Miami Dolphins: Notes and Quotes from Week 1 of Training Camp
Miami Dolphins training camp officially began last Thursday, and since then, there's been a whirlwind of news, notes and quotes to sift through.
As should be expected around this time of year, standard-issue overreactions, unexpected training camp standouts and rumors have circulated in the media since the players hit the field for the first time, and there will be more to come as we get closer to Miami's first preseason game in Chicago on August 13.
Today, we'll look at some of the buzz surrounding the Dolphins after their first week of training camp en route to the 2015 NFL season.
Ndamukong Suh Mentoring Jordan Phillips
1 of 6
Dolphins fans were surprised when the team used a second-round pick on Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Phillips back in May.
If there was any area Miami was set at, it was in the interior defensive line. They already had Earl Mitchell and Ndamukong Suh, and they had depth behind the two players, with Anthony Johnson and A.J. Francis backing them up.
But Phillips was drafted with an eye toward the future, and Suh will be guiding him along himself.
The relationship didn't start in training camp, but a while before, when Suh invited Phillips out to Oregon to train with him (per Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post).
Phillips accepted, and what followed was surprise at first, with Phillips saying: “I just didn’t feel like a big vet like that would be, you know, as open to helping a young guy like me. But he took on the role and put me under his wing.”
What did Phillips take from working with Suh? As Phillips puts it: “Just how hard he works. I’ve never seen anybody work the way he does.”
The coaches and executives wanted to see this kind of mentoring from the team's veterans, as Suh points out:
"Mike Tannenbaum definitely challenged me and it is a challenge that I always accept no matter what. As I have grown up and understood in the league, being hopefully one of the elite guys, to be good and to be great as I want to be, you have to go out there and help the guys around you, especially younger guys.
"
Meanwhile head coach Joe Philbin liked seeing Suh take Phillips under his wing as well, telling the Associated Press (per Fox Sports):
"That's an example of leadership—taking a young player, showing him obviously from a physical standpoint and a professionalism standpoint, a preparation standpoint, some of the things that he's done to get himself ready.
Now, to take a young player under his wing so to speak and do those things, that's one great example that he's done already in the short time he's been here.
"
Suh's display of leadership shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to the fans, at least not as much of a surprise as it was to Phillips when he received the invitation. Two years ago in Detroit, Suh took the Lions' first-round pick defensive end Ziggy Ansah under his wing during training camp, with Ansah telling Justin Rogers of MLive.com about his apprenticeship:
"Yeah, definitely, he's a really great guy. He leads me on the field, tells me what I do right. Off the field, he said if I need anything, I should just hit him up and he's going to help me out. He's been a big brother to me.
When I do something wrong, he's like, "You've got to do it this way." He's just helped me overall.
"
In the two seasons since then, Ansah has started 28 games, recording 15.5 sacks 81 tackles and five forced fumbles.
Phillips, unlike Ansah, is a defensive tackle, so you won't see the numbers Ansah has put up. What you will see from this partnership is a better understanding of the game from Phillips, a player with plenty of upside who had a reputation for laziness at Oklahoma. That reputation hasn't popped up in Miami yet, and as long as he's working with Suh, there's a good chance it won't.
Michael Preston Impressive So Far
2 of 6
There will always be two or three players in training camp who surprise you and take roster spots when you figured they wouldn't.
Wide receiver Michael Preston looks like one of those players after the first week of camp, as he's wowed onlookers with some impressive catches during workouts.
Per Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, one of those catches came on Saturday off of Josh Freeman, a player who has struggled in camp for the most part.
Per Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel, Preston was one of the top performers from Day 1 with two deep-ball catches.
Preston spent the last two seasons bouncing on and off the Titans' roster as a special teamer, and he played in the Arena Football League as well.
Considered a long shot to make Miami's crowded wide receiver roster, Preston has some hope as DeVante Parker's injury has kept him sidelined. This gave Preston, Matt Hazel and Rishard Matthews more opportunities to play with the first team in camp.
If Parker is still hurt by the start of the season, Preston might make the final roster, as the Dolphins will need bodies at the position.
Kelvin Sheppard Potentially on His Way to a Starting Job
3 of 6
The Dolphins are short on depth at linebacker, a position that was neglected during free agency and the draft despite a glaring need.
This means they have to be creative. Last year that creativity entailed moving Koa Misi to middle linebacker, a position where he played decently but not quite as well as he did when he was on the outside.
This training camp, the Dolphins are trying Kelvin Sheppard out at middle linebacker, and so far, they like the results (per James Walker of ESPN.com).
