Beck's the future; Culpepper's the present?

DAVIE, Fla. — Given that they used a second-round draft choice to obtain him, the Miami Dolphins clearly think John Beck might be their quarterback of the future.

Daunte Culpepper, however, still believes he's the quarterback of the present.

"For me," Culpepper said Friday, "the future is now."

So while Beck worked out with his new team for the first time at the start of a three-day minicamp in Davie, Fla., Culpepper — still slowed by major knee surgery he underwent in 2005 — pedaled away on a stationary machine. Still, he intends to be "100 percent" ready when the Dolphins open training camp in about two months.

"That's my expectation," said Culpepper, who wants to play in Miami's minicamp next month. "That's how I feel ... I'm just moving forward. I'm very excited about being able to make the progress I've made."

Miami coach Cam Cameron said Culpepper was somewhere "around the 90 percent range" physically but will not participate with the Dolphins until he's completely healthy.

So, barring a trade, that leaves Miami a quarterback lineup these days of Cleo Lemon (who started last season's finale), Gibran Hamdan and Beck — a 25-year-old from BYU.

Fans at the Dolphins' draft party loudly expressed disappointment when Miami skipped over quarterback Brady Quinn at No. 9 overall and took receiver Ted Ginn Jr. After he finished his first practice Friday, Beck trotted to the bleachers and signed some autographs.

Fortunately for him, nobody booed.

"I think it's awesome that we have Ted, and I feel very lucky that the Dolphins selected me to come here," Beck said. "I'm going to try to give them all that I've got and try to be the best that I can. As far as fan stuff, criticism, I can't worry about that, because if I worry about that then I'm not playing my game."

Beck said the days following the draft were a "whirlwind" for him. Since arriving in South Florida last weekend, he's spent countless hours trying to learn the basics of the Dolphins playbooks, had many meetings with coaches and introduced himself to new teammates.

And so far, Cameron — who drew the wrath of Miami fans at that draft party — likes a lot of what he sees from Beck. He also cautions that the rookie still has much to learn.

"He let the clock run out twice ... and he was shocked that that happened," Cameron said. "But he'll get that corrected. I think, like all young guys, it's a process. The ball seemed to come out as quickly as we thought it would, which I think is important, and he's going to be one of those guys who'll get a little bit better every day."