The Sports Xchange

DAVIE, Fla. — Defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and C.J. Mosley are together for the third consecutive season, their first with the Miami Dolphins.

They say their style of play won’t change — they helped Detroit finish No. 1 in the NFL in rush defense last season — but Miami’s style of play is almost sure to change.

The Dolphins allowed 992 yards rushing in their final six games last season. That’s a major reason they finished 2-4 down the stretch and 8-8 overall. Suh takes that rushing total as a slap in the face.

“It’s very disrespectful for a team to ever run the ball very heavily on you,” he said. “This is a passing league so for somebody to really run the ball on you heavily that’s really embarrassing.”

Suh, who teamed with Mosley the past two seasons in Detroit, said the Dolphins need to “impose our will” on offenses.

Mosley, entering his 11th season, seems in total agreement.

“As a D-line, and defensive player, really you’ve got to be mean, you’ve got to be nasty, you’ve got to be tough, be physical,” he said. “You’ve got to have all of that, all of the above.”

The Dolphins finished 24th in run defense last season. But with Suh and Mosley together for the third consecutive season, perhaps that total will improve.

–Safety Louis Delmas, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee in December, participated in Tuesday’s entire practice, the first of the three-day minicamp. That means Delmas, who is expected to retain his starting position, is right on schedule with what the team predicted two months ago.

Linebacker Kelvin Sheppard missed Tuesday’s practice for personal reasons, and wide receiver DeVante Parker (foot), left tackle Branden Albert (knee), kicker Caleb Sturgis (thigh), safety Don Jones (shoulder) and tight end Gerrell Robinson (unknown) didn’t participate Tuesday.

–Guards Billy Turner and Dallas Thomas held their starting spots on the right and left sides, respectively. But left guard Jamil Douglas, the rookie fourth-round pick from Arizona State, and veteran Jeff Linkenbach also got time with the starters. Linkenbach also got a look at right tackle.

–Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had another good performance Tuesday. The fourth-year player didn’t throw an interception for the second consecutive practice (he didn’t have one in the final day of OTAs) and seemed to use his feet pretty well once again.

Tannehill has been sharp overall this offseason, not doing anything especially dramatic but definitely not making the same mistakes (poor footwork, bad decisions, poor pocket presence) he’s made the previous three years.