Dolphins Look Good During First Joint Practice With Panthers
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SPARTANBURG (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins took the field at Wofford College on Wednesday for the first of two joint practices with the Carolina Panthers.
Despite being over 700 miles away from South Florida, almost half of fans watching practice were rooting for the Dolphins, and for the most part they probably liked what they saw.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill picked up where he left off in Davie, completing passes with great accuracy and velocity at a very consistent rate.
Miami's offensive line seemed to hold up well against Carolina's very strong defensive front, which is extremely encouraging.
Left tackle Branden Albert participated in drills during the early part of practice but did not take any snaps against Panthers players.
Both the first and second team offense moved the ball well during team drills.
It didn't take long for the first fight of the joint practices to take place. Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon got into a scuffle with veteran offensive lineman Michael Oher during 1-on-1 drills, which led to a larger scrum as lineman from both teams joined in.
Word is that open-palmed punches, which I believe are called slaps, were exchanged by Vernon and Oher.
Chris McCain continued to work with the first team linebackers and came away with an interception on a ball that was jarred loose from the receiver thanks to a big hit by safety Louis Delmas.
Not long after that Delmas went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off the field.
While nothing will be official until he undergoes an MRI, reports have emerged saying that Delmas tore his right ACL, which is the same injury he suffered last December.
If he did in fact suffer another torn ACL his 2015 season will be over. Walt Aikens took Delmas' place with the first team defense and will likely get the first crack at taking over the starting safety job.
Some good news from the Dolphins defense is that they were just as dominant against Carolina as they have been during training camp.
Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake could not be stopped, whether it was during team drills or 1-on-1s.
Wake also showed off his hands, intercepting Cam Newton at the line of scrimmage.
The Dolphins and Panthers will be back on the practice field together on Thursday before the two teams square off in a preseason game Saturday night.
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Watch Miami take on the Carolina Panthers this Saturday at 7 p.m. on CBS4, your official Dolphins station!