August 3

[Paul Mad Scot]

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8/3 Morning practice

By Greg Bedard | Friday, August 3, 2007, 10:04 AM


The team had walkthroughs in the Bubble and just ventured outside. They are not wearing pads — again — and are doing mostly special teams drills. This looks like it will be another practice that lacks much action. Let’s get to it:

• I’m amazed at how unstrenuous this camp has been. Hopefully Cam Cameron is onto something, but this is the second practice without pads, and they’ve had just four in full pads;
• Lorenzo Booker seems to be improving at this punt returns, but Cameron and Terry Robiskie are giving him the old “put the back of your heels on the 10 yard line and don’t you dare take a step back” lesson;

• I think I’m safe in saying that if the Dolphins ever have Drew Mormino long-snapping, they’re in trouble;
• Ginn has been very solid on his punt catches. He’s field a couple tough ones with ease;
• I haven’t been watching real closely, but I think I can say that Ryan Flinn is hitting the ball a little better than Brandon Fields;
• Interesting to see Ronnie Brown working as the punt protector;
• Now we’re onto kick coverage;
• Um, yeah, there’s really nothing going on. They aren’t even doing a live kickoff. It’s all on the short field, working on blocking. Nobody’s even catching a ball;
• The third-teamers are now running 7-on-7, with John Beck at the controls. A strike to Ted Ginn on the first pass, then a drop by Tim Massaquoi on the second. Beck hit David Sutton on the next, but did so throwing off his back foot a little. The first-teamers would have picked that off;
• Drop by Reagan Mauia followed by a nice read by Beck on a quick pass to Ray Perkins;
• Chase Page made a good play holding up Patrick Cobbs in blowing up a screen pass. When Beck jumped around to dump it off to Cobbs and he wasn’t there, Beck was sacked by Paul Solai;
• Mormino and Tala Esera are working as the RG and RT, respectively, with this offensive line, which also includes Johnathan Ingram (C), Dan Stevenson (LG) and Julius Wilson (LT, who just forgot the snap count);
• Practice just concluded.

[Paul Mad Scot]

http://www.finheaven.com/boardvb2/sh...ht=camp+report

BLITZ' Training Camp Report : "Friday Night Session"
When I finally sat down, they were working on ST drills. Ginn, among many others were fielding punt / kick returns. There was no contact, and this is a basic drill used to get the returners familiar with catching the ball...

On a side note, I think Ginn looks the best. He has the most explosive burst after the catch. He makes long strides, and gets up the field quickly. If he can stay healthy this year, he will certainly make an impact as a returner....

At the same time, on the opposite field, the QB's / C's were practicing snap exchange drills. Just basic snapping of the ball really, and nothing much else...

There was a very large crowd tonight. It's always nice to have the stands packed. The players get fired up more too in my opinion....

Just noticing FB C. Schlesinger run by, man that guy has some big shoulder pads on!!! He looks like a battering ram out there. I can't wait to see him open some holes this year....

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Next, they had the offense line up and start practicing run formation drills. The OL consisted of {Carey / Liweinski / Satele / Mormino / Alabi}, and it was Green / Brown handling the exchanges. This is a drill basically used to get the timing down when handing off the football. It's a simple drill, but it's also a very important one. They need to get familiar with eachother, and using this drill is the best way to get it down nice and tight....

At the same time on the opposite field, we have the starting DL / LB's / and DB's over working formation drills. They're just getting everything down, and making sure they all know where they're suppose to be in certain situations....

The back-up DB's / S's / LB's working on various formation drills on the opposite end of the field...

Now I'm seeing the offense change things up. They're practicing the reverse, and it's T. Ginn getting the ball. He's certainly a quick up the field runner. It will be interesting to see how many times they run this play once the pre-season starts. There is no defense here, all offense....

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The horn blows, and some new drills begin. This is only a 5:00 minute seesion...

- The QB's are throwing some flair out passes, with no coverage / contact involved. This is yet another timing drill, requiring accuracy from the QB. The execution looks solid for the most part, and I'm certain they'll practice this time and time again until they have it running smooth....

- Now some of the RB's / FB's are practicing handoff drills woth eachother. Not much to report there...

- The WR's are practicing a "leaping drill".

- The OL is now over working the pads, and the DL is drilling alone as usual, more formation stuff it looks like. The DL is always way over on the oppositie side of the field where you can hardly see what exactly they're doing most of the time....

- The LB's are drill the cones. Running around them, working on their cutbacks....

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STRETCH PERIOD
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This next session is 15:00 minutes long....

