Live Blog — August 6 Training Camp, Morning Practice

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/06/live_blog_august_6_training_ca.html

Live Blog — August 6 Training Camp, Morning Practice

By Ben Volin | Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 09:03 AM

Goooooood morning Dolfans, and welcome to Day 12 of the live practice blog!

A steamy 94-degree heat index in Davie this morning with overcast skies. Three more practices to go until Saturday’s exhibition opener against Tampa Bay.

I’ll be watching for a lot of the same stuff today — the RG competition, Matt Roth and Vonnie, the DL rotation and of course the quarterbacks. I’m also interested to see how the receivers rebound from yesterday’s practice. Bad case of the dropsies yesterday.

Also interested to see if Ernest Wilford and Jay Feely are back out there today. And if two more players have been added to the roster (as of Tuesday night we were still at 78 players).

Thanks for tuning in. Updates will start around 9:25. Enjoy the show!


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9:27 a.m.

Let the updates begin:

Shorts and shells this morning. All 78 players are accounted for.

Jay Feely is not wearing pads, and is riding the bike during individual drills.

Ernest Wilford is back at practice. Yesterday must have been a cramping/hydration thing.

Ronnie Brown is going with the one high sock, one low sock look. The high sock is pulled over his surgically repaired right knee, by the way.

Still no Michael Lehan (ankle). Justin Peelle and Steve McKinney are out there.

Donald Thomas opens up once again with the first team OL. John Beck is behind center.

A little trickery to start practice. First it’s an end-around to Derek Hagan, and then a trick play that has been used for years throughout the league, but I won’t describe it because it’s not worth getting yelled at by the team’s PR staff.

I see a No. 80 out there, and it isn’t Aaron Halterman because he got cut on Saturday. I’m all geeked up to report on a new player but Andy Kent of miamidolphins.com points out that it’s just Anthony Fasano, who changed his number from 81 to 80.

That’s it for now. Be back soon.

9:53

Already had one brief rainstorm, and some ominous looking clouds are rolling in. Let’s see if we get this entire practice in.

A few quick updates:

Not too much going on right now. Lots of special teams drills — mostly punt situations — and individual drills for the OLs and DLs.

Before breaking out into drills, special teams coach John Bonamego leads a Remember the Titans type of team chant, with lots of clapping and chanting.

BREAKING NEWS Harvey Greene, the Dolphins PR chief, says that Dan Marino absolutely will NOT be appearing on Dancing With the Stars, despite rampant speculation yesterday on the internet. “Chipping and putting with them, maybe, but not dancing with them,” Greene says.

Vonnie Holliday continues to get 1-on-1 instruction from Paul Pasqualoni. Matt Roth doesn’t.

Jayson Foster muffs a kickoff, picks it up and still runs it back 40 yards.

Punt block drills. But they’re using those red dodgeballs, not real footballs. Edmond Miles breaks through the middle of the line for a clean block.

That’s about as exciting as it gets. Back for more soon.

10:36

Yup, it’s pouring. I’m soaking wet. Practice moved into the bubble right as I got back from the last update, and ended around 10:30. Short day, mostly special teams stuff.

The first 20 minutes or so in the bubble is spent on special situations. Safety drills, throw-it-away drills, turtle drills (where the QB falls to the ground after the snap. He looks like a turtle), punter-step-out-of-the-back-of-the-end-zone drills, spike drills.

They do brief 11-on-11 drills. Kendall Langford continues to line up at LDE, and Matt Roth is at LOLB.

Beck hits Wilford on a sideline roll-out. Led him well.

Henne finds Hagan deep down the left sideline.

They move to the Red Zone. Beck finds Hagan in the back of the end zone, but Will Allen makes a nice play to swat the ball out of Hagan’s hands.

McCown throws an interception to Kelvin Smith. Not sure if the pass was tipped or if it was a wobbly throw.

Real nice catch from Davone Bess from McCown for a touchdown, over Joey Thomas.

Chuck Fairbanks, the former Oklahoma and New England coach, is chilling on the sidelines with Bill Parcells.

