony Toribio metrorails Steve McKinney into the imaginary QB....Rod Wright beats Shawn Murphy with an inside move. Murphy starts beating himself up afterwords....Ikechuku Ndukwe washes out newcomer Maurice Fountain....Starks shakes Vernon Carey to easily get around him....Rod Wright surges past Thomas on a great inside move....Mike Byrne stands up Soliai with ease....Matt Spanos gets off the line real slow, but he stops Lionel Dotson in his tracks with ease....Long stands up Saunders again....Brown powers past Heerspink getting to the imaginary QB....Langford bull rushes Ndukwe to collapse the pocket....Satele stands up Toribio with little difficulty....Merling false start again (time to go to the Principal's office)....Ndukwe easily washes out Quentin Moses, earning the starting outside linebacker an earful from his position coach....finally, Carey washes out Roth to end the drill.

Now wasn't that good. I need a cigarette, and I don't even smoke anymore.

For those UM fans trolling my blog I'd like to point out that former Hurricane receiver Jason Geathers, who starred for the AFL San Jose Sabercats, which made it to the Arena Bowl, came to Dolphins camp looking for a tryout. Geathers, who caught 37 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns, is trying to latch onto an NFL team and left the Dolphins his game-film. I remember Geathers as a good special teams player. Maybe if the coaches have seen enough of Selwyn Lymon, who didn't play against Tampa Bay, they'll give him a look.

You know the routine. F5 to refresh, holla at your boy with any questions or comments, and come back for my summary of the afternoon session.

Deuces.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 10:18:47 AM

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/12/live_blog_august_12_training_c_1.html

Live Blog — August 12 Training Camp, Evening Practice

By Ben Volin | Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 04:54 PM

… And we’re back!

The thunderstorms rolled into Davie right on schedule today, so once again, practice has been moved to the bubble and is closed to the public.

This is the fourth-to-last live blog of the season. Training Camp practices are closed to the public and the media after this weekend’s Jacksonville game. I’m gonna miss you guys.

Let’s see how many reps Beck and McCown take this evening. Earlier today, they combined for zero.

And the heat is now on kicker Dan Carpenter. Good luck, rook.

Feel free to post any questions or comments, and I’ll try to get to them later.

Enjoy practice!


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

5:27 p.m.

A few quick updates before practice gets going:

Joey Porter is back at practice. A trainer helps Porter stretch out his back during warm-ups.

Charlie Anderson, though, is MIA. We saw him this morning, riding the bike and working on his strained hamstring. Now he’s not at practice.

Vonnie Holliday (hamstring) and Michael Lehan (ankle) are still not practicing, though Vonnie seems to be moving better.

The other 74 players are present and accounted for.

Hey look, John Beck and Josh McCown haven’t forgotten how to throw a pass. Beck finds Sean Ryan in warm-up drills, while McCown connects with Boomer Grigsby.

That’s it for now. Back soon with more.

5:55

How about some more updates?

Team breaks out into 11-on-11 drills. Look who is under center — Josh McCown. I only see him throw one pass, an incomplete deep ball to David Kircus down the left sideline.

The TV in the media room is on NFL Network, and it is showing a replay of the Pittsburgh-Philly game from last week. “Where will Chad Pennington land?” the announcer asks. Bet the farm on Miami.

Beck takes a couple snaps, too, but it’s hard to see. The players are blocking our view, possibly on purpose. His one throw was incomplete, a short hitch to the right side. That much I can tell you.

Pennington’s in. Looks like they’re mostly working on short yardage situations, because it’s mostly running plays.

Pennington hits Davone Bess on an out pattern. Nice catch by Bess on a low throw. Pennington is also sacked on a playaction pass.

I notice that I haven’t heard the 3-second buzzer in a few days. Perhaps they have scrapped that now that Pennington is in town.

Interesting stuff from the Dolphins’ defense. Looks like they’re showing some four-man fronts, especially in passing situations. Kendall Langford, Rod Wright and Randy Starks are all taking turns lining up at defensive tackle. Yeremiah Bell moves into the box, like a surrogate linebacker.

Real nice gain by Patrick Cobbs on a draw play to the right side. Second Team offense and defense is in, though.

Henne gets under center, but doesn’t throw a pass.

Bell is getting tired of this no contact stuff. He almost knocks the living daylight out of Lex Hilliard, but slows down at the last second.

They break out into punt drills.

Joey Porter heads to the sideline to stretch out his back. I see him working with a medicine ball.

That’s all I got for now. Back soon.

6:28

Some more updates:

They break out into 7-on-7 drills as soon as I get back out there. On the very first snap, the 3-second buzzer goes off. Shows what I know.

