Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown limped his way onto a jet bound for Charlotte, N.C., with the rest of his teammates Wednesday afternoon -- but this trip had nothing to do with any last-minute hope he might play Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers.

Far from it. Instead, it's much worse: Brown is done for the season.

The team made the crushing but unavoidable decision Wednesday to place its best player on injured reserve, a move resulting from the belief that Brown sustained a Lisfranc fracture in the midsection of his right foot, two sources told The Miami Herald.

Brown, who was having the best season of his career, was injured during the third quarter of Sunday's 25-23 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A defender fell on the back of his foot as Brown tried to make a move during a carry.

Although the injury was deemed serious enough to sideline Brown for the season's final seven games, he will find out Thursday whether he will need surgery or if he should let the foot heal on its own, both sources said.

Brown made the trip to Charlotte to visit Dr. Bob Anderson, a foot specialist who will add his input about the severity of the issue.

Brown is leaning toward surgery to avoid any potential issues that could occur from letting his foot heal naturally, one of the sources said.

Regardless of whether surgery is necessary, the source stressed that Brown's injury ``is not anything major as far as career or long term.''

This marks the second time in three years Brown has been lost during a sensational season.

The Dolphins' leading rusher, who ends the season with 648 yards and eight touchdowns on 147 carries, has become one of the NFL's most popular players in the wake of his success in the Wildcat offense.

BACK TO RICKY

In the short term, Miami will rely on Ricky Williams to carry the bulk of the team's carries. Williams also has experience serving as the triggerman in the Wildcat offense, but the Dolphins are expected to add new wrinkles to adjust for Brown's absence.

Those wrinkles could include more use of rookie quarterback Pat White, who has been used lately in a package of plays out of the spread-option offense. Running back Lex Hilliard is expected to see an increased workload as Williams' backup in the Dolphins' base offense.

That's how Miami will manage the rest of the season -- but the long-term future of the Dolphins' running game is a much cloudier situation. Specifically, Brown's contract situation currently is unsettled because of lingering league-wide issues with the collective bargaining agreement.

HANGING IN LIMBO

Essentially, if the NFLPA and the league's owners reach a new CBA before March (the current CBA will expire after the 2010 season), Brown would become an unrestricted free agent -- and he could leave Miami for a bigger contract elsewhere.

But if a new CBA is not reached (which seems like the more probable scenario right now), Brown will be under contract with the Dolphins for another year, and he would be paid a $5 million salary.

FORGING AHEAD

Those technicalities, though, will take time to play out. For now, the Dolphins must deal instead with another necessary issue: finding a way to keep their tough hunt for the playoffs intact without their most productive weapon.

Miami has been plagued by an injury bug, a fate far different from last season's freakishly good fortunes. The Dolphins already had placed quarterback Chad Pennington, cornerback Will Allen and running back Patrick Cobbs on injured reserve.

The latest blow, though, might sting the worst.