You'll recall that last year, right around this time of the year, Cam Cameron decided to let many of his veteran players basically relax during much of the preseason.  Some vets saw a few series, while others didn't even see the field in some games.

This year, that will not be the case.  While we don't know how much any particular player will play, we should all expect the entire team to see action in these exhibition games.  Says Sparano:

"We need to be in a game, be in a game environment. We need to get as many guys into uniform as we can get in uniform, being in that locker room together, coming out of that tunnel together. (We need to) be on the sideline together, go through whatever we're going to go through in that game together."

I couldn't have said it better myself.  I agree 100% with Sparano's line of logic here.  Sparano also talked a little about how coming off of a 1-15 season, this team needs a culture change.  I think that we've already seen some of that change in culture in terms of the offseason training program as well as the way training camp has been handled so far by this coaching staff.  Playing all the players who are able to physically play is the next logical step in this culture change.

DEFENSIVE LINE ROTATION
Speaking of Saturday's preseason opener against the Buccaneers at Dolphin Stadium, I wanted to quickly touch on something other than the QB competition that deserves some attention.

The one position that I am confident has been upgraded greatly is the defensive line.  The addition of Jason Ferguson alone was huge.  But to also bring in a versatile player like Randy Starks and then draft two ends like Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford really will drastically improve this team's defensive front, especially against the run.

But the addition of all these new players up front means that there is a lot of competition going on and that there will likely be some kind of defensive line rotation.  Vonnie Holliday has reportedly looked great in camp so far, so his starting spot is probably safe.  But the same can't be said for Matt Roth.  This weel, Roth is working out some as an outside linebacker in Miami's 3-4, which is a good move because it shows that this coaching staff is committed to finding every possible way to maximize each player's potential.  However, this week when Roth lines up as a DE, he's been working primarily with the 2nd team while Langford, the rookie out of Hampton, has been getting some work as a 1st team end.

This has to make you wonder if there's a shot that Langford, a rookie from a small school, might actually win a starting job right out of camp.  He's clearly a little further ahead of fellow rookie Phillip Merling (no knock on Merling - Langford has played his college career in a 3-4 while Merling is still learning the fundamentals of it) and he seems to be outplaying the veteran, Matt Roth, on a daily basis.  So that will be one thing to keep an eye on come Saturday.

Also, it's worth mentioning that the battle to be Ferguson's primary backup as nose tackle is up in the air.  Paul Soliai has reportedly looked much improved over last year.  Meanwhile, the versatile Randy Starks can potentially play both DE or NT in a 3-4.  So which will see action first on Saturday, spelling Ferguson at nose?

Those are just a few of the storylines to pay attention to as Saturday's exhibition opener approaches.

As always, your thoughts below...

Only one practice today.  I'll be posting up some of the reports as they come in and as time allows me to.

PALM BEACH POST REPORT
Highlights incude:

-Donald Thomas still working as starting RG
-Chad Henne had a good day (at least in the drills), throwing "a perfect deep ball" to Ted Ginn for a 45-yard strike and another deep ball to Selwyn Lymon that was perfectly placed but dropped
-Nothing to really note from the 11-on-11s except that Josh McCown throws a ball right into the hands of Travis Daniels - but he drops the interception
-It seems like all the receivers are having trouble catching the ball
-Brandon Fields doing a great job of pinning the opposition deep inside the 20 yard line

MIAMI HERALD PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-Ernest Wilford left practice early, reportedly with cramps
-Josh McCown "had a tough day" - throwing 3 interceptions, including 2 on back-to-back plays
-Both Beck and Henne "seemed to be pretty good today"
-Aramando spoke with SI.com's Dr. Z; Zimmerman said he'd vote for Thomas for the Hall of Fame, but wasn't so sure about Taylor

SUN-SENTINEL PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-Omar Kelly says John Beck had another good day, while Josh McCown is struggling
-Kelly says that the "coaches wanted to see which QB could move the offense with the worst talent around him and it appears that Beck is getting the job done."
-Omar still believes Henne has been the best QB, but Beck might be making his move up ahead of McCown
-Joey Porter had 4 sacks today
-Will Allen and Nathan Jones continue to be interception machines
-Davone Bess made some good catches, but also had "some HUGE drops"
-Jake Long is improving big time - not having trouble with speed rushers as much anymore

The Dolphins had a double session day on Monday and will follow that up with a single practice later on today at 2 pm.  Below are just some thoughts/notes for you to ponder to start the day.

BECK IMPROVING?
This is a big week for John Beck, believe it or not.  It's as big of a week for him as it possibly can be considering it's just the 2nd week of practice in training camp.  But now is the time for him to come out of his camp-long slump and begin to play like he knows he is capable of.  It's time for Beck to make his case as to why he should start Saturday's preseason opener against the Buccaneers.

