Dolphins Training Camp 2013: Day 3 Recap

The third day of the Miami Dolphins' 2013 training camp was yesterday. Here's a look at what happened throughout the day.

Practice Observations

• The Dolphins held their first padded practice of the year, with Chris Clemons laying the first hit when Lamar Miller took a handoff and tried to squeeze through the line. The team will ramp up the hitting throughout the remainder of the week, leading into Monday night's scrimmage at Sun Life Stadium.
• The top story of the day was the debut of third overall draft pick Dion Jordan. He did not participate in most of the contact drills, but the fact that he was there, in pads, and off the Non-Football Injury list was a good sign.
• While Jordan returned, Jamar Taylor was held out of practice with an undisclosed injury. He had sports hernia surgery during the offseason, so it may be related to that.
• The defense clearly dominated the day, making multiple interceptions, getting to the various quarterbacks, and coming away with fumble recoveries. It's good to see the defense getting turnovers, which has been an area of emphasis throughout the preseason. The offense is still working on chemistry and learning the system, so the defense being out in front early in camp is not overly surprising.
• The defense has added some advanced blitzes to the system already, which an offensive line still trying to find their own chemistry clearly was not ready to block. They unleashed those blitzes a lot on Tuesday. Unofficially, Dannell Ellerbe led the way with four sacks.
• Randy Starks was back with the second string defensive line with Jared Odrick getting his turn along side Paul Soliai. It's interesting that the team continue to rotate Odrick and Starks, given the assumption that it would be Soliai coming off the field in passing situations, putting Odrick and Starks together on the line.
• Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who threw two pick sixes (Clemons, Ellerbe), also had some beatiful passes. He connected through coverage to Charles Clay down the seam and found Mike Wallace for a 30-yard connection on a completely broken coverage. Tannehill was forced to rely on running backs and tight ends for most of his passes on the day, as the offensive line could not give him the time to find receivers.
• Matt Moore also threw an interception, with Jimmy Wilson grabbing that one.
• Michael Egnew continues his up and down NFL career. Monday, he took a step forward; Tuesday, he held steady. He had a couple of good moments, and spent the practice working with the first team, but he also fumbled the ball allowing the defense a turnover.
• Yesterday, we highlighted a one-on-one battle, Jonathan Martin versus Olivier Vernon, that should be fun to watch. A second one might have emerged on Tuesday. Wide receiver Brandon Gibson and cornerback Richard Marshall seem to be going back and forth against each other.
• Paul Soliai was once again in hair dresser mode Monday night, when he started the rookie hazing. Dion Jordan, Tristan Okpalaugo, and Emeka Onyenekwu all showed up to practice with golden hair.
• And, finally, your daily kicking competition update. Tuesday was Dan Carpenter's day. He connected on several long field goals, including a 49-yarder, a 50-yarder, and a 52-yarder. He badly missed a 54-yard attempt. Caleb Sturgis should be kicking today.

Press Conference Quotes

• "It's part of being a rookie. But I told him I'm a good vet. I'm not going to have him do it the whole preseason. He's just got to wear it for two weeks starting today. I told him after that you can do whatever you want to do." - Paul Soliai on Dion Jordan's hair
• "It's something they came up (with). I just wanted to get it out of the way. I went first so I could get it out of the way." - Dion Jordan on his new hair style
• "They are slippery guys. I guess that's the best way to describe it. They've got good movement skill. And the other part about blitzing is timing, I think. They have some of that anticipation as to when the snap count might be. They have a little head-and-shoulder and up-and-under, so it's good for us to have it there. Conversely, you don't like to see either one running free in the A-gap (on offense)." - Joe Philbin on Philip Wheeler and Dannell Ellerbe blitzing
• "We start with install number one. We go to install number two. Today was install number three. He's been there for all of that. He's sat in the classroom. He's been out there and watched all the practice film and heard the corrections. Obviously, there's got to be a point in time where he's got to go out there and feel it for himself, do it for himself, make a couple of mistakes, learn from them and move forward as a player." - Joe Philbin on if Dion Jordan is behind after missing two days of camp practices due to injury
• "He really has good get-off on the football. He's getting off on the snap counter very, very well. He's got good leverage, and he's displayed that on a consistent basis. I was down on the one-on-one pass rush, and he hit a nice spin move. He's doing some good things. He really is. I'm really pleased at what he's doing." - Joe Philbin on Olivier Vernon
• "It doesn't matter what it is. If it's a pass rusher, if coach put me out there to start, even if it's special teams, I want to play football. No matter where it is I will work. You have to earn everything. I have to earn whatever it is." - Dion Jordan on if starting is his goal
• "Right now we're at odds with each other. The offense, in our mindset that's the other team, even though we are one unit and come Sundays we're going to be on the same sideline but, for now we're going after each other, trying to make it hard. Practice as much as you can without taking it to the next level without getting anybody injured or hurt." - Cameron Wake on training camp offense versus defense
• "I spent a little time with him in the offseason. He's a guy who's hungry and from the day he got here, you knew he was one of those guys with that mindset, being a small defensive end like me and some of the other guys on the team, you can't go in there timid. It's not for the meek and mild. You have to go in there, throw your body in there, doesn't matter if he's 6'8 and 400 pounds, you have to go after him and tackle him. It's that pit bull mentality. It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog. So he's that kind of guy." - Cameron Wake on Olivier Vernon

Next Public Practice

• Wednesday, July 24 at 8am ET - Doctors Hospital Training Facility, Nova Southeastern University, Davie