Tony Sparano has been anything but soft on his team during a demanding off-season.

But Sparano also knows how to reward a job well done.

Pleased with his players’ performance during mini-camps and OTAs, Sparano decided to begin the break between now and training camp a day early.

“My message to the team awhile ago is they don’t have one more OTA (on Friday) and that I was really pleased with the combination of work that we had,” Sparano said a little while ago. “So I gave them tomorrow off.

“I thought we got a lot of things accomplished.”

During the team’s final organized team activitiy, Sparano and his staff looked to “create a lot of situations out there and get them into a game, competitive environment as close as we can.”

The team spent the large majority of practice in team drills, with John Beck, Josh McCown and Chad Henne going through two cycles each at quarterback.

Beck opened with the first-team offense, with Ronnie Brown lined up behind him at RB for the first time this off-season during team drills.

The Dolphins were in a three-receiver set (Ted Ginn Jr., Ernest Wilford and Derek Hagan), with David Martin lined up at TE.

The line remained the same as last weekend at mini-camp: LT Jake Long, LG Justin Smiley, C Samson Satele, RG Trey Darilek, RT Vernon Carey.

DE Matt Roth lined up on the strong side with first-team defense, instead of Randy Starks, and Paul Soliai replaced Jason Ferguson (excused absence) at noseguard.

Otherwise the unit hasn’t changed: RDE Vonnie Holliday, LOLB Joey Porter, LILB Akin Ayodele, RILB Reggie Torbor, LOLB Charlie Anderson, LCB Will Allen, RCB Andre Goodman, SS Yeremiah Bell and FS Jason Allen.

During his first go, Beck was on target on several throws, but WR David Kircus dropped a receiver screen and TE Justin Peele a long touchdown down the sideline. Peele beat Allen, who bit on nice pump fake from Beck.

Beck hit Brown on a curl pattern in the middle of the field ahead of Porter. Beck also found RB Ricky Williams in the flat for a touchdown inside the 10.

Beck wasn’t nearly as effective during his second go-around.

He missed on four of five throws, but was under extreme pressure on two of them, with the pass rush right in his face. But Beck made the most of his one completion, a perfect toss on an intermediate sideline rout to Kircus, who beat Goodman in the back of the end zone.

The most action during McCown’s opening series was a knee-to-knee collision between back-up linemen Donald Thomas and Julius Wilson. Both were in obvious pain, and Wilson laid on the field for a minute or so before limping off the field.

McCown bounced back during his second go and went 4-of-4, including a long pass to Martin, who was wide open behind the defense, and a TD to WR Greg Camarillo in the back of the end zone.

A couple of Henne’s early throws sailed on him, but he also was involved in the two biggest plays of the day. The rookie from Michigan hooked up with TE Aaron Halterman, who made an acrobatic catch behind LB Junior Glymph, for a TD on the first series of downs.

During his second go, Henne found WR John Dunlap in the seam behind CB Will Billingsley for a long TD. Dunlap, who the team signed following a try out last week, showed excellent breakaway speed and drew cheers from his teammates.

Sparano wrapped up the day a few plays later, ending the Dolphins’ off-season team activities until training camp opens late next month.

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The Dolphins finished their final OTA work of the offseason. They were scheduled to work Friday but Tony Sparano gave the guys the day off as a reward for their hard work.

In the next few weeks, rookies will be encouraged to show up and learn, and get bigger and stronger. But the vets are done until late July’s start of training camp.

Today, Jason Ferguson, Jason Taylor and Joey Thomas were absent from the voluntary work. Ferguson was excused in that he told Sparano where he’d be. Thomas was held out for medical issues. Taylor was  … never mind.

Interestingly, Bill Parcells, a sideline fixture at all the other workouts, was not at this one.

Running back Ronnie Brown, still recovering from knee surgery, took most of the first-team snaps in practice. That is the first time this offseason Brown does that as the team was bringing him along slowly.

Brown looked good in team drills but I did notice when he caught a pass and was tackled/fell down, he got back up by putting all the pressure on his left knee (the good one) while putting no weight on his right one (the surgically repaired one). It was an instinct thing that tells me Brown still isn’t 100 percent certain about that surgically repaired knee. But that should eventually resolve itself with contact — at least that is the hope.

ILB Channing Crowder, also held out of some team drills, got more work this week as he was eased back into the mix.

A couple of practice play notes:

Ricky Williams continues to impress and that includes with his pass-catching. Shuttling into first-team work in the two-minute drill, Williams caught a pass from first-team QB John Beck in the flat and turned it into a 5-yard TD.

The second-team offense, behind Josh McCown, also got in the end zone when MCown threw a 60-yard pass to tight end David Martin. The pass came against the first team secondary and LB corps. Martin’s longest reception last year was 28 yards.

The third team offense did not score in the two-minute drill.

OT Julius Wilson spent a couple of moments on the turf when he bumped knees with another Olineman but seemed none the worse for wear afterward.

After practice Sparano threw some lesser-known players a bone when he said he was impressed with the work of WR Davone Bess, CB Scorpio Babers and NT Anthony Toribio during the weeks long OTA workouts.

By the way, former Redskins and Texans GM Charley Casserly was at practice today. He is doing work for CBS and the NFL Network and got the royal treatment he deserves from the Dolphins as GM Jeff Ireland spent much of practice with him while Sparano talked to him privately afterward.

And then I talked with him.

He told me he was impressed with the organization and pace of practice. He also told me the team definitely has an issue with the guard position opposite wherever Justin Smiley lines up — either LG or RG. It is a void that is clear to any trained observer.

