MIAMI GARDENS — With Monday’s Miami Dolphins practice being the fifth of training camp, it marks the first where the team is allowed to practice in pads.
It makes for an added degree of physicality to camp as players get further acclimated to a return to the game after a month-plus away from team facilities since mandatory minicamp.
“Football’s a padded game,” McDaniel said at his Monday morning press conference, ahead of practice. “The ideal way to evaluate football players playing football is with pads on.
“It is a game that is played with leverage, and pads, you feel like you have a complete assessment of how someone plays. Certain players you have to see it with pads on.”
There was still plenty to take from the Dolphins’ first four practices, with Sunday’s session being the first open to fans and saw the offense bounce back with a few deep passing plays after a defense-dominated Friday practice.
“It doesn’t make other practices less significant, but you’re looking for any sort of alteration from a player when pads come on,” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins coach was encouraged by star cornerback Jalen Ramsey following Friday afternoon surgery.
He first quipped Ramsey was drowsy, for one, after the procedure on the meniscus in his left knee that could keep him out until December, but McDaniel added Ramsey “was in good spirits.
“The surgery went about as well as it could have. He couldn’t have a better mindset with which to attack this process.”
Ramsey was seen watching Miami’s Sunday practice from a second-floor terrace at team facilities.
McDaniel noted no additional knee damage was found outside of the meniscus.
The Dolphins signed veteran, experienced cornerback Eli Apple in the aftermath of the devastating blow to Miami’s prized offseason acquisition.
“Give them competitive opportunities and let them tell me who they are as a player,” McDaniel said of his vision for Apple in camp. “You allow people to compete. Everything that makes them who they are, you let that speak for itself.”
Apple officially signed with the team Sunday morning and was already on the practice field and participating in team drills later in the day.
“He was able to get involved (Sunday) even before he had a nameplate on his jersey,” McDaniel said. “I was pretty pumped to be able to add him, just because competition makes everyone better.”
Apple, of course, has a history with Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill from when the two exchanged tweets bashing each other following the Cincinnati Bengals’ 2021 AFC Championship Game against Hill’s former team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in which Apple covered Hill.
“As far as I know, there’s been no negative tweets to Tyreek,” McDaniel quipped.
Elsewhere at cornerback, Keion Crossen has not participated in recent practice, but McDaniel is not fretting.
“He heals like he runs — fast,” the coach said.
McDaniel started Monday’s press conference with a statement on Zach Thomas entering the Hall of Fame and visiting the team Sunday.
“Think about the lifetime achievement that is and what goes into that,” McDaniel said. “Specifically, having Zach in the building, able to talk to the team, I feel honored to be a part of an organization that has a player like that, and you could tell the players on the field knew what they were looking at and what that is to actually accomplish that.”
This story will be updated.