*** DOLPHINS TRAINING CAMP ***
Jul 11, 1997: -- Day 2 - July 10th --
TODAY'S REPORT:
The Dolphins entered their second day of training camp on
Thursday, having a single practice in the afternoon for the rookies
and having all the veterans report in. Even though the veterans
reported yesterday, most did not participate in yesterday's practice.
The big news of the second day of practice was the ankle
injury to Yatil Green. While planting his foot to make a cut, Green
turned his ankle in the turf. He was taken off for X-rays, but
returned to the field later and finished practice, although he did
skip the final sprints.
Trainer Kevin O'Neill said that he believed it was a minor
sprain, and that he didn't expect it to seriously impede Green's
practice time.
Also, Jason Taylor was once again singled out for praise by JJ
and early indications are that Taylor will make the team and break
into the defensive line rotation at defensive end.
In roster moves, the Dolphins released fullback Lee McClinton
on Thursday, after JJ was sufficiently impressed with rookie free
agent Ray Nealy to decide that he didn't need to keep McClinton.
TODAY'S EVENTS:
Today (Friday, July 11th) will be the first day of practice
for the veterans and should be an eye-opening day for the rookies.
Practices will be held today at 9-10:45 a.m. and 4:15-6 p.m. As usual,
both practices are open to the public.
INJURY REPORTS:
Yatil Green sprained his ankle yesterday, but preliminary
reports indicate that it is not serious and he should return to
practice today.
EYEWITNESS REPORTS:
Today, we are fortunate enough to have 2 eyewitness reports.
David Hennessy, who provided all of us with reports last summer, gives
us his impressions of Thursday's practice and Jack Bales, a newcomer
to the eyewitness report series, tells us his impressions of
Wednesday's action. Big thanks to both DolFans.
First up - From Jack Bales: Camp & Kickoff Breakfast Report
Today, year two of the JJ era officially got under way. In my view,
there will be at least 4 impact players from this years draft. I
realize it's very early, but I attended Wednesday's practice and I can
see already that Mike Crawford, Derrick Rodgers, Jerome Daniels and
Jason Taylor stand out from the crowd.
I was surprised by their quickness, conditioning and awareness on the
field. Of course, they were going against other rookies, but I'll lay
odds these guys turn out to be the pick of the litter. Especially
Jason Taylor. He amazed me with how quick and powerful he is. No
offensive lineman present, and I mean no one could block him. I know
it'll be different when he goes up against some veterans, but, he could
truly turn out to be a super star in the next couple of years.
Yes, Taylor needs to bulk up some. Yes, he has a lot to learn. But my,
the innate football ability is like no previous Dolphin rookie
defensive end I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch since I became a
fan back in 71. I guess the most obvious thing is his quickness. In
order to get off plays, the offense had to consistently run away from
his side. Even then, he would run downfield chasing the receiver/back
until he caught up with him or the play was whistled dead. I say a big
time steal in the 3rd round.
The next guy who left a BIG impression is Jerome Daniels. You can read
on paper how big a guy is (he's listed at 6' 5'' and 345 lbs.) but
I'll tell you in the flesh, this guy is a man/mountain. Has amazing
quickness for a big guy. Looks like he could bench press the entire
training facility. And the thing that impressed me most at this stage
is his conditioning. When they were running the sprints at the end of
practice, he led the entire lineman group, by a wide margin. I say
guys like Donnie Young, a guard from the University of Florida,
literally get lapped by Daniels and then Young virtually collapsed
while Daniels was going strong. Incredible for a guy this big.
The two backers, Rogers and Crawford, look especially good. Both are
fast, strong, and have great instincts. Keep your eyes on these two as
the season progresses. It says here that Rogers will be out Hollier
for one of the starting outside backer spots.
On the negative side, Earl Little, the saftey from UM was terrible,
absolutely terrible. Nearly every play he was beaten and beaten
badly. I'd say his career with the Fins is on life support, even after
the first day. In fact the only other player of any "shine" was Yatil
Green, and he was nothing to write home about. It's early yet, so
let's hope he gets better as camp goes on.
