Camp Dolphins Day 2

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5897

Camp Dolphins Day 2 - Pre-Practice Notes

July 27, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special to MiamiDolphins.com

While his two practice fields underwent a manicure, Tony Sparano stepped to the microphone this morning to address the media with much less news than yesterday.

Contrary to the opening day of training camp for the first-year head coach, when there was more than enough news to dispense in the form of roster moves, rookie draft choices signing multi-year contracts and injury updates, this session was more about Xs and Os. The only two health issues to address involved two offensive linemen – 11th year veteran guard Steve McKinney and rookie guard/tackle Donald Thomas.

McKinney, 32, is coming back from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered last September and Sparano said he was cleared but his progression is a little bit slower than some of the other players coming off of knee injuries.

"We rehabbed him in the afternoon practice (yesterday) and practiced him in the morning so he'll practice out here again today," Sparano said.

Thomas just experienced cramps and Sparano said he's fine.

After he got that out of the way, Sparano fielded questions on specific players like rookie defensive end Philip Merling, converted outside linebacker Quentin Moses, rookie first-round draft pick and starting left tackle Jake Long, offensive guard Trey Darilek and position battles at tight end, fullback and quarterback.

He also talked about the message he is trying to deliver to the team and how rookie quarterback Chad Henne is going about making up ground for the one practice and two sets of team meetings he missed while he and his agent hammered out his contract with the team.

"I was pleased with him yesterday," Sparano said. "He came out to practice and he didn't have the first install but when he came out he was up obviously out here yesterday did a pretty nice job with the practice schedule. But he did have to go back and he did have to take a look obviously with David Lee and with Dan at what we did in the early practice, and I'm sure he spent some time last night that way. Getting him in when we got him in, that was important for us, and getting him here now, he didn't really lose that much time."

As for this afternoon's practice, Sparano indicated that Henne and John Beck will be the two quarterbacks up with the first unit as he continues to rotate among those two and seventh-year veteran Josh McCown.

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/sunday-press-co.html

Sunday press conference with Tony Sparano

Coach Tony Sparano just got done speaking to the media. The highlights:

The coach explained that veteran guard Steve McKinney didn't practice Saturday afternoon because that is how the team will bring him along as he continues to recover from his knee surgery. He will practice in the daily practices when the team has only one session. But on days the team is doing two sessions, he will workout only the morning.

"He was the furtherest away, the most recent knee injury if you will, that we had," Sparano said. "He was cleared but his progression was a little bit slower. He'll rehab in the afternoon and practice in the morning. He'll practice again today."

A couple of you took exception to me dismissing newly signed receiver Anthony Armstrong as the answer to Miami's receiver issues. Okay, here's what Sparano said about the kid today. I love Anthony Armstrong. He rocks! He is the next coming of Randy Moss!

"The one thing we knew with Anthony is he can run," Sparano said, dismissing the notion the kid uses a walker. "He really can run. So when we had the opportunity and, we're looking for speed, we had the opportunity to bring in a guy with speed and we took a shot on him, brought him in, worked him out, and signed him."

A star is born!

In all seriousness, I think Armstrong is much improved following his Arena League stint as his hands are better than they used to be. But he has to work on the route-running. The speed, as you might guess, is pretty good.

It is interesting that no one really wrote about the first round pick on the first day of camp. That's a good thing because it means Jake Long did not make any disastrous mistake nor embarrass himself.

Sparano on what surprises him about Long so far:

"What surprised me just a little with Jake, I knew his run-blocking ability," Sparano said. "I think we all did. And I knew he could play left tackle. But his feet are really, really good. When he gets out in space, these are the things he does well. He can adjust in space in the second level and those things. If you can find linemen that can play at the second level, it sounds easy, but it's not the case. The second level is not the comfort zone for linemen. When you can find ones that can play at the second level, that will help your team."

Sparano said he was pleased with rookie QB Chad Henne in his first practice, Saturday afternoon after he missed the morning drills. "I was pleased with him yesterday," Sparano said. "...He did a pretty nice job with the practice schedule."

Henne had to review what he missed from the first practice and did that last night. Sparano said John Beck and Henne will get the work today (up) while Josh McCown does not (down).

The tight end job intrigues, not just in the search for a starter but the search for roster spots.

