Practices are vitally important, just ask any coach, but I think it's safe to say that games are a better test for those players fighting for roster spots, and those who are competing for starting roles. We will get to the update on the guys who are trying to crack the 53-man roster tomorrow.

Today, we shift our focus to the position battles. Last week we closed the book on a few of the battles the Dolphins went into camp with, but I was premature with my take on the free safety position. Let's reopen that discussion, as well as delve into the other remaining competitions on this roster.

Offense

Right Guard: John Jerry
If Jerry's knee turns out to be okay, this may be the last time we consider this position. Considering that I had Richie Incognito here last week, a pretty drastic change after only one preseason game. But I was really just going by the South Florida media's portrayal of how Jerry was progressing.

When I actually got to see Jerry go at it with my own two eyes, he far surpassed my expectations. He pulled well, provided decent push, and was solid in protection. Another game like that on Saturday, and I think we have our first interior starter.

Center: Joe Berger
Not much change here from last week. Jake Grove still doesn't appear to be 100%, and the bad snap that led to a turnover in the red-zone against Tampa, certainly didn't help his chances. The position as a whole, though, has been mildly disappointing. Sparano even used the word "average" to evaluate Berger's and Grove's play, which is a troubling drop-off from last season.

Left Guard: Richie Incognito
This is purely a guess at this point. I say Richie simply because he started on Saturday, but he definitely didn't do anything to lock this thing up. I have a feeling Donald Thomas still has a good shot at stealing the job, though, especially since his lack of playing time seems to be derived from the coaches already having an extensive feel for his game from the past two years of having him in camp and in the starting lineup in 09'.

Defense

Right Defensive End: Jared Odrick
The first-round pick had a productive night of his own on Saturday, recovering a fumble and taking on a few double-teams in that first half. Odrick's most capable competition, Marques Douglas, had a good night too, but would likely only unseat the rookie if Odrick begins to struggle. At this point, though, Odrick may be another player on the verge of clinching a job against the Jaguars.

Strong Outside Linebacker: Koa Misi
Misi's strong performance was encouraging given some of the reports from Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinal, who has been critical of the second-round pick since camp opened. He reports that Misi hasn't recorded a sack yet in practice, and won't say his name until he does. Not getting to the quarterback in around 20 practice sessions is a cause for concern, but judging by what I have seen, which is just Saturday night, Misi looked ready.

The kid has a great motor, and hurried Josh Freeman on one play in the first quarter. Ikaika Alama-Francis actually split first-team duty with Misi, though, meaning that competition is very much alive. Ike didn't do anything significant with his opportunities, however, so Misi still has the edge at the moment.

Free Safety: Chris Clemons
Clemons had an opportunity at clinching the job against the Buc's, but a couple of missed tackles later, and we still have a battle on our hands. Well, at least we did. Reshad Jones, as mentioned in the previous post, hurt his ankle tonight, but the severity of the injury is currently unknown. If Jones misses significant time consider this thing over, unless the Dolphins move Tyrone Culver back to free safety. If the Dolphins hope to field a starting quality safety back there, though, Clemons needs to do a much better job at wrapping up the ball-carrier, and any emergence of playmaking ability would do wonders for this secondary.

Special Teams

Kick Returner: Nolan Carroll
We saw two players return kicks last week: Tristan Davis and Nolan Carroll. Carroll looked much more confident and less hesitant than Davis on his only return, and will actually be on the team come September. It will be interesting to see if Patrick Cobbs is eventually thrown back into this competition, but if not, Carroll is Ted Ginn's replacement. Kind of ironic when you realize Carroll was drafted with the pick the Dolphins acquired from the 49ers for Ginn.

Punt Returner: Davone Bess
Ryan Grice-Mullen got a rep as punt returner tonight, but let's face it, he's not going to make this team unless he plays out of his mind for the final three exhibitions. Unless they consider letting Carroll do double duty, returning kicks and punts, it looks like Davone Bess is going to be the man once again. He probably will never take one back to the house, but as long as he cuts out the muffs this year, he will do just fine.

Garner out 8 weeks, John Jerry has a knee issue, and Reshad Jones limps to locker room after practice
If the continuing struggles of the interior offensive line weren't bad enough, perhaps the two guards with the most potential both had questionable status' this morning. One turned out to be serious, while the other appeared to just be a scare, at least for now.

Nate Garner, who began to work with the first-team last week, re-broke the foot he had surgery on this offseason, and reportedly had another procedure sometime in last few days. Initially, reports were saying Garner would sidelined for 4-6 weeks, but the news was slightly more sobering later one, when an NFL source confirmed he would be out for about 8 weeks. John Jerry on the other hand, is fresh off his encouraging performance Saturday night, but had a bit of a setback this morning, leaving practice early with some knee soreness.

When Sparano said he was concerned about Jerry's knee in his daily press conference, some media members started to speculate this could be on the serious side too. Thankfully, though, Jerry wasn't held out of anything in the afternoon session, not even team drills. He may be off the hook for now, but who knows if swelling or soreness will return.

