I had a bit of a rough day yesterday, having to leave work early to go rescue a co-worker who broke down on an errand. The round-trip to get him was a four hour drive. I missed out on any afternoon updates, but lo and behold I awoke today to not one but two e-mails from obsessed Dolfans who were in attendance yesterday at training camp. So, before I get on to today's updates, I wanted to do a separate blog post to share these fans' experiences.
And now, the write-up by the almighty Fang, with glorious photos by BrianL (including the cool artsy one above. Make sure to click on each photo to enlarge them, they're really good, better than any other sites):
"OK so I'm a little late with this I went down to the dolphins practice again Tuesday, and here are my observations.
Chad Pennington's arm seems much stronger over last year, he threw a number of passes right at 50 yards. I think one went about 55 yards when he over threw Ginn down the right side line. P White is running a down sized offense, they are not asking much from him other than not making mistakes.
Henne was his usual self strong arm no mistakes that I remember.
P Turner looks really good to me, and I think we will see quite a bit of him this year. With him and London on the field at the same time it looks really imposing.
Ginn didn't seem to get open much, Bess is always open, don't know how he does it with ( no speed).
Hartline didn't show much, but he didn't look bad either. WRs seem to have plenty of competition, we might see a surprise in someone being let go in this group although I can't say who it maybe.
It appears we will see little change in the RBs, Brown, Williams, Cobbs, and Polite seem to be locks nothing new there.
Again the linemen on both sides of the ball were to far away to make any judgments on them in one on one drills.
S. Smith had a rough day, I think he is trying to impress the coaches a little to much.
J. Allen I thought played pretty good, and Davis made no mistakes that I saw. C. Bryan may not make the team but he was having fun out there I can tell you that. Also the DBs are trying to make plays on the ball much more than what I remember last year at this time.
Mr. first half JT along with all the linebackers had pretty non-descript day. Kershaw made a few plays nothing great but I noticed him for some reason.
The DL from what I saw had there hands full today. But T. McDaniel was dropping back into pass coverage from the nose spot (that was weird) and it was causing problems, and he has good hustle back there.
Now I know some of you are waiting for this from left to right the O-line was Long, Smiley, Grove, Thomas, and Carey... and yes Thomas played nearly all the snaps with the first team. Something tells me if this unit can stay together the schedule will look a little easier. These observations were 11 on 11 drills.
[Matt] Roth did some stretching only. He then went inside with 2 people came out about 30 minutes later, threw the medicine ball one time and watched practice just like I did. He has no limp, but it's clear something is wrong with him and it's not a contract issue. My guess is they will put on the PUP list to start the season, don't look for him to be back before week 8 or so. I guess Mr. first half JT. will be getting run over by every back in the league until Roth returns.
Last but not least for all you wildcat fans out there. At the beginning of practice Pennington was throwing the ball with his feet planted at about shoulder width using only the rotation from his upper body and not stepping, as he threw the ball about 10 yards. But Brown, Williams, and Cobbs were doing the same exercise in the end zone I thought that was interesting."
Looks like 2nd or 3rd team here (Louis Ellis in the middle, Alleman far left/top)
Starks beats Smiley to the inside, but the WR screen is set up with Bess and Ginn blocking for Camarillo.
Ginn gets behind Will Allen and Gibril Wilson.
Ginn on a hook pattern, Smith is beat but look at that reach!
Special Thanks to both Fang and BrianL (do you teach photography?) for all the hard work and for being so generous by sharing with all of us. Thanks guys!
And now, the write-up by the almighty Fang, with glorious photos by BrianL (including the cool artsy one above. Make sure to click on each photo to enlarge them, they're really good, better than any other sites):
"OK so I'm a little late with this I went down to the dolphins practice again Tuesday, and here are my observations.
Chad Pennington's arm seems much stronger over last year, he threw a number of passes right at 50 yards. I think one went about 55 yards when he over threw Ginn down the right side line. P White is running a down sized offense, they are not asking much from him other than not making mistakes.
Henne was his usual self strong arm no mistakes that I remember.
