Sports

Dolphins Open Camp; Henne Signs

Sparano: "It is a new beginning, and we need to believe that."

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DAVIE (CBS4) ― Bill Parcells gets a chance to revive the Miami Dolphins franchise with the start of its 43rd training camp on Saturday in Davie.

The 80 players on hand included 45 newcomers, all acquired since Parcells took over as executive vice president of football operations last December.

Missing from the first day of practice Saturday were linebacker Joey Porter who is on the team's Active/NFL list and defensive back Michael Lehan who is on the Physically Unable to Perform.  Both players, who are nursing ankle injuries, were able to run sprints during practice and head coach Tony Sparano said the injuries don't appear to be serious although no timetable has been given for their return.

Rookie quarterback Chad Henne, the last unsigned draft choice, came to terms with the Dolphins after signing a four-year deal and was to participate in the afternoon session.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.     

Last season, a 1-15 record in 2007 was their worst ever and the worst in the NFL, and their six-year playoff drought is the longest in franchise history.

In the team's biggest organizational shakeup in decades, Parcells brought in Tony Sparano as Miami's fifth head coach since 2004. 

"It is a new beginning, and we need to believe that," Sparano said. "You've got to believe in what it is we're trying to accomplish. There are no shortcuts. I told the players, 'Right now it's very dark. There's no light at the end of the tunnel, so don't look for it. We'll find it somewhere down the road."'

Only 36 players are holdovers from last year, and many of them are unlikely to survive the final cut. The turnover is such that the player with the deepest Dolphins roots is Ricky Williams, who joined them in 2002 and is back after playing only 13 games the past four seasons.

Among those gone are defensive end Jason Taylor and middle linebacker Zach Thomas, the faces of the franchise since Dan Marino retired. Taylor was traded last Sunday to the Washington Redskins, ending the soap opera that resulted from his feud with Parcells.

The new faces of the franchise are Parcells, Sparano and general manager Jeff Ireland, along with New York real estate billionaire Stephen Ross, who bought 50 percent of the team from Wayne Huizenga last winter and watched the first practice.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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