And that leads me to this: The Browns terminated the contract of LeCharles Bentley on Tuesday. He is 28 years old and a former Pro Bowl player who can play both center and GUARD. I realize he has a terrible injury history of late. But perhaps Miami’s need, so obvious to everybody, will still cause Ireland/Parcells to take a look.

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Last season could be explained as the worst season in Miami Dolphins history, and most likely is the truth. But one bright spot occurred during one game in Mid December. Going into overtime the Ravens got the ball, charging up the field they were in field goal position they were in position to win the game and give the dolphins their 14th loss. But then something miraculous happened, the seemingly amazing kicker Matt Stover missed the kick. In comes Cleo Lemon and on the 3rd play, A liner to Greg Camarillo that looked to be a short pass gets ran into the endzone for a touchdown and the first win of the Dolphins season.

Now the guy who made that one bright spot possible is in position to maybe not make the team. He doesn’t have his old staff who saw him to the only key success to the season. He doesn’t have the old offensive coordinator he knew from his previous team to help him out. He now has to rely on his play in mini camps and training camp to help him make the team. He now has Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland and Bill Parcells to see if hes up to par for the new era of Dolphins Football.

As for his competition he currently has undrafted free agents Davonne Bess, Jayson Foster, Justin Wynn, John Dunlap and Selwyn Lymon. Of those 5 Bess and Foster are expected to make the biggest bang in practices. As well the other receiver that is trying to compete for a roster spot is David Kircus. Camarillo as it stands now has more experience with the team and knows most of the players but as he puts it “Everyone starts from zero … “.

Ginn, Wilford and Hagan are all locks at securing a roster spot for 2008. That being said 2 spots are open. Lymon Dunlap and Wynn are most likely just training camp players and could possibly make the practice squad. I believe the 2 spots will be either one of the 2 of the rookies and one of the 2 of the veterans. And not being able to see what Kircus can do, it is a toss up to what can happen. The Dolphins could possibly bring 6 receivers onto the roster for special team purposes, but at this point of the off-season this is all speculation. Come camp time and finally being able to see what these players can do will finally be a sign if the lone bright spot of the 2007 season will make the team

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Q: What’s the status of the quarterback competition?

A: It’s definitely competitive. All three of them have come to play. We’re a long way from serious evaluations here because I believe in my heart you evaluate a quarterback in a game. All three are very bright and all three have great work ethic. It’s unusual…it’s a great credit to them. I think it’s why we’ve been able to accelerate ourselves offensively and look fairly sharp from time to time.

Q: Why bring only three quarterbacks to camp?

A: Playing the position myself, I never thought you needed four for camp anyway. The first three are always fighting for reps. I remember Quincy Carter [in Dallas]…he’d pay good money to get a rep in practice. I think three is the perfect number, [coach] Tony [Sparano] agreed, and we never looked back.

Q: Individually, have you seen consistent progression in the quarterbacks?

A: Tony [Sparano] is doing a great job. He put us in two-minute, my guys weren’t ready for two-minute…then he put us in red zone, then he put us in pipe red. Well the field shrunk down, things change, and the ball has to come out earlier. You can’t force it. My guys hadn’t seen it and he’s put us in those situations and I think that’s had a lot to do with the inconsistency.

Q: What are your initial impressions of Chad Henne?

A: Chad came in here in rookie camp, we hit that third day install and he had a few mental errors. I said uh-oh he got overloaded. Now he’s come back since and he has done a great job mentally. He has not gotten lost. I thought he was going to and he hasn’t, which is a great credit to his study habits and how hard he has prepared for each and every practice. I think if there’s one thing that strikes me about this kid, one word, he’s just unflappable. You chew him out, ‘what’s the next play.’ He takes criticism, ‘you got it coach give me another one.’ There’s no sense of throwing anybody else under the bus. There are no excuses with him. He’s tough.

Q: Is that something you expected with him coming from Michigan?

A: I saw him in the senior bowl. I talked to him [at the combine]. I flew up to Ann Arbor. Tony [Sparano] and [general manager] Jeff [Ireland] personally flew to Ann Arbor and worked him out personally at a different time than I did. We did so much research on this guy. We really liked him and had to take him when he was there. I know for sure our general manager was very excited when he was available at that spot.

Q: Did you like him more than the other quarterbacks?

A: I had him right where we picked him. I’m not going to comment on where I had any of the other ones.

Q: Looking at John Beck compared to Henne, can you see the difference one year of NFL experience makes?

A: Not yet. John’s not a rookie but he had only four games. It’s not like Josh McCown who’s had six seasons. He’s seen it. He’s seen all the coverages and all the blitzes and dogs and pressures. He’s seen six years of it. John hadn’t accumulated that much history yet. He’s still growing a lot. They all are.

Q: How do you approach what Beck did last season. Do you tell him to throw it out the window?

A: The only thing I did when I came in is I took all the plays from those four games and I cut out the things that I believe I can correct and help him with. We studied those and went from there. You talk about a warrior as a worker. This John Beck, fellas, he’s in the bubble over there from January 15th on. It was five days a week for a long time, then it was four days a week. He accumulated over 7,500 throws before we got to camp out here. It’s just some footwork things and some release point things I had to convince him he needed to correct. He agreed and he never looked back.

Q: What was it with the release point?

A: I saw him drop it a lot. He told me that he used to have a three-quarter overhand release point. I just want him to get his ball up there at least helmet high. He said ‘I used to release the ball that way, coach, and I hurt my shoulder at BYU. I dropped it down and it never got back up.’ I believe in my heart that a guy can only be as good as he can be if he’s three-quarter overhand. You can get so good as a sidearmer but you can’t improve on your throws.

