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Posted on Monday, 09.28.09

Injury bug hits Miami Dolphins hard

Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter hangs his head in the fourth quarter in a game against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The Chargers won 23-13 and the Dolphins fell to 0-3.

JOE RIMKUS JR. / STAFF PHOTO

Dolphins at Chargers | Sun., Sept. 27, 2009
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WEB VOTE What went wrong for the Dolphins on Sunday against the Chargers?

BY JEFF DARLINGTON

jdarlington@MiamiHerald.com

One year ago, the Dolphins managed to avoid injuries with freakishly good fortune. So Sunday, when two of the most important players on offense and defense had huge bags of ice pasted to different parts of their bodies, it was a strange sight.

The prognosis of both -- quarterback Chad Pennington (shoulder) and linebacker Joey Porter (hamstring) -- remains unknown. Porter, at least, seems to be dealing with a manageable injury that just became too aggravating Sunday to keep playing.

The linebacker, who started the game and contributed a forced fumble on a nice sack, didn't seem bothered by the same hamstring that limited him throughout practice last week. Coach Tony Sparano said the team decided to pull Porter at the end of the first half when it started to nag him again.

``The plan was to rotate him and Charlie [Anderson] as we went into the game, go every other series just to not put a lot of strain on it,'' Sparano said. ``We want to be careful [with] him.''

Pennington's injury is another matter entirely. He will undergo a MRI Monday before the team will know anything more. The quarterback and Sparano did not diagnose the injury, but they also did not rule out the possibility of a dislocation.

BROWN ACCEPTS BLAME

Running back Ronnie Brown, who clearly has been the team's most valuable player to this point, took full responsibility for the fumble on the 2-yard line that occurred because of a bad exchange between him and Pennington.

After driving 94 yards, Brown couldn't hold on to the ball as it shot into the back of the end zone. Guard Justin Smiley attempted to recover it, but he was pushed out of bounds as he tried to gain possession.

``On that first drive, I take full responsibility for that turnover,'' Brown said. ``Obviously, the No. 1 role for my position is to secure the football. I didn't do that, and I fumbled it.''

The touchback led to no points for Miami -- and allowed San Diego to drive downfield for its first field goal. The Dolphins struggled all game in the red zone, scoring on only one of their trips inside the 20-yard line.

``The red-zone offense was lousy,'' Sparano said.

PORTER STILL JAWING

Porter had a heated exchange with Chargers tackle Marcus McNeill before Sunday's game. A helmet-less Porter sought out McNeill and start jawing within inches of his face.

Asked about it after the game, McNeill said, ``I really don't listen to people like that. He was jaw-jacking, so I was just like, `Uh huh, yeah, uh huh.' ''

McNeill didn't say what it was about.

``That's the type of player he is,'' McNeill said. ``I'm a top offensive lineman and he's a top outside linebacker, so there isn't anything else to talk about -- we just need to line up and hit.''

A WAKE-UP CALL

Linebacker Cameron Wake was active for the first time in his NFL career, a move that was made to help give the Dolphins more of a pass-rushing presence.

Linebacker Eric Walden was inactive as a result.

Wake didn't have much of an impact in the pass rush but did make a special-teams tackle on the opening kickoff, a welcomed contribution since Wake is a work in progress in those situations.

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