- They now have the LB's in a pass rush drill. They come off a block from the outside{which is just a padded stand-up dummy}, and run towards where the QB's would be standing in the pocket. Simple drills, but it's fun watching the LB's intensity out there when they get to hit something....

- The DB's have started practicing fumble recovery drills. I sure hope our entire defense capitalizes on turnovers this year, and let's hope this drill will help...

- The OL is doing their normal pad blocking drills. Nobody really stands out on the OL in my opinion, but they all appear to work hard which I like....

- The QB's / WR's are now working together on some 15-20 yard throws. They're simply tossing it with a nice high arch are the WR's are running under them for the catch. This is easy stuff, but it helps get the QB's loosened up for the remainder of practice. They all look good working this drill....

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- The QB's / RB's now begin to practice more handoff timing....

- The WR's are now over on the opposite side of the field working a "back the endzone catch" drill. Making the catch and staying in bounds is the best way to describe what's going on over there....

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On a side note, I'd like to say that I really like our RB's this year. Even the guys fighting for a spot have done well thus far in my opinion. I really like L. Booker, and think he'll make a nice change of pace back for us.....

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- Now the DL is over working the sleds, they always get some good push. I think the emergence of DT R. Wright will pay off for us this year. He's having a great camp, and moving up the depth chart fast. Overall, I think our DL is going be very strong this season...

- The DB's are practicing some INT drills. Simple stuff, but again one of the ways to keep the hands ready....

- The QB's are over on the opposite side of the field throwing corner endzone passes. No coverage, no defense. Green has a really good touch throwing this pass in my opinion....

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Some 11-11 drills...

TG - Looks like a reverse to Ginn that goes outside for approx 7-10 yards. It was kind of hard to see from where I was sitting. All in all, a decent play in my opinion....

TG - This appears to another run outside right. I can't pick out who was running it, but it the play went for what looked like 5 yards or so....

JB - Run, short gain up the middle. I think it's Booker running the ball here...

JB - Pitch right to Booker, slams the middle and only has a short gain....

JB - Another handoff right, and another short gain....

Side note : The players are starting to make alittle contact now. Chippy??

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Now they go to 7-7, at least that's what it looks like. The pass rush here only consists of 2-3 guys....

TG - Hits Chambers for about a 5-7 yard gain. Nice connection....

TG - Rolls out to his right, and fires one down toward the sideline to Chambers, and connects for what appeared to be about 7-10 yards....

TG - Throws left to Chambers, complete again for about 5....

TG - Good pass rush, holds ball, and then throws short underneath for only about 3-4 yards. The defense won that one....

CL - Outside pass, low, only about a 2-3 yard gain. The WR had to go to the ground to make the catch here. Bad throw....

CL - Tries to go over the middle for about 15-20, but the ball sails incomplete....

CL - Looks left, nobody open and throws it away. From where I was sitting that's what it looked like....

CL - Tries to throw a flair out pass to RB, it was a good pass in stride, but he dropped it. I think it was Perkins on the drop....

JB - Hard pass rush, throws underneath and it's dropped. It wasn't the best pass, and another one for the defense....

JB - Has a bad throw, low, and over into good coverage. Incomplete....

I'm feeling a light drizzle now....

Hamdan just tried to connect with Sutton over the middle, and he got popped big time. It was looking like it was going to be a great play, but he got stuck on that one....

It's now about 8:30, and the rain is coming down. I'm out.....

Final Thoughts
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This was a much more physical practice session, and the guys are starting to get anxious with the pre-season getting closer. The offense is still kind of a work in progress, but I think as Green improves his familiarity with the WR's {as he's clearly been doing}, it will be in good shape...

The OL is still a major unknown, and a major concern. Everything hinges on how well they hold up, and right now it's just too soon to get an accurate assumption of what's to come with the changes we've made....

The Defense looks like it always does. They're a tough bunch, and we're lucky to have them. Let's just hope they can hold up long enough for this new offense to come around....

The WR's have been looking great this off-season in my opinion. Guys like Sutton / Ginn / Hagan / Reed / and Malone have all been doing their share of making plays. Add Chambers / Booker in there, and Green's got adequate weaponry....

Oh, and let's not leave out TE D. Martin, who has been getting tons of work / reps during this off-season. He's going to be a major contributor within Cameron's offense in my opinion, and everything I've seen from him thus far has been positive...

As for the QB's, I think Green is starting to seperate himself from the competition / threat of Lemon. His timing / accuracy is starting to come together, and what I saw last night when he was hitting Chambers did it for me. You can tell that they're getting comfortable with eachother....

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed it.....

PHINZ RULE!!!
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