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GAME TIME: 7:30 PM EST on Monday, Aug 17th. The game will be broadcast locally in Miami on WFOR TV and nationally on the NFL network on a delayed basis at 11 PM on Monday night. PLACE: Land Shark Stadium, Miami, FL WEATHER FORECAST: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the low 80s and a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. East winds between 8 and 14 mph. FIELD CONDITIONS: The field at Dolphins' stadium is still grass. Unfortunately, the Marlins still share the field with the Dolphins and have been playing on it for the last week, so it may not be in the greatest of shape and will still have the baseball diamond in place. STANDINGS & STATS: At this point, there are no standings and the only stats available are from last season. Once the regular season begins, I will provide stats and standings. HISTORY: The Dolphins have faced the Jaguars in pre-season for the past 6 years and have split that series with the Jaguars, 3-3. Last year, Tony Sparano's first victory as a head coach in the NFL came against the Jaguars in pre-season.
Dolphins:
OUT: LB Matt Roth (groin)
Jaguars:
OUT: WR Mike Walker (ankle)
WR Mike Thomas (hamstring)
FB Montell Owens (knee)
DT Jonathan Lewis (ankle)
DB Don Carey (shoulder)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 10 Chad Pennington LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 95 Jason Ferguson
FB - 39 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr SLB - 99 Jason Taylor
WR - 15 Devone Bess ILB - 51 Akin Ayodele
TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 52 Channing Crowder
LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 55 Joey Porter
LG - 65 Justin Smiley LCB - 25 Will Allen
C - 64 Jake Grove RCB - 31 Sean Smith
RG - 61 Shawn Murphy SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 28 Gibril Wilson
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Devone Bess KR - 38 Patrick Cobbs
NOTES: The only rookie starting this game for Miami will be CB Sean
Smith at right cornerback.
JAGUARS STARTERS: Because this is the first pre-season game, Jaguars starters will not be listed. Because this is the first pre-season game, the focus will be on the players who are new to the team and to the players fighting for a roster spot. The only rookie designated a starter is cornerback Sean Smith and the coaches will be watching him to see how he deals with his first real NFL competition, like WR Torry Holt of the Jaguars. And while RG Shawn Murphy is not technically a rookie, he has not yet appeared in a single regular season game. Even though the Jaguars were only 5-11 last year, they still have a very tough defensive line, with players like DT John Henderson. Murphy is in competition with OL Donald Thomas, who will also play against the Jaguars in his first real action since he was sidelined in the season opener last year. The rookie receivers Brian Hartline and Patrick Turner will also get their chances to show what they can do after impressing onlookers during training camp, but it may be WRs Brandon London and Anthony Armstrong who have the most to prove, since they are fighting for the final receiver's roster spot. Veteran Ernest Wilford will also have a lot to prove as a tight end. He has been relatively quiet until the last few days of training camp, but he will need to have a very good game to have a chance at making the team. And Pat White will get an intensive look in this game to see how well he has learned his lessons in training camp. He will probably play at least a quarter and possibly more. On defense, the players with the most to prove are Sean Smith, Vontae Davis, Randy Starks, Phillip Merling and Jason Allen. Jason Allen, in particular, is a player who is on the spot this summer because he has not lived up to his first round draft status. In addition, K Dan Carpenter suddenly has competition for his job from free agent Connor Barth. Coach Sparano has said that he hopes both players get to kick in the game against the Jaguars and if either kicker stands out, that could make a big difference in who makes the roster. At this point, it is important to remember the goals of the first pre-season game. The first goal, obviously, is to keep everyone healthy. The second goal is to evaluate the new players and the players fighting for roster spots in a real game situation. Right now, it looks like most of the veteran starters will play just the first quarter, except for the offensive line and players like Sean Smith and Randy Starks. Coach Sparano has said that the starting offensive line needs extra work together in a game situation. Whether or not Donald Thomas will get time with the starters is unknown, but he will almost certainly get some time on the field. After the veteran starters sit down, other players will be rotated in and out of the lineup. Second and third string players will play in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and the rest will play in the 4th quarter. However, the coaches will rotate players in and out whenever they want to see them perform in specific situations, so just because a player plays in the 4th quarter, does not mean he is at the bottom of the depth chart. Part of the evaluation is to determine which players are "gamers" - players who play better against an opponent than they do in practice. Of course, coaches would like to see players perform the same in a game as they do on the practice field, but the reality is that that does not happen in the real world. So Coach Sparano will also be looking for the "gamers" against the Jaguars, as well as evaluating everyone's performance. The third and final goal for the team will be to win the game. It is important to build a winning attitude on the team and to have that attitude carry over into the regular season. And in the 4th quarter, with the game on the line, it will be the players on the bottom of the depth chart who could determine which team wins instead of the starters. Coach Sparano pointed that out this week and said it will be an important part of the evaluation process. Ultimately, the bottom line is that winning the game is not the most important goal of the team against the Jaguars. To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars listed on my "Places To Watch" web page. To listen to the game live over the Internet, you must now pay the NFL for the privelege. They are charging $9.99 (US) per month or $39.99 for the season for something you used to get for free. If you want to sign up for that, go to the following link NFL Field Pass. Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Official Website and NFL.com have almost live applications that run in your browser and give you current stats and play-by-play information.
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