Concerning the Kickoff Breakfast:
A truly nice event that was held at the Signature Grand hotel in
Davie. Jim "Mad Dog Mandich" was the MC and did a nice job. All the
free agents and rookies were there as was Abdul Jabbar representing
the vets. Some old timers like Bob Kuchenberg, Manny Fernandez and
others were also in attendance
The event began with breakfast being served while the teams 97 High
Light film was being shown. Then, brief speeches by Green, Madison and
Jabbar. This was followed by a nice address by Team President Eddie
Jones and finally Jimmy.
For $18, it was well worth it for any Dolfan and I recommend anyone
who can be there next year.
Thats all for now.
David Hennessy's Report:
Here's my report on today's (Thursday) Dolphins practice:
Today's practice was preceded by a light rain, which left the
field damp. However the cloud-cover kept the players from becoming too
overheated today. Nobody fainted or was seen to be visibly dehydrated.
Only rookies participated in today's practice. Here are some
of the players who stood out:
GOOD PERFORMANCES:
WR Brian Manning: He stood out above all of the other
offensive players. He beat his man deep 3 times, caught the ball, and
took it all the way. He also made a diving, acrobatic catch over the
middle that draw "ooohs" from the crowd. He got open and caught the
ball far more than any of the other receivers. He looked fast and got
some good separation.
CB Sam Madison: He looked really good in coverage. He covered
very tight in deep coverage and blanketed receivers in short
coverage. I did not see him beaten once during the day. He impressed a
lot today, even though he was not matched against veteran receivers.
TE Ed Perry: He looks like he has very good hands. He looked
pretty athletic and did a nice job in the drills vs. the LBs.
LB Derrick Rodgers: He looks very athletic in pass
coverage. He batted away a few balls during drills vs. the TEs & RBs.
POOR PERFORMANCES:
S Earl Little: He got beaten deep a number of times in 1-on-1
drills..
OG Donnie Young: He got knocked flat on his butt during
pass-blocking drills by DT Mike Mohring.
INJURY REPORTS:
WR Yatil Green: On one of the first plays of 1-on-1 drills,
Green twisted his left ankle while making a cut on the slightly damp
grass. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. However, his ankle was
wrapped up and he came back in after a few minutes. Unfortunately, he
didn't do anything else to gain attention. I did not see him catch a
single pass all day. Reportedly his ankle was x-rayed after practice
as a precaution
Special thanks to Jack and David for their reports. If you feel you
need to talk to them, let me know and I'll pass your request on to
them.
My Comments:
Well, today is the day when the rookies get to see what it's
really all about. Today, they line up with the veterans for the first
time and some of them are going to get a rude awakening.
It's truly great to hear that guys like Jason Taylor, Jerome
Daniels, Derrick Rodgers, Brian Manning and Sam Madison playing well.
Of course, with the veterans in camp today, they may not look as good,
but for the most part, these are the guys who could make or break this
draft for the team.
The news on Yatil Green is not serious at this point, but is
somewhat ominous give his history of injuries. However, in the past,
most of his injuries have been hamstring or conditioning related
injuries and this appears to be just one of those incidents that it's
tough to avoid in training camp.
We'll see now whether or not Green has guts. The next few
weeks will tell us a lot about his motivation and desire. The
anecdote about him catching the pass on Wednesday afternoon is
encouraging and may offer us some insight into his personality. The
story is that, after Yatil dropped some easy passes, JJ told Yatil
that the rookies could have the evening off if Yatil caught a deep
pass over the middle.
Apparently, Green blew down the field and caught the pass
easily - and everyone had the night off.
Between this story and Yatil's college career, it appears that
Green may be the kind of guy who relaxes when it's not important, but
steps up under pressure. Hopefully, he does step up under pressure,
but only time will tell.
Related Info:
[Return to Training Camp]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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