It should concern David Martin that the coaching staff is "getting to know," him according to Sparano while he says they are very familiar with Anthony Fasano, Sean Ryan, and Justin Peelle. Martin? Not so much.

Finally, if you guys live in South Florida and are among the throngs of folks that get one of the three local papers, you probably saw the full-page ad Jason Taylor took out to thank the fans.

Problem is Taylor thanked the folks in The Miami Herald, which circulates in Miami-Dade and Broward, thanked the folks in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which circulates primarily in Broward, but didn't put an ad in The Palm Beach Post, the paper that dominates in Palm Beach County.

Guess he doesn't love his Palm Beach fans as much as the ones in Miami-Dade and Broward.

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/27/live_blog_july_27_training_cam.html

Live Blog — July 27 Training Camp Practice

By Ben Volin | Sunday, July 27, 2008, 01:37 PM

Welcome back to the live blog! Practice starts at 2 p.m., and once again, it is HOT outside (88 degrees with a heat index of 95).

Remember, with this quarterback competition, two quarterbacks will be “up” during practice, and one will be “down.” Today Beck and Henne will take most of the snaps, while McCown will watch from the sidelines.

Same drill today in terms of posting updates. Since I can’t bring my computer out to practice, I’ll be chugging back and forth to give you updates every 20 minutes or so.

Enjoy the action, and feel free to post anything you want me to tell you about — position battles, the quarterbacks, how does Ricky look, is Jayson Foster still my man-crush, etc.

Have a Fin-tastic day!

2:29 p.m.

A few hot reads to get us started:

No surprises during roll call. Steve McKinney sat out last night’s practice with a knee injury but is back out there today. Donald Thomas had a cramp yesterday and is fine. Joey Porter (ankle) stretched with the team today, but isn’t wearing pads and isn’t practicing. Michael Lehan (ankle) also isn’t practicing.

Starting out with some basic position drills. The defensive linemen do a neat one involving a football attached to a long stick. They start in a 3-point stance, the D-Line coach swipes the ball away to simulate a snap, and the linemen tear through the tackling dummies.

Running backs are running through the gauntlet. Ronnie looks a little sluggish, but with his knee and in this heat, that’s not a surprise.

First team O-Line continues to be (L to R): Long, Smiley, Satele, Darilek, Carey. Sparano said this won’t change much for the first few practices.

Ernest Wilford stands out among the receivers — literally. At 6-4, he’s the tallest receiver by a couple of inches. Seeing him stand next to 5-7 Jayson Foster is a hoot. Wilford looks like he’s in great shape, wanting to prove that he can be a No. 1 guy.

Davone Bess continues to show off his great hands, while Foster runs so fast, he has to slow down to wait for the pass to get to him.

Kim Bokamper says yesterday morning’s practice had more contact than any practice during the entire 2007 season. Sparano isn’t messing around.

2:54

John Beck has a beautiful throw to David Kirkus. 50 yards, tight spiral, right on the money down the sideline.
Dolphins break out into a fun offense-defense drill. The right tackles and tight ends go up against the left defensive ends/linebackers, the center and guards match up with the nose tackle and inside linebackers, and the left tackles and tight ends square off against the right defensive ends/linebackers.

Looks like the main function of this drill is for the defenders to practice stunts, so these aren’t straight up 1-on-1s. A few observations:

The left pass rushers (among others): Matt Roth, Titus Brown, Kendall Langford, Randy Starks, Reggie Torbor.

Right pass rushers: Lionel Dotson, Quentin Moses, Phillip Merling, Charlie Anderson.

The middle guys: Jason Ferguson, Channing Crowder, Akin Ayodele.

NT Jason Ferguson looks like an absolute beast. He’s blowing Samson Satele off the ball every time. And Satele is no slouch.

Jake Long takes care of Vonnie Holliday, and had no problem taking care of Phillip Merling, pushing him to the outside. Justin Peelle takes care of Merling, too.

Charlie Anderson, though, tosses Jake to the ground. Welcome to camp, rookie.

Kelly Poppinga might have to eat his meals through a straw after Donald Thomas is done with him.

TE Sean Ryan takes care of Langford, pushing him back several feet.

3:22 p.m.

