Cam Cameron Q&A
The following is a team-released transcript of Dolphins coach Cam Cameron's news conference from Sunday's minicamp:
Q: Is John Beck where you thought he would be at this point?
A: "I really haven't put a lot of expectations on him because I think back to guys like Antonio Gates and Marcus McNeill. I am not making a direct comparison there, but I have just seen too many guys that look good in that first minicamp and then don't make your team and then guys have come in and looked awful and go on to be great players. So I really have not put any expectation in my mind on any of those rookies in a first minicamp. These guys have flown halfway across the world, a bunch of them, the time schedule – they have a lot of things going through their minds so we are not going to make any judgments on any of those guys."
Q: Can you talk about Cleo Lemon's progress?
A: "Just what we said yesterday – just improvement and that's all you really demand in guys. I was killing him this morning about doing an interview with a phone in his ear. You guys [the media] let him get away with that? He had a phone in his ear. That's a first. I've never seen a quarterback with a phone in his ear. I killed him this morning on that. Other than the phone in the ear, there was a lot of improvement. We just want guys focused on improving. We think coaching matters. We think it's about developing players and Cleo is one of those guys I think is getting better."
Q: Any update on Joe Toledo's health?
A: "He felt a little something in his foot, where he had the broken foot. They took an MRI, took one look at it and they didn't see any damage there, but there is still some soreness so they are going to take another look at it to do further study on that."
Q: Is the plan for training camp to have Vernon Carey at left tackle and L.J. Shelton at right tackle?
A: "They go into strength and conditioning this week. We start up practice again a week from Monday. Vernon will be over there at left tackle. Other than that, we've played Rex (Hadnot) some at guard. There will be a lot of little changes in there, but to be saying that 'this guy is this, this guy is that' at this point is way too early. I don't want to get ahead of myself because then all you do is set a guy for a disappointment. And we don't need to do that. We need the guys focused on getting better and then finding out where the fit is, kind of see where these young guys fit in. It's easy to get ahead ourselves, and I don't think that serves our offensive line the best."
Q: Can you tell us about the rookie symposium that is scheduled for the rookies?
A: "Between now and the symposium that the league imposes, some guys got into trouble [last year]. I just remember on the news one night Reggie Bush saying, 'Hey, we could have used this two months ago.' I just remember that registered in the back of my mind. And given the opportunity to have our own, we thought, 'Hey, we've got these guys for the first time.' We had the NFL security meeting this morning. They came down from the NFL office. That meeting went well. Then we thought we'd just have a symposium. The guys from Hawaii have to take off so they're going to miss it, but we're going to videotape it, put it on a DVD and send it to them.
Q: Why do you think DT Frederick Evans and DE Matt Roth are ready to have a more prominent role this year?
A: "Just by talking to (defensive coordinator) Dom (Capers) and our staff. As you know, we've got tremendous resources on our defensive side of the ball. We've got veteran coaches; guys who were here, guys that know these guys. The guys who are still here are here because of their input. The guys who aren't here aren't here because of input. We get input from our coaches along with Randy (Mueller) and our scouting staff. Fred, obviously, is a young, developing player. He's got a long way to go. Matt is just relentless, tough, hard-nosed guy who plays with a motor that we want guys to play with. We're just going to let those guys battle and contribute. If the young guys don't come along as fast as we want to, then obviously Fred's got some flexibility to move from nose guard to tackle. That gives you some flexibility. But, Fred's still a long way away from talking about being an everyday player. We'd like to think that's going to happen, but until it happens it's just talk."
Q: How do you see Lorenzo Booker fitting into the offense and how do you plan on utilizing him?
A: "I could give you an answer, but until we know him better and know how his mind works, we really don't know. Obviously he's a good receiver. He's a good runner in certain situations; a little different pace than some other guys. I know the buzz word is 'change-of-back guy.' But a football player is a football player and you find a way to use him. It could be a punt returner, it could be a kick returner, it could be a third-down back. My guess is a third-down back you usually try to use him on first and second down. But, he's still got a lot of football to learn. I don't think we want to get too far ahead on a guy like that. It's still a different game. He's quick and he's fast, but most guys in this league are as quick and as fast as he is. So it's going to be more a function of his mind than anything else."
Q: Will Anthony Alabi be ready for the next minicamp, June 8-10?
A: "It's a fair question, but what year was it I decided I'm going to get out of the prediction business when it comes to that stuff? I'll be consistent with that. As we know, the minute I put the date on it and we don't reach that date, now it's a setback. For us to go down that road, it wear's everybody out. When he's ready, he's going to be out there. When he's out there we'll start getting him ready to play."
Q: Are you worried about such a valuable position player like Jason Taylor also long snapping?
A: "You're only going to do it in an emergency. Now you're in a game, and you just have to get a punt off to win the game. You can go for it, there are a lot of things you can do. But in a critical situation where the game is in the balance and John (Denney) goes down or something happens, he would obviously be a guy we feel like we can count on."
Q: What are your impressions of Ronnie Brown?
A: "What I see in him is a guy who is smart – and you have to be smart to play that position in this system, I mean extremely smart. So he's extremely smart. Secondly, I think football is important to him. I think he will do what you ask him to do. I think as he grows in this business you're going to ask him to do less because he's going to know what to do. But I still think there is a growth process that he's going through. I see him as a guy who can be a very powerful runner. I see some quickness in the hole, which is critical. He's not a long strider. Long striders scare you to death, especially the way we like to run the football. I like the way his feet are up underneath him. I like the power he's going to be able to run with. But most importantly, I think he's smart and I think he wants to be a really good player. To me, as long as you can do that, you've got a chance."
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