Training Camp Updates For Wednesday

The Miami Dolphins are in full swing now so some updates are needed.  Will do this the same as the few before.  I will be out of town all of next week starting Saturday and I have no idea if I will have internet capability so check back and see sometime Sunday or Monday for a “I HAVE INTERNET” post.

There was no morning practice today so on the second page I have given you portions of the Tony Sparano presser.  From Omar Kelly of course.

The Dolphins reported today that they have indeed released WR Brennan Marion due to his ACL injury.  The Phins have no immediate plans to sign another WR…which makes sense because they have enough already.

Couple of things as well.  1st, if you would like to write for this site as a contributor, please contact me through this website and let me know.  I would like to add a writer or two for the upcoming season.  It’s not paid but you will get read and it is a lot of fun.

2:  If you haven’t read this article on the Sun-Sentinel you should.  It’s about Don Shula, 79, spent part of his summer in Afhganistan.  Good read.

3:  While I’m on the subject, my brother Jim left for Iraq this morning, please say a little prayer for his safety and of course to all our service men and women as well.  Be safe Jim!!!

4:  I have one spot vacant in a fantasy football league that has an entry fee of 20 bucks.  The draft is the week before the season starts, it’s a live draft.  Email me if you are interested in joining that league.

Now to the updates:

Some highlights from Dolphins coach Tony Sparano’s daily press briefing:

() Says OLB Matt Roth will return to do some conditioning work today and that tests on his groin showed that injury to be “insignificant.” Says he still believes illness was the main reason Roth failed the team’s conditioning test on Sunday. But still no timetable on when he can return to full practicing. Says Jason Taylor has 72 repetitions so far in practice and he is “really feeling comfortable” with how Taylor looks so far at the strong-side linebacker spot.

() Rookie sixth-rounder Andrew Gardner leads the team with 103 reps so far, with fellow rookie lineman Mark Lewis second at 102. Says the better you do, the more reps you tend to get as the staff tries to sort things out.

() Says Brandon London has started to “flash” at him. Says the same about two rookie receivers, Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline, but says until the installs slow down next week we really won’t start to see them “play at full speed” yet. “Right now they’re kind of feeling their way through this thing.”

() Says WR Brennan Marion, an undrafted rookie out of Tulsa, was waived/injured after suffering a second tear of the ACL he had repaired last winter. Another team has 24 hours to claim him or else he will remain on the Dolphins IR for the entire season. The Dolphins could either give him an injury settlement or rehab him all season. Sparano said that won’t necessarily change the way the team handles Greg Camarillo’s return from his torn ACL, which was repaired about a month earlier than Marion’s.

“Marion was not here as long, not under the same kind of rehab,” Sparano said. “He was good to go, certainly ready to go out there and it just happens. We kind of got to let the knee tell us what’s happening. I don’t really want Greg to do that. You can’t go out there coming off an ACL like Ronnie last year with that group of players and go out and play scared or play timid. That’s a hard thing to do especially at that position. I think we have to let the knee tell us. We’re very well prepared for if we see Greg feeling any kind of soreness or anything like that to back off him but he’s been very good about that.”

() Says there is no pressure or rush to sign another receiver to take Marion’s place at this point as the camp is moving into a phase where it won’t need as many receivers to get through the drills. Roster is at 79. Edward Williams, ex-Ravens practice squadder, worked out Tuesday and there may be more to come, but that doesn’t sound like a priority.

() Says he hopes to get more out of Channing Crowder in a variety of ways in his second season as the Mike LB: “I really hope that channing is able to take the next step in the defensive process as a Mike linebacker. To me that would be first of all from a mental standpoint. He’s an extremely smart guy, he really is. You’re looking at a guy who’s learned several systems over the last few years. He understands this system I would say as well as anybody does on that side of the ball. You would hope that leads to him playing a little faster, making a few more impact plays. I think Channing enjoys having that kind of pressure on him. That’s really what we’d like. He makes an awful lot of tackles out there. We’d hope to get a few more balls knocked out of there, those type of things. The other thing with him is leadership. I’d like to see him take the next step in that process. He’s a young enough player that that should start to happen now and he should become a little more of a leader out there on the defensive side of the ball. You want your Mike linebacker to be that guy. He is that guy in the huddle. I mean, when Channing talks, they listen. I’d like to see him take a little more of that responsibility on too. “

Check back here around 5 p.m. for Omar’s full report on the afternoon practice.