And I think he knows this, too.

John had his best day of practice today.  And now he has pulled into a tie with both Josh McCown and Chad Henne in the "having a very good day" competition.  Each have had one, by most accounts.  Today John made plays down the field - something he hasn't done yet in camp.  He seems to have put more trust in both his instincts and abilities as well as in the receivers' abilities.  Less thinking and more trusting.  And it's this kind of performance that could possibly be used to spring board his chances in the QB competition.

If you simply look at the stats, though, you won't  be overly impressed.  He threw one touchdown pass and one interception over the course of Monday's 2 practices.  However, you need to consider that Beck had 3 dropped passes that also would have resulted in touchdowns.  And can you imagine what the media would be saying if John had thrown 4 TDs in one practice?

But it goes beyond the stats.  For the first time, we read about John making great throws.  Ben Volin described two of John's throws this way:

[John] comes back with a beautiful throw to David Martin over the middle, threading it between two defenders.

---

Nice improvisation by Beck on a broken play. He scrambles out of the pocket, waives for Jalen Parmele to break his route and streak to the end zone, lobs a perfect pass to Parmele, he’s wide open in the end zone …. and he drops it. D’oh.

Beck's performance was even enough to impress Omar Kelly - who isn't exactly a pro-Beck guy.

But, again, it's just one day.  But what hopefully will come out of today's improved performance from John is confidence.  Hopefully Beck has now shaken off most of the rust from the couple of weeks off before camp and can relax and just play some ball.  So tune in tomorrow for the next edition of "As the QBs Turn."

FIRST DEPTH CHART IS RELEASED
As mandated by league rules, the Dolphins have released their first depth chart of the 2008 season.  But, really, it's all worthless.  Even Tony Sparano says that, stating:

"It's something that we had to produce and put out there, so we had to put it out there. That depth chart won't be the same this afternoon, never mind tomorrow, so it's going to change every single day."

Some of the things that really show how irrelevant it is?  Trey Darilek is listed as the starting RG despite the fact that Donald Thomas has been working as the starting RG for the longest of any of the lineman battling for that job.  Ernest Wilford is shown as the starting WR opposite Ted Ginn despite spending Monday working with the 2nd team while Derek Hagan worked with the 1st.  Rookie Kendall Langford is shown as a 3rd teamer on the chart despite seeing extensive work with the 2nd.

So is it even worth discussing?  Possibly.  It does show Davone Bess as a 3rd team WR, along with David Kircus, only behind Ginn, Hagan, Wilford, and Greg Camarillo.  So Bess could be in position to win that 5th WR job as an undrafted free agent.  It also shows Anthony Fasano unseating last year's starter David Martin at TE, despite Fasano missing all of the off-season work due to an injury.  So while I think there could a few things to take from this first depth chart, the only things we know for sure are that John Denney is the unquestioned long snapper and Brandon Fields is the unquestioned punter.

ROTH GETTING OLB EXPERIENCE
Last week it was Vonnie Holliday.  This week it's Matt Roth getting some work at the outside linebacker position.  He's getting looked at as the strongside linebacker in Miami's 3-4 defense, with Joey Porter moving over to the weakside.  The strongside is the more "run-stopping oriented" position of the two, while the weakside is more the "pass-rushing oriented" position vacated by Jason Taylor.

Again, it's just an experiment right now.  So I wouldn't read too much into it.  But it does show that this coaching staff is willing to get creative and really try new things to help generate a pass rush to replace Jason Taylor.  Perhaps this could be a look in passing situations, with Porter moving to the weakside to rush the passer.  But that will depend on how well Roth does dropping into coverage.

I'll be interested to see if the Dolphins try out some of these new looks in the preseason opener.

That's all for now.  One practice tomorrow at 2 pm.

Thoughts below...

Below are the reports for the evening practice session today.

PALM BEACH POST PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-Kendall Langford working with both first and second team at DE
-Matt Roth seeing action at OLB
-2 minute offense for all 3 QBs (1:15 on the clock from opponent's 48 yard line): Henne 4/7 with an INT; Beck 3/9, but should have had a TD to Jalen Parmele (it was a perfect pass but it was dropped); McCown 3/5 with a QB sneak up the middle for a TD
-11 on 11: Henne 1/3 with an INT (not his fault, as his arm was hit as he threw); Beck 4/6 with a bad INT to Torbor

SUN-SENTINEL PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-John Beck getting Omar Kelly's "gold star" for the day - he's making his push now.  Besides looking good in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, he also threw a TD to Anthony Fasano during goalline work
-Will Allen continues to play well - even catching the ball for interceptions (now if he can just do that in a real game)
-Dan Carpenter and Jay Feely both hit 42 and 45 yard field goals

Two practices today.  The first one is over.  The second will begin at around 5 pm tonight.  Below are the reports.

