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Dolphins 2009 Training Camp: Day 6 - Fri, Aug 7th |  | ||||||||
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Injury Reports | Future Schedule | My Comments | Related Links TODAY'S SUMMARY: The Dolphins held a single afternoon practice on Friday, working out in full pads in the middle of the afternoon Florida heat. Jason Ferguson returned to practice on Friday while Shawn Murphy moved back up the depth chart to work with the starters again. Unfortunately, Murphy's move back up the charts did not work out too well, as he made several mistakes and was beaten on a couple of pass rushes. Donald Thomas also got some reps with the starters at right guard. TE David Martin was not on the field on Friday and safety Ethan Kilmer decided he had had enough and left the team. It's not know what happened to Martin, although he has been recovering from a sports hernia. And Tony McDaniel continues to work with the first team defense in front of Phillip Merling. After working mainly on short yardage situations on Thursday, the Dolphins' offense went to the air on Friday and worked a lot on medium and deep passing routes. TE Anthony Fasano got open on Channing Crowder for one big completion, while Pat Turner beat Sean Smith on another. Other receiver notes - Davone Bess started with the first team offense in place of Greg Camarillo, who worked with the second unit. And Anthony Armstrong failed to beat Joey Thomas for a TD, despite being the target of a good throw by Pat White. TE/WR Ernest Wilford was blown up on two separate occasions by two different linebackers who were rushing the passer. He did recover a little by making some nice catches from Pat White. In addition to working on longer passes, the team did a fair amount of special teams work on Friday, doing kickoffs, punts and field goals. PLAYER NOTES: WR Anthony Armstrong is falling behind in his battle to stay on the roster. He reportedly had some problems on Friday and if he doesn't pick up his performance, he will be back on the practice squad this year. Pat While continues to improve, little by little. He had a very nice throw on Friday that he chucked accurately while running a bootleg. Unfortunately, TE John Nalbone dropped the ball. OL Ikechuku Ndukwe took some reps at tackle on Friday, but was beaten repeatedly and looked as out of place as he was. The poor reports about Wilford continue to roll in.
Very little of interest changed the status of any of the roster battles. The two rookie cornerbacks continue to play well behind Eric Green, but Green continues to work with the starters. OL Shawn Murphy did move back in the starting lineup with Joe Berger moving back to center behind Jake Grove, but Donald Thomas is getting increased playing time, some of it with the starters. Perhaps the most unexpected battle is that of the starting right defensive end as Tony McDaniel is getting a lot of reps with the starters while Phillip Merling is spending more time with the second team.
S Ethan Kilmer left the team. There was no word on why he left.
Matt Roth continues to do conditioning work, while TE David Martin missed practice, apparently with a stomach virus of some kind.
The Dolphins will hold a short practice on Sunday morning, followed by a "stand-up" scrimmage in the afternoon. From what I understand, a "stand-up" scrimmage is one where players try not to knock each other down. Presumably, this will reduce injuries. It is also a pretty far cry from a real game.
I think it's important to remember at this point in training camp that what you see is not necessarily what you get. For example, CB Eric Green has been almost universally panned by the media for all the mistakes he's made and there have been very few reports of any good plays by him. Nevertheless, he continues to take every snap with the starters on defense ahead of Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Coach Sparano has been complimentary of Green, saying that the coaching staff has seen a lot of good things from him. Now, all this doesn't mean that Green is the permanent starter, but it does mean that the people who are reporting on the practices are not seeing everything that is going on. A lot of the observers have heard bad things about Green and expect him to do poorly, so they see the bad things that he does. And a lot of folks want Vontae Davis to succeed, so they see the good things that he does. In other words, all the observers of training camp are biased in some way - including me, who hasn't actually laid eyes on a real training camp practice in years. So just take all the training camp reports you read with at least a grain of salt and remember that the coaching staff gets a lot closer looks at these players than a reporter sitting on the field who can only watch one thing at a time.
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