*** DOLPHINS TRAINING CAMP ***
Aug 01, 1999
: -- Day 5 - July 31 --
TODAY'S REPORT:
The Dolphins had two practices yesterday on the 5th day of training
camp in preparation for their first scrimmage on Sunday. In the
morning, the team practiced in full pads, but changed back to shoulder
pads, helmets and shorts for the afternoon practice.
The most significant news of the day was that WR Oronde Gadsden
reported to training camp after a one day holdout and received some
good-natured ribbing from his teammates. He received an ovation from
his teammates when he took the field and found a dollar bill taped to
his locker that had "signing bonus" written next to it.
It now appears, however, that Gadsden actually may have gotten some
extra money from the Dolphins in his contract. He will still receive
the $250,000 base salary that is the minimum for a 2nd year player and
no signing bonus, but his contract has a number of incentive clauses
written into it for various milestones he makes while playing. His
agent said that Gadsden will begin receiving incentive money if he
catches over 20 passes for 200 or more yards. Since he caught 48 passes
last year for over 700 yards, he seems assured to at least get some
incentive money.
During morning practice, the offense had a better showing in the
middle drill than they did on Friday. Karim Abdul-Jabbar ripped off an
8 yard gain during the middle drill, as did Stanley Pritchett.
Unfortunately, John Avery fumbled during the morning middle drill and
Cecil Collins lost 2 yards on 2 carries, but had a nice run in another
drill.
In the afternoon, Collins, James Johnson and Karim all had some
impressive runs. Rob Baker, Tony Martin, Willie Green and Lamar Thomas
had some impressive catches in passing drills. Baker and Willie Green
in particular caught everything thrown their way on Saturday.
Dixon Edwards missed the afternoon practice, as did Tony Martin.
Martin is getting ready for his trial and will also miss the scrimmage
and Edwards is being tested for an irregular heartbeat. Richmond Webb
also continues to sit out as the Dolphins and his agent work on a new
contract for him.
On the downside of practice, both punters on the roster had some
trouble with consistency in their kicks.
OUTSTANDING PLAYS:
In the morning, Marino hit Tony Martin with a deep pass in perfect
stride. In the afternoon, James Johnson broke a 70 yard run.
JJ'S COMMENTS:
JJ praised Cecil Collins, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, James Johnson and
John Avery in his remarks to the press yesterday. About Avery, he
said that as long as the Dolphins didn't "force-feed" him into the
wrong kind of offense, he could make some big plays.
ROSTER MOVES:
The Dolphins cut kicker Marshall Young.
FUTURE EVENTS:
The Sunday scrimmage will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft.
Lauderdale and the Dolphins will have Monday off to rest up.
INJURY REPORT:
OJ Brigance (back) and Sammie Burroughs (back) continue to sit out.
DT Shane Burton missed part of the morning practice with some pain in
his shoulder, but he practiced on Saturday afternoon. DT Antoine Simpson
(back) missed the afternoon practice. DE Lorenzo Bromell (knee) missed
both practices and will sit out Sunday's scrimmage.
EYEWITNESS REPORTS:
Our good friend Don, who provided us with most of the eyewitness
reports from last year is back again and attended Saturday afternoon's
practice to give us this report:
I arrived at 4:30 for the 4:45 practice and the stands were packed.
Special teams was out practicing punts with offensive and defensive
linemen going 75%.
Punts were into a stiff breeze and weren't that impressive until
Bartholomew boomed one a mile which made the crowd roar. Ed Perry and
Rickey Brady were snapping.
Practice started at 4:45. Players were in shoulder pads and shorts.
4:45-5:00 Nothing very exciting. All groups went off to their spots
on the field and warmed up. The Defensive back had a neat drill.
The DB was face to face with the coach. He took two steps back and
did a complete 360 and then the coach drilled him with the ball. The
pass was at the most four yards and the coach was really winging it.
