DAVIE · There were different starters at four of the five offensive line spots in the opening practice of this weekend's Dolphins minicamp, but one of the biggest changes from 2006 wasn't quite so obvious.
Vernon Carey was once lukewarm about moving from right tackle to left tackle. Carey now says he is excited about being shifted to the line's most important pass-blocking position.
"It's another challenge I'm willing to take on," Carey said Friday after completing his first practice at left tackle. "It's going to push me to be a better player.
"I had a bad attitude about it a year or two ago. But now I just look at it like people think I can't do it. ... I'm willing to prove [them] wrong."
Coach Cam Cameron said he was inserting Carey at left tackle after the team failed to address the position in last weekend's NFL Draft. Anthony Alabi worked with the first-team offense during last month's minicamp but wasn't impressive and is sidelined this weekend while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Damion McIntosh, the McArthur High graduate who started at left tackle most of the past three seasons, was allowed to go to Kansas City via free agency in March.
"I just sense [Carey] is a guy I can develop some trust in," Cameron said.
Carey is trying to reward such faith by losing weight to better handle the speed rushers who try to attack the quarterback's blind side. Carey said he plans to lose 13 more pounds to weigh 335 during the regular season.
"Once he gets a comfort level he'll be fine," said L.J. Shelton, a left tackle converted to guard who is taking Carey's former spot at right tackle. "He's more than athletic enough to handle the position. He just has to get comfortable hearing and thinking about things in a different way. When you hear plays, it's all backwards from what he's grown accustomed to."
Besides the different footwork, Carey admitted a shaky start to his NFL career at left tackle contributed to his trepidation about making the switch. A 2004 first-round pick from the University of Miami, Carey's confidence was rocked after regularly struggling in practice against pass-rusher extraordinaire Jason Taylor.
"I was a younger guy," said Carey, who played predominantly at right tackle for the Hurricanes. "I wasn't a starter yet, and probably felt I needed to get some reps at something I was doing all my life. Now, I'm older. I've got a lot more confidence than the previous years and feel I can play on the left side."
Carey said he isn't intimidated now in practice when facing Taylor, who is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
"I want him to bring it," Carey said. "It's all stuff I need to work on. ... In a game, nobody else is going to hold anything back."
Carey said he might have played left tackle earlier for the Dolphins but he didn't receive much developmental help as a rookie. Carey didn't move into the starting lineup at right tackle until his second season in 2005, when Hudson Houck replaced Tony Wise as offensive line coach.
Carey also cited a lack of support from the Dolphins' veteran offensive linemen.
"I came in observing everybody and looking at the guys around," Carey said. "That's how guys learn most of the time. We didn't get a lot of help from the older guys when we came in.
"That's why I try to teach the younger guys when they come in. That's how guys get better. ... Normally, guys are afraid to ask questions. We're changing that around here."
That isn't the only thing Carey hopes is different about the 2007 Dolphins.
"This team has a challenge to turn this program around and get into the playoffs," he said. "That's what we need to do. We're tired of losing."
Alex Marvez can be reached at amarvez@sun-sentinel.com. DE Taylor set to become Dolphins' emergency long snapper
By Alex Marvez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 6 2007, 2:01 PM EDT
DAVIE -- Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor is about to add another position to his impressive NFL resume.
Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said today that Taylor will serve as the team's long snapper in case John Denney were injured during a game.
"It sounds like he's excited to do it and he's pretty good at it," Cameron said.
Taylor wasn't available for comment following today's minicamp practice but he did some long snapping during portions of last month's minicamp. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor also received limited action at tight end the past two seasons in goal-line situations.
Cameron stressed having Taylor snap would only be done in an "emergency" because of the risk of injury. Jeff Zgonina, who was Denney's backup the past two seasons, left to Houston via free agency in March.
Injury Update
Cameron said the team is awaiting the results of more medical testing to determine the extent of cornerback Andre' Goodman's left shoulder injury. Goodman, a 14-game starter in 2006 who underwent shoulder surgery in January, was re-injured during Friday's minicamp practice.