PALM BEACH POST PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-Ronnie Brown making one-handed catches in the endzone during drills
-Brandon Fields punting from his own endzone and "booming them past midfield"
-During 11-on-11, Beck has 2 TD passes dropped (one each by Fasano and Mulligan)
-Chad Henne "doesn't do much" - throwing some quick outs and a swing pass
-McCown finishes the day with a TD pass to Mulligan
-Ben Volin gets the feeling that Ricky and Ronnie are going to be major factors in the passing game

SUN-SENTINEL PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-Donald Thomas still working as starting right guard
-Derek Hagan was working in place of Ernest Wilford, as a starter opposite Ted Ginn
-It appears that Channing Crowder will wear the "talking helmet"
-Jake Long "ate Vonnie Holliday for lunch" during 1 on 1 drills
-Anthony Fasano went through his worst practice so far - and Sparano let him know about it
-Edmond Miles appears to be holding of Kelvin Smith and Kelly Poppinga for one of the reserve ILB jobs

Believe it or not, football is back.  Sunday night saw the first preseason game of 2008 take place, with the Redskins defeating Indianapolis 30-16.  And in less than a week, our Dolphins will host the Buccaneers at Dolphin Stadium.

MEET THE NEW FINS; SAME AS THE OLD FINS
On Saturday, the Dolphins took part in a scrimmage inside the "Nick Saban Memorial" bubble down in Davie.  And all reports indicate something that Dolphin fans are all too familiar with.

First of all, this team still has issues at quarterback.  We are a week into camp, and no quarterback has set himself up as the leader to start in week one.  If anything, the situation has actually gotten even murkier as Chad Henne could very well play himself into the starter's role.  Is it the best thing for him or for the team to have a rookie start from day one?  That's debatable and is something we'll touch on if it happens.  But what we do know right now is that none of the QBs are playing particularly well.

Sure, the player I was originally thought would be the starter for week one, John Beck, is having his struggles.  But Josh McCown, the vet, isn't doing any better.  Beck was reportedly 9 for 22 in the scrimmage, according to the Palm Beach Post.  Meanwhile, McCown was just 7 for 22 and threw an interception.  Sure, he had 2 TD passes.  But both seem to come against a mix of 2nd and 3rd teamers.  And Josh's lowlight came on a series when he was working with the 1st team offense against the 2nd team defense.  During that series, he was 0 for 9 with that lone interception.  Not good.

Meanwhile, two other major problems the Dolphins have right now are nearly identical to the same problems Miami had last season in training camp.

The first is the receivers' inconsistency catching the football.  It seems like this team goes through days where drops are few and far between but then follow it up with a day where everyone has a case of the "dropsies."  Sound familiar?  Last year, training camp reports indicated the same thing.

The other issue?  Pass protection.  Much like the Dolphins dealt with last season, this offensive line is having issues protecting whoever happens to be behind center.  We simply are reading about far too many sacks and pressures.  And while I'd love to sit here like an optimist and gush about how much improved our defense might be, I just can't.  The pessimist in me simply won't allow it.  Instead, I'm sitting here and wondering if this offensive line will be able to get it together in time for the regular season.

Of course, working in our favor here is that Tony Sparano is supposedly a great OL coach, meaning he and current Dolphins' OL coach Mike Maser could potentially help them turn this around.  Things could also get better once this coaching staff identifies who will be the starting right guard.  Once that is figured out, this first unit can then have time to gel.

But as it stands right now, it seems like the Dolphins still are facing the very same 3 issues that they faced last year.  Let's just hope Tony Sparano and his staff is more up to the task than Cam Cameron and his staff was.

RONNIE BROWN UPDATE
Ronnie Brown continues to say that he feels physically fine and hasn't had any setbacks.  But he's still got to deal with the mental aspect of his comeback from a torn ACL:

"Physically, I put in all the work, but from a mental aspect it may take some time just to be out here, being a part of practice and taking those licks where you're not thinking about it. Being in situations where we do have some contact stuff, going through drills and running the ball where I have that contact, it's going to help me over the next few weeks to get over the mental part of not being hit for a while -- since what, Week 7 [of last season].

I find myself thinking about it, especially when I make certain cuts and it may not feel as comfortable as it did before."

It's still unknown how much he'll be used, if at all, during the first preseason game on Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.  Personally, I'd let him get 2 or 3 carries just oease him into it and let him begin recovering from a mental standpoint.  Some probably disagree, but if he's physically ready and is cleared for contact, it's time to let him get hit 2 or 3 times to really begin the mental side of the comeback.

QUICK HITS
-As Bassman points out in his FanPost, the Dolphins did waive TE Aaron Halerman and G Rueben Riley.