Chad Henne fumbled his first snap.

And then Will Allen intercepts Henne, stealing the ball away from Davone Bess. Real nice play from Allen. Gets a chest-bump from Andre Goodman.

And that’s all she wrote. Short practice today, probably because of the rain.

Sparano talks at 12:30. I want to know what’s up with Jay Feely.

Thanks for reading today. See you guys again at 5.

BV

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5938

Camp Dolphins Report Day 11: Morning Practice Report

August 6, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special for MiamiDolphins.com

Will Allen took over on the practice field this morning once the players were chased inside the bubble due to weather. The cornerback frustrated quarterbacks Josh McCown and Chad Henne and wide receiver Derek Hagan with his tight coverage and play-making ability.

McCown was the first victim as his pass intended for Hagan in the back of the end zone was broken up by Allen on a real nice play as he closed the gap and got position on Hagan before the ball arrived.

A few series later, when Henne tried to float one into Hagan on a fade pattern in the right corner and Allen jumped up with Hagan and wrestled the ball away from him for the interception.

Linebacker Kelvin Smith came up with the other interception when McCown's pass to running back Ricky Williams bounced off of Williams' fingers into Smith's hands going the other way.

When the team was outside before the rains came, special teams coordinator John Bonamego was running things from the get-go as soon as individual drills wrapped up. He gathered the team at midfield in a circle and led them through a team-building exercise where the players slapped their pads and clapped their hands in unison, a la "Remember The Titans."

After the motivational speech, it was on to situational drills like line-drive kickoffs and proper coverage techniques. They also practiced regular kickoffs, and maybe because of the weather, rookie Jayson Foster muffed one but quickly scooped it up and ran up the field.

This afternoon's practice at 5 p.m. will be held inside the practice bubble and is closed to the public.

INJURY UPDATE: Kicker Jay Feely (groin) and cornerback Michael Lehan (ankle) did not practice again. Lehan remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list but first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano said at his morning press conference that Lehan was getting closer, while Feely worked on the side with trainers.

"We've kind of kept him out right now, he's just got a little bit of a sore groin," Sparano said. "So we've kept him out and we're just watching him right now."

NO DANCING FOR MARINO: Contrary to published reports, former Dolphins Hall-of-Fame quarterback Dan Marino will not be participating on "Dancing With The Stars" this upcoming season. Dolphins Senior Vice President-Media Relations Harvey Greene confirmed the news during the morning practice, saying he got it straight from Marino. So the prospect of having back-to-back seasons with contestants linked to the Dolphins is no more, just a few months after former Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor finished second on the popular reality television show.

[StL FinFan]

So the big news today is that Marino will not be on DWTS? 

I hope Will Allen continues the same type of play he has shown today.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/06/fins_practice_blog_aug_6.html

Fins practice blog, Aug. 6

By Edgar Thompson | Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 04:50 PM

Ben is getting a break after 38 consecutive practice blogs and a case of blisters from running back and forth from the field to his computer.

Unlike G Rueben Riley, a few blisters isn’t going to cost Ben his job.

So get your best insights and insults ready because I won’t be here for long.

The Dolphins will open practice up in about five minutes in the bubble.

The quarterbacks and receivers really need to have a good day.

On Tuesday, the QBs threw five interceptions, including three by Josh McCown, and could have had a couple of more if not for drops by the DBs.

And Tony Sparano all but ripped his receivers/running backs earlier today about all the dropped passes, including 10 on Tuesday.

It’s been pretty ugly.

I’ll be back in a bit to let know if things are improving.

5:28 p.m.

The team is warming up, so not much going on yet.

CB Michael Lehan (ankle) and K Jay Feely (groin) are riding the exercise bikes.

Sparano said earlier that Lehan is making progress, but there’s one movement he still cannot make without discomfort.

One of Bill Parcells’ favorite players, running back Curtis Martin, is visiting. He’s chatting at the far end of the field with Parcells.

He’s not wearing pads, but is chiseled and looks like he could jump right in. Too bad he doesn’t play receiver.

-Two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy is back for another practice to see his son Shawn.

