Dolphins news for the week of 7/28

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Dolphins | Smith Signs - from www.KFFL.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 07:08:51 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Palm Beach Post reports the Miami Dolphins signed rookie OT Wade Smith to a four-year contract. The deal includes a $612,500 signing bonus, and base salaries of $225,000 (2003), $305,000 (2004), $380,000 (2005) and $460,000(2006).

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Dolphins | Whitley Signs - from www.KFFL.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 07:12:41 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Palm Beach Post reports the Miami Dolphins signed rookie OG Taylor Whitley to a four-year contract. The deal includes base salaries of $225,000 (2003), $305,000 (2004), $380,000 (2005) and $460,000(2006). The Sun-Sentinel reports Whitley received a $539,200 signing bonus.

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Dolphins | Thompson Takes Step Above McKnight - from www.KFFL.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 07:14:07 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Sun-Sentinel reports Miami Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt said Sunday, July 27, that WR Derrius Thompson has moved ahead of James McKnight as the second starting wide receiver.

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Dolphins | Rogers Earning More Playing Time - from www.KFFL.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 07:15:46 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Sun-Sentinel reports Miami Dolphins WR Charlie Rogers is playing well enough that he may earn snaps in packages designed to take advantage of his speed.

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Dolphins | L. Williams Hurt, Could Be Cut - from www.KFFL.com
Mon, 28 Jul 2003 07:17:58 -0700

The Palm Beach Post reports Miami Dolphins DE Lamanzer Williams (shoulder) remains on the roster, but he is not with the team. He was placed on the NFL Europe-injured reserve list because of a shoulder injury. He would have to pass a physical to join the Dolphins and is expected to miss a few months. When he gets healthy, it's likely he will be cut.

[The_Philster]

Taylor part sackman and part pitchman

The fresh face of Neutrogena's national ads is wearing a bloodied cut around his lower lip that he calls ''a battle scar'' from a recent fistfight with a teammate.

Jason Taylor, Dolphins defensive end and national pitchman for the skin care line, admits the two callings hardly correspond. But he is convinced the ad campaign and the coming football season do not conflict....
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[The_Philster]

He does a number on skeptics

Thompson is making impact as No. 2 receiver for Dolphins
Derrius Thompson doesn't like to talk about numbers. The news that he's currently the leading candidate for the No. 2 wide receiver job on the Dolphins made him about as excited as a teenager at a bingo parlor.

Numbers change quickly, like when he was in his second year in the NFL.

During the 2000 season, Thompson was pinballing his way around the Washington Redskins roster. He was wearing No. 84 before Washington signed veteran wideout Andre Reed....
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[The_Philster]

Perry braces for battle

Guard knows he has challengers for starting job
Right guard Todd Perry is trying not to concern himself with an impending battle for his job, but he's not blind to what is going on.

''I know they're looking at me, there's no mystery there,'' Perry said, referring to the fierce competition he expects for his starting job. It will most likely come from second-year man Seth McKinney, who played at left guard last season after Jamie Nails was injured.

In the Dolphins' crowded situation along the offensive line, Perry might also get a run from rookie Taylor Whitley, who ended a three-day holdout Sunday and practiced for the first time Monday....more

[The_Philster]

For Greenwood, football is everything

DAVIE -- The only thing on Morlon Greenwood's mind these days is football and nothing else. Even his music is dedicated to the sport.

Greenwood, the Dolphins' strong-side linebacker and part-time musician, is releasing his second single this year called Get Out The Way. It's a song about football, and it could be a message to his critics and rookie Eddie Moore, who is fighting for Greenwood's job.

Greenwood, who started the past two years after being a 2001 third-round pick from Syracuse, took his share of criticism for last year's play. He was sixth with 70 tackles, but in two years, he has not recorded an interception or forced or recovered a fumble....more

[The_Philster]

DT Bowens getting a break to prevent injuries

DAVIE -- Ten years of being a Dolphin has earned Tim Bowens some rest.

The Pro Bowl defensive tackle, one of two players remaining from the Don Shula era, is participating in just one session of the two-a-day practices because of his history of breaking down during training camp in recent years. Two years ago he had arthroscopic surgery on both knees within a month, and last year he needed a few days for soreness to subside.

"The last couple of years, he had a tough time making it through, so we thought, let's take the proactive approach and do different things rather than go twice a day for four days and then have him miss four days," coach Dave Wannstedt said....

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[The_Philster]

McMichael ready for 'statement' season

DAVIE -- Numbers don't lie, and the numbers say Miami Dolphins tight end Randy McMichael was half the receiver during the second half of last season than he was in the first half.

McMichael caught just 13 passes for 146 yards and no touchdowns in the final eight games, after the rookie tight end made 26 receptions for 339 yards and four scores during the season's first half. This drop-off caused many to wonder whether McMichael was slumping, if opposing defenses were limiting his productivity or if he had crashed into what some refer to as the "rookie wall."

But sometimes numbers do lie when they tell only part of the story....

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[The_Philster]

Dolphins' Minor loses closest friend in his father

BATON ROUGE -- The poster-sized photo next to the white casket at the Greater Mount Olive Missionary Church on Monday night showed the face of someone young enough to pass for Travis Minor's friend rather than father.

Leslie Minor was both.

"It came to the point that we became like best friends," Travis Minor said of his 45-year-old father. "He was even asking me for advice about certain things. He's everything to me."...
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Dolphins | Ogunleye Returns to Practice - from www.KFFL.com
Wed, 30 Jul 2003 06:53:51 -0700

Updating previous reports, the Palm Beach Post reports Miami Dolphins DE Adewale Ogunleye (knee) returned to practice on Tuesday, July 29, after missing time with a knee injury.

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Dolphins | Simmons Impressing - from www.KFFL.com
Wed, 30 Jul 2003 06:52:32 -0700

The Palm Beach Post reports Miami Dolphins WR Sam Simmons is making a strong push to make the roster, according to head coach Dave Wannstedt. "Sam Simmons is having a very, very good camp," Wannstedt said. "Besides Charlie Rogers, he's a guy we definitely have to look at on special teams in addition to the receiver position. He's in the mix."