P Turner looks really good to me, and I think we will see quite a bit of him this year. With him and London on the field at the same time it looks really imposing.
Ginn didn't seem to get open much, Bess is always open, don't know how he does it with ( no speed).
Hartline didn't show much, but he didn't look bad either. WRs seem to have plenty of competition, we might see a surprise in someone being let go in this group although I can't say who it maybe.
It appears we will see little change in the RBs, Brown, Williams, Cobbs, and Polite seem to be locks nothing new there.
Again the linemen on both sides of the ball were to far away to make any judgments on them in one on one drills.
S. Smith had a rough day, I think he is trying to impress the coaches a little to much.
J. Allen I thought played pretty good, and Davis made no mistakes that I saw. C. Bryan may not make the team but he was having fun out there I can tell you that. Also the DBs are trying to make plays on the ball much more than what I remember last year at this time.
Mr. first half JT along with all the linebackers had pretty non-descript day. Kershaw made a few plays nothing great but I noticed him for some reason.
The DL from what I saw had there hands full today. But T. McDaniel was dropping back into pass coverage from the nose spot (that was weird) and it was causing problems, and he has good hustle back there.
Now I know some of you are waiting for this from left to right the O-line was Long, Smiley, Grove, Thomas, and Carey... and yes Thomas played nearly all the snaps with the first team. Something tells me if this unit can stay together the schedule will look a little easier. These observations were 11 on 11 drills.
[Matt] Roth did some stretching only. He then went inside with 2 people came out about 30 minutes later, threw the medicine ball one time and watched practice just like I did. He has no limp, but it's clear something is wrong with him and it's not a contract issue. My guess is they will put on the PUP list to start the season, don't look for him to be back before week 8 or so. I guess Mr. first half JT. will be getting run over by every back in the league until Roth returns.
Last but not least for all you wildcat fans out there. At the beginning of practice Pennington was throwing the ball with his feet planted at about shoulder width using only the rotation from his upper body and not stepping, as he threw the ball about 10 yards. But Brown, Williams, and Cobbs were doing the same exercise in the end zone I thought that was interesting."
Looks like 2nd or 3rd team here (Louis Ellis in the middle, Alleman far left/top)
Starks beats Smiley to the inside, but the WR screen is set up with Bess and Ginn blocking for Camarillo.
Ginn gets behind Will Allen and Gibril Wilson.
Ginn on a hook pattern, Smith is beat but look at that reach!
Excellent photos indeed
ReplyDeleteHope Brian can bring more to the site
He must have one of those 8-inchers!
ReplyDeleteyea ill stick with the newspaper blog sites in the future.. no thanks.
ReplyDeletenice work... especially like the photos...
ReplyDeleteExcellent report Fang, and great pictures Brian, thanks for sharing fellas.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff guys!
ReplyDeleteFang, if Roth is put on the PUP that's only 6 weeks and we have the bye week 6. So Roth could be back week 7 and play in game 6. That said I'm not sure that's going to be the case. We don't play our 1st PS game until Monday and there is still some time for him to come back. The season doesn't start for a month.
"The season doesn't start for a month."
ReplyDeleteDon't remind me....
Tin, I'm psyched for the season as well but I don't want the summer to go away too fast. You live in CA and have nice weather most of the time. We don't have great weather in late fall and winter in NJ. We've got about 3-4 weeks of real warm weather left and then it drops a bit almost as opening day kicks off. You can feel football in the air. Then it's real nice for about a month and a half before the cold rain comes in followed by colder temps and that frozen shit. >:o
ReplyDeleteLOL, what's the point in even responding?
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, WOW where you on the field ?
ReplyDeleteI could be going down today for tonights practice and that will be the last time for this year. I can't beleive I've been down there 2 times already. I keep trying to go down on a weekend so 13 and I can go but I can't seem to get that together, sorry dude.
Oh almost forgot. I mentioned the competition at WR, the same thing holds true for the DBs.. There will be some hearts broken at both of these positions. Judging buy the past the guys that stay will be the trifectas guys if things seem even.