The younger Murphy, a fourth-round pick in April, is still lagging behind sixth-round pick Donald Thomas, who is working with the first team and could start this weekend, Sparano said earlier.

Josh McCown is working with the first-team offense, while Chad Henne is lined up with the second unit.

Henne had lined up with the first team to open the past few practices.

Sparano said he’s bagged a set rotation system the past couple of days because he wants all the QBs to get a lot of work in the team’s various red-zone packages.

The team is expected to continue working on them today.

In a red-zone drill with the tight ends, Anthony Fasano and Justin Peele each snagged beautiful one-hand catches on out patterns near the goal line.

Sparano hopes to see a lot more of that.

OK, heading back out. Team drills should be underway soon.

5:53 p.m.

The Dolphins receivers seem to have gotten the message - at least most of them.

Sparano said catching the ball is simply a matter of concentration for his players, so he’ll be happy to see his players are more focused early in the afternoon session.

It’s only one-on-one drills, but there have been several highlight-reel catches, including a couple of one-handed stabs by Kircus in the back corner of the end zone.

Davone Bess, who has some of the best hands on the team, made an over-the-shoulder grab in the corner, where he had to adjust to pass by John Beck, who threw it over the wrong shoulder.

But Ernest Wilford puts a damper on things, dropping a pass that hits him right in the chest on a post pattern. The play continues to a mediocre camp for a first-year Dolphin expected to have an impact.

On the other end of the field, the team worked on blitz pick-ups … a real issue a season ago.

And one of the main culprits in 2007, TE David Martin, shows he hasn’t improved much. He’s badly beaten by LB Charlie Anderson and Quentin Moses.

Granted, it’s an unfair advantage to the defender, but remember Martin nearly got Beck killed whiffing on a pair of blitz pick-ups last December in the Jets loss at home.

TE Justin Peele does a lot better against Anderson, while TE Sean Ryan is an aggressive and effective blocker on a few snaps.

FB Reagan Mauia continues his struggles, getting tossed to the ground by LB Edmond Miles and whiffing on Anderson. Mauia, who has dropped a bunch of balls in recent days, needs to pick it up.

In team drills, the focus is on power running.

Not many people do that better than Ricky Williams, who is busting through holes and shedding defenders. On one run, Williams shakes off a would-be tackler then stiff arms S Jason Allen.

Like Justin Smiley said Tuesday, “All I know is everybody is scared to tackle him out here. He’s a beast.”

By the way, DE Kendall Langford is lining up with the first team, with Matt Roth at LB behind him on the left side.

Back with more in a bit.

6:18 p.m.

The way things are looking, Ricky and Ronnie are going to set an NFL record for combined touches.

When the Dolphins lines up in team drills, all the nice catches, smooth throws and confidence go away.

On the first play, McCown throws a perfect strike on a skinny post Ted Ginn Jr., who drops it.

Sparano screams, “Let’s go. Do something special.”

If a first-round pick making a routine play is special, that tells you where this offense stands right now.

Two plays later, though, Ricky goes off tackle, bounces out wide and just flattens S Yeremiah Bell when he comes up to meet him.

The next play, McCown leads WR Anthony Armstrong by too much and the ball ends up in the hands of S Chris Crocker. Armstrong has been so shaky it could have been his fault, but it wasn’t much of a throw, either way.

Henne’s up now.

The only thing that comes out of his four-play series is good news for The Juggernaut a.k.a. Reagan Mauia.

On a pass in the flat, FB Boomer Grisby drops a ball.

Beck steps in for a few plays now.

He’s a bit behind on a throw to Hagan, and S Renaldo Hill makes a nice play on the ball. Hill has been beaten consistently in camp as he comes back from knee surgery.

Following a sweep by Ricky that would have been a decent gain, Beck hits Greg Camarillo on a hook pattern.

Moments later, Sparano calls for a huddle. Will let you know in a bit if he inspires the troops.

6:44 p.m.

The team is stretching, so I have to head out for interviews in a bit.

Patrick Cobbs finished up strongly.

Cobbs worked with the first-team offense some today and made some plays.