Q: McCown has bounced around to different teams and been through a lot, does that put him ahead of the other two?

A: He definitely has the edge in experience. That works in his favor for sure. He has been knocked around, but he’s had some good games. He’s had several games where he threw for over 300 yards and he’s got about 40 starts. The No. 1 thing about him is he’s got great leadership qualities. He’s a wonderful leader, just a natural leader.  He’ll get in the huddle and he has to get two high-fives and two low-fives and call the huddle. I like that about him and I’m glad he’s here. I really am.

Q: What’s the process involved in naming a starter?

A: You evaluate a quarterback once he gets in the game.  When there’s people in the stands and they’re cursing at him and throwing ice and he’s got fox cameras hanging over his head in the huddle, that’s when you have to evaluate the quarterback. Now this is important. We’re watching and evaluating daily. But I’ve had guys that can really practice and get in the game and spit the bit.  I’ve never forgotten those guys, so with that we have to get these guys into a game and let them play before we go naming one, two and three.

Q: So how do you figure out who the starter is going into the first game?

A: I’ll figure it out. (laughs)

Omar Kelly recently said in one of his stories that McCown currently looks to be the starter but hopefully that is not true. We need to give Beck one last harrah and give him sometime to start rather than leave him to rot on the bench and be a waste of a 2nd rounder. More info will come as Training Camp approaches and it will be come clearer who the starter is.

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Dolphins are working as I write this. Here’s a couple of things so far:

The pass offense is, shall we say, struggling this morning. I will now provide you with a play-by-play of the passing plays during the team period — the period in which offense goes against defense.

Incomplete pass by John Beck.

Interception of Chad Henne by Will Allen.

Sack of Josh McCown.

Incomplete pass by Beck.

Fumbled snap by Beck.

Incomplete pass by Beck.

Incomplete pass by Henne.

Henne is getting some first-team repetitions today.

On the field goal front there is a blossoming competition between vet Jay Feely and rookie Dan Carpenter. They each attempted three field goals during the special teams portion of practice.

Feely was 2 of 3, missing the try from about 40 yards. Carpenter was 3 of 3, hitting from close-range, from about 40 and the try from about 47 yards out.

Everyone was present and accounted for at practice this morning except for Jason Taylor. Randy Starks, who missed yesterday’s morning practice, was present for the afternoon practice and today’s work as well.

The Dolphins brought in receiver John Dunlap from North Carolina State to work as a tryout player. The fact the Dolphins lost Tab Perry and with some guys feeling a little sore, there is room for Dunlap to get reps. One of those receivers who is sore is David Kircus, who was limited in drills today because of a tight hamstring.

As I reported earlier Chad Henne took the first-team QB reps this morning. I wouldn’t say it was a great practice for any of the QBs but that is beside the point. “We’re competing and everybody is competing,” coach Tony Sparano said.

“I want to see Chad in the first huddle. I want to see Josh in the third huddle sometimes. I want to see Beck in the third huddle.”

Sparano explained that watching a QB in the first huddle tells him if he fits. Watching one with the second or third teamers tells him if the QB can rise above the other guys. Good stuff, I think.

Talked to Yeremiah Bell, who is one of my favorites based on how tough the guy is and how active he is on the field. Seems when he’s on the field, he’s always around the action.

Bell, recovering from a 2007 torn Achilles tendon, said he’s 95 percent recovered from the injury. “The other five percent will come over the rest of the offseason,” Bell said.

As you know from previous blogs, Bell is running with the first teamers. He loves the new defensive system, calling it “player friendly,” and thinks he can prosper in it.

“When I’m in there running with the ones I’m going to do everything I can to stay in there,” Bell said.

Chances look good he’ll do exactly that.

“I’m really impressed with what he’s getting done out here on the field,” Sparano said of Bell. “He’s a good quarterback [for the defense] to have back there.”

Talked to Vernon Carey about the switch back to RT. “I’m back home,” he said.

He didn’t see the switch back as any sort of insult. He did say it took him some time to re-adjust.

“It was shakey at the beginning but that passed,” Carey said. “I’m happy.”

Guard Steve McKinney, who is not working because he is still recovering from a knee injury that forced him to miss most of 2007, said his goal is to be ready by the start of training camp.

“I don’t know if I’ll be 100 percent by then but I’ll be practicing,” he said.

Some highlights:

Best pass of the day came from John Beck who threaded the day’s best pass between to defenders and into Derek Hagan’s chest. Hagan caught the pass!

Ricky Williams continues to impress. On one running play he vaulted a guard and defensive tackle who were on the ground and clogging the hole. Amazing stuff which leads me to think right now, today, he is the best player Miami has on the field.

Name someone better if you disagree.

By the way, I notice a couple of you are asking how Jake Long or some other offensive linemen are looking. Honestly, I learned long ago that these minicamps are not an indicator of how good or bad an offensive lineman is because there is no hitting or blocking in anger at these camps.

So all I really can tell without blowing smoke is where folks are lining up. It would be ridiculous for me to tell you Jake Long is looking great when he hasn’t actually blocked anybody coming at him full speed.

Practice No. 3 of this minicamp is scheduled to begin in about 11 minutes and I can’t wait!

Things to look for today:

The wide receiver corps really worries me. Yes, Ernest Wilford is proven and a fine addition. But after that it gets uncertain. Justin Wynn? Devon Bess? Selwyn Lymon? David Kircus? Greg Camarillo? Derek Hagan?

