December 21
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Miami Dolphins left tackle Jake Long (back) practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday. Long has been out since getting injured in the first quarter against the Eagles. For the second week, his status will be updated on a daily basis. "He did some things," Bowles said. "He moved around a little better than last week. We've got to see day-to-day, see how he sleeps and how he comes back the day." Second-year guard John Jerry started in place of Long against the Buffalo Bills."
December 19
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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For the first time in his four NFL seasons, Jake Long missed Sunday's game with a back injury. Long, the Dolphins' Pro Bowl left tackle and the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008, was replaced in the lineup by second-year man John Jerry. That decision ended Long's consecutive-games streak at 62, including a playoff outing as a rookie. "He wasn't feeling that great on the plane ride," interim Dolphins coach Todd Bowles said. "We just had to wait and see if anything would kick in and he'd start feeling better.""
December 12
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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It was supposed to be a matchup of teams with identical records going in opposite directions. The Miami Dolphins were a strong 4-8 team. The Philadelphia Eagles were a fading 4-8 team. If so, the 67,823 fans at Sun Life Stadium Sunday were treated to a classic case of role reversal. The Eagles bruised and battered the Dolphins in their 26-10 victory. Miami left with more than just a loss after quarterback Matt Moore was knocked out in the third quarter with an apparent concussion. "Those guys [the Eagles]did a good job defensively," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "I mean, we had some chances early in the game, didn't convert on a few plays ? We just did some things (Sunday) that you"
September 8
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Jake Long did what he could. He tried to play an active role during Dolphins' team meetings, tried to offer encouragement to his teammates while they practiced without him. But he missed it — not being out there, playing. "Not being a part of it was difficult because I'm that type of leader that goes out there every single day and hates missing practices and games," said Long, who sat every one of the Dolphins' four preseason games and also sat out about half of the practices while rehabbing a knee injury. Long's wait will end Monday when he assumes his duties as the Dolphins' starting left tackle. His absence during the preseason didn't help the cohesion of an offensive line that features"
August 21
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Franchise left tackle Jake Long has been taken off the NFL's physically unable to perform list and has begun practicing with the Miami Dolphins. Long, who has been battling left knee soreness since last season, has missed all of training camp and the Dolphins' first two exhibition games. Saturday evening's practice was the first session he worked with his teammates because he was medically cleared to participate. However, coach Tony Sparano seemed hesitant about the prospects of Long playing in the Dolphins' final two exhibition games. "I didn't really have practice, preseason games in the mix. ... If he plays in a preseason game or he doesn't play in a preseason game, it won't matter to"
August 1
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said on Sunday that Pro-Bowl left tackle Jake Long has been placed on the physically unable to perform list while he attempts to recover from a knee injury. Long has spent Miami's first three practices of the preseason going through various rehab exercises. His return his unclear, but Sparano said he hopes that Long can be ready to play in the Sept. 12 season opener against New England. "As I said the other day, he's going to return when I think he's ready to return," Sparano said. "So it's going to be a little while. I'm going to take it really slow with Jake." If Long isn't off the physically unable to perform list by the start of the season, he'd be forced to"
June 17
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Jake Long isn't just a former No. 1 overall pick, a three-time Pro Bowler, a team captain, and the highest paid offensive tackle in the NFL. Now the Miami Dolphins' franchise left tackle can boast that he's rated one of the NFL's top 30 players by his peers, and was voted the top rated offensive lineman in the NFL. Think of him as the prom king for the Big Uglies. Long, a former University of Michigan standout, will be featured this Sunday on the NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2011, a ranking which was determined by his peers in the league. I've been informed Long is somewhere between number 21-30. We'll learn his exact spot when the show airs Sunday night at 8 p.m. on the NFL Network."