Most were caught. Some of the DBs were doing pushups (on their on) if
they dropped it. I saw this later in practice. If they touched the
ball and didn't hold on, they were doing pushups(10).
5:00-5:15
Center drill; No receivers or DBs. (Remember they were in shorts)
In order - each back had two reps.
Wheatly two runs for no gain.
Avery had a nice 10 yard run.
Potts had a nice run 10+ yards.
JJJ(32) had two nice runs 2-3 yards; 5-6 tough yards. Both breaking
tackles.
Cecil(34) Get use to seeing 34!
First run: Broke through touchdown.
2nd run: An Unbelievable run up the middle. Big pileup and Cecil
comes out carrying Zach on his back. Very low to the ground runner.
I feel the same way about Collins as I did Gadsen last year. This guy
is a player and when they put him in a game, they won't be taking him
out. If you are a local, go see this guy in the scrimmage 8-1 at
Lockhart.
Juan Johnson had a nice 5-6 yard gain.
Potts, JJJ and Cecil stood out.
5:25
Full offense and defense.
Marino to Willie Green looked good. Marion was all over him, but he
still came up with the ball.
Drayton caught a couple and didn't drop any Curt.
Erickson look ok, but he didn't throw a pass over ten yards.
Collins had a nice run(6-10 Yds).
Konrad had a nice catch and run.
Izzo had an Int.
Huard looked good too. Passes were longer.
BIG FIGHT: Bock was really POed at Jason Taylor. Slugfest. Bock
even threw his helmet at Jason's head and connected. JJ tried to
break it up but had little effect. His head comes up to their belly
buttons.
Lamar Thomas had the play of day. An outstanding over the shoulder
catch with heavy coverage. Jimmy came running over and they exchanged
fives.
Rayna Stewart had the hit of the day. Poor Drayton caught the ball
and Rayna really popped him. Drayton was slow getting up. Rayna has
Drayton's number. Rang his bell.
5:35:
Just Receivers and DBs.
Shawn wooden and avery had good tussle after a short catch.
Konrad looked good.
Potts looked good.
Willie Green had another outstanding catch. He plucked a poorly thrown
ball off the ground. Crowed roared.
5:50 left early.
Shannon was a big dissapointment. A couple of balls were thrown his way
but he failed to really even get his hands on them. Willie Green and
Potts were the surprise players of the day. JJJ and Collins both
stood out.
One last note. I didn't see Bowens. Ownes was playing the left
defensive tackle! Can you imagine on passing downs, lining up
Armstrong, Owens, Brommel, d Taylor?
My Comments:
As the practices continue, it continues to look as if the running
backs who will make the final roster will be James Johnson, Karim
Abdul-Jabbar, John Avery and Cecil Collins. Of course, injuries could
change that very quickly, but so far, Tyrone Wheatley has done nothing
of note to get him on the team.
Who gets to stay in the fullback position will be a bigger
question. Right now, Potts, Pritchett and Konrad have all gotten
praise from JJ, so all three are still in the mix.
At wide receiver, Rob Baker is making a case to stay on the roster,
as is Willie Green. Of course, the scrimmage today could change a lot
of minds, but both players are making plays in practice that catch the
coaches' eyes and that is the first step to making the team.
Darryl Gardener and Tim Bowens are both have a terrific training
camp so far, creating a lot of problems for the Dolphins' offensive
line.
The scrimmage today is already history, but so far I haven't heard
any reports on what transpired. The problem with a scrimmage, of
course, is that the team is playing itself. This means that when the
offense makes a big play, you'll be disappointed with the defense on
that play - and vice versa.
In other words, you can't win.
So the bottom line is this - don't put too much stock in this
scrimmage. Look for individual performances rather than how the team
does. If Cecil Collins or James Johnson stands out in either a good or
a bad way, that could be significant.
Next week, when the Dolphins scrimmage the Bucs, we'll all get a
little better feel for how the team will look this year.
Related Info:
[Return to Training Camp]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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