A day after Sparano mentioned that the free safety competition was still ongoing, Chris Clemons' challenger, Reshad Jones, appeared to injury his ankle. He reportedly limped badly to the locker room after practice and spent time with the trainers getting it looked at. There is no word yet on the severity of it, but I'm sure we will get the whole scoop in Sparano's press conference tomorrow.

Competition at punter?
It appears Brandon Fields has some serious competition for starting punter. Brandon Marshall dropped his first pass of the day, nothing new there, caught his second for a touchdown but apparently pushed off on Sean Smith in the process, and then punted another ball across the field.

At least he's frustrated with himself and not causing a disturbance over a contract issue, like his previous tenure at punter with the Broncos. In all seriousness, though, Marshall bounced back nicely in the afternoon session with a touchdown catch along the sideline against Nate Ness, a deep reception matched up against Sean Smith, and drew a pass interference call on Vontae Davis. Speaking of Davis, the second-year corner got in on the heated competition himself by punting a ball after breaking up a pass intended for Marshall. No word on how Marshall took that, but personally I find it pretty funny.

Ryan Grice-Mullen not dead yet?
By dead I mean his roster chances, of course. Those received a jolt of life today, as Grice-Mullen got some reps with the first-team at slot, and another rep as punt returner. Unfortunately for him, it appears as though the final receiver will either be Patrick Turner, Marlon Moore, or Roberto Wallace. That's why this looks like the coaches were just trying to get a feel for him as a potential practice squad prospect.

Interior O-line update
Aside from the injuries to Garner and Jerry, the starters at the guard spots and center were as follows: LG: Richie Incognito, C: Joe Berger, RG: John Jerry.  

Sources: Sun-Sentinel 

Dolphins' extend Ikaika Alama-Francis' contract
It's been a good last few days for Ike. The former second-round pick spilt first-team reps with Koa Misi against Tampa Bay, even though Misi's strong performance likely gives him the current edge in that competition, and today he was rewarded with a contract extension, keeping him in Miami through the 2011 season.

Ike will reportedly be paid $640,000 next season in addition to the $545,000 he's scheduled to make this year. This just about guarantee's his place on the roster, and it will be interesting to see if he can turn up his productivity in the remaining three preseason games and challenge Misi for the starting job.

Finally, the Dolphins get some work done in the rain
Initial reports said the Dolphins were scheduled for more bubble work today. A disappointment considering how unprepared they obviously were for the heavy rain on Saturday night. However, in light of all the dropped passes, though, the Dolphins got out of the bubble and into a reported downpour for today's workout.

More drops for Marshall
It is apparent now, if it wasn't already, that Marshall is suffering some confidence issues. After two embarrassing drops in his Miami debut, he reportedly dropped another three balls today. Marshall was so frustrated that he was seen punting one of the balls he dropped, and didn't stay after to get any extra work done on the Jugs machine like a few of the other receivers.

Is it time to get worried, yet? Eh, I still say no. A big play in Jacksonville this weekend should do wonders for his confidence, but then again, another drop or two, and the downward spiral could continue. Let's just hope we don't have another Braylon Edwards on our hands.

Free safety job still up for grabs
Sparano mentioned last week that Chris Clemons was close to cementing himself as the starter at free safety. A solid performance in the preseason opener would have probably sealed the deal, but Clemons was average at best, and Sparano said nothing is settled yet in today's press conference. And while Clemons appeared to stay mentally sharp and in good position in coverage for the most part, he didn't wrap up on a couple tackles and let the ball carrier escape his grasp.

Obviously, that can't happen when you are the last line of defense, but I expect Clemons, and everyone else on the defense for that matter, to drastically improve their tackling by the regular season. Sparano doesn't believe in tackling to the ground in practice, choosing health over defensive fundamentals, so these preseason contest will be instrumental in getting the defense ready for the season.

Reshad Jones, meanwhile, who is battling Clemons for that starting role, had a notable fumble recover in which he returned eleven yards. Choosing to take the ball out of the end-zone instead of kneeling for the touchback was probably a rookie mistake, but I guess that's what you get when the new mindset for this defense is to produce more scores this year.

Sources: Sun-Sentinel

Now that we've had a day to digest what we saw Saturday night, it's time to get the evaluation under way and grade the Dolphins' performance. The dropped balls, the stagnation of the first-team offense, and the result of a downpour on the dirt in-field, made "ugly" about the only word you can use to describe the Dolphins' watered down 10-7 victory.

Still though, we saw some good signs from the new look defense, despite Mike Nolan not tipping his hand with any of the exotic blitz package he's been implementing in training camp. But let's get the hard part over with, and try to give a fair grade to the lackluster offense.

Offense

First-team: Out of all the times it could have rain Saturday, it just had to be for the duration of the first quarter, which just so happened to be when the Dolphins' starting offense took the field. We don't want to start making excuses for these guys, because that's not the mindset of a champion, but it's sort of a shame that our first look at this offense was in those less than ideal conditions.