March 23
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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If NFL players weren't locked out and the Miami Dolphins had begun the team's offseason training program coach Tony Sparano said it's doubtful he'd have the services of the two starting tackles. Left tackle Jake Long and right tackle Vernon Carey were nursing a handful of injuries in 2010 and both had surgery when the season was over. Long had his separated left shoulder repaired, and Carey, who was put on injured reserve the final month of the season because of lingering knee problems, underwent an undisclosed procedure that still has him limping. Sparano pointed out both tackles, who have started the past three seasons, will likely be healthy enough to practice by training camp, if the"
December 29
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Cameron Wake's remarkable rise took another substantial leap Tuesday when the Dolphins outside linebacker was named to his first Pro Bowl. Coincidentally, it will be Jan. 30, Wake's 29th birthday. "Best birthday present I've ever gotten," Wake said. Wake, who leads the NFL with 14 sacks entering the season's final weekend, is one of two Dolphins selected to start for the AFC. Left tackle Jake Long, picked for the third time in as many pro seasons, is the other. Wake said he will make good on teammate Channing Crowder's demand that he take him along to Hawaii. Crowder kept telling Wake during the preseason that he was going to have a Pro Bowl year, joking with his fellow linebacker that if"
November 20
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long had trouble blocking Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers with one arm during Thursday night's 16-0 loss to the Chicago Bears. Long couldn't punch with his left arm because of a dislocated shoulder he suffered against the Titans. As a result, Peppers went wide on him most of the game and recorded a season-high three sacks. According to a team source, Long's performance was so troubling the Dolphins have debated shutting down the 2008 No. 1 pick for the season. Long will require surgery to fix his labrum, and it'll keep him from practicing and lifting weights for at least four months. Another source says Long is insistent he can play at a high"
November 16
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Jake Long, the Dolphins' franchise left tackle, missed Monday's practice with an injured left shoulder suffered in Sunday's win over Tennessee. Long's status for Thursday night's game against the Bears is unclear, but ESPN reported Monday night that Long has "some labrum damage" and might try to wear a shoulder harness this week. "Jake's a pretty tough guy," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "We'll see where we go." Through the first 42 games of his NFL career, Long has played all but 18 of 2,838 snaps. That's a ridiculous 99.4 percent participation rate. The first dozen of those missed snaps came in a Week 12 blowout loss against the Patriots in 2008, Long's rookie season. Six more (out"
November 15
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The Miami Dolphins didn't just lose the team's two quarterbacks – Chad Henne and Chad Pennington – to injuries in Sunday's 29-17 win over the Tennessee Titans. Left tackle Jake Long and outside linebacker Cameron Wake sustained serious injuries that could keep them out of Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bears. According to a source, Long dislocated a shoulder and will undergo an MRI on Monday morning to determine the severity of the injury, which didn't stop Long from finishing Sunday's game. Wake, who leads the team with 8.5 sacks, suffered a hip injury that limited his mobility in the second half. He underwent an ex-ray after the game. It's possible the coaches could shelve him"
October 16
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Jake Long's week began on a stationary bike. It will end with a significantly more taxing physical assignment. On tap for the Dolphins' standout left tackle Sunday at Lambeau Field is a Packers' defense that has excelled at getting to the quarterback. Only the Titans (22) have totaled more sacks than the Packers (21), who are pacing the NFL with 148 sack yards. Eight different Packers have a recorded at least one sack, but one in particular has caught Long's eye. Clay Matthews (hamstring) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game, but Long is counting on having to contend with the second-year linebacker. Matthews leads the NFL with 8.5 sacks. In week two against the Bills he became the first"
October 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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On the long list of Things The Miami Dolphins Really Don't Want to Ponder At This Point In Their Existence, No. 1 just might be: Life Without Jake Long. Not to be alarmist, but the franchise left tackle was missing from Wednesday morning's practice. Lydon Murtha, last seen letting two Patriots blow past him for a blocked field goal, worked in his place as the Dolphins tried to make the most of their shortened bye week. One postgame report had Long ducking to the X-ray room at Sun Life Stadium. It's unclear if Long's left knee - first injured in the final preseason game at Dallas - is the problem this time, but it was bad enough to get him listed on the injury report last week. Also sitting"
September 8
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Miami Dolphins franchise left tackle Jake Long, who suffered an injury to his left knee in the preseason finale against Dallas, returned to practice Wednesday. The Dolphins began preparing for their regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday without Long, who sat out all of Monday's practice. He rode an exercise bike for a couple of minutes during the sessions. He appeared to walk without a limp, but wore a bulky brace on his left knee. "It's an unfortunate circumstance," coach Tony Sparano said, defending his decision to play his starters in the exhibition finale, which exposed them to injuries like the one Long suffered. "I'm not going to Monday-morning quarterback any of"
September 8
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The Dolphins began preparing for their regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills without franchise left tackle Jake Long. Long, who suffered an injury to his left knee three plays into second quarter of the Sept. 2 exhibition loss at Dallas, sat out all of Monday's practice. Long rode an exercise bike for a couple of minutes during the sessions. He appeared to walk without a limp, but wore a bulky brace on his left knee. "It's an unfortunate circumstance," coach Tony Sparano said, defending his decision to play his starters in the exhibition season finale, which exposed them to injuries like the one Long suffered. "I'm not going to Monday-morning quarterback any of those decisions.""
