MINI-CAMP: LIVE UPDATES
By Brian Miller
I will be providing you with “Live” mini-camp updates of the Miami Dolphins mini-camp starting in less than an hour, from Palm Beach Post writer Greg Bedard as soon as he begins posting his comments. Please check back often as I will have updates as they become available. Updates will be posted at the bottom of this blog.
"Daunte Culpepper is on the field and doing drills on the side. Let the circus begin. 11:02"
It will be interesting to see how long he stays out there.
"Starting offensive units (surprises in bold):FIRST TEAM QB Cleo Lemon TB Ronnie Brown FB Cory Schlesinger TE David Martin WR Chris Chambers WR Marty Booker LT Vernon Carey LG Drew Mormino C Samson Satele RG Rex Hadnot RT L.J. SheltonSECOND TEAM QB Trent Green TB Lorenzo Booker FB Reagan Mauia TE Justin Peelle WR Derek Hagan WR Kelly Campbell LT Tala Esera LG Chris Liwienski C Johnathan Ingram RG Dan Stevenson RT Julius Wilson"
Due to the length of these updates, please follow this to the 2nd page and continue to refresh that page as new entries become available. Thank you.
"– Ted Ginn is on the field and participating. He is wearing a regular white jersey, not a red (hands off) one.– G Joe Toledo (foot), T Anthony Alabi (knee) and CB Andre Goodman (shoulder) are out;"
"DT Keith Traylor (knee) is watching on the side. RB Patrick Cobbs (groin) is back and is the third-team tailback;– Starting defense:FIRST TEAM (NICKEL)S Yeremiah Bell, S Renaldo Hill, CB Travis Daniels, CB Will Allen, CB Jason Allen, LB Zach Thomas, LB Joey Porter, DE Matt Roth, DT Vonnie Holliday, DT Rodrique Wright, DE Jason Taylor"
I’m glad to see Roth starting as well as Wright. I really like Roth and I think that if he can get more playing time he will only get better.
"– Ginn appears to be limping on his left foot, the one that he sprained. That doesn’t mean he’s still hurt. When you sprain anything, you lose a lot of strength in that area. It takes some time to get it back up to full strength;– They are working on punt returns now. Ginn, Az Hakim, Lorenzo Booker, Marty Booker, Travis Daniels, Kelly Campbell, and Chris Chambers field them in that order"
Not thrilled with the Ginn news. Let’s hope it is just what Bedard said and NOT more complications.
"– Somebody asked about Wright practicing with the first team. That is not unexpected because the starter, Keith Traylor, is getting his usual rest;– Toledo’s right foot is in a boot;"
Interesting but not surprising. I really was hoping to see more activity this year from Toledo. He was promising, but if he is going to be injured all the time, the Dolphins need to start looking for someone who can play.
"– Culpepper just walked off the field – waving. Looks like he’s on his way out;– Updating that previous note, Culpepper was escorted off the field by Stu Weinstein, the team’s head of security. That usually means something has transpired. A Dolphins spokesman said he hasn’t been told anything;– The Dolphins are in 7-on-7 drills. Most of the passes by the quarterbacks have been dump offs, but all three QBs: Lemon, Green and Beck have looked sharp;– They are now in 11-on-11.Lemon fumbled his first snap. That’s not a good omen."
Dump off passes. We saw a lot of those last year, Lemon fumbling is only going to pave the way for Green to move up quicker if it continues.
"First team offense is struggling a bit. We had a couple of Brown runs, a dump off to Brown and then a sack of Lemon.– Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said Culpepper needed to get into the locker room, which is locked during practice, so that’s why Weinstein accompanied him off the field. Greene couldn’t explain why Culpepper has yet to return to the field;"
That makes little sense in terms of what Greene is saying. Daunte would not have played the “wave” game to the media if he was just getting into the locker-room. My guess is that what he “needed” to get, was his things.
"– Seems like the Dolphins are really sticking to the basics as far as playcalling in this practice. A lot of runs and short passes;– Mormino and Satele just got worked over by Holliday and Traylor, leading to a sack/bad throwaway by Lemon. Of course, that happens to a lot of players with more experience than two rookies;– First big play: Green just hit Chambers on a perfect 35-yard fly pattern down the right sideline over Jason Allen. Great pass by Green. Better catch by Chambers"
Love the Green information. John Clayton had reported that Green looked very good in his last OTA with the Chiefs. Hope someone got this on video so we can see just how good it actually looked.
"– Rodrique Wright, Soilai, Evans and Abe Wright seem to be the second-team defensive line– Practice just broke. Now it’s time to see where the Culpepper circus is right now. That situation made this practice a little hectic (plus it was boring). Hopefully this afternoon I’ll be able to get more specific on performance. But overall I thought everybody looked pretty good. Ginn’s obviously is very early in his comeback."
We will be back with the live updates as they occur. Look for the Blog titled “MINI – CAMP: Afternoon updates.”
All in all, it is hard to assertain the progress of any player given that we are only viewing snippets of someone elses point of view. In the end, we will have to wait until the coaches address the media and give us their thoughts, as well as viewing video footage of the practice when it becomes available.
Here are some notes from Alex Marvez from the Sun-Sentinel who is also observing practice.
"Trent Green worked as the fourth quarterback in an 11-on-11 drill behind Cleo Lemon, John Beck and Gibran Hamdan. On his second attempt, Green lofted a pass to wide receiver Chris Chambers over cornerback Jason Allen for what was roughly a 30-yard completion."
"Between handoffs, Green completed a swing pass to fullback Corey Schlesinger and had a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage.The first play of nine-on-nine drills didn’t go well, with Lemon fumbling a snap from Samson Satele. Lemon is working with the first-team offense, which is understandable considering Green has just arrived and isn’t as familiar with the club’s offense.Middle linebacker Zach Thomas was held out of this drill, with Derrick Pope taking his place with the first-team defense.Nose tackle Keith Traylor returned to practice today after undergoing minor ankle surgery in April. Traylor worked with the starters but will likely be limited during the remainder of the minicamp to prevent excess wear and tear on the 38-year-old’s legs."
In contrast to what Greg Bedard said in regards to Ginn, Alex Marvez said this:
"“The Dolphins didn’t wait long before making Ted Ginn Jr. their first-string punt returner.In his first Dolphins minicamp practice, Ginn was the first player to field a punt during a coverage drill. Ginn isn’t running with a limp but from my vantage point couldn’t tell whether the team’s first-round pick is already back at full speed after needing most of this year to recover from a sprained foot suffered while playing for Ohio State.”"