Trent Green Incident

Trent Green

It was a scary site when he lay motionless on the field. It ended up looking worse than it was. The official diagnosis is a concussion and he was released from the hospital and traveled home with the team. While watching the event unfold live, I immediately thought his career was over. Coming into this season you would have to believe any blow to the head might do him in. We'll see what the rest of the season has in store for him and whether or not he is healthy enough and permitted to play. For all Dolphins fans who were saying he sucks and should be benched, that is definitely not the way for it to happen.

Travis Johnson

Travis is the Texans player whose knee delivered the hit to Greens helmet while Trent was trying to chip him. When the play was over and Green lay face down motionless on the field, Johnson stood over and taunted him, drawing a 15 yard penalty. This was a classless play that got me about as upset as the injury itself. While the game went on, I was thinking to myself that I should give him a pass because it was in the heat of the moment and he didn't really know how hurt Trent might be. I knew Johnson ought to feel terrible after seeing him stretchered off the field.

Well it turns out I was wrong. Even after the game knowing what had happened, he had some interesting comments about the incident (At this time, if you haven't heard or read about his comments you should read this article, from the Miami Herald). First of all, it was a broken play and quarterbacks don't know how to block. Also, that type of block isn't against the rules and wasn't a penalty. How else do you expect a 37 year old non athletic quarterback to block a 300+ pound lineman in stride? To say that Trent Green, a player who has shown nothing but class, had intent to injure is incorrect. Secondly, to imply that he got what he deserved is an absolute disgrace.

The Houston Texans and the NFL probably won't fine or suspend him, which is okay by me. I just hope some players or coaches pull him aside and let him know how wrong he was about this whole situation.

Update

Peter King of Sports Illustrated discusses this further in his column this morning and was able to exchange text messages with Trent. The full article is here.

Gameday - Quick Analysis and Prediction

Dolphins Injuries

• Vonnie Holliday and Travares Tillman are out.
• Channing Crowder, Donovan Darius and Zach Thomas are questionable

Texans Injuries

• Andre Johnson and Jerome Mathis are out
• Jacoby Jones is doubtful
• Ahman Green is questionable

When the Texans have the ball...

They should try to rely on the running game. The Dolphins have the worst run defense and the Texans are still without their best receiving threat. If the Dolphins can improve against the run, they could give the team a good chance to win. However, if the Texans can run the ball it'll be another long day for the defense

When the Dolphins have the ball...

They should stick to their plan of featuring Ronnie Brown in the running and short passing game. The Texans defense will prove to be tougher than the Jets and the Raiders but if Brown can repeat what he has been doing then the game should be Miami's to win. Trent Green must take care of the ball and not throw costly interceptions.

Intangibles

• The Dolphins have never beaten the Texans.
• With the amount of upsets in college football, anything is possible.
• Ronnie Brown is trying to become just the second player to amass 200 yards from scrimmage in three straight games. Walter Payton is the only one to accomplish that feat.

Prediction

This should be a close one throughout, but when the Dolphins will need to get the ball back, the defense won't be able to get off the field. The Texans will get a late field goal to push the lead to seven with not enough time for the 'Phins to drive down the field.
- Texans 27, Dolphins 20

Miami Dolphins QB Situation

The Dolphins are 0-4 and while the defense has been getting most of the blame, Trent Green has been part of the problem as well. Let's examine his performance so far.

84/139, 982 yds, 5 TD, 7 Int. That last number is the big one. You could also add another one (the dropped pick in Washington in the final minutes) if you feel like it. He has looked great at times but has also made some poor decisions. His interceptions have come at costly times and always seem to result in points for the opposition. On the other hand, he has put together some nice drives at critical points to get back in games, which was something we didn't see a lot of last year.

A lot of people are insisting we start our rookie second round draft pick, John Beck. He are the issues to think about

• The team won't be challenging for a playoff spot, so if he doesn't win many games, it's not a huge loss. We could end up with a high draft pick if we continue to struggle. I am under the belief, however, that wins are more important than climbing up the draft board.
  
• Barring injury, he could start 12 games. That's a lot of experience. Rookie quarterbacks rarely do well and most say they shouldn't take a single snap in their first season, but look at Ben Roethlisburger. He did pretty well his first year and won the Super Bowl his second. The theory that rookie quarterbacks never do well and always end up being ruined is a trend, not a fact.
• He's already 26. He went on a Mormon mission for two years before entering BYU, so he is older and more mature than most rookie quarterbacks. The longer he sits, the older he gets. If you finally found a franchise quarterback, you don't want him to be settling in already approaching 30.
• Our trade for Green was a conditional pick. If he plays 70% or more of the teams snaps this year, it's a 4th round pick. If he doesn't then it's a 5th round pick.
  

Then there is Cleo Lemon. He is 28 and has some experience in Cam Cameron's system (in San Diego). He has only started one game (last years finale) and doesn't have much NFL game experience.

Finally, my take.

Four games isn't enough time to evaluate a QB. While Trent Green hasn't played great, he has shown flashes while trying to overcome our horrendous defense. The day our defense and special teams units show up, he should give us a good chance to win. He should at least start all the games before the bye week (four more games). Barring a miracle turnaround (we would have to be 4-4) he should be benched regardless of his performance. The final eight games should go to the younger QB's. Trent Green won't be starting here next year (unless previous said miracle turnaround occurs and continues), so Cleo Lemon and John Beck should get the final eight games, split up however the coaches feel. If it were me I would start Beck, week ten at home against Buffalo. If he struggles, then perhaps go to Lemon in later games. This should give Beck a great opportunity to get some game experience so he will be better equipped for the start of next season (which most Dolphins fans are looking forward to already). Trent Green will have to do what he was mainly brought here to do (impart his wisdom on Beck and Lemon while holding a clipboard on the sidelines).