[MTK]

Philbin runs a crazy up tempo practice, definitely not the norm.

Peter King talks about it here

I really like how the Dolphins practice.

I wrote about this in my Dolphins training-camp postcard (cheap plug ), but wanted to expand on it here. I've seen some interesting, fairly new things on this trip. The Jaguars' Big Uglies doing yoga in the locker room after practice, for instance. But the smartest thing I've seen so far is the practice regimen of Joe Philbin. He doesn't want to keep his players on the field for the full three-hour allotment for padded practice because of the south Florida heat. But while they're out there, he wants to max out the number of plays because he's trying to get the three quarterbacks competing for the starting job as much work as he can wedge into a two-and-a-half-hour practice.

Here's how he changes it up to get the play count up: On a full field, the coaches line up at the 50. One full team plays 11-on-11 heading north on the field; when I was there, David Garrard piloted the first offense against the defense. As soon as Garrard ran a play and the whistle blew, ending the play, the coaches turned around to see an entirely separate 11-on-11 play, the offense led by rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill. When that play ended, boom, the coaches turned around and Garrard was calling signals for his next play. And so on. Ten plays per period per 11-on-11 unit, so 20 in all -- in maybe four or five minutes.

In the first five practices this summer, Philbin's coaches scripted what he called 572 competitive plays. Because of the hurry-up concept, the players ran 657. That's an extra 85 plays -- 17 per day.

"I've never seen it before,'' said GM Jeff Ireland. "The tempo's earth shattering.''

Garrard was very good the day I saw him, throwing well on the run and hitting Wallace on a deep go. And very determined. "I've got a fire in my belly to finish my career the right way,'' said Garrard, released just before the Jacksonville opener last year. Which, by the way, still hurts. "They introduced me at the team luncheon as the starting quarterback, and as soon as we get back after the luncheon I'm told to go see [coach] Jack Del Rio, and he says, 'We feel it's best to go in a different direction.' They threw me under the bus, which I didn't appreciate.''

Now he has a chance to climb out from under the bus and get the last laugh. But he'd better be fast about it.

Read more: Garrett Reid had key role in Eagles-Michael Vick marriage; nuggets from Week 2 of my camp tour - Peter King - SI.com