Miami Dolphins Talking Points: It’s About Time Brandon Marshall Showed Some Fire

Dolphins Talking points entering Tuesday’s two-a-day practice, which will be the second-to-last one of training camp: (Updates with morning practice notes below:) 1. An angry Brandon Marshall could be the perfect antidote for the sluggish Dolphins. Brandon Marshall has said he is “disappointed” with his play through two-plus weeks of training camp. He apologized to fans for not showing up mentally for a scrimmage. He said he had no excuses for dropping two passes in the Dolphins’ preseason opener. What he hasn’t been, so far, is emotional. Angry. Feeling disrespected. Playing with a chip on his shoulder. Acting like, as he calls himself, a “beast.” Until Monday, that is. After two lackluster weeks, Brandon Marshall is slowly letting The Beast out of its cage / Allen Eyestone, Post Staff Marshall’s lackluster play finally got the best of him toward the end of a brutally hot practice. Not long after Vontae Davis dominated him in 1-on-1 drills, Marshall dropped a would-be touchdown in the end zone on a 5-yard pass. He promptly picked up the ball and punted it over the fence, just like he did last preseason with Denver, the final straw in a series of incidents that earned him a one-week suspension. Marshall spent the rest of practice standing by himself on the sideline. After practice, he was the only receiver not catching extra balls from the Juggs machine. A big deal? Not yet, because as Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano puts it, every new player is a “blank piece of paper.” While his attitude bears watching, Marshall may have finally found the “edge” he needs to play at top performance. Marshall, like most receivers, feeds off negativity. And his first two weeks — and really, since he arrived in April — have been too lovey-dovey. He finally got out of Denver, finally got that big money contract ($24 million guaranteed over four years), finally got married. It’s been all positive news and positive hype entering the 2010 season. He hasn’t had many stresses in his life — until now. Marshall is not producing, and he’s upset. But his new attitude can serve as a wake-up call for his teammates, who were lethargic and dull in a 10-7 victory over Tampa Bay, that the season’s expectations won’t be fulfilled without hard work, perseverance and a bit of fire. 2. Why is Pat White not switching positions? Sparano reiterated Monday that troubled second-year quarterback Pat White is a quarterback with the Dolphins. ““I’m not getting any closer to wanting to try him any place other than the one he’s in right now,” said Sparano, who said he has seen “clear improvement” in White’s passing abilities over the past week. But it’s hard to see much of a future for White in Miami with the way events have transpired during camp. Less than two months after Sparano raved about White’s preparation for the season , White was a no-show at the first day of Dolphins camp with personal issues. He has been buried at fourth on the depth chart all camp, and played just three snaps in Saturday’s preseason game — a hand-off and two kneel-downs to end the game. The Dolphins won’t keep four quarterbacks this season, so something needs to be done with either Tyler Thigpen or White — either a trade or release. Thigpen would certainly fetch a lot more than White in a trade, and White, last year’s second-round pick, almost certainly would be released. “I

have no other agenda other than to try to continue to develop this player as a quarterback on our team and to see him make the same kind of improvement this week that he made last week,” Sparano said. But why release White, or continue this seemingly doomed project, when the Dolphins have already sunk $2.4 million into White? What’s the harm in trying him out at kick returner? Slot receiver? Heck, why not stick him at cornerback, where the Dolphins are a bit thin behind the two starters? He is quick enough and good enough of an athlete to play somewhere on the field. Isn’t it time for the Dolphins to experiment and get some value out of him? There’s no way the Dolphins could replicate this kind of sloppiness in practice / Allen Eyestone, Post Staff 3. Tony Sparano is right to take practice inside the bubble when it rains The Dolphins didn’t execute well on offense in Saturday’s 10-7 win, and much of it can be chalked up to the sloppy conditions of Sun Life Stadium. Many fans complained that the Dolphins were ill-prepared to play in the rain and mud, because the team heads inside the practice bubble when inclement weather hits South Florida. Sparano explained Monday why he does it. “It really depends on the kind of rain you’re getting,” he said. “If you’re in a downpour out here, A) you risk injury; B) you risk the opportunity to have an inefficient practice — a sloppy inefficient practice — and you really don’t have enough of these opportunities. … We have the bubble here so that we can try to get the most efficient practices we can get out of it. … We’re not going to get somebody injured out there, that’s a little bit of a different story—I think you stay out there and you do it. If not, (you know) the wet ball drills and all the things that we try to do with our guys and you’ve seen us do that before is our way of answering that.” Sure enough, the skies opened again during Monday’s practice, bringing a steady downpour for about 20 minutes. The Dolphins remained outside this time, but in general, Sparano’s policy is pretty much on point. Risking injuries in a downpour is completely unnecessary and could cripple the team. The practice is sloppier, the execution level isn’t where it needs to be to prepare for game day, and playing in inclement weather on Wednesday could have no bearing on what happens on Sunday. The Dolphins would be wise to spend a little more time on wet ball drills and fumble drills, but in general, the best way to handle the rain is simply adjust the game plan to the weather on game day. Morning practice updates: – WR Greg Camarillo and RB Tristan Davis watching practice from the sidelines. OL Nate Garner and CB Will Allen absent. Camarillo and Davis head to stationery bike immediately after stretching, then Camarillo does some jogging while Davis is pushing a sled. – Jake Grove back at center with first team. Rest of O-line is Jake Long, Richie Incognito, John Jerry, Vernon Carey. – TE John Nalbone drops a pass right in his hands in a drill. Too many drops this camp for Nalbone; David Martin is a better TE option.

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Miami Dolphins Talking Points: It’s About Time Brandon Marshall Showed Some Fire

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