*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Sep 28, 1997: -- Ward Breaks Leg --
** Ward Breaks Leg **
The Dolphins announced today that rookie linebacker Ronnie
Ward has broken the tibia in his left leg and will be sidelined for 6
to 8 weeks - provided that the Dolphins don't put him on injured
reserve.
The tibia is the weight-bearing bone in the lower leg, so
Ward's injury is more serious than the one to Zach Thomas earlier in
the season.
Ward has played in all four games for the Dolphins this year,
mainly on special teams. He also has a role as a backup linebacker,
but so far has seen very little playing time at that position.
Right now, there is no word on whether or not Ward will be
placed on injured reserve. The injury is not thought to be
season-ending, but with 2 other players already filling roster spots
who are injured, the Dolphins may stick Ward on injured reserve and
bring Mike Crawford back to the regular roster from the practice
squad to play on special teams.
** Tim Jacobs Slightly Injured **
On Thursday, backup cornerback Tim Jacobs sprained his ankle
in practice and is currently listed as day-to-day. Jacobs' place in
the lineup will be take by rookie Sam Madison, who the Dolphins have
been planning to work more into the defense this week in any case.
Madison will also take Jacobs' place as one of the "flyers" on
punt returns, until Jacobs is back. Right now, it looks as if Jacobs
will be back for the Kansas City game.
However, Mel Phillips, the Dolphins secondary coach, has said
that Madison will see more playing time against the Chiefs regardless
of how fast Jacobs heals.
** Dotson Back for KC **
It looks like Dewayne Dotson is healing fast enough that he
will be returned to the lineup against the Chiefs. Dotson had surgery
to remove loose bodies from his knee on Monday, but may be back
against the Chiefs next weekend.
** Parmalee and Perry Get Work at Fullback **
With Dewayne Dotson resting his leg, the Dolphins are using
both running back Bernie Parmalee and tight end Ed Perry as fullbacks.
Both players are learning to block from the fullback position, even
though Parmalee is a svelte 207 pounds.
Perry, on the other hand, is 250 pounds and has said that he's
able to see the field better from his fullback position than he cans
as a tight end. This makes it easier to see defensive schemes and
pick out the right people to block.
** Dolphins Will Not Trade for Wide Receivers **
After a week which saw the media reporting that Miami was in
touch with Kansas City about a possible trade for wide receiver Brett
Perriman, JJ announced that the Dolphins were not interested in
trading for any wide receivers.
The rumors last week also mentioned former Cowboy wide
receiver Alvin Harper as a possible candidate for a trade to Miami.
Harper is currently signed with the Washington Redskins, but so far,
doesn't have a catch this year.
The rumors started when Perriman's agent - the ubiquitous Drew
Rosenhaus - leaked to the press that the Dolphins had been in touch
with Kansas City. The report was subsequently denied by both the
Chiefs and the Dolphins.
** Lamar Thomas Moves Up **
After being inactive for the first 4 games of the year, Lamar
Thomas has had such a good practice this week that JJ has moved him up
on the depth chart in front of Brian Manning to the number 4 wide
receiver spot.
Thomas was in JJ's doghouse after more problems with his
girlfriend this spring and summer and hasn't been playing for the
team.
However, this week JJ said that Thomas had been having
outstanding practices and deserved to move up. Apparently, rookie
Brian Manning has not been practicing as well even the added
repetitions that he has been getting because of Fred Barnett being
given the week to rest his legs. Specifically, JJ said that Manning
has been breaking his patterns off early.
My Comments:
I think that it's high time that someone find the
witch-doctor who is sticking pins in the Miami Dolphins' voodoo dolls
and kill him (or her). This injury thing has gone on way too long
and is really starting to aggravate me.
Ronnie Ward has not really been that much of a contributer
this year, so he won't be missed in the lineup, but the mere fact that
he went down is intensely frustrating to all of us.
Since Sam Madison was going to get increased playing time this
week anyway, Jacobs' injury doesn't mean all that much to the
team. Hopefully, he'll be ready to go against the Chiefs.
The concept of Parmalee and Perry at fullback is interesting,
even though it's hard to imagine Bernie Parmalee as a full time
fullback. Perry is a different matter, however, and may turn out to
be quite a good fullback.
The trade rumors were interesting early in the week, but they
turned out to be spread by Drew Rosenhaus, otherwise known as the
"Miami Matchmaker". I'm not sure what Rosenhaus thought he was going
to accomplish by spreading these rumors, but whatever it was, I rather
think that he failed.
As far as Lamar Thomas is concerned, the receiving corps needs
all the help they can get, so if Thomas is practicing that well, why
not use him and see what happens. However, I'm very disappointed in
Brian Manning. I wonder what happened to him...
On a personal item, there will be no game narrative from the
Tampa Bay game. I can't bear to live through that game again, so I'm
going to skip the narrative this week. There are play-by-play
descriptions of the game available, both from the Dolphins Endzone and
from NFL.COM, if you haven't had enough of the Bucs victory yet.
Related Info:
[Return to Dolphins News]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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