Knight I know about the 6 game wait Thanks. My point is even though a player returns on week 6, seldom are they ready to start taking the hits, and getting into the flow for few weeks after there return.
ReplyDeletePlus who knows he could be ready before the season starts !! One can hope right !
Knight do live near the cesspool or further west or south. My Brother lives a couple hours west and NJ is really a pretty State once you get away from the sewage.
That's all fine and dandy, but it's 105 degrees today and half the State is
ReplyDeleteon fire - AGAIN. And remember, it's only nice when its hot and you have
shade and/or water to be around, but when you live in a dustbowl/desert, the
warm temps are not pleasurable.
Fang, I don't live in the cesspool area. Most people don't. People fly into Newark airport and say yuk this is NJ. The smell of the meadowlands where the stadium is mostly natural smells not toxic, which is misinterpreted often. They're meadows and marshes and have now become preservations and wildlife sanctuaries. The nasty smells of another world are in the industrial areas around Elizabeth, Linden, Newark etc. Those areas are unique areas in NJ and not the true representative of the state.
ReplyDeleteMost of NJ is very nice. We're called the Garden State for a reason, not the Industrial State. LOL
We have the best tomatoes and corn on the planet. :-D
As for Roth, if he's conditioning and getting himself ready during his time on the PUP, he could be ready as soon as he's eligible. It doesn't seem like he's that far off as we speak or he wouldn't even be on the field in any capacity.
Good points, I didn't realize California was burning again. It's hot here too (mid 90s)) but too humid for fires. Sometimes the meadowlands ignite and I can see the smoke from my house but that's when we have a drought and that's not the case this year. We had so much rain in May and June that many of us thought about building arks. LOL
ReplyDelete"I didn't realize California was burning again."
ReplyDeleteI know it doesn't make the news until some celebrities loses a mercedes, but
California burns down every summer and occasionally during the spring as
well.
I hear that. I know it happens often. It sucks that you guys have to go through that. I have friends in San Diego and they live in a 100 year old house so they must be in the right spot. : )
ReplyDeleteSan Diego is one of the worst spots actually. They had the really big one
ReplyDeletelast year.
But Florida has Hurricanes, the NW has the rain, the SW has 120 degree days,
ReplyDeletethe Mid-West is full of cowboys, and New Jersey has that 'natural' odor.
Yes San Diego gets bad fires but somehow our friends' house doesn't get touched. 100 year old house and never any damage.
ReplyDeleteLOL, only is a specific area.
ReplyDeleteProblem with the fires is air quality mostly. With a few exceptions the number of structures lost in wildfires every year is surprisingly low (I just happen to ride by them on a daily basis :) ) . But I just got back from visiting a friend in Sactown and when you combine the heat with horrible air quality it IS indeed miserable. If I lived there I'd spend most summer weekends on the water (burning in the sun no doubt) or in the Sierras where the air is cooler.
ReplyDeleteIt's pleasant here, but I feel your pain Tin.
last few days have been pretty bad air quality-wise. we have two fires
ReplyDeletewithin 100 miles I think. I don't even pay attention to them anymore, or
the brown sky for that matter.
Jahndoh, since you had your scare last time, have you got a water tower
installed?
I'd of gone w'ya 2nght had you called,NO BIGGG!!
ReplyDeleteI've gone to pre-season game's that weren't worth the effort,and we're talkin bout practice...
The report's we're gettin are practically like being there anyway's,so thanx for those efforts!!
LUV that 3-D photo,I'd like to make that into a poster!!
Wish I weren't technologically challenged!! *DONT_KNOW*
Thanks for the kind words. Tin a 8 incher probably wouldnt have gotten into camp unless you had press credentials. I used a 100-300mm tele-lens from the stands. I wasn't as familiar with the camera I was using as I would have liked, but still managed a couple of decent shots. It was my first time at camp, its a bitch trying to absorb everything thats happening between two fields and players broken up into different groups. At times your not sure what to watch.
ReplyDeleteB
well when you're on 300 you must be pretty close? 6.5" ? lol
ReplyDelete