Eight hours before the NFL Draft, Adam Gase did his best to avoid questions about the NFL Draft.

There’s no point in tipping his team’s hand, of course, so it’s no surprise that he was cagey about the team’s plans when meeting with reporters after the team’s final voluntary minicamp.

While Gase wouldn’t say whom the team will target (or if they’ll consider moving up), he did describe what kind of player he wants.

“The guys that we're looking for, they're looking to win, they're tough, they're competitive,” Gase said early Thursday afternoon. “They're selfless. They really have a love for this game. You want to find those guys that there's nothing them for this, and they just live and die with what happens in football. When you're around guys like that, and the more guys you can get like that on your team, the better chance you're going to have.”

Of course, it’s not always easy to identify those players. The Dolphins’ previous regime missed, obviously, with Dion Jordan.

“You can do all the research you can,” Gase said. “You can talk to as many people, especially coming into the draft, you can talk to every person you can. If you have someone targeting that school, talk to the equipment guys, trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, other players. You might grab some guys down on campus. You try to find as many was as you can to figure out what kind of person that guy is.”

After three practices with strong veteran attendance, Gase is beginning to get an idea of the makeup of the players on his roster.

Most notably?

“I feel like there’s a lot of guys that want to win,” he said.

▪ Ryan Tannehill strung together three strong practices this week, connecting on deep balls each day (including one to Kenny Stills Thursday, who beat Isa Abdul-Quddus).

▪ Both Koa Misi and Mike Pouncey were back at practice Thursday after missing the previous day due to illness, but did not participate in team drills.

▪ Jamar Taylor was at the complex, but did not practice. Jelani Jenkins was in Gainesville, graduating from the University of Florida.

▪ Ndamukong Suh, Mario Williams and Reshad Jones all missed the entire week.

▪ The Dolphins will be adding some 20 players in the next week. To make room on the roster, they cut defensive back Damarr Aultman, wide receiver Tyler Davis, wide receiver Robert Herron, defensive tackle Robert Thomas II and linebacker Terrell Manning.