Dolphins Training Camp Opens Without Top Pick Tannehill
DAVIE (CBSMiami/AP) – Are you ready for some football? The Miami Dolphins training camp is officially underway; however, first-round draft pick Ryan Tannehill was absent when the team held its first practice Friday morning.
Tannehill, the eighth overall pick out of Texas A&M in the draft, remains unsigned.
"It's disappointing when you don't have all your players in, regardless of who it is," general manager Jeff Ireland said. "You want to have all your players out there. Things are progressing and we're going to keep communicating until we get this thing done."
Tannehill's agent, Pat Dye Jr., did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Tannehill is the first QB since Dan Marino in 1983 to be drafted in the first round by Miami. He started only 19 games at quarterback for the Aggies after switching from receiver.
Tannehill is expected to be part of a competition for the starting job along with returning starter Matt Moore and veteran offseason acquisition David Garrard.
The Dolphins hope to name a starter by the middle of August.
Tannehill, who started 19 games at Texas A&M after switching from wide receiver to quarterback, played in college under new Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.
"If he was any other rookie that didn't know the offense, it would be definitely tough on him," Garrard said. "But he knows most of the offense and I think just not being out here with the guys is probably the toughest thing for him."
Cornerback Sean Smith was ready to start testing Tannehill.
"He's the chosen one, the golden child," Smith said. "I call him 'The Franchise.' When he gets out here, I definitely can't wait to just play off and pick one of his little hitches or whatnot because you know he's going to be anxious to come and sling it. To get one of Tannehill's balls, I might make him sign it or whatnot."
Moore, who went 6-7 as the starter in 2011 after replacing the injured Chad Henne, took the first snaps with the first-team offense Friday.
New coach Joe Philbin said there was no significance to that, and Moore later indicated that Garrard is scheduled to get most of the work with the first-team offense Saturday.
"We're going to be fair, to a certain degree, early on and see how this thing unfolds," Philbin said. "We've got a plan in place and I think it's fair to assume we're going to give those guys equal opportunity to play with different players, different offensive linemen, and those type of things."
Tannehill was the only player missing from practice Friday morning. Veteran guard Eric Steinbach, signed Thursday, worked with his new teammates.
"You're looking at a guy who's started 124 games and he's been a productive player in the league," said Philbin, who was Steinbach's offensive line coach at Iowa from 1999-2002. "He's an athletic guy. We still feel like he has the ability to run. We think he's schematically a pretty good fit for what we're doing. And he's a good locker room guy, a high-character individual. I think he's hungry. We'll see. We didn't promise him anything, but we did guarantee him an opportunity to compete for a position on the football team."
Practice took place in front of NFL Films cameras on hand to accumulate footage for the HBO series "Hard Knocks," which premieres next Tuesday.
Philbin was making his training camp debut as an NFL head coach.
"I told the players, 'I'm nervous before every single practice and when I'm not nervous, I think I'll know it's time for me to put my whistle away,'" he said. "Not nervous like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to make a mistake.' But nervous that you want this thing to go right. You want the practice to be perfect. You want the organization of it to be perfect. You want to see players making plays and doing things the right way."
Dolphin fans can also get a look at the new players at three special practices for fans.
The Family Day at Training Camp will take place at the team's training facility on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie. Families are invited to watch the free practice which begins Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Some of the day's activities will include a Gatorade Junior Training Camp for kids, Training Camp facility tours, specialty food vendors, Miami Dolphins cheerleader autographs, player autographs, interactive games, inflatables and a prize wheel.
A week after Family Day at Training Camp, the Dolphins will practice at Sun Life Stadium starting Saturday August 4th through August 15th.
The first 1,000 fans attending the August 4th practice will receive two complimentary tickets to one of the two Dolphins home pre-season games.
The Fins play their first pre-season game against Tampa Bay on Friday, August 10th, at Sun Life Stadium. The game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m., will air on CBS4, your official Dolphins station.
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