McDaniel July 31 Media Session Highlights

The highlights from McDaniel's media session prior to the team's practice at the Baptist Health Training Complex

Before the Miami Dolphins took the field at the Baptist Health Training Complex for their first practice of training camp Wednesday, head coach Mike McDaniel conducted a media session.

Here were the highlights of that media session:

-- Before taking questions, McDaniel says he wants to talk about Zach Thomas and expresses his admiration for his career and then gives a shout-out to Coach Mike Shanahan and says he hopes Shanahan one day joins Thomas in the Hall of Fame.

-- McDaniel says there are about "12, 13, 14" teams whose offense is a descendant of the Shanahan offense.

-- Regarding Keion Crossen and his injury, McDaniel says he heals like the runs — fast. He says he's been on record as saying he's one of the fastest healers he's ever been around.

-- With Jalen Ramsey, McDaniel says the surgery went "about as well as it could have." McDaniel says Ramsey is eager to come back, vowing to beat his timeline by a month. Mentions "when he comes back this year" in terms of his comeback.

-- There was no additional knee damage found in the surgery.

-- The Dolphins have gone to a schedule that features three days on before a day off, and McDaniel says he's trying to model what happens during the regular season, which also features three days of practice (Wednesday through Friday).

-- McDaniel explains (as he had last summer) that the reason he wears long sleeves at practice is to get some sort of an idea of what the heat feels like for his players. Talks about the competitive advantage of the Dolphins practicing in the heat.

-- Regarding what role he envision for "Apple," McDaniel quips: "a fruit." Seriously, the vision is to give him (Eli Apple) as many opportunities and let the player dictate what his role should be by his performance. "I was pumped to be able to add him just because competition makes everyone better." Then jokes that it's started off great with Apple because there haven't been any negative tweets to Tyreek.

-- Pads will be coming on for practice Monday, and McDaniel says that can make a difference for certain players, whose performance might vary depending on whether pads are worn.

-- Asked about players who have made a jump from OTAs to camp, McDaniel mentions Andrew Van Ginkel, Cameron Goode and Elijah Campbell, young players looking to gain roles.

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