On one play, he caught a swing pass over the middle from Henne and turned on an extra gear to run away from CB Nate Jones for a TD.

Cobbs also had a nice run up the middle to open two-minute drills.

Wilford made up for his earlier drop with a nice leaping catch over Jones in the end zone.

Wilford (6-foot-4, 218) has excellent size and can jump. Now if he can just re-gain his confidence.

Two-minute drills were pretty sloppy, all in all.

Hagan made a nice diving catch to keep the first drive alive, but McCown followed with three straight incompletions.

Henne’s unit didn’t do any better.

He was sacked twice, including once when LB Joey Porter just flew around the end past back-up LT Ikechuku Ndukwe.

The highlight was a diving catch by Martin, yes, TE David Martin, who needs a pat on the back.

Beck made a couple of nice throws and a couple of back decisions during his go-around.

He looked confident in the pocket on an out route to rookie Jayson Foster. Beck also threw a beautiful deep ball to rookie John Dunlap to end the drill, but the pass was broken up near the 5-yard line by rookie CB Chris Roberson.

Roberson could make the practice squad. He’s an aggressive player who might develop into something.

One quick injury update: DE Vonnie Holliday said he suffered “a tweak” in his right hamstring, but he expects to be OK.

Holliday went to the sideline toward the end of practice, where trainers iced the injury.

[StL FinFan]

"a couple of back decisions"?  I'm assuming that was supposed to be "bad" not "back".

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/08/sparano-shows-d.html

Sparano shows displeasure with pass catchers

For the first time since Tony Sparano has been doing press conferences as Miami's coach, I heard a twinge of annoyance bordering on anger in his voice today.

Sparano just did his presser for today and he is clearly not happy with Miami's receivers and other pass-catchers. "We dropped 10 passes in practice yesterday," Sparano said, his voice rising slightly. "We dropped too many again today.

"We go into a game and don't catch the ball, I can get anyone to do that."

Ouch.

Sparano is obviously displeased with the receivers, but the running backs have been dropping an inordinate number of passes, also. Not good enough. Sparano said he didn't see this problem in offseason camps and OTAs so he thinks it is "a concentration" issue.

The problem is affecting other areas of the offense. Partially as a result of poor receiver play, Sparano said the two minute situation work Tuesday, "didn't go so well." The team will work on it again this afternoon as a result.

OTHER STUFF:

Sparano said kicker Jay Feely's injury is a sore groin. He is not sure whether Feely will be available for Saturday's preseason game against Tampa Bay or not.

Asked why it is that Feely has a competition on his hands despite hitting like 1,248 of 1,250 kicks last year Sparano said, "It's a competition. That's how it is."

The coach also said the battle between Feely and rookie Dan Carpenter is "very even."

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Sparano is weighing whether to start rookie Donald Thomas or veteran Trey Darilek at right guard against Tampa Bay. "I'm not sure yet," he said.

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

Finally, Dan Marino is denying an intouchweekly.com report that states he will be on Dancing with the Stars. Marino called the Dolphins today and vehemently denied he's doing that. He will not be Dancing with the Stars.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/sparano-rips-re.html

Sparano rips receivers

It didn't take much for Dolphins coach Tony Sparano to rip into his receivers in his post-morning practice media session Wednesday.

Sparano is fed up with the continued penchant for the receivers and running backs dropping passes. He said it was bad at last Saturday's scrimmage and has been getting worse.

"There were 10 [drops] in yesterday's practice and there's too many dropped passes today. Individual period today, we didn't catch the ball.  We're running routes on air and we're not catching the ball. Again this has a lot to do with what we're going to see here in a couple of days. We go to the games and we don't catch the ball, I can get anybody to do that. I have not been happy with that end of the deal right now. We have to keep the ball off the ground,'' he said.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the heat, concentration, some of those things,'' he continued. "They did spend a little more time with the jugs [machine], with the quarterbacks, those type of things. But at the end of the day, it's throwing and catching. Some of those guys have been doing it since they were six years old.''

Terry Glenn, come on down!

Oronde Gadsden?

