News and Notes, Friday August 22nd

Preseason Game Against the Jaguars

(Marc Serota/Getty Images, via NFL.com)

This game has come and gone and you have probably already read much about it. It was a good showing for the first team players and there were more positives to come out of this game than the first. It was Chad Pennington's first action and while he wasn't asked to do much, he ran the offense well and scored ten points on his three possessions. The other Chad (Henne) got the rest of the game at QB and once again looked comfortable and poised. He led Miami to three more field goals and completed 17 of 26 passes. Ricky Williams again showed why he is the Phins' best player and most valuable asset. He had several impressive runs, capped off by his four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

The defense looked better too. The defensive line was once again very active and causing disruptions and this week the linebackers did a better job of making and finishing the plays. The secondary started out okay but let down in the 4th quarter, allowing some long passes and two touchdowns.

Travis Daniels Traded

Earlier this week, news broke that Travis Daniels was traded to the Browns for an undisclosed draft pick. This was very surprising to me, not because Daniels wasn't on the team anymore, but because a team actually wanted him enough to trade for him. I know it's a low round pick but still, he probably would have been cut, at which point the Browns could have signed him. As for the Dolphins perspective, any pick acquired is a good one. Most people will say that a 6th or 7th round pick is useless as a lot of those guys don't even make the team, and if they do, they either never develop or just max out as a small time contributor. But, each pick is an asset, that can be used to improve the team. The pick can later be packaged to move up in a round in the draft or take a chance on a player that has high potential but low value.

Depth Chart Madness

The team released a new depth chart for the upcoming preseason game and there are a few things to note. Matt Roth is listed as a starting OLB. I'm not completely sold on this. This transition for him is not complete and if he is really our starter then we could have problems. Rookie Kendall Langford is listed as the starting LDE. I have no problem with this. he has been impressive and is well prepared for this role having played it in college. Ricky Williams has replaced Ronnie Brown atop the depth chart for injury (see below) and performance issues.

Injury Updates

• Ronnie Brown: He came out of the game on Saturday with a thumb injury. He has since returned to practice wearing a small cast but he can still catch and run. The team has decided to hold him out of the game this weekend for precautionary reasons.
  
• Joey Porter: He missed some practice this week with a knee injury. He returned and is expected to be healthy by week one but these nagging injuries are starting to stack up. That is never a good thing.
• Charlie Anderson: He returned to practice yesterday after missing some time with a quad injury. With our lack of depth at OLB, he is needed and hopefully he picks up where he left off.
• Michael Lehan: He is finally back. This is his first action of training camp. He won't be 100% for a while but hopefully he gets there. The team is counting on him to be a starting corner.

Preseason Game Number Three

The starters should see a lot of time and the team is still looking for improvement. I'd like to see more points, specifically more touchdowns. This preaseason we have had seven scoring drives, but only one of them ended in six points. We will probably play a lot of close, low scoring games this year. Sometimes there are critical moments in a game where three points is simply not good enough, six is needed. We must be able to punch it in the end zone when we have the opportunity. On defense I'd still like to see better play on third downs, and more big plays. So far we have only forced one turnover. Good defenses not only make the stops needed, but also set up their offense in good field position due to turnovers and sacks. We need more of that.