September 7
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Franchise left tackle Jake Long sat out the Miami Dolphins' first regular-season practice Monday morning with a left knee injury suffered in the preseason finale at Dallas. Long, the Dolphins' highest-paid player, stretched with the rest of the team inside the bubble but reported directly to the exercise bicycle once practice moved outside. Long appeared to walk without a limp but wore a bulky brace on his left knee. Second-year tackle Lydon Murtha filled in for Long with the first team. Long, a third-year man out of Michigan, suffered the injury three plays into second quarter of the Sept. 2 game at Dallas. The helmet of right tackle Vernon Carey appeared to crash into Long's knee as"
September 3
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The worst possible nightmare that could have happened in the Miami Dolphins' final exhibition game nearly happened. During Thursday's game against the Dallas Cowboys, starting left tackle Jake Long, a two-time Pro Bowler, had his left knee rolled up on early in the second quarter on a play that ended with linebacker Victor Butler sacking quarterback Chad Henne and forcing a fumble. Long stayed on the ground for a couple of seconds before walking off without much assistance. He sat on the sidelines for a few minutes before being taken to the trainers table, where he was examined by team doctors. Long left the table after a few minutes, walking off to the bench he sparingly left all game."
August 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Adding Marques Douglas to the Dolphins' mix at defensive end met with approval from at least one prominent new teammate. That would be Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long, who had the unpleasant task of trying to keep Douglas blocked during both games against the Jets last season. "The minute I saw on the Internet we'd signed him, I was happy," Long said. "He's a good player. Last year we had two games and we battled. We were in there a lot, one-on-one blocks. He's a strong guy, veteran, knows a lot of savvy tricks. He's a great player and he's going to help our defense." At 33, Douglas is the second-oldest player on the team, trailing only Chad Pennington, 34. Entering his 10th full season in"
August 5
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Adding Marques Douglas to the Dolphins' mix at defensive end met with approval from at least one prominent new teammate. That would be Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long, who had the unpleasant task of trying to keep Douglas blocked during both games against the Jets last season. "The minute I saw on the Internet we'd signed him, I was happy," Long said. "He's a good player. Last year we had two games and we battled. We were in there a lot, one-on-one blocks. He's a strong guy, veteran, knows a lot of savvy tricks. He's a great player and he's going to help our defense." At 33, Douglas is the second-oldest player on the team, trailing only Chad Pennington, 34. Entering his 10th full season in"
July 27
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Between them, Anthony Munoz and Richmond Webb amassed 18 Pro Bowl trips, 11 All-Pro selections, 26 NFL seasons and a widely held reputation as two of the finest left tackles in the past three decades. Oh, and there's one other thing these two all-time greats hold in common: a deep appreciation and admiration for Miami Dolphins left tackle Jake Long. "He's tough, physical, smart — that's what I love about him," says Munoz, who carved out his Hall of Fame career from 1980-92 with the Bengals. "There's a couple of guys I watch at left tackle these days. Him and Joe Thomas [of the Browns] are two guys that have come into the league and are doing a tremendous job." Webb, who spent the first 11"
May 31
Miami Herald
columnist Armando Salguero
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An NFL head coach has more worries than hours in a day, and for Tony Sparano those might include finding a starting free safety and getting his young linebackers ready to play or wondering if Brandon Marshall will be healthy for the start of training camp in July. Sparano's concerns might even include his team's growing arrest record because the Dolphins this offseason are averaging one run-in with the law per month and two months still remain before any games begin. But one thing Sparano definitely doesn't have to worry about is Jake Long. That's because the blind side of the Dolphins' offensive line is a brick wall that blocks out misgivings and problems. Long, as he readies to start the"
February 25
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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When Brandon Graham becomes the latest in a long line of first-round NFL Draft picks from the University of Michigan, he'll think of Jake Long. Not just because Long, Graham's former Wolverines teammates, went No. 1 to the Miami Dolphins in 2008, but because it was Long, the mammoth left tackle, who taught a wide-eyed freshman from Detroit what it would take to survive in college football. "My freshman year was the worst because I had to go against him all the time [in practice] and he used to go 100 percent all the time," says Graham, a defensive end/outside linebacker. "He didn't do anything but make me better. He put me on the ground a few times. Well, a whole bunch of times." Graham,"
