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Dolphins News: Marion Signing Press Conference
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Dolphins News: Marion Signing Press Conference
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*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Mar 03, 1998: -- Marion Signing Press Conference --

During this morning's press conference following the signing of Brock Marion, JJ made a number of comments about where the team was heading this spring. Some of the comments were significant and there were a couple of announcements about positions that may change the look of the team in the coming year.

First, JJ praised Brock Marion as one of the best safeties in the league and said that he was pleased that Marion was coming to the Dolphins. He said that Marion would be a starting safety, but he also said that Corey Harris would probably go back to playing cornerback. He said that Calvin Jackson would be staying as a safety and he implied that Jackson might compete with Shawn Wooden as a starting safety.

On the subject of Sean Gilbert, he acknowledged that the Dolphins are having Gilbert in for a visit next week and that the Dolphins would be interested in signing him if a good deal could be worked out. However, he cautioned that there were still a lot of potential roadblocks to the possible signing of Gilbert and that Gilbert was visiting a lot of other teams in the next two weeks.

When asked about fullback William Floyd, JJ acknowledged that he had had one conversation with Floyd's agent last week, but said that the Dolphins were not pursuing Floyd and were not terribly interested in him. He said that Floyd's agent had contacted the Dolphins and he emphasized that the starting fullback was Stanley Pritchett and that Pritchett would remain the starting fullback.

On the subject of the offensive line, JJ praised Brent Smith and said that if the Dolphins had not been looking at the playoffs at the end of 1997, he would have played Smith at the end of the year. He hinted that Smith might be moved to guard when he said that the question about Smith was whether or not he should play tackle or guard.

JJ also praised offensive guard Randy Wheeler, whom the Dolphins have signed from the practice squad to the regular squad this year.

As far as the running backs are concerned, JJ had some good, non-specific things to say about Lawrence Philips and stated that he's very happy with the running backs that the Dolphins have. He further implied that he was not interested in bringing in any other running backs.

He made some other comments during the course of the press conference that were basically defensive of the policies that the team had followed during the free agency period and said that the team was happy with what they had accomplished so far this year.

My Comments:

If you have realaudio, you should listen to the press conference, because it's very interesting. If you don't have realaudio, then you should get it, but all of the factual statements that JJ made are listed above.

I think that it's interesting that JJ is talking about moving Corey Harris back to corner and keeping Calvin Jackson at safety, but more interesting was the implication that CJ and Shawn Wooden might be competing for the starting strong safety spot opposite Brock Marion. We'll have to wait and see how that plays out.

The news on Williams Floyd is a little disappointing, but JJ didn't explicitly rule out signing Floyd, so we'll have to wait and see what happens there.

I was a little surprised at the positive spin that he put on the potential Sean Gilbert move. While he did say that there were a lot of obstacles to signing Gilbert, he hinted that the Dolphins might even be willing to make a trade for him. When asked if Gilbert could also play defensive end, JJ emphatically said that Gilbert could play end. He did not say where the Dolphins would want him to play.

All in all, it was an illuminating press conference and left me with a more positive feeling about the team than I had 5 days ago. While defending his free agency performance, JJ did make some valid points about the purpose of free agency and the accomplishments of the team so far this year.

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Curt Fennell, curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
     
   

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Curt Fennell
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DOLFAN in New England