News, Notes, & Practice

Final Update

(Huge fight broke out today)

So today is the last day of training camp updates as after today, practices will be closed to the public and the media.  In fact, after this Saturday’s game, the Miami Dolphins will break training camp for good.  You know the drill with picking up the updates.  Watch the top and click continue.

Some site news for you as well, be sure to check out the “Phinphanatic Banner Contest” by clicking the link and then make sure you cast your vote for the JT replacement as well.  The top 3 vote getters will have a 2 day vote off and the victor will become the replacement for JT.  You can vote here.

Also, you may want to get a really good look at the entire NFL or maybe just the AFC East predictions for this year, written by the entire FSB Network.  You can find those 32 previews exclusively on Yardbarker.com.  Simply click the YB/FSB Preview link and enjoy.  You can find the Dolphins here.11:06

Last update. They finished with 11-on-11 drills, but everyone in the media is still buzzing about that brawl.

• I missed the beginning of the Team Drills, but Edgar said Pennington and Henne were mostly working on short throws and running plays.
• McCown takes a few more snaps.
• Throws a playaction incomplete to Jayson Foster, and then another incompletion on a playaction bomb to Kircus. Covering on the play: Will Allen. Don’t see any conversing between the players.
• McCown misses his first three passes, and finally hits Justin Peelle on a crossing pattern.
• Beck takes a few snaps. A couple of short throws, and then he ends the day with an incompletion to Anthony Armstrong over the middle, thrown into triple coverage.

The team huddles up at midfield, and gets an extra long speech from Sparano.

As the team breaks up and heads to the locker room, Sparano keeps the veterans on the field for another speech — Channing, Matt Roth, Ricky, Ronnie, Will Allen, pretty much anyone who was on the team last year.

Will Allen and David Kircus don’t go near each other as they walk off the field. In fact, Kircus is the very last player to leave the field.

And that just about wraps ‘er up. Talk about some unexpected fireworks. Between the fight, and Joey Thomas taking several shots at some offensive players, these guys look like they’re getting restless.

10:32

Finally, some action. But not the kind you would expect.

A BIG fight breaks out during 11-on-11 drills. I don’t see how it starts, but then all of a sudden I see Will Allen on top of David Kircus, wildly throwing punches. The entire team rushes over and a big scrum ensues. Guys pulling guys out of the fray, bodies flying. It’s over within a minute, and they quickly return to practice.

Minutes later, Tony Sparano has a little private conversation with Will Allen. Wish I could read lips.

OK, team drills. Before the fight:

• Pennington goes first, and his first pass is a quick out to Ernest Wilford that is intercepted by Mr. Allen himself.
• But Pennington comes back nicely on the next pass, hitting Ginn on a deep fade.
• Henne also throws an interception on his first pass. Renaldo Hill picks off a pass intended for Greg Camarillo. Hill likely needs to keep coming up with big plays to make the roster.
• And like Pennington, Henne comes back on his next throw with a nice pass to Davone Bess on a deep out.
• McCown gets in, and throws two quick outs to Sean Ryan, a slant to Anthony Armstrong and a deep touchdown to Selwyn Lymon over Jason Allen.
• McCown throws another quick out to Sean Ryan, but Joey Thomas forgets that it’s training camp and lays a hurtin’ on Ryan, knocking him to the ground and knocking the ball loose.
• The next snap is the big scrum.
• Eventually, they break out into 7-on-7 drills. Pennington takes most of the snaps.
• He hits Wilford on a quick out, and then Kircus makes a nice catch on a throw that was a little high and outside.
• Ted Ginn sees one go right through his hands on a square in.
• Henne ‘s up, and hits Wilford on a quick out.

10:03

Fairly light practice so far. Probably taking it easy, with a game two days away.

• They split out into 11-on-11 drills, but it’s all running plays. And they’re going half speed, so it’s hard to say who is doing well and whatnot.
• All four quarterbacks are taking snaps, though it’s not exactly split equitably. Pennington and Henne take maybe 5-8 snaps, while Beck and McCown take 2-4.
• After about 10 minutes they break out into special teams drills. Brandon Fields is once again practicing onside kicks, along with Dan Carpenter.
• The most entertaining drill of the spring is happening on the other field. The defensive linemen are catching punts from the Juggs machine. Watching these guys try to catch the ball is high comedy. I assume they’re doing this to prepare for pooch kicks this season.
• Matt Roth has the bench hands of the bunch. These are 45-yard punts, and he’s catching them with his fingertips.
• Randy Starks and Kendall Langford? Not so much. Starks has one go right through the bread basket, while Langford takes one in the facemask.
• Phillip Merling has great hands, too. But his throws back to the coaches reveal why he plays defensive line, and not quarterback.
• Vonnie Holliday, meanwhile, is running side to side and doing quick cuts while catching passes from a coach. I doubt we’ll see him much Saturday, but he’s moving well.
• Rod Wright: Doink. Right off his chest.

9:34 a.m.

Nothing big to report yet. A few quick hits to get us started:

• Shorts and shells today.
• Charlie Anderson is back at the field, but still isn’t practicing. He injured his hamstring in Saturday’s game and hasn’t played since then. He was riding the bike at Tuesday morning’s practice, but wasn’t in attendance for the evening practice or yesterday’s session. Now he’s back and riding the bike.
• Joey Porter (back, ankle) is practicing. Michael Lehan (ankle) and Vonnie Holliday (hamstring) are riding the bike.
• The DBs are doing like a backwards crab walk kind of drill. Doesn’t look fun, especially in this heat.
• All four quarterbacks are warming up with the receivers. But I doubt Josh McCown and John Beck will take many reps today. Pennington and Henne likely will receive most of the snaps in Saturday’s game at Jacksonville, and should receive most, if not all, of the practice reps today.