While the skill players are off doing drills, Vonnie Holliday is working on the far field by himself with D-coordinator Paul Pasqualoni. Vonnie has been a defensive tackle most of his career, but it looks like he’s learning how to play standing up, a la Jason Taylor.

Here is the kickoff coverage unit so far (L to R): Joey Thomas, Ernest Wilford, Reggie Torbor, David Kirkus, Edmond Miles, Jay Feely, Keith Davis, Patrick Cobbs, Rob Ninkovich, Chris Crocker, Nathan Jones.

11-on-11 team drills. John Beck and Chad Henne, today, mixing in with first- and second-teamers.

Beck starts first, and his first snap is a sweep to Ronnie Brown. Brown explodes after the hand-off, cuts the corner, takes it about 10 yards up-field and knocks Will Allen to the ground. Crowd goes wild.

Second play, and Channing Crowder busts through the line to stuff Ricky. With Zach Thomas gone, the Fins really need Crowder to be healthy and productive this year.

Neither quarterback looks great, but defense is always ahead of offense this time of the year.

Vonnie beats Smiley off the ball, and Charlie Anderson blows past Jake Long on the same play, forcing an incomplete from Beck.

Next pass, Beck throws a wounded duck that is easily intercepted by Jason Allen. No receiver within 5 yards of the pass. Not Beck’s finest moment.

Quentin Moses flies around Ikechuku Ndukwe for a sack. Next play, Beck throws another bad pass, a bomb off his back foot that again is almost picked off. He’s had better days.

Henne’s turn. First snap is a fumbled exchange with Ronnie Brown.

Brandon Fields, meanwhile, is killing it on the next field over.

Henne forces a pass over the middle to Jayson Foster in quadruple coverage. Renaldo Hill makes an easy interception.

Ricky makes a nice 10-yard run up the right side, and puts a little hot sauce on his hit on Scorpio Babers after the play. Ricky finishes every run hard.

Henne has a case of happy feet, and Vonnie Holliday sacks him as a result.

Jalen Parmele hits the hole HARD. He was in the secondary in the blink of an eye.

4:34

The Fins are preparing for everything. They spend a good eight minutes practicing safety drills. First the QBs practice taking a snap, turning around and chucking the ball out of their own end zone. Then Brandon Fields practices catching a snap and running out of the back of the end zone.
Want to talk about John Beck here, because he was pretty awful at the end of practice.

Beck has the check-down to Ronnie Brown down cold. Otherwise, he looked terrible today.

In position drills, Beck throws a beautiful spiral. With a pass rush coming after him, every ball is a wounded duck. He’s lucky when they fall incomplete.

He throws a terrible interception to Nathan Jones (his second in two days). The very next play is an interception to Will Allen. Both passes were horrible decisions, with the receiver tightly covered.

Beck would’ve had a third interception, but Nathan Jones isn’t looking and the fade pass hits him in the back.

Beck is throwing off his back foot and doesn’t look comfortable at all. Henne, meanwhile, looks like Roger Staubach compared to Beck. At least he can step up in the pocket and hit David Martin streaking across the middle.

And that should just about do it. Lots of blogging today, thanks to the two-plus hour practice.

Dolphins are back on the field tomorrow at 9 a.m. and have a second practice at 5 p.m. that is in the bubble and closed to the public.

We’ll be doing the same drill tomorrow. See you then …

BV

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/revised-dolphin.html

Revised Dolphins depth chart

Things are moving fast and furious at Dolphins camp, but I'm still working to get that depth chart firmed up. At least this week's version of it.

The challenge is the Dolphins keep showing players the door. Hell, some don't even make it through the first day! And I expect this cleansing cycle to continue throughout the entire season.

Dolphins fans should be pleased with that philosophy because it SHOULD keep plenty of players on edge. I know I work a lot harder when I feel my job is on the line (please buy newspapers and save my business), and coach Tony Sparano said he takes the same approach to his job.

“When you get too secure in your job you probably don’t do your job as well as you should," Sparano said. "As a coach I coach a lot better when I’m on edge, when I’m not settled. The players I feel the same way about.

“If there’s some players out there that maybe are going to be able to help our team, we might have to turn the bottom of this roster," Sparano said Sunday morning. "That’s kind of a work in progress. It depends on what’s out there at the time. If we think a player can come in and help our team that way."

