Raking in the rewards

There is a valid complaint to be made that sports punditry in this day and age is excessively negative.

Commentators have a tendency to focus on things going wrong and spend less time talking about things that are going right. This doesn't happen everywhere and it doesn't happen all the time, but there is certainly a trend towards the negative.

On this site, I make it a priority not to sensationalize anything. Instead, I try to focus on the facts, and to talk about situations in a level-headed and rational manner. Of course, even when taking this approach, when given a subject like the Dolphins over the past several seasons, it's hard not to be negative.

I'm a huge fan of the Dolphins, but I won't let that bias affect my analysis of the team. That's why it's so nice to finally have a game where every Dolphins fan can truly be happy and proud for the team's accomplishments. What Miami achieved on Sunday against the Patriots can't be overstated, and that is why it is so nice to see all aspects of the team being honored with rewards for their performances.

In a time of media negativity (and the Dolphins have earned their fair share) let's all celebrate the positives they accomplished this week.

Ronnie Brown was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week and the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week.

Joey Porter was named the GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week.

And Tony Sparano was named the Motorola Coach of the Week.

Everyone enjoy the bye week and celebrate what your team accomplished last week.

Parmele on practice squad; LB coach hospitalized

As hoped for (and expected), rookie RB Jalen Parmele was added to the team's practice squad after he cleared waivers on Thursday.

CB Will Billingsley was released from the practice squad to make room.

Here is what the team's practice squad looks like now:

1. RB Lex Hilliard
2. TE Matthew Mulligan
3. LB Tyson Smith
4. WR Anthony Armstrong
5. DT Anthony Toribio
6. LB Rob Ninkovich
7. G Matt McChesney
8. RB Jalen Parmele

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In unrelated news, the Dolphins got some sad news on Wednesday when outside linebackers coach Jim Reid was taken to a hospital after practice. He underwent an undisclosed surgery on Thursday.

Defensive Coordinator Paul Pasqualoni will assume Reid's duties indefinitely.

Parmele released; other roster moves made

With a bye week this week, the Dolphins have some extra time to make roster moves and get a few new players acclimated to the system before they have to suit up for any games.

Looking to make some adjustments, the team has released RB Jalen Parmele and signed TE Joey Haynos. Parmele had not been active in the team's first three games. Still, I think he has a good amount of upside, and I hope he passes through waivers and the team finds a spot for him on the practice squad.

Haynos (6'7", 266 lbs.) was an undrafted rookie free agent this year picked up by the Packers. He went to college at Maryland and is 24 years old.

Here is an excerpt from his Prospect page at NFL.com:

Compares To: BEN UTECHT-Indianapolis...Haynos is a better position blocker than Utecht, but like the Colts' tight end, he has the long reach, large hands and body control to secure a catch in a crowd. Haynos uses his size to shield the ball from defenders and with his long running stride, he creates a mismatch for safeties attempting to cover him when running up the seam. He struggles some to gain leverage blocking in-line due to his size, but compensates with a strong hand punch and good hand placement. He works the sideline better than most college tight ends, showing urgency getting to the off-target throws and the reach and field awareness to make sideline catches seem routine.

The Dolphins also adjusted their practice squad, releasing TE Drew Atchison and signing G Matt McChesney.

According to the Sun-Sentinel:

McChesney began his NFL career as a defensive tackle with the Rams in 2005. He was signed to the Jets' practice squad midway through his rookie season before being activated to the team's 53-man roster for the final three games.

He spent all of 2006 on the Jets' practice squad before being converted to the offensive line during the 2007 offseason. McChesney spent the first two games of the 2008 season on the Jets' practice squad before being released.

Here is what the team's practice squad looks like now:

1. CB Will Billingsley
2. RB Lex Hilliard
3. TE Matthew Mulligan
4. LB Tyson Smith
5. WR Anthony Armstrong
6. DT Anthony Toribio
7. LB Rob Ninkovich
8. G Matt McChesney
   

No Comment...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Boy, do we Miami fans sure know the meaning of that quote today don't we?

For a team coming off a 1-15 disaster of a season, and that had only won once in its last 21 contests, few outcomes could have been more satisfying than the 38-13 drubbing that the Dolphins laid on the highly superior New England Patriots.

Of course, you wouldn't know the Patriots were the better team from watching this game. And that's the beauty of it. In almost every phase of the game (with the exception of kick coverages) Miami outplayed and outcoached the Goliath-Patriots.