Sheppard expects to compete for a starting job at training camp, saying on Friday:
"This is where I expect myself to be, of course. It’s where I think a lot of my teammates expect me to be. And I’m just here, honestly, wherever my role may fit in. I’m just here to have a real impact on this team.
"
What impact could Sheppard have as a starter? His last season as a near-full-time starter was with the Buffalo Bills in 2012, when he started 15 games. That season he recorded two sacks and 80 tackles, however Pro Football Focus graded him at minus-4.2 overall, including a grade of minus-7.1 against the run and 1.5 against the pass.
Since then, Sheppard bounced from the Bills to the Colts before landing in Miami last season. He started once in 2014 and recorded 24 tackles throughout the season.
With Sheppard at middle linebacker, Misi gets moved to strong-side linebacker, a position he's much more familiar with and where he played well in the past. That would also improve the depth of the linebackers and Chris McCain would then back up Misi instead of playing alongside him.
Anything that can help the linebackers is needed, and if Sheppard has shown significant improvement, he should start for Miami.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line Struggles
4 of 6
No one should be surprised by this, but according to David J. Neal of the Miami Herald, the Miami Dolphins' offensive line has struggled so far in training camp.
Head coach Joe Philbin expounded on the issue, saying: “We’ve got to have a little cleaner pocket for our quarterbacks, that’s one thing I noticed overall."
Yes, it's shocking, but a young and rebuilding unit facing off against one of the best defensive lines in the NFL is having some issues.
But I'd put down those pitchforks if I were you. Philbin pointed out that it's still too early to be concerned and added:
"[It's] not any one specific guy. But I would just say overall that’s something we want to do because if we’re going to push the ball down the field, if we’re going to take seven steps at times and hold the ball to let the routes extend, we’re going to have to have protection.
"
There's the perfect explanation as to why the deep ball wasn't very successful in Miami the last two seasons.
It is still early, and the offensive line was expected to struggle at this stage, especially with Branden Albert still not practicing with the team. If the struggles continue over the next few weeks, then feel free to panic.
There is some news to speak of in terms of a player who could greatly help Miami's offensive line.
While appearing on Sports Xtra on WSVN-TV in Miami (h/t Adam H. Beasley), agent Drew Rosenhaus said that the Dolphins have had some discussions regarding Evan Mathis, a Rosenhaus client.
The motive behind Rosenhaus sharing that news might have been to drive the price up for the veteran guard, but it has to be something Miami considers going forward if the offensive line continues to struggle.
In an ideal world, we'd get to see how the line does with Albert back, and there's good news about him coming up.
Branden Albert Back in Pads
5 of 6
The Dolphins put on the pads for the first time on Sunday, then they got some tremendous news.
Branden Albert would be joining them, per Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, and he was a sight for sore eyes for many Dolphins fans.
Albert was still limited, and the Dolphins will continue to take it slow. Joe Philbin said, “It was good to have him out in pads—for him, for the team. Just take it a day at a time and see when we can add more to his plate and go from there.”
But as for starting in Week 1, it looks like he's right on track.
Before making any judgments on the offensive line you'll want to see them with Albert at left tackle instead of Jason Fox (who is currently practicing at left tackle with the first team), and we could see that sooner rather than later. Only then can the offensive line be accurately judged, as the line performed well with Albert in 2014.
Stephen Ross Has High Expectations for the Dolphins (And So Should You!)
6 of 6
Stephen Ross addressed the media on the first day of training camp, and in his address he said exactly what he had to in order to fire up any Dolphins fan.
Per Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald, when Ross was asked if he was getting antsy for results, he replied with four words that were pretty awesome: "You're God damn right!"
The feelings of the entire Dolphins fanbase have never been summed up so succinctly.
Ross then added, per NFL.com's Conor Orr, "(Philbin) is expecting to make it and I'm expecting to make it."
Dolphins fans should expect them to make it too.
It's not just the players acquired or the seemingly easy early schedule. So far, 2015 just feels different, and thus far, everything has gone Miami's way. It's not out of line to expect a playoff appearance. Either they make it or at least one person (Philbin) loses his job.
Ross, at times, says some things the wrong way (like his passive-aggressive slight against the area's most popular franchise that unfortunately overshadowed everything Dolphins-related he had said), but for the most part, he was spot-on on Thursday when speaking to the media.
Check out the transcript of the entire presser courtesy of the Sun-Sentinel.
Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com. Advance statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