OFFENSE

QB        Josh McCown, John Beck, Chad Henne
RB        Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs, Jalen Parmele, Lex Hilliard
FB       Reagan Mauia, Boomer Grigsby
TE       Anthony Fasano, David Martin, Justin Peelle, Sean Ryan, Aaron Halterman, Matthew Mulligan
LWR     Ernest Wilford, Derek Hagan, Greg Camarillo, Selwyn Lymon, John Dunlap
RWR     Ted Ginn Jr., David Kircus, Davone Bess, Jayson Foster, Anthony Armstrong
RT        Vernon Carey, Ikechuku Ndukwe
RG       Trey Darilek, Shawn Murphy, Reuben Riley
C          Samson Satele, Steve McKinney, Matt Spanos
LG        Justin Smiley, Donald Thomas, Mike Byrne
LT        Jake Long, Daren Heerspink

DEFENSE

LDE       Matt Roth, Randy Starks, Kendall Langford, Lionel Dotson
NT         Jason Ferguson, Paul Soliai, Anthony Toribio
RDE      Vonnie Holliday, Phillip Merling, Rodrique Wright
LOLB     Joey Porter (INJURED), Quentin Moses, Junior Glymph, Titus Brown
LILB      Channing Crowder, Edmond Miles, Kelly Poppinga
RILB      Akin Ayodele, Reggie Torbor, Kelvin Smith
ROLB    Charlie Anderson, Rob Ninkovich, Keith Saunders
LCB      Will Allen, Nathan Jones, Joey Thomas, Will Billingsley
RCB      Andre' Goodman, Michael Lehan (INJURED), Travis Daniels, Scorpio Babers
SS        Yeremiah Bell, Courtney Bryan, Keith Davis
FS        Jason Allen, Renaldo Hill, Cris Crocker

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK        Jay Feely, Dan Carpenter
P          Brandon Fields
LS        John Denney

Come back later today for a wrap up of Sunday's practice session.

Deuces

[DolFan619]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2008/07/not-a-great-tim.html

Not a great time for the offense in Sunday's drills

It was so bad that at one point I saw Dolphins offensive line coach Mike Maser simply put his hands on his knees, drop his head and shake it in disgust. That is the snapshot that best describes the performance the Miami offense had during Sunday's practice.

How ugly was it?

John Beck threw three interceptions, including two on consecutive passes. Chad Henne had one interception. Before the end of the practice, all the defensive backs seemed to be smelling blood and they were all jumping routes.

Henne and running back Ronnie Brown didn't get synched up on a handoff and a fumble ensued.

The most effective passing play of the day was the checkdown pass to a running back, either Brown or Ricky Williams.

The defensive linemen generally won their matchups against the offensive linemen. Maser yelled at first-round pick Jake Long once for missing his blocking assignment. And on the next snap, Charlie Anderson beat Long for a sack.

Rookie guard Shawn Murphy also incurred Maser's wrath on a couple of snaps.

The only good things about the day. At least the defense improved. And at least it was only the second day of practice so the offense has time yet to improve.

"If a quarterback had a perfect day every day, we'd all be in the Hall of Fame," Beck said.

Amazingly, at one point Beck said, "As a team we got better today." I assume he was talking about the defense.

On the bright side:

The field goal kicking duel is going well: Incumbent Jay Feely easily connected on his three attempts from 32, 38 and 42 yards. Rookie Dan Carpenter matched him, also going 3-for-3.

The interceptions went to Renaldo Hill off Henne, and Jason Allen and Nathan Jones and Will Allen off Beck.

Brown did run hard and looked good on rushing plays. Jalen Parmalee had the most dynamic run, juking everyone in the hole and breaking off what would have been a TD on a run up the middle.

Long did have moments when he shined. He managed a stalemate with Vonnie Holliday in one one-on-one drill and beat Phillip Merling on another.

[DolFan619]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2008/07/tough-day-for-d.html

Tough day for Dolphins QBs

It was a grand day for the Dolphins young defense Sunday, and a horrid day for quarterbacks John Beck and Chad Henne.

Beck and Henne struggled in the 11-on-11 team drills, particularly Beck who threw three interceptions, including back-to-back picks to CB Nathan Jones and CB Will Allen, as well as a wounded duck that SS Jason Allen picked off in his first series.

