Disclaimer: I had binoculars today, so this report will be way more accurate than my previous ones. Keep in mind a lot is going on during the practice, and these are the guys that stood out to me as far as making plays. These are all my opinions, someone could have seen something different.
First off, a couple thoughts. I was on vacation this past weekend so I didn't hear about the injuries to Boston and Akin till Sunday night. You know, before I was a little dissapointed with Ricky, but then he angered all of Dolphin nation with his antics and words, and we had a place to channel our rage and I thought this team would persevere and still make a run. But who is there to be mad at about these injuries? It saddens me beyond words, CC and Boston were the one real hope I had for this offense. I'm not giving up by any stretch of the imagination, but I sure as hell am not stupid enough to not realize we're in big trouble, cause we are not going to the playoffs with this WR core.
And all the reports about AJ doing bad or whatnot, they are a complete and utter joke in my mind and I can't see why any of you would take them seriously. The only, and I repeat only, people in the media qualified to comment on the qb situation are Alex Marvez, Jason Cole, Joe Schad, Ethan Skolnick, Drew Rosenhaus, and the TC reporters from the papers because they are the only ones who have been to practice more than twice. These idiots in New York sitting on their computer have no idea what AJ has been doing, all they have is heresay, they've never once been in attedance. They're basing this purely on the Wanny-Jay relationship and the fact that AJ struggled with the offense during the minicamps. Every single person from the guys in the papers to me to Dude to Ozzy to Blitzkrieg have reported that AJ has been progressing and that he throws a much better ball than Jay. I tend to put stock in the opinions of people who have actually watched the player in question. Enough with my rant, on to the practice.
Pat Surtain, Sam Madison, Chris Chambers, Terrence Wilkins, Derrius Thompson, Leonard Henry, and Damion McIntosh all were not in pads. Zach was in pads for the first time but I didn't see him doing any drills. I don't think I saw Snoop either. They stretched and warmed up, then Mare started off with some fgs (he nailed every one I saw as usual), then they did kickoff drills. Russell, Newson, and Simmons handled all the kick-returning duties.
In the o-line drills Vernon Carey was earning the most praise. I still don't understand how this guy is on the second team, I think he's much better all-around than St. Clair. The only area he's struggling in is his terminology and knowledge of the playbook, a couple times he's had to pull and he ends up going after the DE who's already being blocked by the guard, and a dlineman or LB goes unblocked and gets the ball carrier. He's also gotten confused on stunts and blitzes during pass protection, but the only way to solve that is lots of practice and playing time IMO. St. Clair is decent, and will never be better than decent as a tackle, he gets beat far too often. My biggest beef with him is his apparent lack of fire or passion for the game, he gives up on plays really easily. Those are two horrible qualities to have in an offensive lineman, let alone our starting RT....give me a talented young stud like Carey with a fire in his belly any day. The only person I see Carey moving inside for is McIntosh when he gets healthy.
Bua, Pope, and Moore looked fantastic as usual in the drills, they're all really fast for LB's. Whoever says our D is getting old and we have no young talent, I think you need to look closer. Our d-line is the only one with lots of older players sans Romero, Ogun, and Grigsby, but the rest of the defense is stacked with young talent: Poole, Roundtree, Bell, Jenkins, Bua, Pope, Moore, Greenwood, etc. Any of those guys if they live up to their potential can be a future starter for us, and worse case we'll have tons of good depth....I really like this draft by RS, he did a great job scouting these kids.
Will Poole continues his outstanding play, he's gonna be a starter for a long time in this league. Best-case scenario in two years we'll have two Patrick Surtains...wouldn't that be nice? Roundtree and Banks have also been playing well with the abscence of the starters, they've been making the most out of their opportunity.
Red Zone Drill
Started off at the 15 yard line
Minor 3 yds (Seau, Greenwood)
Jay swing to Konrad gets corner on Greenwood
Sammy Morris nice run, 6-7 yds (Howard)
Now they move up to the 8
Renaldo Works stuffed at line (Banks, Pope)
AJ inc over the middle to Newson
Minor crushed, no gain (T Brown)
Now they move up to the 2
AJ PA fake, hits Jones in the back of the end zone for 6
Minor td run, nice blocking by James and McKinney
Morris minimal gain, no TD (Taylor, Moore)
Jay swing pass TD to Easlick
Jay through the hands of Lee, not a bad throw
Morris gets 3 yds with a second effort after he gets smacked (Grigsby)
Works untouched into the end zone
Jay PA fake, TD to Moa
Russell gets knocked back, minimal gain (Freeman, Bua)
Jay bootleg PA fake, runs it into the end zone
I got a real good look at everything, so I'll mention who was in coverage in parantheses during the 7 on 7s.
7 on 7s
Jay over the middle to Konrad (Moore)
Jay to Minor on RB flare (Seau)
Jay over the middle dropped again by Lee (Moore)
AJ sidearms one to Minor, bad throw (Seau)
AJ quick out to Morris (Greenwood)
AJ nice slant route to Tolver who comes up with a nice grab (Banks)
AJ over the middle to Morris (Jenkins)
Jay complete to Newson mid-range (Pope)
Jay deep post to Simmons, great throw between Banks and Roundtree
Jay short to Russell, hit immediately (Jenkins)
Jay short to Easlick (Mallard)
AJ mid-out to Tolver (Millhouse)
AJ short out to Jones (Given)
AJ short to Works (Bua nearly took his head off)
AJ super throw on seam route to Lee huge gain (Freeman)
Jay Fiedler's Temple support group showed up then, jk lol. But seriously, like 50 Jewish people in yamacahs showed up....
Scrimmage
Jay under pressure, fires one to Tolver who comes up with a magnificent catch (Howard)
Minor minimal gain (Chester, D Bowens)
Minor 2 yds (Moore, Seau)
Jay to Tolver who finally drops one, good try though (Bua)
AJ great pass to Jones, 25+ yards, lol he runs right over Bell at the end
Sammy Morris huge run off left side blocking of Smith and James
Sammy Morris 3 yds, great tackle by Jenkins
AJ to Newson over the middle (Millhouse)
Russell breaks it outside 6 yds (Winston Talyor)
Sage short to Russell who jukes Taylor out of his shorts and gets a nice run after the catch
Sage slant to Morris (Banks)
Sage fires one on the run to Tolver (Edwards)
Minor 6 yds stood up by Freeman
AJ swing pass to Minor (Howard)
Minor minimal gain (Zgonina)
AJ sacked by Greenwood
Jay sacked by Bowens and Taylor
Reverse to Newson nice run
The d-line got pretty good pressure on the qbs, but the o-line wasn't too bad in pass protection. They opened up a few holes in the run game which is encouraging to see.
I thought Jay was better today because IMO he was more consistent and did things with his legs as well, mixed it up nice. AJ had a good day too though, especially on the two passes to the tight ends.
JR Tolver is the only hope I have for this reciever core with Newson a few steps behind. Sam Simmons had a few nice catches as well today, Snoop Minnis is all but done here IMO.
3 Stars
JR Tolver: Several nice catches, looks like he's ready to make his push for the job, and if he keeps this up he just might win it. One drop but that doesn't take away from his fantastic day.
Sammy Morris: Again, several nice runs and had the defense back on its heels for a few plays. Also looks to be a threat receiving out of the backfield.
Jay Fiedler: Good decisions and threw it really well today IMO. Looked especially good in the red zone drills where his legs made all the difference.
Highlight: JR Tolver first catch in scrimmage, what a play. Also, Jones running over Bell, too funny.
Lowlight: The back to back sacks at the tail end of scrimmage, o-line caved in under the blitz.
