WR Parker looks ready to play Sunday
DAVIE — The Dolphins held their final practice of the week, a walk-through, Friday morning in preparation for Sunday’s home game against the Raiders.
The biggest question remains whether wide receiver DeVante Parker will make his season debut. Here are some updates from practice:
■ Parker appeared to be a full participant, as he has been all week. He ran routes with the rest of the receivers and seemed fine catching the ball with his right hand despite having two fingers taped together.
■ Defensive end William Hayes, who also has a finger injury and has been playing with a cast on his right hand, worked on the side during individual drills.
■ Safety Reshad Jones, who has been out or limited this week because of a right shoulder injury he suffered against the Jets, was doing minimal work. That’s not unusual, though, for a Friday practice.
■ Slot receiver Danny Amendola wasn’t on the field at the very beginning of practice but got out there shortly after it started and did his usual work during the portion open to the media. He is not listed as having an injury and should be fine for the game.
■ Cornerback Bobby McCain (knee), defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (knee), long snapper John Denney (shoulder) and running back Kenyan Drake (abdomen) all appear to be fine and are expected to play Sunday.
■ Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been on the injury report this week with knee and ankle injuries but hasn’t missed any practice time.
Raccoon anyone? Davon Godchaux is wearing a ChauxDown T-shirt, and he explained it’s about his foundation, which is to support healthy eating in children. So far, so good.
“Growing up as a child, you always want to eat right to get to this level,” said Godchaux, Miami’s second-year defensive tackle.
ChauxDown is a nice play on the former LSU standout’s last name, but it also feeds right into his favorite hobby: cooking.
Godchaux cooks for teammates. He had them over for the first “Monday Night Football” games of the season. And also to celebrate the final days of OTAs.
“I like to cook, bring the guys over for crawfish boils and barbecue and just things like that,” Godchaux said. “It brings the D-Line closer together.”
Crawfish is one thing. And Godchaux will tell you all about his choice of Swamp Fire seasoning and corn and potatoes. But he’ll also tell you about some meats he likes to eat that were quite popular where he’s from: Plaquemine, Louisiana.
Gator. Raccoon.
Come again? Raccoon? “Tastes just like chicken,” Godchaux said.
Sure. Have you offered this up to your teammates?
“They’d probably be grossed out by that,” he said. “But I’m from the Bayou. So that’s what we eat.”
On Sundays, Godchaux eats up guards and centers.
“He’s an aggressive guy,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. “He’s a violent player. You kind of have to be when you play inside there. He’s a very coachable player, I know that. He wants to do it right, and he wants to be the guy in that group that guys know he’s going to get it done when he’s in there.”
Godchaux talked about the positive impact of firstyear defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, and how these hockey-line shifts of defensive linemen give the Dolphins a hotweather advantage.
He believes he’s becoming more consistent. He’d like to credit some of his teammates for all those tackles for loss he’s creating.
But — back to the raccoon, and the gator. Seriously?
Well, living here in Florida now — where basically every lake has a Gator or four — it seems like the perfect opportunity to catch some dinner.
“I’ve never done it,” Godchaux said of a Gator hunt. “I’m actually kind of scared. I love to eat Gators. But I’ve never caught a Gator.”
Gore no punching bag: It takes creativity to find ways to keep in shape this late in a career without putting on unnecessary mileage, and Dolphins running back Frank Gore went into the recent offseason trying to find exercise that required minimal exertion on his legs.
He settled on boxing.
Gore, a 14-year veteran, spent his summer in the ring and took to the sport quickly.
“It challenges me because I thought I knew how to fight, and then when I started, I felt like I couldn’t,” he said with a laugh. “I just kept going, kept going and I got better.”
Last week, Gore ran for 25 yards on nine carries to put himself fourth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list and had a crucial 19-yard catch. He continues to share the backfield with third-year back Kenyan Drake, and the two-man approach has worked well for the Dolphins.
In addition to the conditioning work of boxing, Gore was drawn to the mental aspect. The idea of going one-on-one and withstanding the opponent’s best blows translates well to playing running back in the NFL.
“Yes, I’m trying to win every round,” he said. “I’m not out there all the time, so when my round comes, I’ve got to try to knock him out. I’m going to try to keep going, keep working hard in practice and when Coach Gase calls my number again on the field, I’ll try my best to make something happen.”
Gore goes into Sunday’s game with 14,112 career yards rushing, trailing only Barry Sanders (third place), Walter Payton (second) and Emmitt Smith (first). He’ll likely need to play at least one more season, which he hasn’t ruled out, to catch Sanders at 15,269.