In Henne’s first full day running the first two offenses he seemed indecisive and slow in the pocket, leading to several sacks by DE Vonnie Holliday and DT Jason Ferguson. Henne was easily intercepted by FS Renaldo Hill.

One bright spot on offense was the play of the running backs, including Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams and rookie Jalen Parmalee, who all have shown the ability to accelerate in traffic. A play after Brown fumbled on a handoff with Henne, he cut off tackle on the next play behind TE Anthony Fasano for a long gainer, eliciting a rousing ovation from the sun-baked peanut gallery.

A few seconds later, Williams finished off a dash up the middle by throwing a vicious elbow at rookie CB Scorpio Babers.

Defensively, the two players pegged to replace the 11 sacks by Jason Taylor last year – Charlie Anderson and Quentin Moses – excelled in the pass rush, as they took turns sacking Beck and Henne. They beat converted guard Ikechuku Ndukwe a few times, as well as LT Jake Long, the No. 1 draft pick who has a history of problems dealing with speed rushers off the edges.

Coach Tony Sparano, sounding just like Tony Soprano the fictional television mafia boss when he said he told his team before Sunday’s practice that he likes, “tough guys.’’ “One of the ways you make this team is if you’re a tough guy,’’ he said.

On Sunday, the tough guys were wearing green jerseys on defense.

DE Randy Starks played well when he wasn't leaning on his helmet feeling the effects of the heat. ... OLB Joey Porter is still running sprints by himself and shows no signs of an ankle injury. ... CB Michael Lehan (ankle) spent more time tossing around a medicine ball than a football. ... DE Rod Wright was getting beat consistently in one-on-one drills, and DT Jason Ferguson dominated C Samson Satele, however Satele held his own against DT Paul Soliai. No surprises there. ... With no one covering him WR David Kircus made a circus-like one-handed catch on a long heave by Beck. ...

FBs Reagan Mauia and Boomer Grigsby are alternating with the first team in what should be a heavyweight battle for the job. The loser will most likely get whacked by Sparano. ... In the TE logjam, it seems obvious that the former Dallas regime favor Anthony Fasano with David Martin expected to be the backup. Justin Peelle, who Sparano liked when he was evaluating him for the draft in 2002, will probably edge Sean Ryan for a roster spot.

If any of you guys was at practice today, what did you think of the play of the quarterbacks? And be gentle, it's only the second day of training camp.

> Posted by hfialkov at 5:00:39 PM

[Jim Gray]

On the bright side:

The field goal kicking duel is going well: Incumbent Jay Feely easily connected on his three attempts from 32, 38 and 42 yards. Rookie Dan Carpenter matched him, also going 3-for-3.

Is the silver lining really our field goal kicking?  Oh boy.   

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5901

Camp Dolphins Day 2 - Moses, Anderson Do Know 'Jack'; Sparano Talks Football; Other Notes

July 27, 2008
   
By Andy Kent
Special for MiamiDolphins.com

Next to the quarterback position and which of the three men battling for the starting job will emerge victorious, perhaps the most intriguing competition in Dolphins training camp is taking place at the outside "Jack" linebacker spot opposite Joey Porter. The departure of six-time Pro Bowler Jason Taylor via trade to the Washington Redskins last week opened the door for second-year defensive end Quentin Moses and fifth-year free agent linebacker Charlie Anderson.

Moses, 24, comes in with a chip on his shoulder as he tries to prove that both the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals made a mistake by cutting him loose last year when he was a rookie. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound pass rushing specialist was drafted by the Raiders in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of the University of Georgia after compiling 25 sacks over four years and being All-Southeastern Conference as a senior.

Oakland released Moses at the end of training camp, claimed off waivers by Arizona on in mid-October, released again and then signed by the Dolphins as a free agent shortly thereafter, ending the season with 1.5 sacks as his playing time increased near the end. Now he's auditioning for another new head coach in Tony Sparano and a new defensive coordinator in Paul Pasqualoni, and he has already caught the eye of Sparano with his speed and quickness off the edge.

