Ginn practices, faces scrutiny from veterans
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 08, 2007
Dolphins receiver Ted Ginn Jr., whose selection with the ninth overall pick in the recent NFL Draft upset many fans - and, reportedly, some veteran players - practiced with the team for the first time Thursday and will participate in the mini-camp that starts today.
Ted Ginn Sr. said his son, who has been recovering from a sprained left foot that he suffered in the BCS title game Jan. 8, is healthy and worked out under the supervision of the Dolphins' medical staff.
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Ginn Sr. stopped short of saying that his son, a star at Ohio State who was injured in the title game against Florida, is ready to participate fully in workouts.
"I don't know anybody that is 100 percent after being off for five months," said Ginn Sr., a high school football coach in Cleveland.
Ginn Jr.'s return to practice coincided with the publication on the Internet of a story that said Dolphins defensive veterans Vonnie Holliday and Jason Taylor were stunned by Ginn's selection. That Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn was available added to the surprise, the story said.
Holliday, a defensive tackle, said his comments were misconstrued.
"I was by no means trashing our pick; that's not what I was doing," he said. "I'm not trashing the Dolphins, I'm not trashing the (front-office personnel) and what they do. That's not my job and I wasn't doing that in my comments."
In the story on SI.com headlined, "Dolphins veterans puzzled by decision to draft Ginn," Holliday was quoted as saying: "With the ninth pick they took a guy who is basically a kick returner - a hurt kick returner. Here we are in June, and he hasn't been in camp yet. Maybe he'll come in eventually and become a better route-runner and make some plays. But I couldn't believe it then, and I can't believe it now."
Holliday said he made those comments but that they were "thrown together to make it sound" like he was unhappy. He said he was only trying to say he understood the frustration of fans who booed coach Cam Cameron after the pick was made.
"My comments were definitely not characterized correctly," Holliday said. "That's not the kind of guy I am. ... I've never been that kind of guy and I'm not about to be that guy."
Even if Ginn had not been injured, NFL rules would have prevented him from practicing before Thursday, when Ohio State completed final exams.
Holliday did concede that Ginn will be scrutinized closely by the veterans. But he said that would be true for most top-10 draft choices.
"When you're drafting those guys, you want them to be impact players," Holliday said. "Ginn, he has pressure and he's going to have pressure because he's the ninth pick and because of the whole quarterback situation."
The Dolphins on Tuesday acquired quarterback Trent Green and will move on without Daunte Culpepper. Miami drafted John Beck in the second round to be groomed as a starter.
"Hopefully, Beck and this draft class will live up to all their hype," Holliday said.
Ginn Sr. said neither he nor his son minded Holliday's comments.
"Being a coach and being in athletics, I don't know anybody who's proven until he's proven," Ginn Sr. said. "I don't know anyone who came in with nothing to prove."
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