The Miami Dolphins competed their final OTA available to the media today. Here are my thoughts about the two-hour session in Davie, Fla.
Former Dolphins Attended Practice
Players were surprised to see former greats Mark Duper and Keith Byers attend practice today. Neither player did any coaching, but Duper did give the Dolphins post-practice speech. Head coach Joe Philbin seemed to really enjoy Duper and Byers at the OTA.
“Yeah, Mark Duper gave a great speech,” said Philbin. “I like to have some of the guys when they stop by talk to the team about some of the things they learned both on the football field that helped them as players, but just as important some of the things that they’ve been doing after football, that life doesn’t end when football ends. We have a great resource with all the alums that we have in this area and Mark is certainly one of those guys.”
Lamar Miller continues to get reps with the first team
Miller worked with the first team offense for the third straight week. Free-agent acquisition Knowshon Moreno is working himself into shape and the coaching staff appears to be set on Miller as the starter until that happens. Everyone thought it was a forgone conclusion that Moreno would be the starting running back for the Dolphins in 2014. Now that may not be the case.
“He’s (Miller) had a very good camp,” said Philbin. “I think if you look at Lamar, again, I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, but I’m going to say as a rookie he rushed for maybe 150 yards. In his second year, last year, 700-plus (rushing yards). So this is the time, a third-year player, you should be ready to really make a big contribution to the football team. We don’t really have starters right now, but we are not overly concerned about that.”
Jason Fox switched positions.
On Monday, offensive lineman Jason Fox worked as the backup left tackle. During the previous two sessions I attended Nate Garner was the backup left tackle and Fox was getting reps at right tackle. With first round pick Ju’Wuan James having a lock at the right tackle position, the Dolphins seem to be grooming Fox to be the case of emergency backup tackle.
Philbin has been impressed with Dion Jordan
Last season, Dion Jordan came into camp injured and behind on learning the playbook. Not only is Jordan healthy this season, he is a lot bigger. On Monday, Philbin talked about how impressed he was with Jordan this offseason.
“I think he’s more familiar, getting more acquainted with some of the fundamentals and the techniques that are required at his position, so I think that’s been a big difference,” said Philbin. Obviously, the size can be an asset, especially in the running game. He still looks to be moving very, very well. I think he’s just starting to play faster.”
The offense was very shaky
The Dolphin receivers dropped a number of passes, the offensive line had two false starts and allowed Cameron Wake to wreak havoc on them all day long. It appears it is going to take some more time for players to learn offensive coordinator Bill Lazor’s offense. Miami’s has a long way to go before everyone is on the same page.
So that’s it for OTAs folks. The three-day minicamp start next week and after that players have about a month off before the start of training camp in July. Football is almost here ladies and gentlemen.
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