Wide receiver **Allen Hurns** was limited to individual drills during his first practice with the Dolphins, but he's eager to spring into action with his hometown team.
Hurns, who played at Miami Carol City High and the University of Miami, was signed Friday, days after being released by the Dallas Cowboys.
"It's always good being back home," Hurns said. "It's a blessing being able to come back. I played here for college, so playing here as a professional, I'll love to see how that goes."
Hurns said he's 100 percent physically and was cleared in the spring after his 2018 season ended with a foot injury in Dallas' playoff victory against the Seattle Seahawks last January.
Hurns has 209 career receptions in five NFL seasons and he'll be looking to earn a roster spot in a Dolphins wide receiver corps that includes veterans **Kenny Stills**, **DeVante Parker**, **Jakeem Grant**, **Albert Wilson** and **Brice Butler**.
"It will be a lot of good competition," Hurns said. "There are a lot of guys that do a lot of good things. Me coming in, my main thing is I've got to learn the playbook. But as far as being on the field, we've got a lot of guys. I feel like competition brings out the best in guys, so coming in each and every day, going against those guys and working with those guys, I feel like we'll bring out the best in each other.
"Coming off of an injury, my main thing is to come in here, learn the playbook and put my head down and go to work. My main thing once I got released was finding a good opportunity. I felt like it was a good opportunity here, so my main thing is to put my head down and go to work."
Drake's new diet
Running back **Kenyan Drake** said a change of nutrition helped him shed five pounds before he reported for training camp, with the goal of helping his stamina.
Drake said he cut out fast food, pork and red meat and replaced it with fish, lean chicken, turkey meats and salmon patties.
"It's a lifestyle," Drake said. "I'm getting older. I'm obviously still young, but it's never too early to start changing your life for the better in how you kind of approach every day. I looked at Frank (Gore) last year and he kind of gave me a lot of wisdom in terms of his ability to be in a very grounded position at running back and still be able to go out there and do the things that he does every day. It's how he eats, how he treats his body, the things he does on and off the field. That's something I wanted to implement into my career."
Drake said the toughest food item to give up was cookies and cream ice cream, but it's a good trade-off for accomplishing a goal and ultimately feeling better.
"For sure," he said, "I feel like I have a lot of energy waking up in the morning, throughout the day, sustainability in terms of my energy, conditioning-wise."
Practice guests
The Dolphins continued their tradition of inviting youth and high school teams to practice this summer, and the visitors to training camp Friday were members of South Dade High and Somerset Academy from Davie.
As will be the case with every team invited this summer, the players and coaches received a tour of the Baptist Health Training Facility at Nova Southeastern University, listened to a character development talk, watched practice and met with current coaches and players on the field, and had lunch.
Rookie responsibilities
First-round pick **Christian Wilkins** carried two helmets as he walked off the field after practice — his own and that of first-year player **Jamiyus Pittman**.
It's part of being a rookie in the NFL, and Wilkins has no issue accepting the responsibilities.
"I'm just a funky old rookie and these guys, they love me and they respect me, but they make sure they make me realize that every day," Wilkins said. "I'm happy to do it because those guys are my teammates and I've just got to respect the chain of command right now. I'm just a funky rookie, gotta carry the helmets, gotta bring the snacks."