And I don't care that New England was without its star Tom Brady. Even without him, that is still a very dangerous Patriots team - one that this ragtag Miami bunch arguably had no business beating in the manner in which they did.

When initial expectations are low, outcomes like this are made all the sweeter.

This win instantly gives credibility to the job that Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland, and Bill Parcells are undertaking. The players now have tangible evidence to help them buy into the program if they hadn't already. The team doesn't have to play in fear every week like it did last season as it tried to avoid infamy. No, this team is past infamy. Now it can work towards respectability.

I'd say this win goes a long way towards garnering some respect. Keep earning it boys.

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Other quick thoughts on this game:

• It felt great to finally send another team's fans heading en masse toward the exit gates with almost a whole quarter left to play in the ballgame.
• Ronnie Brown, kudos to you. You deserve it.
• Joey Porter - you certainly got that flywheel going pretty smoothly. I'm lovin' it.
  
• And let's not forget the offensive line. Great job both opening those holes and protecting Pennington.
  
• To the coaching staff - brillaint, absolutely brillaint.
  

Joey Porter = Rick James?

Let me go back for a second and lay out Joey Porter's comments over the past two days.

WEDNESDAY (on how Matt Cassel compares to Tom Brady)

I just know he's not a Tom Brady. So if it's not Tom Brady, it shouldn't be that hard. . . He's only had one start in the NFL. Take that for what it's worth. He won it, but if you compare him to Brady, there's no comparison.

THURSDAY (attempting to clarify his comments from Wed.)

You all took my quote around and turned it into something else. What questions you all going to ask me today that you're just going to make sound different?

...followed immediately by:

Same thing I said the other day, he's no Tom Brady. That was documented.

After hearing Joey Porter's comments on Wednesday about Matt Cassel and his claim on Thursday that they were taken out of context followed immediately by him restating his Wednesday remarks, I couldn't shake the notion that Joey Porter sounds a lot like Rick James.

See for yourself (particularly 1:14 - 1:47): Link

Reader Question: Thoughts on John Beck

I received a follow-up question from my last response about the Henne/Pennington situation. It has to do with the notion of John Beck seeing some starts later in the season.

Here's the question (Also, feel free to send me any other questions you've got):

There has been some chatter about maybe John Beck starting a couple of games late this season so the coaching staff can get a better look at him. Any thoughts? Also, as a comparison between Dolphin QB's when did Dan Marino get the starting job?

Thanks for the questions.

To put it simply, I'm not against seeing Beck start a few games at the end of this season - under certain circumstances.

First off, in order to avoid a situation like last year, Pennington should be the only guy starting until this team gets a win. You'll remember that last year, the coaching staff abruptly switched out Cleo Lemon in favor of an unprepared Beck even though it was clear that Lemon offered the team the best chance to win.

Even if the Dolphins go on an extended losing streak, Pennington will still be the QB who offers the team the best chance to get a victory. There's just too much of a shaky adjustment period that comes with switching to a young guy midway through the season.

So Beck shouldn't see the field at least until this team has a win. Even after that, it's questionable when an appropriate time would be to turn to him. Currently, he is third on the team's depth chart, and the coaching staff clearly likes Henne much more than Beck. It is obvious that they are banking on Henne as the future starter and not Beck. Therefore, a majority of the developmental reps should go to Henne. But as I wrote on Monday, Henne needs to be protected on the bench for most of this season. What if Pennington gets hurt and is forced to miss some games before week 12 or so? That's too early in my opinion to turn the keys over to Henne. That would be a perfect opportunity to get Beck some work.

Essentially, think of Beck like a long reliever in baseball. He should be used to come in and soak up some innings (games) if the starter (Pennington) just isn't getting it done in the early innings in order to preserve the arms (in this case, development) of the more valuable bullpen guys (Henne).

Other than that, though, I don't see this coaching staff going out of its way to get Beck a start or two as they clearly don't think that much of him.

Of course, if the rumors of Beck being on the trading block this preseason are true, it might not hurt to get him some game reps and provide other teams some more game film on him that might entice them to send a draft pick this way for his services.

As the season wears on, this QB issue will certainly be interesting to watch.

And as for Dan Marino, it doesn't do much good to compare anyone to him because no one will ever match up. But for comparison's sake, Marino got his first start in Week 6 of his rookie season, after seeing some mop-up time in two prior games. The rest, they say, is history.