Pennington is good, not great, in this drill. He hits Wilford on a slant, Bess on an out pattern, throws out of the end zone to Camarillo, hits David Martin on a drag and throws too far to Ricky on a wheel route.

Henne is a bit shaky today, too. After hitting Ted Ginn underneath, he throws one way over Boomer Grigsby’s head out of the end zone and then throws incomplete to Jayson Foster.

Last throw of the drill is a quick slant to Derek Hagan for a touchdown. Hagan slam dunks the ball over the goal post.

They briefly practice tight Red Zone stuff, with no defense. Looks like they’re practicing broken plays. Pennington waits, in the pocket, waits, waits, and then scrambles and tries to make a play.

Time for the 2-minute drill. Ball on the 45, 1:20 to go. Pennington up first.

Ronnie Brown runs it left, and then Pennington hits David Martin on a quick out.

Chad throws incomplete to Hagan, but then throws a beautiful playaction pass to Bess down the middle for about 30 yards, down to the 10. Threaded the ball perfectly between Chris Roberson and Jason Allen.

Spike. 29 seconds left.

A fade to Mauia goes out of bounds, Hagan is pushed out of bounds on a fade route for no catch, and Andre Goodman bats down a pass intended for Ted Ginn. Drive fails, no points.

Henne’s turn. It isn’t pretty.

He throws incomplete to Ricky on a playaction, and then is sacked by Randy Starks, who blows past Trey Darilek and Steve McKinney.

Henne’s third pass is an easy interception for Renaldo Hill. Henne throws a wobbler well over Wilford’s head. Henne is getting the best protection, and he is forcing throws.

Next play is a false start penalty, but they let it go. Henne throws incomplete to Camarillo down the right sideline.

Next is a fumbled snap. Henne picks it up after about three seconds, and throws out of bounds toward Wilford.

Finally, a completion. Henne hits Ricky on a playaction rollout.

Then he throws incomplete high to Camarillo, high to Anthony Armstrong, and too far for David Kircus. Henne finishes the drill 1 for 8.

Practice is ending, and I gotta run back out. We’ll have one quick update for you around 7:15.

7:26

Hey guys, I’m back.

They ended with some third down drills. Pennington hit all five of his throws, a couple of quick hits to Bess and a beautiful sideline lob to Camarillo, who gets behind Travis Daniels for 35 yards.

Henne stepped in and completed his first four passes, coming back nicely after struggling int he two-minute drill. Mostly short stuff toward the sidelines. Davone Bess got a lot of work today.

And that just about wraps ‘er up. Thanks for stopping by today.

Only one practice tomorrow, at 2 p.m. Sparano talks at 11:30. I’m wondering if Beck and McCown will get ANY reps this week.

Have a Fin-tastic day,

BV

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/dolphins-repo-5.html

Dolphins report: Tuesday afternoon (Week 3)

The Trifecta threw up an offering to the football Gods, sacrificing established veteran Jay Feely in the morning, then watching how the training camp survivors squirmed.

By the looks of how spirited the morning and afternoon sessions were on Tuesday it clearly got the team's attention. If the MVP of last season's 1-15 team can be cut loose, anyone can.

Well, maybe not anyone. I think there are a handful of veterans like Joey Porter who are pretty safe. But you, and the team, get the message. Get it together!

That was clearly the message Sparano was trying to across in the afternoon, yelling at about half a dozen players after they screwed up. Coincidentally, everyone he called out is on the bubble.

Speaking of Porter, he was back on the practice field in the afternoon, and said his back is not longer an issue. In fact, he said it was Sparano who held him out of last Saturday's game, and requested he do rehab work on Monday.

Porter said he'd rather be on that field because the rehab work, which includes PLENTY of pedaling on the exercise bike, is grueling.

He said practice is actually easier, and that's probably the way the Trifecta likes it.

"I'm not a biker. I'm not trying to be Lance Armstrong," Porter said. "That bike stuff kills me. It makes me want to go out to practice. I'd rather practice than do all that rehab stuff."

Since I brought up Feely, just wanted to share the thoughts of Dan Carpenter, the youngster who replaces him. Carpenter now holds the distinction as the Dolphins sitting on the hottest seat considering how much I expect the Dolphins to rely on field goals in the coming season.

"It's a good feeling for now. I've got a lot of things to work on. It's still a learning experience for me," said Carpenter, who converted 23 straight practice kicks before missing one this morning. "I've got to work on my kickoffs and keep going with the field goals."

Now the pressure begins rook. Good luck....

And now, for my afternoon observations and analysis....

Boy are the Dolphins getting a lot of use from the Nick Saban Memorial bubble. I estimate at least two afternoon practices a week have been rained out and taken inside, like today's session. It makes me wonder what in the world did this team do before they got a bubble....

