November 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The NFL has no official statistic for most times a player's helmet has gone flying off his head, but if it did Dolphins center Jake Grove would be the runaway leader for 2009. At least that's what Dolphins left guard Justin Smiley says of his right- hand man. "I just think his helmet doesn't fit his head right or he needs to get a new chinstrap or something," Smiley says. "I mean, honestly. I don't know if he throws his helmet off to make it more theatrical, but every play his helmet comes off." Actually, Smiley and the other offensive linemen started counting Grove's bareheaded plays while watching film of the first Jets game in mid-October. The tally got to "at least four or five," ..."
November 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Something - or someone - has gotten lost in all this talk about the rapid midseason rise of rookie safety Chris Clemons. That would be incumbent free safety Gibril Wilson. True, Clemons started ahead of Wilson last Sunday in the Meadowlands. Then again, Nate Jones opened at strong safety ahead of Yeremiah Bell, and nobody is talking about Bell being demoted or being in danger of losing his job. "It's just different packages," Wilson says. "That's one package that we had when me and YB are out. That's something that was just sprinkled in. The D-line does it. It's just a certain package. It was just (based on) what the Jets were doing and that's just it." Wilson and Bell came back in as a ..."
November 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Miami Dolphins inside linebacker Channing Crowder practiced with limitations for the second straight day in nearly two weeks, and is optimistic he'll play in Sunday's 1 p.m. game against the New England Patriots. Crowder, one of the Dolphins' every down starting inside linebackers, missed last Sunday's win over the Jets because of a shoulder injury he suffered on Oct. 25th against the Saints. While Crowder, whose 22 tackles is fifth on the team, is practicing, and said he feels good physically, the team's being cautious with the former University of Florida standout. Reggie Torbor filled in for Crowder against the Jets, starting his second game as a Dolphin in two seasons, and contributed ..."
November 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Against the rest of the NFL, he is Tom Brady. Dashing figure of impending doom, King of New England, winner of three Super Bowl rings and nearly a fourth, orchestrator of the Patriots' quick-strike offense, author of countless fourth-quarter comebacks, and, lest we forget, husband of a Brazilian supermodel. In 14 career outings against the Dolphins, however, this same acclaimed quarterback has more often resembled Peter Brady. You know, of sitcom rerun infamy. Bumbling figure of self-inflicted doom, loser of football games that should have been won, thrower of interceptions that could have been avoided, teller of jokes that inevitably fall flat. All right, that last part can't be verified, ..."
November 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Ted Ginn Jr.'s turnaround week just got a little bit better. After becoming the first player in NFL history with two kickoff returns for touchdowns of 100 yards or more, the Miami Dolphins receiver was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Ginn, who broke free twice in the third quarter in Sunday's 30-25 win over the New York Jets, became the eighth player in NFL history with two kickoff return touchdowns in one game. He also became the first player to have two returns for touchdowns in the same quarter since Green Bay's Travis Williams accomplished the feat Nov. 12, 1967 against the Browns."
November 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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It's bad enough Joey Porter is on pace to finish with a paltry six sacks, although he promises he's still capable of reeling off eight or nine more in a hurry. "I've just got to cash in when I get the chance to cash in," Porter said Wednesday. "Ain't nothing happen to me. I'm still the same player. I'm going to be all right." What's really got the Miami Dolphins linebacker upset is a $5,000 fine from the NFL's fashion police for not showing enough white on his game socks. "That's what we're worried about," Porter said. "All the [stuff] that's going on in the game, and that's what we're worried about." Porter, who plans to appeal, said he was never warned before or during the game in ..."
November 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Kevin McHale, Vinnie Johnson and Tony Kukoc rarely started in their accomplished NBA careers, but that doesn't mean they were any less vital to their teams' success. Their approach is one that Dolphins cornerback Nate Jones has learned to embrace. Jones no longer craves a starting role. While he's competitive and said he'd love to raise his profile in the NFL, Jones is certain his role as the Dolphins' nickel back is just as significant as any on the field. "When you play nickel you're the ultimate sixth man who comes off the bench, and you've got to immediately start producing," Jones said. "You've got to be able to play like a starter because they're usually putting you up against a ..."
November 4
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Ethan J. Skoinick
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It's not easy to reach the sky in the NFL. It's even harder to stay there. Too many factors conspire against you. Parity. Complacency. Chance. One season, you're plus-17 in turnover ratio. The next season, you're minus-2. One season, almost all of your starters are healthy until late November, with the one exception of a sixth-round rookie scheduled to start at right guard. The next season, you lose two of your most experienced starters at critical positions before Halloween. One season, you face only three teams that ultimately qualify for the playoffs. The next season, the first eight games are against teams with a combined record of 32-16 against everyone else. And so, if the Dolphins ..."
November 2
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Ethan J. Stolnick
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Don't get too stoked. Yet. Not until after next Sunday. "It's going to be one of those telltale games," Ronnie Brown said. That's when the Dolphins take their 3-0 division record and their 104-yard offense to Foxborough, to face a Patriots team that should be good and rested (off a bye) and angry (after what happened the last time the Dolphins visited). Nearly 14 months ago in New England, Brown's Dolphins unveiled the Wildcat on the Patriots' unsuspecting players and embarrassed their infallible coach. New England has lost several veteran defenders since but regained Tom Brady. The Dolphins have rookie cornerbacks, who performed reasonably well Sunday against the Jets but still have ..."
November 2
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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For Joey Porter, it was all very simple. As the clock wound down in Sunday's 30-25 victory and the beleaguered Dolphins defense kept getting pushed toward the shadow of its own goal post, failure was not an option. Not if this defense wanted to make the most of those two dazzling kickoff returns for touchdowns (100 and 101 yards) from the equally maligned Ted Ginn Jr. Not if it wanted to sweep the season series from the cocky New York Jets with a second victory in 20 days over their loquacious archrivals. Not if it wanted to make Jason Taylor's ninth career defensive touchdown -- a 48-yard fumble return in a wild third quarter -- a proud memory instead of a hollow trinket. "Everybody in ..."
November 2
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Dave Hyde
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This was a sports fable. It was a football story that only happens in the movies. Ted Ginn Jr. even was laughing after his week from hell, saying of his second kickoff returned for a touchdown, the one on which he seemed to be trapped twice, "It's like a mouse trapped in the corner." He smiled. "You ever wonder how the mouse got out of the corner?" he said. "It got creative. I got creative." He was told right then, in this small interview room just off the Dolphins locker room, it was the best quote he'd ever delivered in his career. And it was. It was that kind of day for Ginn. Everything worked. He didn't just get creative in Sunday's 30-25 win against the Jets. He got electric, elusive, ..."