Dolphins
Opening Day Camp Notes 7/31/04
By The Source
Aug 1, 2004

(miamidolphins.com) - DT Tim Bowens, who was held out of Saturday morning�s practice, dressed in anticipation of fully participating in Saturday�s afternoon practice. Bowens, an 11-year NFL veteran, will only practice in the afternoon session on two-a-days, according to Head Coach Dave Wannstedt. The afternoon practice was canceled due to severe thunderstorms in the Davie, Fla. area. Despite the high summer precipitation levels in South Florida, canceling practice due to the weather has been a rarity in past Dolphins training camps and it is believed to be the first time since 2002. The winning raffle number from the morning session for a Vernon Carey autographed football is 371490. The winning raffle number from the afternoon session for a Jason Taylor autographed football is 2409903. QUOTES (Head Coach Dave Wannstedt on practice being cancelled) � I think the reason for the postponement or change in schedule was pretty obvious with the weather conditions and the reports from our radar people were that there wasn�t going to be much change. We�ll make it up. Between tomorrow, we�ll insert some of the things that we were going to do today into tomorrow�s practice, and we have one scheduled for Monday, and we can always make adjustment there if we had to. We�ll see what the conditions are tomorrow. (Head Coach Dave Wannstedt on the adjustments in lieu of Ricky Williams� retirement) ��Players will step up as time goes on. We will start feeling more comfortable with what each guy can do and what his strengths are and we will probably shift a little, or make some adjustments as we go along. But today, scripts and the things that we emphasized really weren�t any different than they were when they were scheduled two weeks ago, or a year ago, or really three years ago to be honest with you. I think we just have to wait and see how it unfolds, see how the running backs progress, see how our quarterbacks progress, the offensive line. We have a lot of different areas that we�re evaluating on offense. As those decisions come closer to being made, that will be the time to say �hey, you know what, we can really put an emphasis on doing a little bit more of this, and less of that�� Offensive Coordinator Chris Foerster (On the offense) � �On offense we have to be about maximizing every player on the football field. If Travis Minor is in the game, what does Travis do well? If not and Chris Chambers is in the game, how do we get the ball in the hands of the playmakers doing the things that they do best? That�s the biggest adjustment and just evaluating each guy that we have. We have different players in maybe a little different role now, but really seeing how Sammy (Morris) fits and what he does well. You know, just getting the ball in their hands in those ways.� Offensive Coordinator Chris Foerster (On the evaluation of the Quarterbacks and how they are graded) � �Everyday we evaluate the number of throws, the number of completions, incompletions, interceptions, whatever it may be, their mental errors, things like that. We evaluate them every single day and talk about them every single evening. Every player on the football field is that way. We are evaluating every position, every day, every player, and finding out how we are going to put the team together. The best fifty some odd players are going to make the team up this year.