Chad Pennington was the starter again, and looked sharp. He made very few mistakes, and rarely had a bad throw. Chad Henne, who he likes to call the rook, got the bulk of the other snaps during team drills. Pennington was 13-of-18 without any touchdowns, but moved the offense into scoring territory during the two-minute drill.

"You've got to like his poise and leadership in the huddle," said Justin Smiley said.

Henne was 9-of-18, but had a ton of bad throws. One was a high throw that was intercepted by Renaldo Hill.

Josh McCown got four reps during team drills and was 0-for-3, and John Beck got three snaps, and was 0-for-1 on throws. So that means collectively, in three practice sessions, McCown and Beck have taken 12 snaps during team drills. That's right, 12!....

C Steve McKinney had two bad snaps, and got an earful from Sparano....

I noticed Vonnie Holliday coaching up Phillip Merling on the sideline. I must say I love to see veterans coaching up rookies they know are brought in to take their job. It's heart warming. I remember I once worked under a coworker who was so threatened by me he taught me very little, and did it begrudgingly....

Davone Bess made a couple of nice catches during the afternoon practice. After one along the sideline Bill Parcells stopped him and showed the proper way to give a cornerback a stiff arm after the catch.

The coaches are clearly investing in Bess, who I think is a safe bet to make the 53-man roster unless some receiver that's really talented hits the waiver wire. But I think Bess is really talented too. One one play during the two-minute drill he caught a pass in-between Nathan Jones and Chris Crocker that got them called to the teachers desk, as Todd Bowles was instructing them how to play the shifty receiver who is effective at finding open zones.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 6:55:05 PM

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/08/porter-returns.html

Porter returns, Henne struggles in afternoon drills

Joey Porter returned to practice this evening as the Dolphins held their practice in the Nick Saban Memorial Bubble.

Porter's return to the starting lineup meant Quentin Moses returned to second-team work. The two outside linebackers were Porter and Matt Roth.

Vonnie Holliday and Michael Lehan are still not practicing and I think the Dolphins are getting a little antsy about Lehan who has been nursing a high ankle sprain since early June. I saw Bill Parcells tweaking Lehan a little bit on the side.

As for the hour by hour quarterback update, Chad Pennington looked good working with the starters in team and 7-on-7 drills. Chad Henne didn't look so great. Henne was 1 of 8 with an interception by Andre' Goodman in the two-minute drill. Later in the practice he completed four passes in a row but didn't get the team in the end zone.

Pennington also didn't get the team in the end zone, by the way. The offense stalled inside the 20 yard line when Pennington was at the helm. He did complete a sweet 25 yard pass down the middle to get Miami inside the 20, however.

Look for Pennington to get playing time this weekend against Jacksonville..

A couple of quick roster observations: The Dolphins are still starting rookie Donald Thomas at right guard but don't be surprised if Trey Darilek eventually emerges as the starter there. Tony Sparano loves Darilek and Parcells has been spending time with him after practice, particularly today.

Finally, I want to thank all of you for continuing to come to this blog for Dolphins information, analysis and opinion. We're at 1.6 million views for 2008 and the regular season hasn't even begun. Today, for example, this blog was the most visited offering on The Miami Herald webpage.

Thank you, again.

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5958

Camp Dolphins Report Day 16: Carpenter Wins Kicking Job; Other Notes

August 12, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
MiamiDolphins.com

Undrafted rookie kicker Dan Carpenter has officially won the first competition of training camp, overtaking eighth-year veteran Jay Feely.

The Dolphins released Feely this morning a week after he was sidelined with a groin injury, but first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano said the decision had less to do with Feely's health and more to do with Carpenter's leg.

"The decision was based purely on numbers, on performance and Carpenter has outperformed him right now. That's the bottom line," Sparano said after the morning practice. "We chart a ton of categories with the kickers and Carpenter has outperformed him. He's had 40 kicks and has made 23 in a row. Up until today when he missed one kick he made 23 kicks in a row, so when you talk about competition and you see a guy do that when he's competing, and that's what we did out here, prior to today's practice he made 93 percent of his kicks. The numbers weren't close."

Carpenter displayed a calm demeanor befitting a kicker when he was besieged by tape recorders, cameras and microphones following the team's afternoon practice inside the bubble. He admitted this was the largest media contingent he hade ever faced, but handled the questions professionally, beginning with how it felt to be the last kicker standing.

"It's a good feeling for now. I've got a lot to work on still. It's still a learning experience for me," Carpenter said. "I've got to work on my kickoffs and keep going with my field goals. Of course it was a shock. I'm a rookie coming in and Jay's a great kicker and he's got a lot of experience and I'm just here to do my best and hopefully that's the best."

