Sparano: Dolphins rookies need better conditioning

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-0503dolphins,0,6169.story

Sparano: Dolphins rookies need better conditioning

By Omar Kelly
Sun-Sentinel.com

2:08 PM EDT, May 3, 2008

DAVIE - While the real evaluation won't take place until the players have pads on, this weekend's minicamp provided the Dolphins coaching staff with hints about what they have in their rookies and free agents. And not all of it has been favorable.

The Dolphins haven't liked what they've seen from a conditioning standpoint. Head coach Tony Sparano said he didn't like the way players tapered off at the end of Saturday morning's session, and addressed it with them.

Many players participating in this weekend's rookie minicamp admitted they've been struggling a bit with the heat and humidity, even though it's been relatively cool by South Florida standards the past two days.

A few of the draftees, like offensive guard Shawn Murphy, who is from Utah State, and running back Lex Hilliard, who played at Montana, are coming from regions of the country where it's still snowing.

The afternoon session, which starts at 3:30 p.m., will give the coaching staff an opportunity to gauge where most of these rookies, and tryout players, truly are.

"This is just a small sample of what's going to happen, and what lies ahead. The [veteran] players have 24 workouts on these particular players right now as we finish up our six-week offseason [program]," Sparano said. "These guys have to catch up a little bit, and they have a lot of work to do in a short period of time."

By comparison to Friday's session, Sparano said the effort Saturday morning had improved, and the players were more familiar with their assignments, which led to a more efficient offensive showing.

Less passes were dropped, and the passing game was a lot crisper. "You see some long rage speed out of some receivers, or lack thereof," Sparano said, referring to five undrafted rookie receivers the Dolphins signed.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

These rookies better be prepared.  Because if the weather is a little bit cool for South Florida, but they're struggling with the heat, imagine what's gonna happen to them come late July when training camp starts.