The media mob around Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder's locker already had delivered the expected salvo of questions about San Diego All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates.

A latecomer asked Crowder what the Dolphins needed to do against Gates that they didn't do against Atlanta's Tony Gonzalez and Indianapolis' Dallas Clark.

``Cover him! Y'all know what cover him means?'' an exasperated Crowder roared.

``Cover the guy! Don't let him catch the ball. Tight ends can't catch the ball. That's our job to stop him from catching the ball. Anything else about Gates? I don't know what shoe size he wears. I don't know what kind of shirts he wears. Anybody else want to ask something about Gates?''

There were no questions left except the obvious ones, the latter of which won't be answered until Sunday: How can the Dolphins limit Gates' damage? And can they do it?

The answer to the first question is to hit somebody, the quarterback in the pocket and the tight end coming off the line.

The answer to the second is anybody's guess. After all, these hardly are new ideas, and the Dolphins certainly didn't do either well against Atlanta or Indianapolis.

Gonzalez, and especially Clark, feasted on the Dolphins. Although some of the aqua-and-orange crowd considered Gonzalez's five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening loss acceptable damage, most considered Clark's seven catches for 183 yards and a touchdown Monday night as Homestead thought of Hurricane Andrew.

``We were prepared for the guys; we just haven't done a good enough job of containing those guys,'' safety Yeremiah Bell said. ``This week, we're making a special effort to do with what we have to do and get some hands on these guys and slow them up.''

SOME HELPFUL HINTS

In comparing how he deploys the tight end against the 4-3, Cover 2 defense used by the Colts and Falcons to the 3-4 defense used by the Chargers, Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington might have unintentionally explained what the Dolphins defense needs to do in its 3-4 defense against Gates.

``Typically, in a 3-4 defense you're going to have a [strong-side] linebacker over the tight end, so his releases are very important in trying to get jams right off the ball,'' Pennington said. ``Whereas, in a 4-3, he has a lot of free releases because the linebacker's not over top of him.''

Gonzalez and Clark generally passed through the 5-yard bump zone without having to work through contact that might the play's disrupt timing.

The Colts and Falcons also moved their tight ends around before the play. They lined up in the traditional tight-end set, motioned in and out of the backfield as H-backs, and sometimes lined up in the slot.

Tight ends of Gonzalez's and Gates' size and speed coming off the line untouched can be tough to cover for slower inside linebackers and smaller safeties.

Then, there's the pass rush. On the first downfield pass to Gonzalez, he had escaped Bell's coverage, but Dolphins defensive end Philip Merling pressured quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan couldn't step into the pass so a potential touchdown pass turned into an incompletion.

Not only has there been too little pressure on the quarterback, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said he also thought the Dolphins weren't disciplined in their pass-rush lanes against Indianapolis. That allowed Peyton Manning to move in the pocket and gain a wide view of the field.

The Dolphins also haven't gotten much help from weak-side linebacker Joey Porter and strong-side linebacker Jason Taylor -- their top pass rushers -- who failed to force either team's tight ends into pass protection. A VULNERABILITY

Occasionally, Gonzalez got motioned over to Porter's side to chip or block him, but the tight ends have generally been allowed to go about their pass-catching business.

``We understand what we put on film the last few weeks, and they're going to see that,'' Taylor said of the tight end vulnerabilities. ``It's our job to get those things corrected. It can't happen anymore.''