Bill Parcells' ploy to keep his team humble

It wouldn't be a warning from Pixie to Dixie.

It would be a warning from upstairs -- Dolphins football czar Bill Parcells, who used the expression during his four years as Dallas coach. Now that the Dolphins have won two in a row, beating anticipated AFC powers New England and San Diego, words from the media and fans get softer and rosier than they were at 0-2.

''It's don't believe all the hype,'' said Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano, whose rookie season was Parcells' last one in Dallas. ``People will bring you up really fast if you win a couple of games. But you've got to stay humble and accept victory and defeat the same way -- learn from them.''

Parcells also used visual aids to emphasize the point.

''They were all over in Dallas,'' Fasano said. ``I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some mousetraps or some cheese circle things.''

That wouldn't be unprecedented in Miami. During the 2002 season, Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt pulled out mousetraps to warn players about the perils of a ''trap'' game.

Then, with the 9-5 Dolphins having two games left and a playoff spot all but sewn up, Wannstedt hung lobster traps around the locker room. Not only did many players need explanation as to what the lobster traps were, but apparently, the message got lost in the explanation -- Dolphins lost their last two games and the playoff spot.

The only player from the 2002 Dolphins on the 2008 Dolphins? Running back Ricky Williams.

HAGAN A SURPRISE

The only surprise among the Dolphins inactives Sunday was wide receiver Derek Hagan, who only had three catches for 51 yards in the Dolphins' first three games.

When the media entered the locker room Monday, Hagan quickly sat down to a game of dominoes and didn't rise until after the media had left.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano explained he made the move with special teams in mind. The Dolphins special teams coverage, particularly on kickoffs, figured to be tested by San Diego's Darren Sproles.

''I made this statement to the team earlier in the week that I needed to do something from a special-teams standpoint to make sure we had the right bodies at the game,'' Sparano said. ``[ Brandon] London, who played very well on special teams yesterday, played 19 plays and made a couple of tackles. He made a bunch of big blocks on special teams. And as a receiver in practice, [London] has been getting better and better.''

Sparano likes to talk about ''play count,'' the number of snaps in which a player can be involved.

He used it as an explanation for wide receiver Ernest Wilford being inactive for the first game.

''It doesn't have anything to do with Derek,'' Sparano said. ``I'm happy with what he's done.''

THE FIRST DROP

There's some irony that Fasano, one of the Dolphins' most dependable pass catchers this season, committed (unofficially) the first drop Sunday.

''Oh, I'm going to hear about it,'' Fasano said.

``[The coaches] know they really don't need to get on me about it because I'm hard on myself about it. Thank God it didn't come back to really haunt us.''

Informed it was the first drop of the season, Fasano laughed, ``I didn't know that. Now, I'm more disappointed.''

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