Tackle Joe Toledo missed today's session because of soreness in his foot, which he broke in December when slipping while stepping out of a hot tub. Toledo, a 2006 fourth-round draft pick who spent all of his rookie season on injured reserve with a knee injury, is being converted from guard to tackle.
Fullback Kyle Eckel (illness) also didn't practice, while tight end David Martin returned after being sidelined with a stomach ailment.
Reaching the Rookies
The Dolphins held a rookie symposium after today's practice to help its incoming crop of players better acclimate to the NFL. The rookies also received a talk from members of the NFL's security force before practice.
All draft picks are required to attend a league-wide rookie symposium in late June in Palm Beach Gardens that is designed to help players avoid the off-field problems that have hurt the NFL's image.
Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga said he stressed "off-field character" to players when addressing the team after Saturday morning's session. Huizenga watched today's practice from the covered media area in the stands at team headquarters.
HYDE: Never has a Dolphins era begun with lower expectationsCameron, Mueller must rely on instinct instead of bluster.
Published May 6, 2007
DAVIE -- Somewhere along the way, it's become difficult for Dolphins fans to hear all those sweet stories from a few decades ago when their team actually had all the answers. Oh, it's still fun to hear how Don Shula asked players to offer plays for that week's game, and Larry Csonka always would offer the same handoff to him up the gut.
"P-10," Csonka would yell.
"Why that?" Shula would say.
"Let's hit them in the face and see if they get up," he said.
But let's face it: They haven't made stories like that about the Dolphins in too long. In recent years, the stories have to do with people who only thought they had all the answers: Jimmy Johnson questioning everyone but himself; Dave Wannstedt wondering why people didn't understand passing on quarterback Drew Brees for cornerback Jamar Fletcher; or Nick Saban acting like people evidently do on his planet.
So this is what you notice about this newest Dolphins era: There's no purported genius at work anymore. No gibberish about what they've done in the past, photos of victories somewhere else or even silly signs lining the hallway like Saban had ("Out Of Yourself And Into The Team").
Of course, that's because neither General Manager Randy Mueller nor coach Cam Cameron has won big anywhere. Cameron couldn't win much in college in his only head-coaching stint. Mueller's career detoured to ESPN for a couple of years.
Even in the aftermath of this draft that will carve their success or failure, you heard Mueller say, "We're not saying we have all the answers." And Cameron said, "We did our work, made this plan and followed it and now we'll see how it works."
So never has a Dolphins era begun with this perfect storm of fewer players, less fanfare, lower expectations or actual, genuine humility. It's a sinkhole of issues, if you at look at it like that. And some do. Or it's really the best way to win in the NFL.
Getting a Bill Parcells is great for ticket sales and optimism. It's a card the Dolphins played with Johnson and Saban. And with good reason in both cases. But big-name coaches are tied to their quarterbacks, the career lifeline stretching two ways.
Meanwhile, when Sean Payton went to New Orleans and Eric Mangini went to New York last offseason, there were as many questions about them as there are about Mueller or Cameron today. Yet both showed if you get a healthy quarterback, it makes so much else right.
That's why all you have to do for this Dolphin regime is all you've had to do with any louder, more egotistical one: Watch the quarterback. Johnson and Dan Marino didn't work together. That era failed. Wannstedt had the only good coaching season of the last decade in his first year, but he ultimately failed because Jay Fiedler was limited. Saban failed because the gamble on Daunte Culpepper failed.
One question will hover over all others at Dolphins camp for the next couple of years. It's on fans' minds, of course. It's asked of newcomers Ted Ginn Jr., and John Beck, naturally. It was brought up by two veteran Dolphins I talked with.
It's such a topic that several upset readers from Cleveland e-mailed a story from the Plain Dealer about the minicamp excitement around Brady Quinn (News flash: He got a haircut!)
The question, of course: Did the Dolphins do the right thing on draft day?
For all the attention on Cameron getting booed by fans after the draft, there was an equally telling scene Thursday at the Dolphins' team banquet. At the end of a long speech, Cameron pulled out some bluster and said, "Together, we're going to bring us a championship. I promise you."