During yesterday’s afternoon practice, reporters counted at least seven dropped balls. There were a couple of other moments when guys simply slipped and fell down without being touched.

All I can say is neither Wilford nor Ted Ginn, who also is largely unproven, had better stay healthy.

It seems the Dolphins are pretty excited about starting two rookies on the left side of the line. First-round pick Jake Long (LT) and Shawn Murphy (LG) have been working together since the middle portion of OTA drills. Obviously there is no contact here, but at least these guys are getting some timing down and learning each other’s tendencies. We’ll see what happens when the hitting starts.

But this feels like a Richmond Webb-Keith Sims redo.

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Nobody in the press box, not even the Dolphins media relations staff, knew who No. 17 was out there this morning. Coach Tony Sparano finally identified him as John Dunlap, a Hollywood, Fla., native and an undrafted rookie receiver from North Carolina State.

Dunlap is here on a tryout basis, but there is room for him after the Dolphins cut K Daye Rayner and lost WR/KR Tab Perry. Dunlap caught 45 passes last year for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

He helped Chaminade-Madonna win the state Class-2A title as a receiver and linebacker. …

WR David Kircus didn’t take part in drills because of a minor hamstring injury. He said he tweaked it earlier in the week at a voluntary team workout and probably won’t be able to go Sunday either. Kircus said he hoped to be back at full go by Tuesday. …

G Steve McKinnie is coming off right knee surgery and working out on the sidelines with his ballcap on backward while the rest of the team is practicing. He said he might not be 100 percent by the start of training camp, but would be on the field.

“Obviously, I’d like to be out there, but we’re just trying to be conservative,” McKinnie said. “We know we got a season to get ready for.”

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano called McKinnie “a workout junkie.” …

Sparano on S Yeremiah Bell: “He’s a good quarterback back there. Right now we have to make sure we keep him healthy for the regular season because he cuts it loose out here.”

RB Ricky Williams wasn’t held out of any drills and is looking quite powerful. But when he could have been resting from the sideline while another unit was on the field this morning he took part in some agility drills with others coming off knee sugeries: RB Ronnie Brown, ILB Channing Crowder and S Renaldo Hill. …

Brown briefly took part in seven-on-seven drills and looked stiff. …

QB John Beck forced a rocket into double coverage that WR Derek Hagan caught about 12 yards away but almost got decapitated by S Jason Allen in a seven-on-seven drill. …

In other AFC East news, the Patriots have signed former Dolphins guard Gene Mruczkowski. He played for the Pats from 2003 through 2006.

Dolphins poobah Bill Parcells hasn’t been interacting much with the players on the field during mini-camp, but he responded emphatically to the way Ricky Williams ran in the afternoon session of today’s mini-camp.

Williams elicited whoops from his teammates with one particular run. He bolted through an interior hole and got into the secondary in a blink.

Once the 11-on-11 drills broke up, concluding with another long Williams dash, the running back pulled off his helmet to reveal a wide grin as he trotted back.

A beaming Parcells marched up the sideline, flashed the OK sign and yelled “Thatta boy! There ya go!” They gave each other a fist bump.

But receiver Greg Camarillo, who could be on the bubble after the Dolphins acquired so many special teams players this spring, drew the biggest reaction of the day.

In a seven-on-seven drill, Josh McCown arced a long ball down the left sideline. Cornerback Scorpio Babers had perfect positioning, but Camarillo made a sensational leaping catch, corralling the ball with his left hand and bringing it into his body as he hit the turf.

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Shuffling the depth chart will be a constant for the Dolphins until the regular season gets here, so it wasn’t too surprising to see a new starting offensive line on Saturday. But when rookie quarterback Chad Henne took the first snap with the starters during the morning it did open up some eyes.

So did the interception Henne threw on his second pass, an overthrow on a intermediate pattern to tight end David Martin that Will Allen pulled in.

Josh McCown and John Beck split the reps with the second and third team while the rookie finally got some run with players who will likely make the 53-man roster. According to coach Tony Sparano this was strategically done to see how Henne adjusts to better talent, and to see how McCown and Beck handle themselves with less.

McCown was sacked on his first snap, and Beck fumbled a snap in his first series with the third teamers.

The highlight of the morning session was a Beck pass he snuck in between two defensive backs for a deep completion over the middle to Derek Hagan.

As for the shakeup at offensive line, Justin Smiley was finally moved back to left guard, which I suspect he’ll end up playing come the regular season. Shawn Murphy, who has been holding onto the starting left guard spot for more than a week, was bumped back to the second team right guard, where he backed up three-year pro Trey Darilek, who has played all five positions on the line in the past two days.

Yesterday Darilek was the second-team left tackle, and today he became a starter. Talk about a promotion. I suspect Darilek, a player Sparano had and liked in Dallas, makes the 53-man roster because of his versatility. But can he be a starter? We’ll see.

As for attendance, The Dancer didn’t show, which wasn’t a surprise. But I suspect Jason Taylor MIGHT be in attendance for next week’s OTA work. That’s just an educated guess, so don’t get all excited. The sit down between he and Bill Parcells, the warden, has hopefully eased some of their tensions. The power-play is finally over. Now all that awaits is his return to the team.

Michael Lehan (ankle) also wasn’t here, but Randy Starks returned following Friday’s excused absence.

There was also a new player in the house. John Dunlap, a former Chaminade Madonna standout who attended N.C. State, was given a tryout. While Dunlap, who I’m familiar with from my time as the Hurricanes beat writer, is a fairly talented ATHLETE. He’s not the type of receiver the Dolphins presently need. They NEED another return threat to push Davone Bess and Jayson Foster, and that’s not Dunlap. He’s more of a big body guy.

