"The longer the NFL lockout continues to drag on the more veteran Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder worries about how it will affect the integrity of the sport. After a workout here on Tuesday with some of his teammates, Crowder said the lockout has already had negative effect on preparation for the 2011 season.

And once the season does begin – whenever that might be – Crowder predicted there'd be an increase in injuries and a decrease in the quality of play in the NFL.

"There's going to be more injuries [and] it's going to be real simple football," Crowder said. "It's going to mess up the integrity of the game because we're used to having those [off-season training activities], minicamps, off-season workouts …

"It's hurting the NFL now and as long as the owners won't let us go to work it's going to continue to hurt the game we love."

Crowder gathered at FAU on Tuesday along with Dolphins teammates Randy Starks, Patrick Cobbs and Daniel Thomas, the former Kansas State running back whom Miami selected last month in the second round of the NFL Draft. New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott also attended the workout – conducted by Test Football Academy – and so did several others, most of them undrafted free agents.

There were about 20 players in all out on the football practice fields at FAU. They went for about 90 minutes – running through obstacles and between cones, testing their agility and endurance, mostly.

For the older guys – those like Crowder and Scott – it didn't appear to be too difficult a workout."