Barry Jackson making a rare (in fact, unprecedented) foray into Armando's blog to post a practice update from Tuesday. As usual, I have a lot of Dolphins notes in my Sports Buzz blog - which can be found on the Dolphins page to the right of this blog and on the sports home page - so I encourage you to check that out today and often.
The current Sports Buzz blog post has all the details about why Philbin told me (privately) that a three-way QB battle will be tricky for him, as well as what Philbin and the quarterbacks said publicly today, including their comments about Steve Ross' expectation that Matt Moore will start. It also will have reaction to Miami's up-tempo offense.
A dozen other notes:
### Moore and David Garrard took most of the snaps with the offensive starters, with Ryan Tannehill working mostly with backups. Lydon Murtha was first-team right tackle (Jonathan Martin - who agreed to a contract Tuesday afternoon - is still at Stanford taking classes) and John Jerry was first-team right guard. Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland want to give Jerry an extended look at guard, after Jerry moved around last year between guard and tackle. Right guard is clearly his job to lose.
### Artis Hicks said he is playing tackle exclusively, behind Murtha and Jake Long. Ryan Cook is Mike Pouncey's backup center; he earned $1 million for 15 snaps last year (good work if you can get it).
### Three veterans told me in the past two weeks that Julius Pruitt has been especially impressive among the unproven receivers. Pruitt didn't do anything notable Tuesday. Undrafted Jeff Fuller caught a slant from Tannehill.
Rookie B.J. Cunningham ran for a touchdown when he caught a Jimmy Wilson deflection. Roberto Wallace got outfought for a deep ball by Sean Smith, who picked if off. But Wallace also made a nice catch on a nifty roll-out by Matt Moore. Rookie Rishard Matthews failed to hold onto a deep, catchable ball from Ryan Tannehill and dropped a Tannehill pass on a slant.
### Expect to see Lamar Miller line up in the slot at times. He can do quite a bit of damage as a receiver because of his speed and elusiveness, and this staff knows that and will take advantage of that. Miller was as impressive as any player Tuesday. By the way, we're told that UM coach Al Golden told Ireland before the draft that if he picked Miller and Olivier Vernon, he would be getting two first-round talents a year early.
### The first-team defense, now with a 4-3 base, included Cameron Wake and Jared Odrick at end (Odrick was in ex-Dolphin Kendall Langford's spot), Paul Soliai and Randy Starks at tackle, Karlos Dansby at middle linebacker (he says he will be very good there), Kevin Burnett and Koa Misi flip-flopping between the other two linebacker spots; Chris Clemons and Reshad Jones at safety; and Sean Smith and Richard Marshall at cornerback.
Jamaal Westerman, Tony McDaniel and Olivier Vernon also worked into the defensive line rotation.
### Vontae Davis was very limited because of an injury that he suggested was not too serious. Former CFL fullback Jerome Messam also sat out after knee surgery, but he's hopeful of being back for training camp. Undrafted Notre Dame running back Jonas Gray also sat out.
### Not only was the entire practice up-tempo offensively, but the team portion began with Moore, Tannehill and Garrard also taking two plays in a frantic, no-huddle offense. Clay dropped one of Tanehill's passes in that sequence but looked very good otherwise.
### Undrafted Missouri defensive end Jacquies Smith stood out by getting pressure on the quarterback several times. He would have sacked Tannehill on one play if sacks were allowed. Ireland said recently that Arkansas State safety Kelcie McCray was an undrafted player who stood out to him at rookie mini-camp, but he enters OTAs with at least five veterans ahead of him, for now.
### All rookies were in attendance except Martin, Oregon linebacker Josh Kaddu and undrafted Portland State tackle Dustin Waldron.They're all still taking classes.
### Add Plaxico Burress to the list of receivers who would love to audition for the Dolphins. But Miami has shown no interest in the likes of Burress, Roy Williams and Braylon Edwards. Ireland said he "could be done" at receiver, but isn't certain. If the rookies don't develop this summer, Ireland might add a veteran.
### Former Packers Al Harris and Marco Rivera were Joe Philbin's guests at practice.
### Reggie Bush was used on some punt returns, as were Davone Bess (the incumbent), Miller, Matthews, Clyde Gates and Marcus Thigpen.
Please check out my currently-posted Buzz blog for all the QB news from today (and other Dolphins notes not covered here) and also check out David J. Neal's story on Miller and Vernon, which will be posted later.
--- BARRY JACKSON
