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Dolphins Rookie Laremy Tunsil Adjusting Well During First NFL Camp

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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – For the first time since opening training camp last week the Miami Dolphins took the practice field in full pads on Monday.

It wasn't a huge change from Sunday's practice when players were wearing shoulder pads, and head coach Adam Gase noted that there wasn't a lot of difference from one day to the next.

"I feel like guys were moving around well," Gase said. "At least that's what it seemed like to me. The speed didn't seem to change."

As is usually the case when practices become more physical, there was a little skirmish between an offensive player and a defensive player that ended just as quickly as it began.

Rookie offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil and defensive end Chris McCain briefly went at it, and Gase agreed that it's just a part of training camp.

"I guess it's never really bothered me. If somebody got hurt, then all of a sudden it's one of those [where] it's not a problem until it's a problem," Gase said. "But there's a lot of different activities going on throughout practice and you'd rather it not happen, but it does. It's hot. You're in pads. It's competitive. They're encouraged every once in a while. You'd like guys not to throw punches, though."

Tunsil seemed to have a mature approach to the whole thing as well.

"That's all it is – competition," Tunsil said. "It's all love for all of my teammates. We're just competing. Like I said, we're just competing. It's all love for my teammates – the d-line, offensive line, receivers, anything."

Tunsil-McCain fight
Dolphins Laremy Tunsil and Chris McCain (center) get into a fight during a training camp practice at the team's practice facility in Davie. (Source: CBS4)

Miami selected Tunsil in the first round of this year's draft, a pick many called the steal of the draft.

For a while heading into the draft Tunsil was believed to be the top offensive lineman coming into the league and figured to be a sure top-5 pick.

On the night of the draft Tunsil's Twitter account was hacked and a photo of him smoking marijuana, which was taken two years prior, was posted.

Tunsil fell all the way to the Dolphins who were picking 13th.

He was continuously one of the top left tackles in all of college football during his time at Ole Miss but will transition to play left guard for Miami.

The Dolphins already have Pro Bowl talent at left guard in Branden Albert, but the veteran has no problem taking Tunsil under his wing and showing him the NFL ropes.

"He [Tunsil] is the future left tackle of this team," Albert said. "When my time is done, he's going to step in. I'm going to make sure. That's how you leave your legacy. When you teach a young guy and you're sitting at home retired and you see that young guy flourish, you'll be like, 'I helped him along his way, and (he) has the potential to make a lot of money and change the future of his family generation after generation.' That's what you want. You want to leave that legacy just like all the other young guys. I try to help them the best I can, so they leave the game with something and they learn something from me and they could say, 'Branden Albert was a great mentor.'"

So far, Tunsil is absorbing all the knowledge he can from Albert and has had nothing but good things to say about his new mentor.

"He's a good dude," Tunsil said of Albert. "He's a good person to look up to as far as a veteran. He's been in the game nine years so he knows a lot. That's a good dude to look up to and get advice from. (I) work on a lot of things with him because he knows a lot of stuff. He's been in the league for a while."

The process of transitioning from college football to the NFL isn't an easy one, even for the best of the best.

Still, Tunsil has been coming along nicely. Gase has a plan for how he wants to work the rookie into the fold, with one main thing at the forefront.

"Reps. Getting to see as much as possible," Gase said. "When you're getting to go against our defensive line, whether it be the first team or their second team – I mean the way those guys come off the ball – you're getting a quick lesson on what the NFL's really about."

And as for the transition from tackle to guard, Gase seems pleased with what he has seen so far.

"I don't see any issue," Gase said. "Right now, for him, it's mental. We just got to keep bringing him along."

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