*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Jul 08, 1998: -- QB Camp III - Day 1 --
The Dolphins opened their third quarterback camp of the season
yesterday, giving the public their first chance to see the new 1998
team with a practice that was open to the public. The practice was
cut short, however, by one of the periodic Florida thunderstorms that
are so common during the summer. Following the thunderstorm, practice
was not resumed due to a small lake that had formed on the field.
During the practice session, the main emphasis was on learning
the new offensive system. As of right now, the players can't conduct
any hitting, so full pads were not worn.
There were plenty of tidbits of news that came out of the
practice session and fortunately none of them were about Lawrence
Phillips. Phillips did participate in the practice, but declined to
talk to the media afterwards, reportedly getting a little irate when
the reporters questioning him wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
Players that looked good during practice included Charles
Jordan, who caught everything thrown his way, including several bombs
and backup fullback Jim Kitts, whom JJ singled out with positive
comments afterwards.
"As far as size, speed and strength, Jim Kitts has as good of
numbers as anyone," Johnson said. "He's an outstanding special-teams
player. I have a lot better feeling about the fullback position now
than I did at the end of last season."
Kitts joined the Dolphins in the middle of last season, having
been signed off the Packers' practice squad. He spent last summer in
the Washington Redskins training camp and was well liked by coach Norv
Turner, who recommended him to JJ.
Kitts also played fullback and linebacker in the Arena
football league for two years and right now occupies the backup
fullback spot behind Stanley Pritchett.
Also singled out was Yatil Green, who had another mixed
practice, although he looked better than he has at any time so far
this spring. Even though he dropped one long pass, he came back
later in the practice to make a very impressive leaping catch over
Patrick Surtain.
Players who missed the practice yesterday because of injury
were WR Jerris McPhail (toe), LB Mike Crawford (pelvis) and QB Damon
Huard (shoulder). Both the Sun-Sentinel and the Herald are reporting
that John Bock also missed practice with an abdominal injury, but I
believe that that is incorrect - it was Brent Smith who had abdominal
surgery last month and he would have missed the practice yesterday,
although no mention is made of him.
Offensive guard Kevin Donnalley also missed practice because
of prior commitments and defensive tackle Tim Bowens sat out because
of his continuing contract negotiations.
On the other hand, punter John Kidd worked out with the team,
even though he doesn't have a contract at this time.
Today, the team was scheduled to work out from 10:30 AM to
12:00 noon and from 7 to 8 PM at Joe Robbie Stadium in conjunction
with the annual "Select-A-Seat" night for fans. This practice is free
and open to the public.
Also, tomorrow, the Dolphins will again work out at their
training facility at Nova University in Davie, Florida from 10:45
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This practice is also open to the public.
In other news, the Dolphins had a workout contest last week
and once again this year, tight end Troy Drayton won the title of
strongest man on the team by bench-pressing 315 pounds a total of 21
times. In other words, he lifted the weight of Tim Bowens 21
times. Second to him on the offensive line were Tim Ruddy and Kevin
Donnalley, who both had 17 reps.
The offensive and defensive linemen had to lift the most
weight, with the linebackers and running backs bench-pressing 275
pounds and the wide receivers lifting 225. In the linebackers' group,
fullback Jim Kitts benched the most, lifting the weight 23 times (or
17 times, depending on which story you read) while Charles Jordan and
Kirby Dar Dar tied for best in the receivers group with 19 reps.
Also a part of the workout contest was the vertical leap and
the 20 yard shuttle run. According to the Sun-Sentinel, Yatil Green
had the best vertical leap at 38 inches and Kirby Dar Dar won the
shuttle run with a time of 3.7 seconds.
In the rumor department, it appears that Trace Armstrong could
be on the trading block by September. This rumor was reported in the
Sun-Sentinel this morning and confirms what I have heard from the team
itself. With all the new defensive ends on the team and the return of
Danny Stubbs, Armstrong and his salary may be too much for the
Dolphins to swallow.
And last, but not least, Dolphins cornerback Denorse Mosley,
who was signed last year as a free agent, has pleaded no contest in to
charges of brandishing a firearm and firing from a roadway. These
charges, both misdemeanors, stem from an incident outside a bar in
Morgantown, West Virginia on January 20th. Mosley was fined and
released for his offense.
My Comments:
The news from the first day of quarterback camp was
encouraging, if a bit insubstantial. Charles Jordan always looks good
this time of year, so the fact that he looked good yesterday is not
particularly surprising.
However, the improvement of Yatil Green is definitely
encouraging and the fact that he had the best vertical jump seems to
indicate that he's almost 100% physically healed. Judging from his
reaction to the news that he had the best vertical leap on the team,
that may also help his self-confidence.
Without Jerris McPhail to challenge him, Kirby Dar Dar was the
team's fastest man this year. If he stays healthy, he should be back
on special teams, at the very least. At most, he could win himself a
spot in the receiver rotation.
On the subject of the practices, don't worry too much about
none of the linemen or linebackers being mentioned. Right now, there
is no hitting during practice so it's very difficult to tell much
about the quality of any of the linemen, running backs or
linebackers. About the only guys who you can really tell a lot about
are the receivers, quarterbacks and defensive backs and maybe a little
about how good the running backs are at catching the ball.
Until the pads go on in late July, it's all pretty much
speculation at this point.
The development of Jim Kitts is good to see, not only because
the Dolphins need a steady backup to Stanley Pritchett but because I
always enjoy seeing the no-name players make it on the team. I love
it when guys like Bernie Parmalee and Jim Kitts come out of nowhere
and really make a contribution.
According to my friends on the Dolphins' mailing list, WQAM in
Miami will be doing some live broadcasting tonight from the
"Select-A-Seat" night at Joe Robbie Stadium. You can listen to WQAM
live via RealAudio, so you might want to check that out tonight from
about 6 to 10 PM, EST.
Or if you're in Miami, you might want to go by Joe Robbie
Stadium and watch the team practice in person.
And if you do - I'd love to hear what you have to say about
it. Every year, around this time, I make my annual plea for
"eyewitness reports" from training camp and this year is no
exception.
During Training Camp, I will be posting daily reports about
the camp. However, because of my remote location, I don't usually get
to see any of the camp myself, so I rely heavily on the other fans out
there to send me reports on what they see at training camp.
If you go to Dolphins training camp this summer - most
practices are open to the public - please consider sending me an
eyewitness report of what goes on. It can be as long or as short as
you like and I will post it as part of my daily report on training
camp - giving you full credit, of course.
This year, however, it looks like I'll be at Training Camp
myself for the first 2 weeks of August, so I'll be providing daily
reports direct from Dolphins' land. I'm really looking forward to it
and if any of you Miami fans want to get together, be sure and let me
know.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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