Satele getting up to speed, Tannehill off target, injuries

Samson Satele said today he should be ready to play in preseason opener Friday.

"It's not my first rodeo," said Satele, who spent most of the day Saturday and all day Sunday trying to get up to speed on the Dolphins offense.

Satele said he likes the idea of joining the Dolphins and "getting a chance to start a couple of games before the big boy (injured starting center Mike Pouncey) comes back."

Pouncey, rehabilitating from hip surgery, is expected to miss between 3-7 games for the Dolphins, depending on the speed of his rehabilitation. It's going well now but the Dolphins will have a better idea by the end of this month how long it is truly expected to take.

Satele at worst adds depth and also offers consistency snapping the football. He said today he doesn't remember the last time he hiked a bad snap. The Dolphins, by comparison, had bad snaps routinely the first few days of training camp.

Interestingly, Sam Brenner got most of the first-team center snaps in practice today. But it won't be long before it's Satele.

Today was an interesting practice -- but not necessarily for Ryan Tannehill.

He threw three interceptions -- with two coming in seven-on-seven work.

The interceptions went to Reshad Jones and Cortland Finnegan in the seven-on-seven drills and Will Davis during the team period.

In the running game, Mike Gillislee continues to impress me. He is showing instincts and tough running and a bit of quickness that clearly were not obvious last year.

The defense is working on a lot of zone blitzes this year and some other intriguing looks that I prefer not to reveal yet as I see no need to alert Miami opponents. (Let them send spies to practice if they wish.)

The Dolphins are nursing some injuries and suffered some during practice today -- including to TE Michael Egnew (concussion test), OL Nate Garner (right lower arm/wrist), tight end Harold Hoskins (hamstring) and DE Olivier Vernon (back) who left practice early. For a complete rundown on the injury situation go here.

The tight end situation is interesting ... Clay is down, Hoskins is slowed, Egnew is seeing stars, and rookie Arthur Lynch is not yet competing full in practice.

With only Dion Sims and Kyle Miller completely healthy, the Dolphins may have to bring in a TE.