Miami Dolphins

Dolphins notes: Receiving corps, defensive line make mark in OTAs

Published May. 26, 2015 5:30 p.m. ET

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DAVIE, Fla. -- With a mix of new and old faces, the Miami Dolphins trotted out their revamped roster Tuesday for the first day of organized team activities.

There was plenty to absorb during the two hours of voluntary work, but the fact that the team had perfect attendance, with nearly 100 players showing up, to begin work four months before the start of the regular season was an encouraging sign.

"We had everybody on the roster here in the building today," head coach Joe Philbin said. "It was a great start to the OTA phase of the offseason program. I thought the energy on the field was good. We put in normal down and distance today. I thought it was a good start. We have a starting point as to where we are right now, day one of OTAs. We've also got to make some corrections when we come back and watch the tape tomorrow and move forward."

Fresh off signing a six-year contract extension, quarterback Ryan Tannehill began working in earnest with his new receiving corps to mixed results. Both the first and second offensive line units faced heavy pressure from an impressive looking defensive line now featuring Ndamukong Suh.

In one sequence during the second hour of practice, Tannehill fell to his knees as he spun out of the pocket under fire in search of a target. He also struggled with long-range accuracy, at one point overthrowing a deep pass to rookie wide receiver DeVante Parker.

Regardless, Parker was the star of the first day with his ability to catch nearly anything thrown his way during 11-on-11 play. Philbin and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor chose to shuffle the receivers around to give different looks for new players Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills along with second-year player Jarvis Landry.

Disgruntled receiver Rishard Matthews was also present after skipping voluntary workouts earlier in the month because of concerns regarding his place on the roster, but he made his presence felt with several impactful plays.

Even with minimal contact and no pads, the defensive line was still a handful to deal with throughout the day, and the unit would have racked up several sacks of Tannehill and backup quarterbacks Matt Moore and Josh Freeman under normal circumstances.

A healthy Branden Albert would have helped matters for the offensive line, but it was encouraging to see him fresh off of rehab doing work off the field. Jason Fox took his role at left tackle alongside right guard Billy Turner and left guard Dallas Thomas, who are all fighting for starting jobs.

This early into the process, however, the players were simply glad to be out on the field and battling each other to get into shape.

"There's nothing like being out on the football field with your guys," said center Mike Pouncey, who relished battling with Suh. "We all enjoyed being out here. It's our first day. We have something that we can look forward to now and something that we can work on, watch the film and get better from."

Philbin said it was too early to get a definitive read on the struggles of the offensive line or elsewhere but progress was made nevertheless.

"Everything is voluntary, as we all know," he said. "We've told the team what we believe in in terms of the significance of the offseason program. Just happy that everybody was here today.

"Every single day is hard for you to function as a football team if you don't have 11 guys on the same page from an assignment, scheme, standpoint. That's always part of every practice that we ever have. Again, I thought the guys moved around well. I thought we got a lot accomplished."

ON THE MEND

Along with Albert, who walked around with a limp but looked ahead of schedule with his rehab, the Dolphins had to be encouraged by the progress of safety Louis Delmas, who is recovering from a torn ACL injury suffered last December. Cornerback Will Davis was also present with the team while rehabbing a serious knee injury that cut his season short in mid-November.

"They're moving around well," Philbin said of Delmas and Davis. "We're going to have a nice progression for them and take that through and make sure there are no setbacks. I think they are progressing very well at this point in time."

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.