WitP: Ikaika, RGM, Bess, LaBoy, Pisa, Veikune, Mouton

Ikaika Alama-Francis has been getting some good press the past few days. Here are some of the articles.

MiamiDolphins.com:

...Miami’s new linebackers coach, Bill Sheridan, wanted to try a little experiment. Alama-Francis was given a number of snaps at outside linebacker to see if he could handle making the transition and provide a different look for opposing offenses.

Apparently, the experiment worked as Sheridan was able to convince Head Coach Tony Sparano to make the position switch a permanent one before the start of training camp. Alama-Francis was about 11 or 12 pounds heavier than he is now in the spring and was impressing Sparano with how he moved during certain drills. He was asked to drop his weight in order to increase his speed and quickness and he responded.

The Miami Herald:

``'Whatever I can do to help the team -- you want me to go free safety, strong safety, what do you want?'' Alama-Francis said, a laugh running through his recollection.

Linemen who make this conversion, such as Matt Roth with the Dolphins in 2008, usually feel at ease when they have to drop into coverage against running backs.

``[It] Feels good,'' Alama-Francis bubbled. ``They're a little bit faster. I'm light on my feet now. I'm 275 now. I can dance a little bit with them. But I can't run down the field with them. That's a little different story.''

The Palm Beach Post:

"June Jones went out and told him if he came out and played football he'd be a first-round pick," said Dolphins receiver Davone Bess, Alama-Francis' teammate at Hawaii. "And he ended up being an early second-round pick, so I guess coach knew what he was talking about."

One more from The Miami Herald:

Alama-Francis loudly popped running back Lex Hilliard so hard during a pass rush in team drills, the sturdy Hilliard appeared shaken and rested during the remainder of that portion of drills.

Ikaika's teammate Ryan Grice-Mullen is recovering from a leg injury that has kept him out of practice the past few days.

Wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen (leg) also missed practice. Grice-Mullen and Spitler are expected back soon.

Teammate Davone Bess may have the inside track to keep his job returning punts.

And the punt returns? Is that open or does incumbent Davone Bess have that area locked down, especially since it looks like he’s stuck in slot receiver duty with the addition of Brandon Marshall and the rise of Brian Hartline?

“I think it’s open,” Sparano said. “The thing with Bess is obviously you trust him. He’s got really good hands. He handles the ball well back there. He has made some plays in that situation. Like anything else right now, we’re going to put a couple of other guys back there during the course of this thing that we have interest in looking at.

Via the Palm Beach Post, here's video of Bess talking about what it takes to return punts.



MiamiDolphins.com has a video interview with Bess as well.

Dave Allen of the Marin Independent Journal profiles Travis LaBoy.

It was a good day for LaBoy, who was happy and smiling despite a long, physical morning of practice. In fact, LaBoy couldn't get enough. After everyone else jogged to the locker room, the outside linebacker hit the training sled to work on his footwork.

"If anything, this is a re-energizing period," he said. "I feel like I've got farther to go than these other guys because I'm new and because all the time I missed. I'm looking for that explosiveness."

John Mullin of CSN Chicago talks to Pisa Tinoisamoa about the possibility of not being a starter this season.

The eight-year veteran, a starter from Day One of his NFL career, finds himself a backup at strong-side linebacker, in a competition with Nick Roach that will be difficult to win, given the play of Roach last season after Tinoisamoa went down with a second knee injury in the span of five games.

“It’s different, very different,” Tinoisamoa told CSNChicago.com Sunday, measuring his words and feelings about a difficult situation. “Things happen for a reason and I just don’t understand yet the reasons why this has happened.”

David Veikune showed some fire in practice.

Second-year linebacker David Veikune apparently had a good breakfast Saturday morning. During a pass-rush drill he leveled rookie tight end Ryan Moya. Veikune didn't come close to showing that much passion during his rookie year of 2009.

However, he's missed a couple of practices with an undisclosed injury.

Ryan Mouton continues to battle for a starting spot, and helped his cause with an outstanding play today.

Cornerback Ryan Mouton arguably made the best play of the day at the end of Tuesday’s practice.

Mouton read the eyes of quarterback Chris Simms, and then stepped in front of receiver Dominique Edison to pick off a pass before heading the other way.