There were 55 players out on the practice field today for the first day of the three-day rookie mini-camp, 46 of them donning Miami Dolphins uniforms for the first time, and they all had a jump in their step.

Of course the nine players picked in last week’s NFL Draft expected to have multiple sets of eyes on them, but they were joined by 19 undrafted free agents, 18 rookie tryout players and nine first-year players that were in NFL camps last year. Head Coach Joe Philbin liked what he saw over the two hours he had them inside the practice bubble and on the outside fields.

“It was great to be out on the field again, it was fun and the guys had really good energy,” Philbin said. “I thought they took a lot of good things from the meeting room to the practice field. They’ve obviously got a long way to go but I thought the energy was good and they’ll get to learn from some of the mistakes that they made and hopefully practice a little better tomorrow.”

Defensive end Dion Jordan drew the most attention from the media after practice, which was expected being that he was the team’s first-round selection and No. 3 overall, but he is recovering from a shoulder injury, as is third-round offensive tackle Dallas Thomas. So once the team left the bubble and went into outside drills those two worked on the side with the trainers.

Thomas was all smiles coming off the field in his Dolphins jersey and eager to share his experience, especially the weather conditions.

“The first thing was the heat,” said Thomas, who played at Tennessee against some of the nation’s toughest competition in the Southeastern Conference. “When we first got out here it was hitting hard. I don’t know what the temperature was but it felt like it was 105 degrees today so I’ve got to get back used to that. I’m from Louisiana, born and raised and lived there my whole life but I’ve been in Tennessee so long and there’s no humidity, just regular heat and it doesn’t get as hot as it does down here.”

Thomas and the rest of the rookies will be in for even more of a shock in July when training camp begins because the humidity is higher and the temperatures are even hotter. But he is looking forward to learning the offense and getting comfortable on the offensive line.

Cornerback Will Davis out of Utah State was taken in the third round by Miami and is already forming a bond with second-round pick Jamar Taylor out of Boise State. He found it difficult to contain his enthusiasm about being on an NFL practice field and in an NFL locker room.

“It was a great feeling,” Davis said. “When you go in there and you see your name and see your locker it’s one of those feelings where you sit back, you kind of get out of the dream state and you poke yourself a little bit and realize it’s reality.”

That reality continues tomorrow.