AFTERNOON SESSION

There were three major highlights of Saturday afternoon’s practice.

1. The Ricky Williams stiff arm. On an inside run during team drills Williams put on the after burner after getting past the front seven and stiff armed an unknown player in the secondary. He kept running for another 20 yards even though the play was stopped, and when he finally turned back there was Parcells pointing at him, mimicking his stiff arm, and then giving Ricky the OK sign with his fingers. He did it twice. It’s safe to say Ricky Williams is Bill Parcells’ favorite player on the roster. SAFE!

2. Will Allen picks off redzone pass in 7-on-7. It was the final play of 7-on-7 drills and McCown was trying to sneak a pass behind Allen, who leaped in the air to get his second interception of the day. If only Allen could catch this well in the games. For the record, Allen did get beat by Ernest Wilford for a redzone touchdown catch in the first play of 7-on-7s.

3. Greg Camarillo’s one handed catch. If it was a real game this catch Camarillo made on a McCown throw would have been ESPN’s No. 1 play of the day. He leaped into the air over Scorpio Babers and caught the ball with his left hand before hitting the turf. It would have been good for a 40 yard reception. I’m told Parcells gave Babers an earful for not making a play on the ball, but I didn’t hear it for myself. Camarillo made a couple of NICE catches during the afternoon session.

Here are some of my other afternoon observations and thoughts:

Beck took the first snap in the afternoon and was followed by Henne, who wasn’t very sharp in the afternoon. However, the units are being mixed up, so at some points the third team QB was working with a starting receiver or two.

SO FAR I’ve concluded McCown throws the best deep ball, and is the most athletic. Henne has the rifle. He throws the 15 yard out with heat on it. He threw one pass so hard to Derek Hagan during a redzone drill it bounced off Hagans hands for about 10 feet. Beck MIGHT be the most accurate, and he looks good on roll outs, but I’m growing concerned about his pocket presence considering the amount of would-be sacks he takes…

Ted Ginn Jr., Patrick Cobbs, Jalen Parmele, Davone Bess and Jayson Foster are the players being worked in the return game. Foster seems to be the fastest returner speed wise….

The second team defensive line is presently Randy Starks at DE, Paul Soliai at NT, and Phillip Merling at DE. I’m still struggling to figure out what unit Rodrique Wright has been playing on, and it’s not looking good. Soliai has made some decent plays this weekend, so there might be hope after all.

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There has been a bunch of news today, some of it has been in the OTA Reports from other sites I posted but I felt like they needed its own post. Also I really didn’t want another post with Jason Taylor in the title because I’m sure everybody is getting tired of it.

• Dave Rayner was relased today more than likely making the kicking job Jay Feelys which most Miami fans expected it was his job. Feely practically was the offensive MVP last year sadly, He scored a majority of the points and was the only bright spot besides Ronnie Brown before getting injured. Unless Dan Carpenter the undrafted free agent out of Monatana pulls off an amazing training camp expect Feely to start.
• After it was reported yesterday that Parcells had no problem with Taylor, Parcells actually met with Jason. From the Sun-Sentinel “Thursday, according to two sources. During the meeting, Parcells told Taylor that he would like him to play for the Dolphins, and emphasized that the trade market had cooled. He also encouraged Taylor to participate in offseason activities. Still, as widely expected, Taylor was a no-show at Friday’s mandatory minicamp.”
• Michael Lehans injury reported in the OTA posts was a dislocated ankle, no tears or anything was involved. The Dolphins expect it to be 4 to 6 weeks, and the Palm Beach Post reports Sparano said it could only be a couple of weeks. So he should be ready for Training Camp and so the secondary won’t go to absolute crap.

Heres a Video on John Beck and his progression
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWVJd7iyh6E&hl=en]

The first practice of the day is over here in sweltering Davie, FL., and I want to share some early knowledge based on some interviews and what I saw at practice.

Everyone is here except defensive linemen Jason Taylor and Randy Starks. Coach Tony Sparano said Starks is an excused absence. Asked if Taylor is excused Sparano seemed uncomfortable for a moment before saying, “No.”

Sparano said cornerback Michael Lehan, injured in an OTA practice on Wednesday, will be out a couple of weeks. He said the team would not be looking to add CB help.

Talked to offensive coordinator Dan Henning for a few minutes. He said he was originally asked to come to Miami in an advisory role of sorts. But after speaking with Sparano, he said he got “fired up” about the idea of becoming the offensive coordinator.

And while you can bet the Dolphins offense under Henning will stress running the football, he says that’s not all you can do and be successful.

“You have to be strategically flexible,” Henning said. “That has to do with who you have first, and what they have second. So if you have a big, burly offensive line group and guys that can run the football, you should lean on that. But if you have guys that are good at stopping that on the other side, you still have to be flexible enough strategically to move out and challenge them in another area.

“You just can’t be one-dimensional. You’re not going to get it done one-dimensional anymore.”

Moving on:

Remember I told you a couple of days ago that defensive end Matt Roth is getting individual work with linebackers?

Well, Roth is working as the starting right defensive end in Miami’s 3-4 scheme. But when backups take their repetitions, he is working as a linebacker also. Obviously, being able to have skills at two positions makes Roth more valuable, which is good because last year he showed questionable skills at DE.

I would tell you Bill Parcells included Roth among the list of players he likes along the defensive line when he talked to me about that unit for my story today.

