Miami Dolphins OTA - 5/21/2008

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/05/early-update-fr.html

Early update from Wednesday OTA practice

Here are some nuggets from today's OTA practice, hot off the presses:

The biggest news is that John Beck is taking most of the first-team snaps at quarterback. While that does not mean he's the starting quarterback -- remember there will be a competition -- it does show a certain confidence in the second-year player by the coaches.

Veteran Josh McCown, my pick to win the job, is working primarily with the second team.

Running back Ronnie Brown is on the field and working. Good news considering he is recovering from ACL surgery. But don't go overboard here. A non-contact practice in shorts and no pads is not an indication Brown is ready for the season opener.

Safety Yeremiah Bell, injured all of last year with an Achilles' tendon tear, is indeed working, and as a starter no less. So he is obviously healthy. Jason Allen is also taking first-team snaps.

Another player injured much of last year -- cornerback Andre Goodman -- is working with the starters.

Justin Smiley is working a lot at right guard which leaves something of a hole at left guard. Look for Ikechuku Ndukwe as a dark horse at that spot -- at least for now. Obviously, Trey Darilek and rookie Shawn Murphy are possibilities, also.

The Dolphins are making the most of their linebacker acquisitions. Reggie Torbor, Charlie Anderson, and Akin Ayodele are all looking like starters at this point. Obviously that doesn't account for Jason Taylor not being here. That starting group is also joined by holdover Joey Porter.

Torbor (Giants) and Anderson (Houston) were acquired as unrestricted free agents. Ayodele came in a trade with Dallas.

The Dolphins have injuries they are nursing. The most disappointing is nose tackle Paul Soliai who was practicing at the end of last year but has somehow found a way to be not able to work today. Will try and report his injury later.

Other injured players sitting out work today are safety Renaldo Hill, tight end Anthony Fasano, and guard Steve McKinney.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_seasonticket/2008/05/fins-ota-day.html

Fins: OTA day

Nothing like a little OTA optimism.

We had Vonnie Holliday on WFTL-640 Fox Sports this morning, and this is some of what he said. I'll post the rest later.

"Things are going good. After that season last year, all the guys, including myself are eager and happy to be back at work. Just to try to get the bad taste of last season out of our mouths. So next season can't come fast enough for us."

"Bill Parcells and Coach Sparano, this whole staff and new regime coming in, a new direction if you will, or a better sense of direction -- it certainly feels like they know what they're doing."

"We are definitely happy about things right now. They're working us hard, and we knew they would come in and do that. So things are quite different over at Dolphins camp right now. But after going through this three of the last four years, and dealing with new coaches and a new regime and a new scheme and all this other stuff, this outfit so far seems to be like the best."

Lots of veterans are expected at camp today.

Joey Porter. John Beck. Ronnie Brown. Ricky Williams.

Which player do you most want to hear from?

> Posted by Ethan J. Skolnick at 6:57:11 AM

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/05/21/a_few_quick_ota_observations.html

A few quick OTA observations

By Tim Graham | Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 11:08 AM

DAVIE — The only player not at the Dolphins’ first organized team activity of the offseason is Jason Taylor, who is making the publicity circuit for Dancing With the Stars.

While Taylor is chatting with Good Morning America and Live With Regis and Kelly, every one of his teammates, including 11-year veteran Vonnie Holliday and 12-year veteran Jason Ferguson, are sweating here at the team facility.

All of the unsigned draft picks are on the field also.

A handful of players, still recovering from surgeries, did drills on the sidelines.

They were newly signed guard Steve McKinney, tight end Anthony Fasano and safety Renaldo Hill.

Linebacker Channin Crowder started out with the healthy linebackers but ended up doing sideline drills with the others about an hour into the session. It wasn’t clear what he did to himself.

Defensive end Paul Soliai, looking more and more like a longshot to make the roster, worked out by himself on a stationary machine.

Check back later for player comments and other updates.

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dol052108,0,4255469.story

Ronnie Brown tests surgically-repaired knee at Dolphins' OTA practice

By Omar Kelly
Sun-Sentinel.com

11:14 AM EDT, May 21, 2008

DAVIE - The Dolphins tailback tandem of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown both carried the ball and participated in most team drills during Wednesday's organized team activity.

Both tailbacks, which suffered season-ending injuries in 2007, worked with the first-team offensive line, but Brown had his participation limited during team drills that featured limited contact.

Brown made sharp cuts on the surgically repaired knee he injured against the Patriots back in October. It generally takes nine to 12 months for an ACL injury to fully heal and he seems on schedule.

Brown and Williams, who tore his pectoral muscle during his lone game with the team last season, ran behind a starting offensive line that featured rookie Jake Long at left tackle, Ikechuku Ndukwe at left guard, Samson Satele at center, Justin Smiley at right guard, and Vernon Carey at right tackle.

The only Dolphins player not in attendance was defensive end Jason Taylor, who wrapped up his Dancing With The Stars stint on Tuesday and is presently doing a media tour in New York and Los Angeles that will delay his return to South Florida.

Taylor will not report to the team until the Dolphins mandatory minicamp June 6-8. Replacing him as the starting outside linebacker is Charlie Anderson, a free agent the Dolphins signed from Houston.

