*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Oct 28, 1998: -- Erickson Placed on IR --
The Dolphins announced today that they have placed quarterback
Craig Erickson on injured reserve with a sprained elbow. According to
a report in the Sun-Sentinel, there has been some controversy on the
team about the extent of his injury, but a noted elbow specialist has
examined Erickson and stated that Erickson has ligament damage in his
right elbow.
Placing Erickson on injured reserve means that he will be
unavailable for the rest of the season. This leaves an open roster
spot for the Dolphins and could signal the signing of a veteran
quarterback to add depth to the team. The Sun-Sentinel is speculating
that a likely candidate for the job would be Mark Rypien, who has won
a SuperBowl with the Washington Redskins, but who was staying out of
football this year to care for his son, who was very sick, but has
since passed away.
This year, Erickson started training camp as the number 2
quarterback, but his performance was so bad as the backup that he was
demoted to third string behind Damon Huard. During pre-season games
this summer, he was 12 of 29 for 93 yards with no touchdowns and 2
interceptions. That works out to a quarterback rating of 21.2.
In contrast, during the pre-season in 1997, Erickson completed
35 of 66 passes for 480 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.
That gave him a quarterback rating of 91.7 for the summer of 1997.
My Comments:
The loss of Erickson is no loss. He has been completely
ineffective all year and would not have been an asset in a game, if he
had been forced to play.
The real question is who (if anyone) they will bring in to
replace him. Personally, I don't think that there's much point in
bringing in another quarterback at this time, because if Marino goes
down and Damon Huard can't do the job, the season is pretty much
over.
I'd rather see them let Todd Doxzon be the emergency
quarterback and have him throw passes in practice and have them see if
they can sign a wide receiver or a defensive back.
But, who knows? Perhaps they will be able to sign someone who
can make a difference. Maybe they can even bring back John Dutton,
who already knows the system and who didn't get much of a chance.
Related Info:
[Return to Dolphins News]
Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
|
