Professor

Dolphins CB Daniels regaining rookie form -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

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DAVIE - Dolphins cornerback Travis Daniels spent most of last year's training camp with his right ankle in a boot. He was hobbling on crutches or sitting in a golf cart, and it almost drove him nuts.

"If it hasn't happened to you, you can't possibly understand what it is like," said the South Broward and LSU graduate. "It is torture. There is nothing worse than wanting to contribute, but knowing that you can't."

With cornerback André Goodman recovering from shoulder surgery, Daniels is showing that he has regained the form that made him a starter in 14 of 16 games as a rookie in 2005.

"Do you know how good you have to be to play in 16 games and start 14 of them as a corner in the NFL?" said assistant coach Mel Phillips, who works with the cornerbacks. "That's how good Travis was in 2005. He is very smart and has solid fundamentals and techniques. He is also cool under pressure."

Daniels' productive rookie year brought increased expectations for last season, but they felt apart when he severely injured his right ankle Aug. 3.

"I knew right then that it wouldn't really be right again until I had surgery," Daniels said, "but I thought that I could bring it back to a point where I could contribute last year."

The surgery was postponed, and according to Daniels, he literally limped through the season.

"If you could have seen me limping through practice, you would have wondered how I played at all," Daniels said. "If teams wanted to get me, last year was the time."

The ankle injury was compounded when Daniels injured his right knee against New England on Oct. 9.

"He was never at full speed," Phillips said. "He is different now. Physically, he is like what he was in 2005."

Daniels had ankle surgery Jan. 7 in which scar tissue was removed, and it has allowed him to run again without discomfort. He asks the trainers to help him run without a limp, and he'll do the rest.

So far, Daniels has been solid in training camp, making a couple of nice interceptions.

"I feel like a rookie again," Daniels said. "It feels good. I know where I have to be. I know what to do when I get there."

It is a lot different than last year, when Daniels spent a lot of time watching practice and studying tape.

"I'm probably smarter because of last year," Daniels said. "I've never studied that much tape and watched that much practice. I learned a lot, but I couldn't do anything with it."

Coach Cam Cameron, then San Diego's offensive coordinator, remembers game-planning against Daniels in 2005, a game the Dolphins won 23-21.

"You only get one year to go at a rookie corner, and you go at them every chance you get," Cameron said. "Travis passed the test because he started as a rookie and only an injury restricted him last year."

In addition to his ankle feeling different, training camp has been something of a culture shock for Daniels, who is playing his first season since high school without Nick Saban as his coach.

In 2005, he was the professor of training camp as he helped veterans with Saban's complex system.

"They don't ask me anymore because we've run it for two years," Daniels said. "It is strange without Coach Saban, but how often does a college player move to the NFL and play for the same coach anyway?"

How much of an adjustment has there been from Saban's stern, in-your-face approach to Cameron's more direct, businesslike approach?

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