John Beck, a 2007 second-round pick, was the quarterback who took most of the first-team snaps during the practice session. Josh McCown took the bulk of his snaps with the second team, and rookie quarterback Chad Henne primarily worked with the third stringers, which mostly featured rookies and longshot free agents.

Five players did not participate in most of the team work because of injuries.

Safety Renaldo Hill is also recovering from an ACL injury. Tight end Anthony Fasano had his shoulder reconstructed this offseason and is limited.

Linebacker Channing Crowder appears to still be limited by the knee injury that ended his season, as is newly signed offensive lineman Steve McKinney.

Defensive tackle Paul Soliai was also limited, but the extent of his injury is unknown.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/05/21/vonnie_compares_feel_of_minica.html

Vonnie compares feel of minicamp to Saban’s regime

By Tim Graham | Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 12:49 PM

DAVIE — Defensive end Vonnie Holliday said the sense of direction and organization at the Dolphins facility feels much like it did when Nick Saban was running the show.

Holliday added the mood isn’t oppressive under new head coach Tony Sparano and praised the new administration for having its act together — unlike last year under GM Randy Mueller and rookie head coach Cam Cameron.

“Coach Sparano is not Nick Saban,” Holliday said. “His personality definitely is a lot different. We’re fired up, especially after last year and things being a little bit in disarray at times and the lack of direction at times. I like the feel around here and the atmosphere. I like the leadership.”

Holliday said the main message that has been stressed behind closed doors is commitment.

“What’s been stressed is just hard work, turning this thing around, creating a winning atmosphere and a winning culture,” Holliday said. “We’ve had our share of down years, and now it’s time to get back.”

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/05/things-i-thin-1.html

Dolphins OTA observations

It'll be interesting to see what kind of leadership role all the former Cowboys take on this team, which one player joked has become Dallas east.

Do the returning veterans immediately take a backseat to Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele, Anthony Fasano, Nathan Jones, Keith Davis, and all the rest of "their guys."

Vonnie Holliday admitted Wednesday that there's plenty of "discomfort" around Dolphins-land, but he pointed out that's a good thing.

"We were thinking about putting a star on the Dolphins head," joked linebacker Channing Crowder, who will be part of a heated battle for one of two starting inside linebacker spots. "They brought in some guys who can play, since those guys came from Dallas they know these [players] can play. The Dallas guys I've seen out here are great. I'm excited to see what we're going to do because they brought in a lot of great players, what, 20 or 30 guys?"

Quarterback John Beck took the first team snaps with the offense today, but it appears to be part of a rotation with veteran free agent addition Josh McCown. Rookie Chad Henne took a backseat to those two for now.

Click here to get an update on Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams participating in the OTA, to find out who is the starting offensive guard opposite Justin Smiley, who started in Jason Taylor's place, and why Crowder's participation was limited.

It appears the only person at Dolphins camp who cares that Taylor isn't practicing this week is Bill Parcells, who watched every minute of the session from the field.

While Taylor might not have won Dancing With The Stars, he'll probably walk away from the competition as the biggest winner.

At best Kristi Yamaguchi will probably end up doing DWTS competitions while Taylor's at least doubled his exposure, and set himself up for a career after football. The least he'll be able to do is become a football analyst on Sundays.

But since football is where he makes his money, and A LOT of it, it's about time he sifts his focus, and that's what management is waiting on.

Here are a couple of my observations from this OTA viewing.

None of the quarterbacks were sharp. None, but it takes time to get adjusted with new receivers.

Since we're on receivers, Ernest Wilford is bigger than I expected, and he's a smooth route runner. David Kircus is smaller than I expected, but he appears to have an extra gear and made one nice catch that caught my attention.

Jason Allen and Yeremiah Bell began the practice session as the start safeties. I have no idea if they are rotating in and out with Keith Davis and Chris Crocker like the quarterbacks are.

Andre' Goodman was the starting cornerback opposite Will Allen, who blew by the media like Randy Moss blows by opposing receivers.

Ricky Williams looked good, real good. I know this is an OTA session without pads, but I would say it's not a stretch to say he could start a game or two next season.

Matt Roth and Vonnie Holliday were the two starting ends with Randy Starks and Phillip Merling as their backups. I wasn't paying much attention to most of the rookies but I saw Merling get pancaked by an offensive tackle (wasn't 100 percent sure it was Jake Long).

Lionel Dotson is also working as an end, which was surprising considering I thought he's be the nose tackle project. That appears to be rookie free agent Kory Robertson, but it'll be interesting to see what Paul Soliai's role is when he gets back from whatever's limiting him.

Newly signed linebacker Keith Saunders caught my eye yet again. While he was working with the rookies and long-shot unit Saunders sacked Henne. Also standing out amongst the linebacker was Kelvin Smith, who intercepted a pass and ran it back for a decent return.

Edmond Miles and Kelly Poppinga we the inside linebackers on the scrub unit for those keeping count. I'm not exactly sure what role Smith will have. Is he inside or outside?

One player whose physique really caught my eye was offensive tackle Julius Wilson, and it kind of explained why this practice squad leftover was retained while most of last year's borderline guys got the boot. I honestly don't know how Wilson performed but it appears he's put in the work to get his body right.

That appears to be all this new regime is looking for from "their" team, at this point.

If you have any questions about what went on today hit me with them here and I'll get to them after we talk to Tony Sparano.

> Posted by Omar Kelly at 8:47:31 AM