Culpeppers Health is Improving

Dolphins' Culpepper says he's improving

By Harvey Fialkov
Sun-Sentinel.com
Posted May 4 2007, 3:36 PM EDT


DAVIE -- Rookie quarterback John Beck's first day on the job was overshadowed by incumbent starter Daunte Culpepper declaring that he expects to participate in next month's minicamp and that his surgically repaired knee should be 100 percent healed by training camp in late July."I feel very excited that maybe coming back at the next minicamp in June (8-10), that's going to be a great stepping stone for me being 100 percent for training camp,'' said Culpepper, who spent most of the morning session on the stationary bicycle. "There's no swelling in the knee, and that's a blessing.''
The current trio of healthy Dolphins quarterbacks - Beck, Gibran Hamdan and Cleo Lemon - have one NFL start between them. Despite the imminent arrival of Chiefs veteran quarterback Trent Green, Culpepper is confident that when he's healthy, he'll be starting – somewhere."When I'm healthy, I'm an elite quarterback in this league,'' he said.Culpepper tore three ligaments in his right knee in October 2005 while with the Minnesota Vikings. He was ineffective as the Dolphins' starter in the first four games last season before sustaining a knee cap injury, which required further surgery in November 2006.Beck, who is being groomed as the future starting quarterback, had problems dealing with the speed of the Dolphins defense, and allowed the 40-second play clock to expire twice. He did show off a strong throwing arm in 7-on-7 drills."He learned what most of them learn right away,'' Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said of Beck. "He let the clock run out twice. That clock is a major factor, major difference with guys coming out of college and he was shocked that happened."He'll get that corrected. Like all young guys, it's a process.''