*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Jul 29, 1997: -- Armstrong's Injury is Minor --
APOLOGY:
First of all, let me apologize for having been absent these
past few days. Between moving to Jersey City, starting my new job and
connection problems from the apartment to my new ISP, I have gotten
way behind in my reporting, to say nothing of my web site and email.
I'll put more details in a separate article, but suffice it to say
that I'm back now and reporting should be back to normal.
The Associated Press is reporting this afternoon that the
injury to Trace Armstrong's ankle is minor and he will not be missing
any significant time with the team. In fact, Armstrong participated
in the team's walk through this morning and is reported to have said
that the problem is nothing and that he will miss little, if any,
playing time.
X-rays taken yesterday were completely negative on Armstrongs'
left ankle, which is the ankle that has bothered him throughout his
career. He has had surgery on that ankle twice, in 1989 and again in
1995. Last season, soreness and swelling in that ankle limited his
effectiveness in the first part of the season.
In other news today, the Dolphins have signed former Illinois
wide receiver Jasper Strong to fill a roster spot and give the
quarterbacks someone to throw to in the absence of Fred Barnett, Scott
Miller, James Dye and all the rest of the wide receivers who have been
injured during this training camp.
The Dolphins gave workouts to Strong and two other players -
former University of Miami wide receiver Jermaine Chambers and former
North Carolina track standout Neil Chance. Strong was signed today,
undoubtedly for a one year deal at minimum salary.
Strong, listed at 6'1" and 177 pounds, played from 1992 to
1994 for Illinois, amassing 775 yards in receptions in 1994. Last
summer, he spent some time on the Houston Oilers' as a free agent, but
was cut before the regular season began.
In other news, wide receivers Fred Barnett and Scott Miller
both had arthoscopic surgery on their knees on Sunday, but both
players were back on the field working out today. Both Barnett and
Miller were catching passes from throwing machines, although neither
is obviously ready to do any serious workouts.
And last but not least, the Dolphins have announced a change
to their training camp schedule. The team will prematurely end their
two-a-day practices and go with an easier schedule for the rest of the
summer. In place of one of their full speed practices today, Thursday
and Friday, the Dolphins will hold offensive and defensive walk
throughs. The other practices will continue to be full-speed.
And that ends the general news update. A full training camp
report will be forthcoming tomorrow.
My Comments:
Whew!!! At last, an injury bullet misses! Armstrong's X-rays
are negative and we can all breathe a little easier. It's one thing
to lose Danny Stubbs and allow Jason Taylor to show his stuff, but
it's quite another to lose Trace Armstrong.
As to the signing of Jasper Strong, it would take a miracle of
Biblical proportions to get him a place on the team.
But while we're on the subject, it seems that Dolphins' wide
receivers are cursed this summer. It started with McDuffie and his
hernias before training camp. Then it worked it's way through Dar
Dar, Green, Barnett, James Dye, Scott Miller and now Lamar Thomas and
Lawrence Dawsey are having minor, nagging problems.
Do you think, perhaps, an exorcism is in order?
And given the current state of the Dolphins' receiving corps,
it makes a lot of sense to cut back the 2-a-day practices. According
to my schedule, there were only 3 days of 2 practices left in any
case, so the team isn't missing much by replacing the full practices
with walk throughs.
Of course, what JJ considers a "walk through" is anyone's
guess. Personally, I doubt if I'm in good enough shape to even think
about going through one of JJ's "walk throughs".
Tomorrow - back to our regularly scheduled program.
Related Info:
[Return to Dolphins News]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New England
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