Miami had its rookies together for the first time for a minicamp Friday. Edge rushers Chop Robinson, Mohamed Kamara already have a bond together, and tackle Patrick Paul was his genuine enthusiastic self on Day 1.
The Miami Dolphins have a youth movement coming in at edge defender behind the duo of Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb.
And a bond between draft picks Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara goes back before Robinson, out of Penn State, went to the Dolphins in the first round and Kamara, from Colorado State, in the fifth two weeks back.
The two trained together in the pre-draft process, working out in Phoenix before ending up on the same professional team, sessions that often saw smack talk flying back and forth.
They reunited Friday at Dolphins headquarters for the start of a two-day rookie minicamp that involved 46 players, including tryout prospects with the team’s seven draft picks and 12 undrafted rookies.
With Robinson and Kamara already comfortable enough with each other to throw playful jabs, the young duo can push one another competitively as they eventually get into organized team activities, mandatory minicamp and eventually training camp in late July.
“He always talks trash,” Robinson said of Kamara. “Everything he was doing in training, whether it’s the get-offs or the sled pushes or, in the weight room, he always wants to compete.
“I was fine with it because it’s pushing me, it’s pushing him.”
Said Kamara: “We have a friendly hate relationship. But that’s my guy right there. We’re always going to help each other in any aspect.
“Most of the time it was just realizing how good he is and how good I can be. Because he’s a hell of a talent, and I’m just trying to get there. He went first round for a reason.”
As much praise as Kamara gives Robinson, there’s apparently something he has on him from training together.
“We made a bet,” he recalled. “I ain’t going to disclose it, but we made a bet. He owes me money. He knows what I’m talking about.”
Robinson, who is 6 feet 3, 254 pounds, will carry more expectations with him as a first-rounder and the fourth edge rusher selected in this year’s draft.
“I don’t put pressure on myself,” he said. “I just come here, put my head down, be humble, be confident and work. That’s my main thing. Don’t change who I am. I don’t change who I am for nothing.”
Kamara, who is 6 feet 1, 248 pounds, went lower than expected after a 13-sack season with Colorado State in 2023, but he already expressed on his web conference with reporters after his selection that he comes in with a chip on his shoulder.
“Mo is a special guy,” Robinson said. “I feel like a lot of people talk down on his size and everything, but he could pass rush. He could stop the run. He could do everything that you see on tape. He put it on tape.”
Dolphins second-round pick, tackle Patrick Paul, displayed his patented enthusiasm that made him a targeted prospect Miami wanted on Day 2 of the draft.
“It’s like I’m living in a dream right now,” Paul said of his initial experience at Dolphins facilities. “You got to pinch me. I don’t even know if I’m awake right now. I’m loving every second of it, and I’m soaking it all in.
“Honestly, look around. This place is beautiful. If you ever talk to Coach (Mike) McDaniel, he’ll make you want to go through a brick wall. Just having a head coach like that, is what everyone wants.”
Paul towered over a contingent of media at 6 feet 7, 331 pounds. Physically gifted, he still has technique he needs to sharpen as a pro, something McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier expressed they understood after selecting him.
He will harp on improving his hand usage among facets of his game he’ll focus on, but he doesn’t dwell much on criticisms of his game.
“A lot of those come from people just not knowing me as a player and my work ethic,” Paul said. “Just coming every day and proving everybody wrong by working hard and trusting the coaching.”
Paul previously mentioned the Dolphins were the team he wanted to go to in the draft, in part to work with offensive line coach Butch Barry, whom he worked with Friday.
“A great O-line coach,” Paul said. “You can go and check his track record. He really knows what he’s doing and he loves what he does. He has passion with it, and anyone who has passion with what they’re doing is good at it.”
Paul also expects to have veteran left tackle Terron Armstead as a mentor in Miami.
