Miami Dolphins' Channing Crowder, Jason Ferguson `doubtful' for Sunday
By: BY DAVID J. NEAL
Published: Sat, 11/07 @ 12:32AM
Two key cogs in the Miami Dolphins defense -- middle linebacker Channing Crowder and nose guard Jason Ferguson -- are listed on the final injury report as ``doubtful'' for Sunday's game against New England, which has the AFC's No. 1 offense.
Crowder, whom coach Tony Sparano calls the unquestioned quarterback of the defense and one of its surest tacklers, missed last week's game against the Jets with a shoulder injury. The Jets rolled up 127 yards rushing against the Dolphins' then-No. 4-ranked run defense, which is actually less than the average rush yards allowed in the games Crowder has missed over the past three seasons.
Though Crowder practiced this week, he was limited each day. Charlie Anderson, an outside linebacker who backs up Joey Porter on the weak side, worked with the inside linebackers Thursday and Friday in practice.
On Friday, the 35-year-old Ferguson, who was on last week's injury report with a foot injury, made light of this week's elbow injury with, ``Who, me banged up? I'm old. It's easy for me to get banged up. It is what it is. It's part of the game.''
Backup nose guard Paul Soliai played a career-high in plays against the Jets and had the best game of his career.
The Dolphins would like to use Soliai to keep Ferguson fresh for late season games, but aren't ready for a passing of the torch just yet. In a 3-4 defense, the run defense effectiveness starts with the nose guard and Ferguson has had a strong season.
Also, he's provided the bonus of a strong middle push on the pass rush, which will be important Sunday against the No. 2 pass offense in the league.
Out for the Patriots will be offensive tackle Matt Light, running backs Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor, defensive end Jarvis Green and wide receiver Julian Edelman. Tight end Ben Watson, defensive end Ty Warren and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite are all listed as ``questionable.''
NO TIME TO PANIC
There's no question Dolphins wide receiver Davone Bess remains among the team's most favored players -- from the perspective of the fan base and the coaching staff -- because of his work ethic, feistiness and overall production.
So, with that in mind, a couple of critical fumbles during the past two games isn't likely to fuel much impatience around him. Yet Bess still knows it's time to make sure he doesn't have any games like the last two.
``I'm working my butt off this week to hold onto the ball,'' Bess said. ``It's just a matter of me being more careful. I've got to be ball-conscious.''
During the past two weeks, Bess fumbled twice. (He actually fumbled a third time, but the Jets ran out of time to challenge the play before Miami got the next snap off.) As a result of the drops, the team's leading receiver was back at the team's facility a day after the win against the Jets to get it figured out.
``I came in for Victory Monday [normally designated as a day off] and just caught a ton of punts, just to get my confidence going again,'' Bess said. ``It never really brought me down, but it hurt me that I could have potentially lost us the game.''
Bess said he has never had issues with fumbles, and he doesn't recall ever muffing a punt during his career.
-- JEFF DARLINGTON
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