Dolphins' WR Ted Ginn Jr. shows signs of progress

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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/08/17/0817dolphins.html

Dolphins' WR Ted Ginn Jr. shows signs of progress

By BEN VOLIN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, August 17, 2008

JACKSONVIILE — Ted Ginn Jr. gained 39 yards on his first two catches Saturday night in the Dolphins' 19-14 exhibition win over Jacksonville - one yard more than he gained in last year's four exhibition games combined.

And it was more receiving yards than he had in 13 of 16 regular season games in 2007, his rookie season.

After catching one pass for 10 yards in the exhibition opener against Tampa Bay, Ginn got "more at-bats" Saturday, as coach Tony Sparano vowed he would last week during training camp.

Ginn hauled in four passes for 58 yards in just one half of play Saturday, and Sparano was pleased with the way Ginn played "faster."

"He knows he still has a long way to go," Sparano said. But "it's good for Ted. He went out there and competed at a high level."

Ginn caught a 22-yard pass over the middle from Chad Pennington in the first quarter, leading the Dolphins into Jaguars territory en route to a Ricky Williams touchdown - the team's first of the exhibition season.

On the next drive he caught another pass over the middle from Pennington, this time for 17 yards on third-and-10. He ended the half with a 12-yarder from Chad Henne for another first down, and a 7-yarder with 8 seconds left to set up Dan Carpenter for a 46-yard field goal at the half.

Ginn, though, was low key about his effort.

"I just go out every day and try to get better," he said. "I'll just continue to play hard, play fast and just have fun."

Ginn almost had 43 more yards on a catch down the sideline in the second quarter, but the officials ruled that he didn't have full possession of the ball and both feet in bounds. Sparano challenged the ruling, and Ginn insisted he was in-bounds, but the officials upheld the call.

Games like Saturday will help Ginn, who finished last year with 420 receiving yards after being drafted ninth overall, prove that he can be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL.

"Ted has been working on his route running, and it's all coming together," said fellow receiver Derek Hagan, who has ascended to the starting lineup opposite Ginn and caught two passes for 18 yards on Saturday. "We've just got to be patient. People got to understand it takes time. He's only in our second year and he's only going to get better."

With veterans Chris Chambers and Marty Booker gone, Hagan (third year) and Ginn (second) are now the longest-tenured Dolphins receivers. The rest of the unit consists of free agents (Ernest Wilford, David Kircus), a special teams player who joined the Dolphins after last year's training camp (Greg Camarillo) and three rookies (Davone Bess, Jayson Foster, Anthony Armstrong).

"Ted is still a big kid, but it's definitely great to have somebody who's actually been there and experienced (the NFL)," Bess said.

"Everybody hasn't had too much experience, so the experience we do get we share with each other and we try to learn from my mistakes and get better as a unit.

"He had a great game tonight, and it's definitely something we have to feed off of and get motivated by."