"I've seen Quentin turn the corner a few times and that's what you look for in a rusher. The good rushers they can turn the corner," Sparano said before this afternoon's lone practice. "They can get small when they turn the corner that way and create havoc for a tackle. It's real hard when you can bend like that for that tackle to get his hands on you and turn the edge that way. It shortens the pocket for the quarterback tremendously. I see that in Quentin a little bit. He does a good job with his hands. I see a little bit of burst right now. It's still early to tell with him. We need to see it in games and we need to see it out there certainly a lot more. I like what I see so far."

On a number of different occasions during team drills and pass rushing skills today, Moses exhibited that speed and ability to turn the corner from both the left and the right side. He blew right by left tackle Ikechuku Ndukwe on one play for what would have been an easy sack had be been allowed to make contact with the quarterback, and from the other side of the line when he was lined up on tight end Aaron Halterman, Moses showed his strength by pushing Halterman back into the pocket and right into the quarterback.

Although he was able to accomplish all of the above standing up as opposed to keeping a hand down like he would from the defensive end position, Moses still realizes he has a lot to learn in his conversion from end to outside linebacker. An important asset for a player at his position is being able to drop into pass coverage and not be exploited by a running back coming out of the backfield or a slick tight end.

"Just learning how to keep your knees bent and being upright is the toughest part of the transition," said Moses, who really made his mark in college as a junior when he had 11.5 sacks. "It's easy to stay low and come off hard when you're in a three-point stance because you're already low and you're just staying low, but when you're standing up then you've go to transition into getting your knees bent and take on the blocks.

"It's a lot different but there are also a lot of similarities between both positions. You get an opportunity to see the ball because you're standing up and watching the ball so you get a better jump on the ball, so that's a plus, but I've been playing down and there's a difference trying to stand up and take on blocks differently while rushing the passer."

Anderson, 26, was a special teams maven for the Houston Texans but managed to start five games at linebacker last season and recorded two sacks, 24 tackles and one pass defensed. He considers his pass coverage skills to be his strength and after Taylor was traded he felt that gave him the inside track on the starting job.

In Miami's projected 3-4 defense, Anderson believes the outside linebacker position fits him well and that he's naturally built for, especially with the balance he brings to both aspects of the position – pass rushing and pass coverage. The coaching staff has been working with him and getting him prepared for the demands of the job, and Sparano has been equally impressed with Anderson as he has with Moses.

"With Charlie, I see him in the practices, I see him turn the corner a few times, I see explosiveness, I see him use his hands really well," Sparano said. "Yesterday (Saturday) he was in a pass rash situation versus the fullback who was a big guy. You have to win those matchups, because the outside linebackers in what we do are going to get on backs once in a while. And we've got to be able to win those matchups and Charlie won his matchup yesterday. Every day he does something that stands out, that impresses us and shows us that he's one step closer."

TALKING X'S AND O'S WITH SPARANO: While his two practice fields underwent a manicure, Sparano stepped to the microphone this morning to address the media with much less news than yesterday.

Contrary to the opening day of training camp for the first-year head coach, when there was more than enough news to dispense in the form of roster moves, rookie draft choices signing multi-year contracts and injury updates, this session was more about Xs and Os. The only two health issues to address involved two offensive linemen – 11th year veteran guard Steve McKinney and rookie guard/tackle Donald Thomas.

McKinney, 32, is coming back from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered last September and Sparano said he was cleared but his progression is a little bit slower than some of the other players coming off of knee injuries. He has been cleared medically and practiced today after sitting out the afternoon session on Saturday to do rehab work, which Sparano indicated will be the pattern early on – one practice on and one practice off.

Thomas just experienced cramps and Sparano said he's fine.

After he got that out of the way, Sparano fielded questions on specific players like rookie defensive end Philip Merling, converted outside linebacker Quentin Moses, rookie first-round draft pick and starting left tackle Jake Long, offensive guard Trey Darilek and position battles at tight end, fullback and quarterback.

He also talked about the message he is trying to deliver to the team and how rookie quarterback Chad Henne is going about making up ground for the one practice and two sets of team meetings he missed while he and his agent hammered out his contract with the team.

"I was pleased with him yesterday," Sparano said. "He came out to practice and he didn't have the first install but when he came out he was up obviously out here yesterday did a pretty nice job with the practice schedule. But he did have to go back and he did have to take a look obviously with David Lee and with Dan at what we did in the early practice, and I'm sure he spent some time last night that way. Getting him in when we got him in, that was important for us, and getting him here now, he didn't really lose that much time."