Another tidbit is that Renaldo Hill, who missed much of last season with an ACL injury to his right knee, is at practice today. The guy started in 2006 and the early part of 2007 but is relegated to third-team work right now.

As he progresses from his injury, I believe his skills will flash — in other words, I think he’ll be competing for a starting job when he’s healthy.

Charlie Anderson, signed as a free agent from Houston, is playing Taylor’s spot. The other LBs are Joey Porter at SAM with Akin Ayodele and Reggie Torbor as the inside backers. Channing Crowder, still recovering from knee surgery at the end of last year, is limited in team drills.

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Different season, same stories. After lighting it up through the air on Wednesday the Dolphins offense took a step back during Friday’s morning practice when the receivers struggled to bring in catchable balls.

Much like in past years, the coaches have expressed some concern about the wide outs consistency.

“When receivers don’t catch the ball it makes the offense’s job harder,” said receivers coach Karl Dorrell. “I have a group of receivers who really aren’t established….Our whole offense is a work in progress.”

Drops were everywhere during the morning and it stifled the passing game. Most of the time it was youngsters like Justin Wynn, Davone Bess, Jayson Foster and Selwyn Lymon dropping passes, but there were a few instances when Ernest Wilford’s old fumble fingers issue caught up with him.

For a summary of who was here, who wasn’t, and what was said check out this practice report.

Also, Bill Parcells and Jason Taylor finally had that MUCH needed sit down. To read about that click here. Hopefully Parcells had his hearing aid in this time. Parcells, probably the world’s greatest button pusher, blaming this rift on the absence of a hearing aid. Does ANYONE believe that?

Sorry, I had to say it. But now we’re back to football talk, not soap drama. Thank God.

Josh McCown started with the first team again, but in MY OPINION the quarterback who had the best day was rookie Chad Henne based on how he performed during the first 11-on-11 set.

Working with the third teamers, Henne hit Greg Camarillo (notice the unit) in stride with a 20-plus yard pass on his very first throw, beating cornerback Nate Jones. Henne also threw a nice pass to Jalen Parmele in the flat that would have been for a decent gain.

I give Henne the edge over McCown and John Beck today because he moved the offense more with limited weaponry around him. At one point his receivers were Jayson Foster and Davone Bess, who are both under 5-foot-11. I suspect the coaches also liked what they saw because when it was time to do the second round of 11-on-11, guess who was the first quarterback out there, working with the starters?

Yup, it was Henne, who coach Tony Sparano said is clearly behind McCown and John Beck in grasping the offense because of the limited time he’s had to work with this offense.

Beck took a number of would-be sacks during team drills in the morning. Quentin Moses, who is working as an outside linebacker, got to him once, and flushed him out on another play, where the horn rang before Beck got the pass off.

On another series, Joey Porter, who was working in Jason Taylor’s place on the right side, would have cleaned Beck’s clock if they were not wearing shells, and hitting for real. However, as a disclaimer, I’m not sure if those mistakes were on Beck or on the second team offensive line he was working with.

Here are some of my other observations. Ikechuku Ndukwe caught my eye as the second team left guard because he seems much bigger than I remembered him. On one rep of 11-on-11 I saw Ndukwe, who is embarking on an uphill battle with rookie Shawn Murphy, use his strength to pancake Phillip Merling, which stood out for obvious reasons….

Will Allen was killing receivers. For a small dude he really gets down. At one point I saw him roughing up Wilford, batting down a pass to a receiver who is about twice his size. I noticed this last Wednesday but wondered if he’d keep it up, and he has….

I’m still struggling to figure out what’s going on with the tight ends. They must be mixing and matching, and taking turns working with the first team because Sean Ryan and Aaron Halterman started out practice with the first team. Then David Martin, who didn’t drop a pass today (give him a hand), was making plays with the second team. Something’s up here, but I just haven’t figured it out. It’ll also be interesting to see where Anthony Fasano fits when he’s cleared to play. I also started wondering if his shoulder injury will take away from his strength, which is run blocking. Also, there are plenty of two tight end packages in Miami’s future.

As for the fifth tight end on the roster, Matthew Mulligan, he’s one of my front runners to be cut once the deals for the final three draft picks gets done. Other candidates include Dan Carpenter, Daren Heerspink and Kelvin Smith, who needs to fight his way up the depth chart considering this 2007 draftee is playing behind a rookie free agent addition. (Afternoon addition: Turns out it was Dave Rayner, not Dan Carpenter, who got the boot on Friday So I had the right unit, wrong player).

I’d put cornerback Scorpio Babers in this group considering how much he’s gotten beat in the few days I’ve witnessed, but as you might know the numbers are down at that position and on Wednesday Sparano said the Trifecta has talked about, and ruled out adding a veteran cornerback.

AFTERNOON SESSION

In the afternoon Beck took the first team snaps, but again he had issues with taking would-be sacks.

But more troubling was McCown’s fumbling problem with the exchange. He dropped the ball twice for turnovers. The second time got him pulled from his reps. He also threw a nasty pick right to Renaldo Hill.

During inside run drills Ricky Williams continued to run hard. He’s probably been the most impressive player in the four practices I’ve seen so far. I suspect he’s going to have a really good year this season because he appears fast, and has been beating everyone to the outside corner on the sweeps. But then again, this isn’t contract work so maybe it’s misleading. However, the fact Williams has an extra gear the other backs don’t is clear.

At one point Williams was running past Parcells and the warden stuck his hand out. I couldn’t figure out if he was trying to slap the ball away or give Ricky a high-five.

