Miami Dolphins Training Camp Day 7: OL

As training camp hits its seventh day, the Miami Dolphins are faced with several issues. One of which remains the offensive line.

Branden Albert and Dallas Thomas are injured, the left and right guard positions remains in flux, and the offensive line in general has been dominated by the defensive line. But with a scrimmage on the horizon, the Dolphins didn’t go full bore into today’s practices and drills.

Without full pads, the line wasn’t tested all that much. Not in the way it would be if the full pads were adorned. Though it is interesting to note that there hasn’t been much change in the starting guards either.

Jamil Douglas split time with Jeff Linkenbach at left guard while Billy Turner got the lion share of right guard reps today. Turner had a rough practice yesterday, but has managed to impress during drills throughout camp. Now he just needs to work on his overall game.

The biggest news came before practice as general manager Dennis Hickey spoke to the Joe Rose Show. He made some interesting comments about the offensive line. Let’s itemize some of the more pertinent statements.

It’s good to hear Albert is still progressing and with his rehab over, the left tackle has completed another phase on his road to recovery. This is all good news as the Dolphins sorely need Albert with the two guard positions uncertain.

Of course the guards have a lot to improve on, they’re young and going up against some dominating bodies across the line. It would be interesting to find out what the brass considers encouraging and are those aspects enough to keep the likes of Turner, Douglas, and Thomas in the mix for the starting roles without outside help.

This seems like a positive thing. Obviously it’s better than Thomas being sidelined for a while with the injury. But day-to-day issues are a fickle mistress. One moment the injury is minor, the next it’ll take two or three months. So, right now, nothing seems disastrous with Thomas.

A relatively quiet day, the key points to take away are that Douglas is now getting more reps. With this extra time he should close the gap on Thomas or even surpass him on the depth chart, depending on the length of Thomas’ absence.

Albert is recovering and Thomas shouldn’t be gone long-term. Both good news.

And there will be plenty more to discuss after tomorrow’s scrimmage at Florida International University’s Ocean Bank Field at 7 p.m.