DBS HAVE A FEAST: Henne and second-year quarterback John Beck were given the opportunity to rotate series today while seventh-year veteran Josh McCown threw in individual drills. With the pressure ratcheted up both from the defensive line and linebackers as well as the buzzer timed to go off around three seconds after the ball is snapped, life was difficult for the Henne and Beck.

In contrast, the defensive backs were the beneficiaries to the tune of four interceptions, three thrown by Beck and one by Henne. Cornerbacks Will Allen and Nate Jones and safeties Renaldo Hill and Jason Allen came up with the errant throws, with Jason Allen's coming off of a ball that slipped out of Beck's hand deep down the middle.

"I was fine holding onto the ball the whole day, it was just that one," Beck said. "Personally it wasn't the best practice, but now it's time to go back on film and learn from it. It's hard to have a ball go and slip out when that one throw can be very important. Sometimes you don't really hear the buzzer because you're going through your progressions, so I would say during 7-on-7s is the only time you hear it."

Will Allen avoided the question about whether or not Beck was telegraphing his throws, but he just reiterated how normally during training camp the defense tends to be a little ahead of the offense.

"We had a good practice today. I expect the offense to come back out tomorrow and fight just the way they did the other day. I'm sure they'll come back ready to play tomorrow."

PORTER AND LEHAN STILL OUT: Linebacker Joey Porter (ankle) and cornerback Michael Lehan (ankle) were the only two players who did not participate in practice. Allen is on the Physically Unable to Perform list as he continues his rehab and Porter was placed on the Active/NFI (non-football injury) list since he tweaked the ankle running on his own last week.

DOLPHINS TIDBITS: The loudest cheers from the crowd of 1,700 on hand for the afternoon practice came when wide receiver David Kircus made an acrobatic diving catch near the 15-yard line of a deep ball thrown by Beck during passing drills. There were no defensive backs covering on the play, but the fact that Kircus held onto the ball after hitting the ground and rolling over was impressive nonetheless. … For the second straight day, running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams looked good hitting the holes, bouncing off of tacklers and showing off some speed. At the end of one play, Williams dipped his shoulder and knocked cornerback Scorpio Babers back a couple of yards, and Brown made a few nice catches out of the backfield and even exhibited some blocking skills when he picked up defensive end Lionel Dotson rushing up the middle. … Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman was on hand watching practice and said hello to offensive coordinator Dan Henning as he walked off the field.

THEY SAID IT ...(DE Phillip Merling on the situation at defensive end and the opportunity to come in and play right away) - " I don't know about starting or anything like that. I just know if I keep working hard out there and making plays I'll be able to get on the field this year. That's what I'm working hard to do."

(RB Ricky Williams on competing with Ronnie Brown in training camp) - "It will be a challenge to get out there and compete. When the dust settles, hopefully people will be pleasantly surprised."

(T Jake Long on what he sees in Charlie Anderson that he didn't see on the college level) - "His speed. He's got a great first burst off the ball and if you don't get back, he can beat you on the edge. And then there are his hands. He's got such quick hands. You throw a punch at him and if you don't get your hands in there he'll swat them down and take you around edge; so definitely his speed and his quick hands."

[Sunstroke]

(T Jake Long on what he sees in Charlie Anderson that he didn't see on the college level) - "His speed. He's got a great first burst off the ball and if you don't get back, he can beat you on the edge. And then there are his hands. He's got such quick hands. You throw a punch at him and if you don't get your hands in there he'll swat them down and take you around edge; so definitely his speed and his quick hands."[/i]

If Charlie Anderson is making Jake think about the speed differential, just wait for the first time he has to face Dwight Freeney or Elvis Dumervil, or one of the other light-speed edge guys out there.

[dolfan13]

^^^ its always been the issue with jake... does he have the footwork, and lower body agility to deal with speed guys on the edge pass-blocking in space? really boils down to the key issue in differentiating a lt and rt. it also shows why its soooo hard to find a good lt, and why they demand so much money on the market. it's going to take time but hopefully he can develop.

[Sunstroke]

I think Jake will be fine, and was just saying something nice about his teammate there...but I do wonder how he will handle the elite speed rushers.