Patrick Cobbs caught my eye with a decent run in both the morning and afternoon session, but it’s still hard for me not to conclude he’ll be roster chum. But Cobbs does appear to be a more instinctive runner than Ike Hillard, the undersized fullback who runs very upright. For the record, Parmele has been getting most of the second team reps with Ronnie Brown not participating in team drills.

The highlight of the afternoon session was the floater Henne connected on with Bess. He put it into the right side of the endzone during redzone drills. Henne put the ball right above the cornerbacks head and Bess jumped high to pull it down.

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Jason Taylor had nothing to say about the Parcells situation, But Parcells finally came out and said something. Suprisingly He does want him back and he feels he has no problem with him and he wants him back because he is a good player. Hopefully this will bring and end to all this Jason Taylor mumbo jumbo. This really has gone on for too long and needs to be discontinued at sometime and hopefully its now. Heres the story from the Miami Herald.

Dolphins vice president of football operations Bill Parcells left the door open Thursday for Jason Taylor to play for the Dolphins in 2008.

During an interview meant to promote the Gatorade Tiger Moon Shot Challenge, Parcells declined to criticize Taylor for missing this weekend’s scheduled mandatory minicamp.

”That’s a player’s discretion,” Parcells said. “We can’t make him do anything. It’s up to him. Now, there is a framework in place for dealing with that, but that will be [coach] Tony Sparano’s decision.”

Parcells said he would have no problem with Taylor returning to the team even if he misses portions of Miami’s training camp starting in late July.

”I’ve had run-ins with players before and it got resolved,” Parcells said. “We want good players on this team, and I think [Taylor] is a good player. So could we have him back? I think we can.”

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Coach Tony Sparano just got done talking to the media today.

He has no information on the Michael Lehan injury yet. Lehan was scheduled for an afternoon x-ray or MRI exam to determine the exact seriousness of the injury suffered during practice today. Sparano said he believed it was an ankle injury.

Some other highlights:

Sparano confirmed he has talked to Jason Taylor since the weekend and during that meeting made it clear to Taylor that the Dolphins want him in camp and on the team.

“I wanted to make it clear to Jason that we as an organization want him back here, and that I was anxious to see him running around here with his teammates,” Sparano said. “I think Jason left with a pretty clear understand of that from my end.”

But … Sparano also made it clear the meeting hasn’t really changed the situation. The coach said he did not regret saying Taylor was not showing up for training camp, even though Taylor called that “premature,” at a press conference over the weekend.

Even after the meeting  meant to clear the air, Sparano said “nothing’s changed,” as he understands Taylor’s intentions to not report to training camp.

“The information I had then is the information that I have now,” Sparano said.

Sparano would not say whether he will fine Taylor for missing this weekend’s mandatory minicamp. But does he really have a choice? I think not.

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Sparano said something about his quarterbacks that we’ve known about Miami quarterbacks for some time. They are inconsistent. He said one quarterback will have a good practice and make it his, but then another guy will step up in the next practice while somebody else steps back.

“Every period you may see somebody grab the period, take control of the period,” Sparano said.

Obviously the guy who is most consistent will win the job. But so far no one is consistent.

These guys are workers, however. Although the Dolphins did not work last week, all three quarterbacks were at the facility, learning more about the offense.

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Speaking of inconsistent, David Kircus dropped a couple of passes in practice today. Sparano said he’s gotten bigger and stronger and “is catching the ball pretty well.” Not today.

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Of the receiver corps, Sparano said he likes the way “the group is coming together,” but he admits, “we still have a lot of work to do.”

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Running back Ronnie Brown’s progress continues at a good pace. He’s getting more carries and more repetitions than he did earlier in the OTA workouts.

“Each one of these practices, he’s been able to do a little bit more and that’s good for us and good for Ronnie,” Sparano said.

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Sparano said by the end of this weekend’s mandatory minicamp the team will have “a pretty large portion of what we’re all about in,” meaning the installation of the offense and defense will be close to complete.

“It’ll be the first full time around the horn for them,” Sparano said.

By the way, this weekend’s minicamp is CLOSED to the public. But I will be here so check back often for updates.

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(Updated 8:25 p.m.)

Dolphins cornerback Michael Lehan will be out only four to six weeks, his agent told The Palm Beach Post. Based on how Lehan looked as he was carried off the field, that’s incredibly good news for the secondary.

“To my knowledge, it doesn’t appear to be as severe as it must’ve looked,” Domann said.

DAVIE — Dolphins cornerback Michael Lehan could be on the sidelines for a while after a gruesome right ankle injury this morning in the practice bubble. He got tangled up while trying to defend Derek Hagan on a sideline pattern and crumpled to the turf.

Lehan, a sixth-year pro who signed a three-year, $4.95 million contract, was helped off the field and later was on crutches. He was projected as the starting cornerback opposite Will Allen.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano wouldn’t offer a preliminary report, choosing to wait for X-rays.

Lehan started 14 games last year. He was fifth in tackles with 56 and had one interception, a fumble return for a touchdown and one sack. He was second in passes defensed with seven. …

With return specialist Tab Perry gone for the season with a torn Achilles, second-year receiver Ted Ginn won’t have much competition. He was on the first kickoff and punt return units. Patrick Cobbs was with him for kickoffs, while the second unit consisted of rookies Jayson Foster and Jalen Parmele. Foster and rookie Davone Bess also returned punts. …

Tight end Anthony Fasano (shoulder), offensive lineman Steve McKinnie (knee), linebacker Akin Ayodele (unknown) and safety Renaldo Hill (knee) did work to the side. …

Undrafted rookie receiver Justin Wynn had a tough day. He dropped a couple passes that were right in his hands, one splitting his mitts and rapping him hard in the facemask. …

Newly signed rookie guard Shawn Murphy was on the left side of the first unit. …

The QBs did some red zone and two-minute drill work today. As a whole, Sparano said the trio of Josh McCown, John Beck and Chad Henne have been good but inconsistent.

