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Dolphins 2009 Training Camp: Day 11 - Thu, Aug 13th |  | ||||||||
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Injury Reports | Future Schedule | My Comments | Related Links TODAY'S SUMMARY: The Dolphins held a single practice on Thursday in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts. The practice started at 3 PM outside, but moved inside later due to the threat of lightning. It included some very competitive team drills as the practice focused more on team competition than usual, presumably in preparation for the first pre-season game next week. The starting lineup remained the same on Thursday as it has been all week, with Shawn Murphy, Sean Smith and Randy Starks taking the first reps with the first team. Donald Thomas, however, continues to get increasing reps with the first string and is playing better each practice. During team third down drills, Chad Pennington put on a clinic on how to get it done, converting 4 of 5 third down situations. He completed 2 passes to Davone Bess, one to Greg Camarillo and one to Ronnie Brown. On the only failed conversion, he slipped and fell for a sack. Chad Henne, on the other hand, had trouble with his 2 minute drill, completing only 2 of 8 passes. Henne has apparently been having trouble with redzone and two minute situations. The problem seems to be that he is trying too hard to create plays by forcing the ball rather than taking was is available. Hopefully, experience can help him move beyond these problems. Pat White reportedly had one of his best practices in training camp, hitting more throws and making more good decisions than he has in previous sessions. He did make a couple of poor throws, but overall it was a positive practice for White. On the other side of the ball, the defense did a lot of work on blitzing, especially up the middle. They had a lot of success with these blitzes, with Reggie Torbor, Nathan Jones, Yeremiah Bell, Erik Walden and Cameron Wake all picking up sacks today. In special teams work, there was a kicking duel in the bubble during practice with newcomer Connor Barth beating Dan Carpenter 2-0 in kicks from outside 40 yards. This is not good news for Carpenter, who won the job last year in similar circumstances. Highlights of the day included Ted Ginn smoking Sean Smith for a big gain down the sideline on a pass from Chad Pennington and Ricky Williams busting a big run outside against the second team. The lowlights were Chad Henne trying to force the ball into tight coverage when there were open receivers elsewhere on the field and Pat White overthrowing newcomer James Robinson for a pick by Tyrone Culver. Ted Ginn had been relatively the past few days, but made several big plays on Thursday, showing his speed, leaping ability and soft hands. On the other hand, he continues to have trouble fielding punts and dropped another one during this practice. Jason Allen was singled out for attention during this practice as extra passes were directed his way to test his coverage skills. Coach Sparano has said recently that he does this deliberately to test the defensive backs. The results were inconclusive, with Allen doing well in some cases, but not so well in others. It seems pretty clear that Allen's future with the team may be decided in the next couple of weeks.
All of a sudden, there is a battle for the kicker's job. Dan Carpenter won the first round on Wednesday, but Barth took today's contest. It may be that the team just wants to light a fire under Carpenter, who has not been having a great camp. But it seems more likely that there is a genuine contest going on here and Carpenter could lose his job if he doesn't step up. Nothing else that happened on Thursday seems to have made any difference in the roster battles at right defensive end, cornerback or right guard.
None on Thursday.
Matt Roth continues to stand on the sideline with no real news about when he might return.
The Dolphins have two practices on Friday, one on Saturday and a walk-through on Sunday in preparation for Monday night's first pre-season game.
There has been no movement on the depth chart this week and that is probably because the coaches are preparing for the first pre-season game and want to establish some stability in the lineup. The depth chart that we see right now is probably the one that will in place on Monday night when the Dolphins face the Jaguars. Tuesday, after the game, the coaches will make their next changes to the depth chart. Until then, things will probably not change much.
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