Ted Ginn Jr. tries to shake reputation as underachiever with Dolphins (The Canadian Press)
DAVIE, Fla. – Twice Ted Ginn Jr. left the New York Jets stumbling and lunging, grasping at and gasping for air.
DAVIE, Fla. – Twice Ted Ginn Jr. left the New York Jets stumbling and lunging, grasping at and gasping for air.
Twice Ted Ginn Jr. left the New York Jets stumbling and lunging, grasping at and gasping for air. With moves like that, maybe he can shake his reputation yet. Ginn scored on consecutive kickoff returns of 100 and 101 yards, an unprecedented feat that took a total of 31 seconds. He's that fast. His many detractors might call him the fastest draft bust in Miami Dolphins history.
Vince Wilfork had a quick reaction when he first lined up against Miami's strange formation: Huh? "It was shocking," New England's nose tackle said. "We really didn't know what they were doing." The Dolphins were doing the wildcat, unpacking it for the first time when they visited Foxborough in the third game last season.
It wasn't that long ago, in the springtime of the Buffalo Bills' offseason, when T.O.-mania was in its infancy. A buzz of hope bloomed around town that this franchise might finally be relevant again. Where have all the good times gone? "That's self-explanatory," defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said.
Mark Sanchez and his New York Jets teammates grabbed a few things from their lockers and headed home, eager to get away. They're hoping to re-emerge from their bye-week break as the team they and coach Rex Ryan keep telling everyone they are, despite their 4-4 record. "We're on a great football team," Sanchez said.
The Bills are using their bye week to do “self-analysis,” as coach Dick Jauron called it.
And for them it means analyzing two areas of major weakness: third-down conversions on offense and stopping the run on defense.
“We look at ourselves, obviously,” said Jauron, whose team is 3-5 at the break and in danger of missing the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season. “We do a self-analysis and then we look at our problem areas and we’ve got a lot of them.”
Buffalo has converted 27 of 104 third-down tries, just 26 percent. If the season ended today, in would be the second-worst percentage in team history.
Meanwhile, the Bills continue to rank last in the NFL in run defense, allowing an average of 174 yards per game.
What will the Dolphins get when they elect to start three rookie defensive backs against the NFL’s second-best passing attack featuring confident superstar quarterback Tom Brady, who seems completely over his knee injury – both mentally and physically – that cost him most of the 2008 season?
Trouble?
Certainly, Brady will test the Dolphins’ rookie trio of Vontae Davis, Sean Smith and Chris Clemons, who recently took the starting job away from expensive offseason free agent Gibril Wilson.
Last week, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez found his rhythm in the second half, at one point completing nine passes in a row, including two touchdown passes, in a 30-25 loss to Miami.
Brady, meanwhile, is on fire.
With the bye week over and a new challenge on the horizon, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is through reflecting and ready to move on to the second half of the season, which promises to be a tough test as New England aims for a playoff berth.
Boston is a tough place to play for any professional athlete and even one as successful as Brady is not immune to criticism. Brady has had his share of cheers and jeers this season as he battles with consistency and control issues in the aftermath of undergoing major knee surgery, but he still feels lucky to be regarded as one of the most critically acclaimed athletes in the region.
“I haven’t heard a whole lot of criticism,” Brady said.
Their current bye week has done something to the Jets and coach Rex Ryan that even four losses in their last five games couldn’t.
It has shut them up. Well, at least temporarily, because they won’t be holding any more media briefings until Monday, when the Jets return to practice for the second half of the season.
The talk hasn’t really been the problem during the Jets’ recent skid, which has been caused by deficiencies on the field, not talk off it—although certainly the trash-talking would go over much better with the critics if the Jets were backing it up the way they did during their 3-0 start to the season.
But it isn’t talk that resulted in missed tackles Sunday by the Jets against Ted Ginn Jr., and it isn’t talk that resulted in two meltdown games by…
Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder and nose tackle Jason Ferguson are listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Both have been limited in practice this week, including Friday. Crowder missed last week's win against the New York Jets with a left shoulder injury, and Ferguson has an elbow injury.