“Each day I go out I see another guy kind of step up,” Sparano said. It hasn’t been a consistent prgression right now. In several period that are out here you might see somebody step up and grab the period, take control. We just need to see consistency.

“I like where they are right now. All three of them, actually, I like their grasp of the offense. They’re working real hard at it.” …

Will Allen on all the Jason Taylor drama: “That’s a movie I’m not watching. I have no idea what’s going on.”

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The installation of the offense is much further along than the last time we saw the 2008 Dolphins, and it appears the main guys benefiting from the growth are the quarterbacks.

Both Josh McCown, who opened up Wednesday’s practice as the starter, and John Beck looked SHARP during Wednesday’s OTA session. A number of touchdowns and big play passes were thrown during team drills, and 7-on-7.

Basically, the offense was humming, and to be honest I was very impressed with the passing game.

Now, this doesn’t mean the Dolphins are going to have an amazing offense come training camp, or the regular season. But it does indicate that there MIGHT be a quarterback in this batch, and the Dolphins MIGHT score more than 26 touchdowns in this upcoming season.

If you forced me to pick the quarterback who looked the best I’d begrudgingly say it was Beck because of how effective he looked thrown slants, and his accuracy when he was rolling out of the pocket. But McCown looked pretty good too.

Beck hit David Kircus, a star of Wednesday’s practice, in full stride during one drill, beating Scorpio Babers for what would have been a touchdown.

As I said, it was hard to determine which QB looked the best because McCown usually responded to something Beck did. A couple of plays after that nice pass to Kircus, McCown bulleted a intermediate pass along the sidelines to Ted Ginn Jr., who beat Will Allen on the skinny post.

He then hit Kircus with a touchdown catch in the redzone.

Beck followed it up by hitting Justin Wynn on a nice roll out for a decent gain, and he threw a rope to Selwyn Lymon, who caught it between Babers and Yeremiah Bell for another chunk of yardage.

McCown then connected on a deep ball to big bodied Ernest Wilford, who created separation on Andre’ Goodman to make the catch.

Rookie quarterback Chan Henne was involved sparingly, and looked sharp early. But the Dolphins appear to be easing him in since McCown and Beck have been working in this offense for nearly two months.

The one thing Wednesday’s practice shows is that the vertical game Bill Parcells likes is alive, and coming. Cross your fingers.

All of this offensive efficiency really made me start to worry about the secondary, more than usual, then Michael Lehan suffered what appeared to be a nasty right ankle injury.

If Lehan’s going to miss any of the regular season the Dolphins are going to have a problem because depth at that position is suspect. Behind Will Allen and Goodman the cornerback depth is minimal. There’s Travis Daniels, who still has to prove himself, Dallas discard Nate Jones, and a batch of long-shots like Babers, Joey Thomas, and Will Billingsley, who must prove themselves in training camp.

“If Michael is not here it just bumps a couple of the young guys up,” coach Tony Sparano said.

Here are some of the other things I noticed from Wednesday’s session.

The starting offense line today featured Shawn Murphy as the starting left guard, not Ikechuku Ndukwe. Justin Smiley remained the starting right guard.

The second team offensive line featured Trek Darilek (LT), Ndukwe (LG), Mike Byrne (C), Donald Thomas (RG), and Julius Wilson (RT).

I was extremely puzzled how the tight ends were being used. At times there were none involved, then there were two involved. It was impossible for me to come up with a depth chart on those guys because they were somewhat being used in specialty roles. David Martin was the pass catching option, and he struggled at times to fill his role. Justin Peelle appears to be getting pressed for a roster spot by Sean Ryan. Anthony Fasano is still on the shelf with his shoulder injury.

The secondary hasn’t changed much from the last OTA I watched. Will Allen and Goodman are the starting cornerbacks, and Bell and Jason Allen are the starting safeties. Got my first look at Chris Crocker today and to be honest I wasn’t extremely impressed. He’s small, cornerback small. Crocker, who is 5-foot-11, worked with Keith Davis.

While Channing Crowder continues to be sidelined by the knee injury he’s rehabbing Akin Ayodele and Reggie Torbor are the inside linebackers. Behind them is Edmond Miles and rookie Kelly Poppinga. Behind them are Titus Brown and Kelvin Smith, last year’s seventh round pick, who better hustle if he plans to stay on the roster.

Matt Roth and Vonnie Holliday remain the starting ends, and it’ll surprise many of you that one of their backups was Paul Soliai, who is now working at both end and nose tackle. It appears the Dolphins are trying to see what type of mileage they can get out of Soliai before they decide what to do with last year’s fourth-round pick. As usual, Parcells paid a lot of attention to the defensive line, and I’m sure he kept close watch of Soliai.

I’m off my mini vacation folks, taking a brief work hiatus. So, I’ll be here all weekend to cover mini camp, which starts on Friday and runs through Sunday, so hang tight and come back to see me for that good stuff.

Make sure you check out the main Dolphins page for all the stories we’ve done (FOUR), and hit me with any questions or comments here and I’ll do my best to get to them.

Look, I made it through a Dolphins report without mentions Jason Taylor. DAMN! So close.

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