No one reacted too much. That's because no one's really listening too hard in the way everyone did to Johnson or Saban. Throw in Wannstedt, and they were all defensive coaches who acted like they had all the answers about offense.
This era goes the other way. Cameron's expertise is offense. He doesn't act like he has all the answers there. He just needs one answer at quarterback, though, and he's made the decision. It's Beck, not Brady. That's what this quieter era banks on.
Dave Hyde can be reached at dhyde@sun-sentinel.com.
Tech tragedy stuns receiver
By Harvey Fialkov
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 6 2007
DAVIE -- Some would consider following in the footsteps of Hall of Fame NBA center Moses Malone and a weekend tryout with the Dolphins to be daunting tasks.
Piece of cake for Malone's son, receiver Michael Malone, who received a much tougher dose of reality three weeks ago when he was getting frantic phone calls from former classmates and friends at Virginia Tech to tell him they were still alive.
Malone attended Virginia Tech for three years before transferring to Sam Houston State in 2005.
"Yeah, it affected me," Malone said of the 32 murdered students and professors. "It's a part of me. I had a class in the same building [Norris Hall] where the people got shot. I'm still a Hokie by heart."
Malone remembers every detail of that somber April 16 afternoon.
"I just got out of my workout and I had 22 missed calls," Malone said. "People calling me, letting me know they're OK. I have some tight friends up there and it was heartbreaking to hear them call me and say, `People are shooting up here and there's been bomb threats all week.'"
Malone hopes to catch on with the Dolphins, but he learned a more valuable lesson last month.
"Don't take life for granted; always try to do what's right and follow God, because you never know when your day could come," Malone said.
FAMILY TIES
Malone isn't the only son of a Hall of Fame athlete brought in for a tryout this weekend as former Stanford safety David Lofton is also vying for a roster spot. Lofton actually presented former NFL receiver and father James Lofton for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
"I guess when [the Dolphins] see a guy who comes from a family with a history of athletes they know it's important to the family and that is something a father hands down to the son," Lofton said.
James Lofton is the receivers coach for the San Diego Chargers, where he worked with Dolphins coach Cam Cameron the past five seasons.
"All those rookies out there are the same and we're looking forward to watching those two guys and really get a chance to look at them on tape," Cameron said.
Last week, the Dolphins drafted Syracuse linebacker Kelvin Smith, nephew of Titans Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Bulluck and godson of former Pro Bowl linebacker Seth Joiner.
Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder's father, Randy, played for the Dolphins from 1974-76, and right tackle L.J. Shelton is the son of former NBA All-Star forward Lonnie Shelton (1976-85).
GOODMAN AILING
Starting cornerback Andre' Goodman, who re-injured his left shoulder in Friday's afternoon practice, had an MRI Saturday morning and returned to the facility with his arm in a sling. Cameron said he would reveal the extent of the injury today. ...
Tight end David Martin missed his second consecutive day of practice because of the flu.
MESSAGE FROM THE BOSS
Owner H. Wayne Huizenga addressed the team on the field after the morning practice.
"He was there talking to them about ... having balance in your life and we expect you to be quality players on the field and quality people off," Cameron said. "He was very encouraging."
BECK'S A NATURAL
Rookie quarterback John Beck couldn't wear the No. 12 jersey that he had in college because it was worn by Dolphins Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese and was retired in 1982. Beck chose No. 9 because of a movie character.
"I'm a big baseball fan and I always loved the movie The Natural, and that's what Roy Hobbs [wore]," Beck said.
LEMON ON TARGET
Cameron praised quarterback Cleo Lemon for successfully tweaking his delivery, including shoulder turn and weight transfer, after daily sessions with quarterbacks coach Terry Shea.
"It was nice to see he came out and took all those corrections we are trying to make," Cameron said. "Today, he was lights out; he was consistent and he was accurate."
Harvey Fialkov can be reached at hfialkov@sun-sentinel.com. |
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