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Dolphins 2009 Training Camp: Day 10 - Wed, Aug 12th |  | ||||||||
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Injury Reports | Future Schedule | My Comments | Related Links The Dolphins held two workouts on Wednesday: a morning practice in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts and a rare night practice at 8 PM in full pads. The night practice was well attended by the fans who are showing a renewed interest in the team after last year's record breaking season. The morning session was devoted largely to special teams work, an area where the Dolphins could use a lot of improvement over last year's performance. Depending on which report you read, the Dolphins spent somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes on special teams during the morning session. The current punt returners are Davone Bess, Ted Ginn, Jr and Chris Williams. Both Ginn and Williams had trouble handling the ball in punt return drills, while Davone Bess continues to be the most consistent punt returner the Dolphins have. Following the special teams drills, the Dolphins had a 25 minute scrimmage, with the usual mixture of good and bad plays. Shawn Murphy continues to trade reps with Donald Thomas at right guard, but the word is that Thomas is improving daily and starting to pancake opposing players, including the defensive starters. On defense, Sean Smith and Randy Starks continue to line up with the starters. Reports indicate that Jason Ferguson has been dominating Jake Grove in the last few practices, but it's unclear if Ferguson is playing harder or Grove is just wearing down in the Florida sunshine. They are giving Ferguson plenty of time off to avoid injuries, while Grove needs more time to learn the system. Highlights during the morning session included interceptions by Gibril Wilson and Tyrone Culver and a nice catch by Greg Camarillo in double coverage. Lowlights were provided mostly by Pat White, who fumbled a snap for the third practice in a row and was sacked three times. The night practice was scheduled by Coach Sparano partly to let the team work under the lights and partly to give the players more time to sleep in. While it seems like a late practice would keep the players up a little later, the reporting time for Thursday morning has been pushed back from 6 AM to 9 AM and players did not have to attend meetings after practice on Wednesday. The night practice was not a scrimmage, as the team worked on individual drills and first and second down situations. They also spent a considerable amount of time on redzone work, which Coach Sparano has said is going to be a priority this summer. The starting lineup remained the same for the late practice, with Sean Smith, Randy Starks, Shawn Murphy and Davone Bess starting at their respective positions. Practice ended early, around 9:25 PM, which can be considered a positive sign that Coach Sparano was pleased with what he saw. The team showed some Wildcat formation plays to the crowd, but apparently had some trouble completing passes from the formation, as the defense was not fooled by a lateral from Ronnie Brown to Chad Pennington. Highlights included a breakaway run by Ronnie Brown that probably would have gone 70 yards if this were a real game, a nice run on a sweep by Patrick Cobb and two stops for losses by rookie LB JD Folsom. Sean Smith also delivered some excellent pass coverage of Ted Ginn on a fade route to the corner of the endzone that fell incomplete. Lowlights were delivered by QB Pat White who threw a pick to CB Nathan Jones when he tried to complete a pass into double coverage. White also ran into a running back when trying to hand off, was sacked and tripped over Shawn Murphy's foot. Rookie tight end John Nalbone has been quietly working his way up the depth chart and improving on a daily basis. He did not have good off-season workouts and struggled at the beginning of camp, but has been making catches in tough situations over the last few practices. At present, it looks as though he is working his way up the depth chart and is now ahead of Ernest Wilford and Joey Haynos. New WR James Robinson is having some trouble catching passes, as his mechanics need refining. He’s a raw talent with good size and tremendous speed, but he was cut by his CFL team for a reason and his ability to catch the ball may be the principal reason. Jason Allen is reportedly trying very hard and giving full effort on every play. That said, he is having trouble in coverage and has dropped down to the third string as a cornerback. He could make the team based on his special teams play, but he seems like a very expensive wedge-buster to keep around.
Eric Green was roasted on one play and blocked out of another, while Vontae Davis was not mentioned at all in reports of the practice. On the other hand, Sean Smith had very close coverage on Ted Ginn on a fade route to the endzone and seems to be on the road to claiming the starting job. Randy Starks continues to start at right defensive end, while Phillip Merling is getting a look on the left side. While this battle is by no means over, Starks appears to be making the most of his opportunity. Shawn Murphy continues to line up with the first team at right guard, but that arrangement now appears to have an expiration date of about two weeks. It seems likely that Murphy will start in the first pre-season game, but with the rate that Donald Thomas is progressing, he could take over by the second game against the Panthers. At wide receiver, Patrick Turner seems to have slowed down a bit, although he did have a nice play on Wednesday. However, it still looks like the only real competition is for the number 6 spot, which Brandon London holding the edge because of his special teams play.
None.
Matt Roth continues to stand on the sideline without pads on. There has been no further word on when he might start practice again. CB Will Allen had a slight groin strain on Monday or Tuesday, but was back with the starting lineup on Wednesday evening. Coach Sparano has said that it is nothing serious. Chad Pennington has had a slight problem with his calf and looked as though he was wearing an electrical stimulation device under some tape on his right leg. That, however, did not prevent him from working out.
The practice on Thursday is at 3 in the afternoon, followed by a normal 2 practice day on Friday. On Saturday morning, practice is scheduled for 10:15 AM and practices after that are not listed, but the team will likely have a light practice on Sunday before the game on Monday night.
The most telling comment in the summary today is the one about the duration of special teams practice. Three different reports from the Herald, Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel report three completely different times for special teams practice in the morning session. While I can understand that they may have different opinions about how players are doing or who is at what position on the depth chart, I don't really understand how they can vary so widely in something as basic as how long special teams practice lasts. I guess the beat reporters for the major newspapers are just as fallible as anyone else. Big surprise. The lesson to take away from this is to not place too much stock in the opinions of anyone who reports on the practices - including me. No one can look into the minds of the coaches or players and see what's going on there, so any pronouncements about what the team will or won't do in the future are pure guesses. Sometimes we guess right, but sometimes we guess wrong. So just remember that nearly everything you read about what the Dolphins are going to do - unless the source is the coaching staff - could be right or wrong. So use your own judgement when you read things about who will make the team or who will be cut. Odds are you will be right as often as any of the reporters who watch the team every day.
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