Wet ball or not, though, Brandon Marshall has to make those two catches that hit him right square in the hands, and especially that second ball where there wasn't a defender within five yards of him. The same goes for Brian Hartline, who also dropped a ball that would have moved the chains, on a third down no less.

And wet footing or not, Vernon Carey can't kill the promising first drive with a holding penalty on a would have been first down run by Ronnie Brown. But unwanted penalties are a part of the preseason, and when you look at how sluggish the Chad Henne led group looked, these meaningless games do serve their purpose, after all.

GRADE: D-

Second-team/third-team: When Tyler Thigpen came in, the passing game finally got going a bit. The battle for the fifth and final receiver spot picked up some heat, when Patrick Turner, Roberto Wallace, and Marlon Moore all flashed some big-play potential. The running game was a non-factor after Ronnie was pulled out, though, as Lex Hilliard only managed 19 yards on 8 carries after a fantastic 09' preseason.

The second string O-line was awfully suspect as well. To go along with their lack of push for the running game, the pass protection was a huge fall-off from the first-team. So let's just hope the starting offensive line can stay healthy this season, especially at the tackles.

GRADE: C+

Well, you know how the old saying goes, a win is a win, right? Not exactly on this night. Not when the thought to be drastically improved first-team offense goes 0 for 4 on series that were cut short by a couple costly penalties and a few drive killing drops. The much anticipated debut of All-Pro receiver Brandon Marshall was as disappointing as they come, as the $50 million man saw two perfectly placed Chad Henne passes go in and out of his hands. You can play the blame game all day long, but the fact is, it's going to rain this year, and the Dolphins are going to have to play on that hideous dirt in-field for at least two games, which just happen to arguably be the two most important home games of the season (Jets and Patriots).

Maybe the Dolphins need to get out of that nice little bubble of theirs, and practice in the elements a bit, because Marshall has to make those catches. Having said that, there's no reason to lose sleep over this. There is a reason Marshall has three straight 100+ catch seasons under his belt. He's an elite talent and is eventually going to get out of this little funk he's been in ever since last weekends scrimmage. The interior O-line didn't struggle nearly as bad as they have reportedly during camp. Before Vernon Carey's holding penalty on the opening series, the running game was starting to build some momentum, as Ronnie Brown was putting together a nice little drive. Also, the offensive line as a whole kept Henne clean, outside of the hit he received on the play-action roll-out pass to Fasano. 

On the bright side, the defense was pretty solid all night long. The first-team gave up a touchdown, but it took a perfectly placed Josh Freeman pass and a spectacular catch by Mike Williams to beat great coverage by Vontae Davis, which got that scoring drive going. Other than that, the pass rush was pretty solid, as Koa Misi and Cameron Wake forced Freeman out of the pocket on a couple plays, and the front seven as a whole was close to dominate for the entire first half. The first-team run defense was good, not great, but if it wasn't for a missed tackle by Kendall Langord, they would have fared much better.

Randy Starks looked the part of a true nose guard tonight, but the performance of the night was arguably owned by Paul Soliai. Soliai recovered a fumble, and was the cornerstone for a dominate run defense during most of the second quarter. This is just me speaking, but if Soliai continues to look this good, why not move Starks back to defensive end and give the keys to Soliai at the nose? That is still a big if and purely speculation, but it appears Miami is pretty deep at the position for the time being.

The Buc's receivers made some great plays out there tonight, but I would say the secondary as a whole had a pretty decent outing. Sean Smith bounced back nicely from being a bit out of position on Tampa's only score of the night, with his third preseason interception in his two-year career. Chris Clemons looked sharp, Nolan Carroll showed us why everyone has been hyping him up in training camp, and Nate Ness was the player of the second-half, with two forced fumbles, and two passes broken up.

At the end of the day, the offense's lackluster performance leaves us with a sour taste in our mouth, but anytime you escape these exhibitions with no serious injuries, things could always be worse.

Game Ball: Paul Soliai, NT

Stat-line

Passing
C. Henne: 5-11, 19 yards
T. Thigpen: 10-19, 145 yards

Rushing
R. Brown: 5 carries, 20 yards
R. Williams: 3 carries, 10 yards
L. Hilliard: 8 carries, 19 yards, 1 touchdown

Receiving
M. Moore: 2 receptions, 44 yards
P. Turner: 2 receptions, 44 yards
J. Pruitt: 2 receptions, 23 yards

Forced Turnovers
N. Ness: 2 forced fumbles
P. Soliai: 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
J. Odrick: 1 fumble recovery
R. Jones: 1 fumble recovery, 11 yard return
S. Smith: 1 interception

Top 5 Tacklers
N. Ness: 4 tackles
A. Spitler: 4 tackles
J. Allen: 3 tackles
C. Crowder: 3 tackles
M. Johnson: 3 tackles