January 9
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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According to the New York Jets' official Web site, Miami Dolphins franchise left tackle Jake Long won't be making a second straight Pro Bowl appearance after all. The Jets' public relations department made the announcement because Long's injury replacement is New York tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson. This gives the Jets four Pro Bowl players (Nick Mangold, Alan Faneca and Darrelle Revis are the others) while the Dolphins, for now, have none as they prepare to host the Jan. 31 game for the first time in 35 years. Long, who was voted in as a starter, should still get the seven-figure contract bump he did a year ago even though he won't play in the game. Not sure what the injury is, but he"
December 30
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Left tackle Jake Long was named a starter for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday, ensuring the Miami Dolphins wouldn't be shut out when they host the NFL's all-star game next month at Dolphin Stadium. Left tackle Jake Long was named a starter for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday, ensuring the Dolphins won't be shut out when they host the NFL's all-star game next month at Dolphin Stadium. Long, the first pick in the 2008 draft, made the Pro Bowl as an alternate last season. This year he earned the top honor by winning the fan voting and also getting the nod from his peers and coaches, whose votes make up the other two components of the selection process. The 2010 Pro Bowl will be played at the Dolphins' home"
September 14
Miami Herald
columnist Linda Robertson
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Jake Long was flattened into a 317-pound pancake by defensive end and human spatula John Abraham. It was a rare moment of vulnerability for the Dolphins' star left tackle, already one of the NFL's premier bodyguards at age 24. But Long's utter helplessness on the play typified that of his team in a 19-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday's season opener. It was a debut that induced cringes instead of confidence. The Dolphins were picked to lose inside the echo chamber known as the Georgia Dome, but not in such an incompetent way, not after the heartening turnaround of last season, not with the reliable Chad Pennington at quarterback. The problem was, Pennington got harassed all"
February 10
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Dolphins tackle Jake Long doesn't think a right ankle injury he suffered in Sunday's Pro Bowl is serious. "I got my ankle rolled up, but it is nothing. I feel fine," Long wrote on his Dolphins postcard from Hawaii, which is published on the team's Web site. Long, who was added to the Pro Bowl squad as a replacement for injured Bills tackle Jason Peters, hurt the same ankle during a November loss to the Patriots but didn't miss a start the rest of the season. Replays showed the NFC's DeMarcus Ware rolling over Long's ankle during pass protection late in the second half. At the time, Long was playing right tackle for the AFC, which lost 30-21. He did not return to the game."
November 28
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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After taking Wednesday's practice off to rehabilitate a sprained right ankle, Dolphins rookie left tackle Jake Long was back on the field today working in team drills. Long, who sprained the ankle during the third quarter of last Sunday's loss to the Patriots, seems on track to play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. "It says an awful lot about his toughness,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Wednesday about Long returning in the fourth quarter Sunday. "What's nice to see is things weren't going our way and you had a young player you think an awful lot about trying to find a way to get back into that game instead of trying to find ways to get out of the game.'' Curiously, backup tackle"
October 12
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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The praise is glowing. Jake Long says Texans defensive end Mario Williams is strong and fast, and stops just short of admitting Williams is the best thing since sliced bread. Williams loves Long's big frame and his footwork and predicts the Dolphins' rookie left tackle will be an elite offensive lineman in the NFL. And on and on. Come 1 p.m. today, Long and Williams will put the sweet talk aside and spend four hours shoving, pushing and punching one another in a rare battle of NFL No. 1 picks going head-to-head on just about every snap. Going back three decades, this type of matchup has only occurred three times. Those games featured 1997 No. 1 pick Orlando Pace twice taking on Bruce"