-LB Junior Glymph has been playing well in camp, and stood out in the scrimmage.  He's a guy with "Cowboy ties" and I fully expect him to make this team as a reserve linebacker who can play both inside and out.

-The kicking competition is getting interesting.  While Jay Feely has a reliable track record in terms of his FG kicking, he missed two 43-yard FGs on Saturday.  But he has been kicking touchbacks more consistently than rookie Dan Carpenter.

That's all for now.  The team has another two-a-day practice tomorrow, with the first one at 9 am and the second at 5 pm.

Thoughts below...

As you know, the Dolphins ran a mini-scrimmage today in the bubble.  And the offense, especially the quarterbacks, all seem to struggle.

PALM BEACH POST REPORT
Highlights include:

-John Beck was roughly 9 for 18
-Josh McCown was roughly 7 for 21, but did have two "mock TDs"
-Chad Henne was roughly 10 for 19 with a "mock TD"
-Vonnie Holliday was lined up all over the place, sometimes acting as an OLB and other times as a DE

MIAMI HERALD REPORT
Highlights include:

-McCown, despite leading 2 TD drives, threw one INT and another that should have been picked by Quentin Moses but was dropped
-No QB is winning the competition, but some believe Beck is "losing ground"
-Too many drops, especially by the backs
-Jake Long didn't allow any sacks

Incase you missed it, later today will be the first real chance to judge all three quarterbacks prior to the first preseason, which is in exactly a week.  Later on today in Davie (at 2 pm), the Dolphins will take part in what the coaches are calling "game-simulated drills" - basically a mini-scrimmage.  The coaches will dictate the situations (down and distance, red zone, time remaining).  The key thing here is that each quarterback will have a chance to work with the first team offense against the first team defense.

Many figure that John Beck has the most to ground to make up and that today's scrimmage could be the way to do it.  John knows that he isn't throwing as well as he did in the offseason.  Says Beck:

"It's tough. When I came in, I wanted things to be perfect. I wanted to throw all touchdowns and no interceptions, but it doesn't always work that way.''

"It's tough because there's certain situations in practice when you only get limited reps. You feel like you want to make the best of that rep, but sometimes the best of that rep is just checking it down."

But the Herald's Jeff Darlington writes that Beck knows he can perform better than he has:

With the preseason looming, Beck said he knows he's capable of playing more consistently -- something he showed coaches during the spring and the summer. And the coaches know, too. That's likely part of the reason why they've occasionally berated Beck for some of his misfires.

Darlington also writes that rookie Chad Henne could be every bit as involved in the competition to start as both Beck and Josh McCown are.  He's reportedly been steadily improving each day, despite having "his first mediocre workout in the past 3 days" on Friday, according to Darlington.

And apparently, the coaching staff is taking notice.  Writes Jeff:

Over the past three days, coaches have gotten in the ears of veteran quarterbacks Josh McCown and John Beck, vocalizing their belief that rookie Chad Henne has rapidly moved into the mix as a serious contender in this competition.

And that's why this "scrimmage" later on today will be interesting.  Despite everything that has gone on with the QBs already after just a week, a strong showing by any of the 3 quarterbacks could easily vault that player into the lead in this open competition...at least until the next key date: August 9 versus Tampa Bay.

Another practice on the lighter side.  Perhaps they are getting ready for a more demanding session tomorrow during their scrimmage.

PALM BEACH POST PRACTICE REPORT
Highlights include:

-11-on-11 red-zone drills: Henne 0/1 with a sack and no TD; McCown: 1/1 with a sack and no TD; Beck 2/3 with a sack and no TD
-2 minute drill for Henne w/ 1:35 on clock and from own 40: goes 3/4 with a sack, no points-Same drill for McCown: 0/1 with 2 sacks
-Beck had "a better showing" while Henne "looked a bit erratic"
-Offensive line seems to be struggling protecting the QB
-Vonnie Holliday continues his stand-out play

More to come later...

At today's press conference in between the 2 practices, Tony Sparano was asked about how Quincy Carter's workout went yesterday.  Sparano's response was this:

It was fine.  I mean, it was just a tryout.  And that's where it was...He looked fine.  He threw the ball well.  Did some things that way.  But he looked fine.

Uh, yeah.  That doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement, does it?  And if you watch Sparano's press conference over on miamidolphins.com, you'll notice that he seemed rather unenthusiastic about Carter's workout, and came across quite dismissive.

Maybe it was just me, but I almost got the feeling that Sparano didn't even want to waste any time watching Quincy work out.  So perhaps this just was a promise that Bill Parcells made to a troubled person about giving him a look if/when he gets his life back together.  So maybe Carter has gotten his life back together so Parcells was just following through with his end of the deal.

I don't know.  That's just the feeling I get.  Regardless, don't expect Carter to be a Dolphin any time soon.  Thank goodness!