Final Open Practice Of 2008 Training Camp
By Brian Miller
UPDATED AGAIN
The Miami Dolphins have started their final open practice to the media of TC 2008. Camp officially breaks following the Saturday night Jaguar game. Guess what? John Beck is at practice. Here is the latest and watch for the update and thanks everyone for following it all here on Phinphanatic.com.6:35 p.m.
LB Joey Porter is sitting out with an ice pack on his back.
After the morning practice, coach Tony Sparano said he felt Porter was beginning to make a few plays after missing some recent practices.
But Porter has had two injuries in a month. If this keeps up, he could have a few nagging injuries to deal with by the middle of the season.
Pennington bounces back in 7-on-7, going 4-for-4, higlighted by a nice shoestring catch by WR Ted Ginn Jr. grab on an out pattern along the sideline.
Pennington is not nearly as impressive in 11-on-11.
He hit two short throws, but tossed an interception to CB Nate Jones, who returns it for a touchdown, and took a coverage sack.
Henne is 4-of-5 in 7-on-7 hooking up on two really nice plays – a fade to Wilford, who’s having a good day, and a sideline pass to Hagan, who makes a gorgeous leaping catch.
In 11-on-11, Henne sticks to throws underneath the coverage and looks sharp.
McCown is 3-of-6 during 11-on-11, but none of the completions are for more than short gains.
In his shot in 11-on-11, Beck goes 2-of-5, but telegraphs a pass in the end zone to WR Greg Camarillo, allowing S Renaldo Hill to jump the route and come up with his second pick of the day.
OK, one more update to come, but not until we catch players heading into the locker room …
6:05 p.m.
Beck and McCown are getting a lot of work today during passing drills.
Not much to report from short yardage 11-on-11, other than an incompletion from Beck to rookie WR Anthony Armstrong that ended with LB Reggie Torbor and DB Travis Daniels running into each other full speed.Torbor and Daniels laid on the ground for about 10 seconds to shake out the cobwebs before popping up.
In 7-on-7, McCown hooked up with David Kircus on a skinny post to beat CB Andre Goodman, but S Jason Allen had Kircus in his crosshairs and let him go.McCown was 4-of-5 in 11-on-11, his only incompletion when rookie WR Jayson Foster dropped a pass.
The highlight was a perfect touch pass on a deep out between two defenders to WR Ernest Wilford. A beautiful throw there.
Beck completed a series of short passes in 7-on-7, but on his final throw found rookie WR Selwyn Lymon behind rookie CB Will Billingsley down the sideline for a long gain.Beck relies too much on checkdowns and short passes, but can really throw the deep ball with accuracy.
He showed it again in 11-on-11 when he hooked up with Kircus on the play of the day, a long TD over CB Joey Thomas.
Beck was 3-of-5 in the drill.
Pennington and rookie Chad Henne haven’t done much yet.Pennington was 0-for-2 on one drill, including a slant when WR Derek Hagan didn’t look for the ball. Still working out the kinks with a new receiving corps.
Henne was 0-of-1 and suffered a coverage sack in four snaps in team drills.
5:35 p.m.
Team’s warming up for practice, with the usual suspects on the sideline nursing injuries: CB Michael Lehan (ankle), DE Vonnie Holliday (hamstring) and LB Charlie Anderson (hamstring).
Coach Tony Sparano said earlier today he’d evaluate Holliday following the evening practice. Based on that, Holliday won’t be playing at Jacksonville this weekend.
Also, QB John Beck is at practice and taking snaps in individual drills.
It’s pouring rain and we’re inside, but Sparano continues to wear his sunglasses.If I was a player, it’d make me a little nervous seeing the head coach looming in dark glasses, not sure if he’s watching me on not. It actually makes me a little nervous as a reporter on the sideline.Sparano is checking out the DBs working on pass drops, while the LBs do the same off to the side.
All four QBs are taking snaps in individual drills.Afterward, coaches are working with them on screen passes to the RBs in the flats and in the middle of the field. Expect to see a lot of those this season, especially given how well Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown catch the ball.Ronnie might have the best hands on the team, other than Davone Bess, who doesn’t drop anything.
Bess and the other receivers are across the field from the RBs working on fade routes, a pass QB Chad Pennington seems to throw well.
Football czar Bill Parcells and GM Jeff Ireland share a laugh at midfield.Parcells seems to have a pretty good sense of humor, based on the reaction of the people who speak to him. It’s unfortunate the South Florida media isn’t among those people.OK, not much to say there, but we’ll hopefully have some action to report in a bit.