Feely, 32, set a franchise record last season for accuracy by making 21-of-23 field goals (91.3 percent) and has been one of the more accurate kickers in the NFL over his career with Atlanta (2001-04), the New York Giants (2005-06) and Miami. He was voted special teams captain by his teammates last year but suffered his first offseason injury during mini-camp, a strained oblique muscle. The groin injury was his second in three months.

The 23-year-old Carpenter not only had youth on his side, but his size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) and stronger leg attracted the Dolphins to him when they scouted him at the University of Montana. He converted 75 of 103 field goals for the Grizzlies in four years and 182 of 188 PATs, and he didn't shy away from going head-to-head with an established veteran from the moment he arrived in South Florida.

"First of all the kid's kicked in Montana, so I don't know much about anything but I know that Montana's not always good weather," Sparano said. "Secondly, when you're a rookie, no matter what it is, going into that kind of environment or this environment in practice right now, you're kicking in pressure situations, especially, and with all due respect, when you have a veteran player like Jay Feely who is a competitor competing against you, and this kid competed."

One of the other key areas in the kicking game that is graded by the coaches is the kicker's success rate in the 42- to 49-yard range, and Carpenter was "outstanding." According to Sparano, he was either 9-of-11 or 10-of-11 from that range, and in last Saturday's preseason opener against Tampa Bay he was 2-of-2 from 49 and 41 yards.

"It's Dan's job to lose."

Long snapper John Denney was close to Feely and was caught a little off guard by his release, but being a fourth-year veteran he has learned how to deal with business decisions such as these.

Now Denney must turn his attention to helping Carpenter get more comfortable in his new role and maintain his focus on the field.

"You've just got to be positive with him," said Denney, whose older brother Ryan is a defensive end for the Buffalo Bills. "You've just got to keep encouraging him and he's been doing well so far. There are always going to be trials and when that comes just kind of encourage him through that and tell him to keep his head up. He looked like the same guy that we've been kicking with throughout all of camp. I can't say I saw a different swagger or anything."

INJURY UPDATE: Linebackers Charlie Anderson (hamstring) and Joey Porter (back), defensive end Vonnie Holliday (hamstring and cornerback Michael Lehan (ankle) did not practice in the morning but Porter returned to the field in the afternoon and didn't show any signs of discomfort.

"I feel good," Porter said. "Every time I practice I expect to play. Last week (against the Bucs) was his (Sparano's) decision. I'm practicing now and I' just going to take it day-by-day and at the end of the day, he still has the final decision.

Lehan remains on the Active/PUP list.

AYODELE LAUNCHES FOUNDATION: Dolphins linebacker Akin Ayodele officially launched his "Akin's PATH" charitable foundation following the afternoon practice and continued his trend of being serious about his involvement in the local community by hosting 20 local people from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program of Greater Miami. He also announced an official partnership between his new foundation and the organization.

The foundation devotes itself to the principles of Providing Acceptance, Teamwork and Hope (PATH).

"They're really mentoring kids, boys and girls, and really making an impact on their lives," Ayodele said. "I actually met one of the head chapter guys of Big Brothers, Big Sisters and told him I was actually trying to be involved here in Miami and everything took off from there. We just wanted to get them out there and give them a chance to come watch us practice, see what our professional careers are about and what we do during training camp and get a chance to meet some of the guys and just enjoy their day.

"It definitely makes it all worthwhile to know that we can be an influence and that we are role models and the fact there are good guys out there and good NFL players, and to see the looks on their faces is great because you know you are making an impact."

Ayodele, who was once a nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award when he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, not only announced that he will be serving as a big brother to a local boy this year, but that he will also pay for 10 "Bigs" and 10 "Littles" to come to each Dolphins home game. He will provide them with tickets, t-shirts, food and drink and parking. He also announced a partnership with Miami Dade Public Schools in the coming months, encourages Dolphins fans to visit his new website, www.akinspath.com, for more information on how to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

MORNING REPORT: The two Chads - Pennington and Henne – took all of the reps during team drills, with Pennington taking 33 snaps and going 5-of-9 with a touchdown pass to tight end David Martin and Henne going 4-of-8 with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. no 25 snaps ... A reporter asked Sparano about how Pennington has looked thus far but mistakenly referred to him as Chad Henne, prompting the coach to try to clear up the confusion from here on out. "(Pennington's) got a little country accent so I might call him 'Country' or something," Sparano said, while remarking on how impressed he is with Pennington's accuracy.

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: Inside the bubble, Pennington completed 13-of-18 passes while Henne was 9-of-18 with one interception ... Josh McCown took four snaps and was 0-of-2, and one if his passes fell incomplete because of a defensive holding penalty on cornerback Andre Goodman ... John Beck was 0-for-1 on three snaps ... The team will practice once tomorrow at 2 p.m. and it is open to the public.