*** DOLPHINS TRAINING CAMP ***
Aug 19, 1997: -- Day 27 - Aug 18th --
TODAY'S REPORT:
** Special Report **
We interrupt this training camp report to bring you this news
bulletin - it appears that Calvin Jackson suffered a strain of the
Patellar (?) tendon in his knee this afternoon. He was carried off
the field on a cart and examined in the training room before it was
revealed that he had strained his knee. There is no word at this
time how this will affect his ability to play and whether or not he
will miss any playing or practice time.
** End of Report **
The Dolphins had their first practice since the Saturday game
against the Bucs on Monday and the big news of the day was that the
team cut 12 players and put the big 3 injuries on injured reserve.
The 12 players cut in order to bring the roster below the 60
required by Tuesday were S Charles Anthony, T Jerome Daniels, DE Larry
Jackson, LB Marc Lillibridge, DT Mike Mohring, FB Ray Nealy, TE Walter
Reeves, WR Dimitrious Stanley, DE Oscar Sturgis, OL Randy Wheeler, FB
Robert Wilson and OL Donnie Young.
Also, WR Yatil Green, WR Kirby Dar Dar and LB Larry Izzo were
placed on injured reserve, meaning that they will not count against the
Dolphin's roster, but also can not play this year.
In practice yesterday, Troy Drayton and Dan Marino spent some
time getting to know each other again after they couldn't hook up well
on Saturday night. On Monday, Marino found Drayton several times and
Drayton had a good practice.
And the Herald reports that Zach Thomas spent time on the
playing field, although he was well away from the actual practice. He
lined up way behind the defense and moved back and forth during the
plays, positioning himself as if he were playing.
TODAY'S EVENTS:
The Dolphins had their last open practice today, before
Thursday night's game against the Redskins. From now on, all practices
will be close to the public.
INJURY REPORTS:
DE Danny Stubbs is running again in practice, but is not
hitting. LB Zach Thomas is also working his leg a litte, but is not
near being able to participate.
EYEWITNESS REPORTS:
We have two eyewitness reports from last weeks practice in
Tampa Bay. I have included them here for your enjoyment. The first
report is from Gil Geddinger:
I just got back from practice. No injuries for either
team. Now this practice started at 4:00 and ended about 5:30 or so. It
was tough to watch both the Fins defense and offense. There are two
fields at Pepin-Rood Stadium on the campus of the University of Tampa.
The fields are separated by a huge tent for the teams.
It was tough for me to watch both sides of the ball, but I was
able to do it. For the 1st 1/2 hour, the teams practiced on their
own. Then, for an hour they practiced together.
Saw the Dolphins defense vs. Bucs offense first. Look for the
Bucs to go to the air against the Fins. Their pass defense kept
getting burned. The pass rush was not there. No one to single out,
however Clayton Holmes played well on special teams during a punting
situation, as he was rushing the punter. He nicked a punt as it left
the Bucs punter's foot. Their run defense looked good. Only once did
a Bucs running back get away from the defense and that was Warrick
Dunn (known to get away from many defenses). The Dolphins should be
able to keep the Bucs in check on Saturday night.
(Remember, I am working for the NBC affiliate here in Tampa,
so it's hard to keep track of the Dolphins, I have to keep tabs of the
Bucs as well.)
Dolphins offense: Lamar Thomas will be sticking around after
all is said and done! He made an incredible over the shoulder catch w/
a Bucs defender all over him. Marino placed the ball in the perfect
spot. The Dolphins had trouble containing the Bucs pass-rush. Even
J.J. in his post-practice (I personally asked him what part of the
Bucs he liked the best, and he said their pass-rush against the
offensive line. It was pretty neat talking with the head coach of the
Fins!).
The Dolphins running game looked mediocre at best. The Bucs
really have an excellent defensive line. Umm.. Dawsey should be
released, he dropped some easy ones. The teams didn't show anything
special.. Mare is going to be an excellent field goal kicker. He
nailed some bombs through the uprights, that were right in front of
me.
If you read something from Armando Salguero (Miami Herald)
about a photographer who refused to get out of J.J.'s face.. he's
talking about me. It's tough to get interviews from both head coaches
when they are speaking at the same time.
The next report is from OBAR13 out of Pinellas County, FL.
Today I went to the Dolphins' practice and thought I'd drop a short
eyewitness report. Here goes:
Most important thing that happened today was Dan Marino was grabbing
his right bicep between snaps during the entire practice. He left with a
huge ice pack on it. Local broadcasters didn't even mention it, so I hope
it's nothing. The media geeks just joked about the "old man being tired"
etc. Also, for some strange reason, both Dan and OJ had long sleeve shirts
on under their jerseys. This I cannot explain, because it was full sun and
95+ degrees. It should be noted that many of the fans in attendance
commented on Dan's improved mobility and physical condition. Most agreed
that he was in the best physical shape they've seen. He looked especially
impressive on the roll outs.
I can't believe Scott Miller and Fred Barnett are only a
couple weeks out of knee scopes! They both looked great. Scott
Miller came down with a beautiful 30 yards one-handed catch; Barnett
just looked great period. Lamar Thomas looked pretty good, and
Charles Jordan FINALLY made one of those OUTSTANDING sideline catches
with excellent coverage by I believe Anthony Parker. (Sorry, I'm not
totally up on all the Bucs' numbers). He even came down with his feet
in bounds. Manning continues to impress, however, he did drop one
pass that was very catchable.
The running game and offensive line are concerns. Out of all the
running plays, there was only one where the back got into the secondary.
(KAJ) They didn't allow sacks, but if they had, there would have been 4-5,
with the right side of the offensive line looking pretty pourous.
My Comments:
With the last open practice happening on Tuesday, the end of
training camp is really just around the corner. When they cut the
final 6 players on Sunday (or before), that will finish the 1997
Dolphins training camp.
It has been a wild ride this summer - up one minute and down
the next, with injuries and surprises all along the tracks. I suspect
that this foreshadows a wild year for the team as they compete with the
rest of the league for a shot at the big game.
And despite the nay-sayers, I have to say that I'm pretty
pleased with the outcome of this training camp. I think that the team
is substantially stronger this year than it was last year at this time
and the Dolphins are poised to make a run for the playoffs this year.
Related Info:
[Return to Training Camp]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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