Training Camp: News & Notes Vol. 1

Three days and five practices in, there have been a number of newsworthy bits from the Dolphins training camp.

Matt Roth

Roth did not pass conditioning tests and told the team he was ill. His agent Drew Rosenhaus says he has a groin strain (again). All this has made for quite the frantic search for info between the media and the team. For now he has been sent for tests on the groin and has not participated in practice. Roth was a key last year at the OLB spot. Sure, he isn't the best at rushing the passer or dropping into coverage, but he did a great job against the run and was sound in the other areas, and contributed to a good linebacking corps. His absence might be okay for now though. It should create more opportunities to see Jason Taylor, Cameron Wake, and others though try to provide more clarity to how the OLB rotation should work. Hopefully Matt will be back soon though, we need him.

Twitter

There was a buzz day one when the team told the credentialed media and fans they were not allowed to post live updates via Twitter during the practices. There was a mini-outrage that played out on Twitter from fans and media about how bogus that is. I actually understand where the team is coming from though, and would tend to agree with their line of thinking. Hey, they don't really have to let anyone (including media) witness these practices. They can enact and enforce any rules they so choose. The real problem is there is not much they can do. It is impossible to enforce, especially amongst fans. They probably would have been better served just accepting the fact that tweets will be sent and asking the media and fans to be very discretionary about what they post.

Also, Ethan says the Dolphins have banned Twitter use by players. Since then though, @SeanSmith4 has still been active. My guess is that perhaps Ethan misunderstood, and the team has only banned Twitter use during any team activities. Either that or the rook will be getting a fine soon.

Big Crowd

The first day of camp saw a huge crowd in Davie. The bleachers that hold around 2,000 fans were completely filled and there was another 1,000 or so that showed up and lined the fences or the parking structure as you can see in the photo, courtesy of Sun Sentinel. The team likes the support and they've asked for another huge crowd for Saturday's 2:00pm scrimmage. I may go.