Lamar Thomas was at Saturday's practice. Got a number?

OK, guys how many receivers in camp do you think will still be on the opening day roster?

> Posted by hfialkov at 7:17:59 PM

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/lots-of-visitor.html

Lots of visitors at Dolphins practice

Former Braves slugger Dale Murphy was at practice today keeping an eye on his son,  Dolphins rookie guard Shawn Murphy.

The two-time MVP was asking me to ID a lot of the players and he was particularly impressed with the speed of the DBs. He said he wish the Braves could get a few of those speedsters. Shawn Murphy is not upset that fellow rookie Donald Thomas, who was drafted two rounds later in the sixth round than Murph, is playing ahead of him on the first team.

He's just trying to learn as much as possible his rookie year. He said he was pretty impressed by rookie QB Chad Henne and noticed that wherever he looks there's a rookie staring at him.

Also on hand was former NFL great running back Curtis Martin, who was once again reunited with his longtime coach Bill Parcells during the afternoon session.

Martin, of course, was drafted by the Patriots and then coach Parcells in the third round of the 1995 draft. He then played for Parcells on the Jets. The five-time Pro Bowler notched 10 seasons of 1,000 or more yards.

Also on hand all week has been famed Oklahoma coach Chuck Fairbanks, who also coached the Patriots from 1973-78 with two division championships. He's a long-time friend of Parcells.

"Every year I've been with Bill,  Coach Fairbanks  has been at our training camp so I got to know him real good. He came in, sat in our meetings. When I was in Dallas and I was doing the offensive deal there he was good. It was good to be able to bounce something off of somebody like him. ... He's not worried about his  little world. This is my little world. ... He is a heck of guy and he's got great eyes.''

> Posted by hfialkov at 7:28:17 PM

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/08/camp-observatio.html

Camp observations

Coach Tony Sparano said he has dropped the three-man QB rotation in which he has two working in the 11 on11s per practice while the third just participates in the other drills.

Sparano wants all three to be getting snaps in the situational drills  such as the tight red zone, red zone, playing with their backs to the end zone etc....

Special teams coach  John Bonamego has the players form a circle for a pregame chant that is a takeoff of the Remember the Titans movie. The players love this guy's fiery personality.

K Jay Feely will most likely not play Saturday to make sure his groin is healed so he could wage a fair fight with rookie K Dan  Carpenter. Feely is a proven commodity while Carpenter is coming out of Montana and has yet to kick in an NFL game. Feely may have bothered by the groin during last week's scrimmage when he missed midrange field goals he usually makes with ease.

LB Joey Porter gave Ndukwe Ikechuku a cheap shot to the chops after they locked horns. Can't blame Ikechuku for being mad. Porter was abusing him all practice, getting past him for clean sacks. Porter looks like he's serious about recapturing his Pro Bowl form and earning the $20 large the Finn laid on him.

WR Davone Bess is the one receiver who consistently finds seams downfield. For that alone, he needs to make this team. ...

Pretty cool hanging out with former Braves slugger Dale Murphy in the bubble while he was watching his son Shawn. The Utah resident was familiar with Bess from the WAC. Murph was a tight end in high school but didn't like getting hit. His wife is flying down from their home to attend Saturday's game.

By the way,  Murphy needs to be in the Hall of Fame. And he did  it without roids. ...

Curtis Martin was at Bill Parcells side during the evening practice. Just like old times. Wish he was a few years younger so Tuna could grab him again - at least until Ronnie Brown's 100 percent. ...

Give Reagan Mauia credit. He's working hard on trying to improve his ball-catching skills by working on it after practice. He's had 'manos de piedra' all camp so far. ...

After watching DE Vonnie Holliday tweak his hammy near the end of the evening practice, it might not be a bad idea to rest him for Saturday's game, and give the young'ns like Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford more game reps.

Matt Roth is looking more comfy at that linebacker spot. ...

That's it. I'm outa here. Please  check out Harvey's Highlights today and listen to me with Defo on 640 a.m.  on Tuesday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m.

> Posted by hfialkov at 8:11:13 PM