I saw the following tweet:

"BenVolinPBP Watching practice with the great @rosstuckernfl, and he points out that Jake Long's left knee definitely does not look right."

I was under the impression that Jake was okay but was being held out as a precaution. Not sure how authoritative this tweet is but I'm holding my breath that Jake will be good to go against the pats. Anyone heard anything more on this?

no, but that comment is disturbing

His Knee? I thought it was his shoulder?

TreasurecoastPhinsfan Wrote:
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> His Knee? I thought it was his shoulder?

Sparano will not admit it his knee either, but Jake has been seen wearing a brace, and throwing a medicne ball around like it his job. He did have shoulder surgery, this offseason and played with a torn shoulder most lf last year... He will be fine he is Jake Long, he played at a probowl level and was rated the top LT in the game last year and he did it while playing with a serious injury. IMO, Jake will be fine...

I thought it was his shoulder as well. Again, I don't know how authoritative this tweet was. Some players you can weather the blow of going to your second string. Going from Long to Murtha would be like going from Manny Pacquiao to Steve Urkel. I'm just hoping that he'll be ready come the beginning of the season. Jake not Urkel.

Its probably a sprain. Those take forever to heal

I was worried about this when I first heard he was being added to the PUP list. Most everyone else didn't seem to be concerned. How things change!

it's pretty concerning. I wonder if this is still the after effects of him being injured in that meaningless final preseason game last year vs DAL. The hits just keep on coming...

So you're still trying to rationalize this? Putting our best O-Lineman on the PUP we're still rebuilding the O-Line and trying to build some continuity...and you don't think this could actually be serious? I'm sorry, but if Long wasn't really hurt, he wouldn't be on the PUP.

montequi Wrote:
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> So you're still trying to rationalize this?
> Putting our best O-Lineman on the PUP we're still
> rebuilding the O-Line and trying to build some
> continuity...and you don't think this could
> actually be serious? I'm sorry, but if Long
> wasn't really hurt, he wouldn't be on the PUP.


Sparano said in his PC about Jake Long onthe first day of camp, that he was holding Jake out and bring him back slow as a precautionary. He said jake Long is the guy he least cares about getting snaps in preseason. He said back then that his idea for Long is to hold him out for most of the preseason, and focus his return on the Patiots game 1..... So with that said, what exactly am I trying to rationlize? I listened to what the coach said about him back when he put him on the PUP. Sparano said being on the PUP just allows Long to be involved in all of the meetings and around practices without practicing...
The PUP, matters during regular season, when you have to sit out 6-9 games if you are on the list... If you are confident I am wrong and just rationalizing, I will bet you any money you want that Long will not be on the regular season PUP list and will in fact start against the Patriots... How about that for rationalizing!

It all comes down to coaching...or in Sparano's case..lack of coaching. If Long was a kicker or punter, I'd be ok with keeping him out of preseason, but as an O-Lineman he needs to learn to play with his teammates and they need to learn to play with him. The line needs to play as a unit. If we were bringing back all 5 starters from last year and these guys played together for a couple years and were one of the top squads in the league..then I wouldn't be worried. But we're building something new. Keeping Jake out is a HUGE detriment to the team during this time.

That being said, the only reason I'd be ok with him being on the PUP is if it was more than just precautionary. If he was REALLY hurt and practicing/playing during preseason could threaten him playing during the regular season, then, by all means, sit him out.

So, either Sparano has no idea how to coach an O-Line, or he's lying to us. Take your pick. I'm not happy with either.

SOrry Coach, but Jake Long is the best player on our team that last thing you want him to do is aggravate an injury while he is coming off shoulder surgery and roughed up knee...
You have it your way Jake starts against Atlanta preseason, some rookie with out skill playing his heart out on the other side of the ball, rolls over Jakes foot and reaggravates the knees instead of strengthening it through physical therapy and then he is out and actually put on the real PUP list.... That is more important than a guy who is rock solid being rock solid when it counts and you have to take on the divsion champs week 1.
Sparano is neithr of what you claim, he is playing this exactly hw he should, sorry if some fans cant take the nature of preseason and training camp... But Jakes Health is number 1 priority! sorry if you can not realize that and just want to throw the coach under the bus...

the same coach who allowed this injury to happen by keeping him in a meaningless final preseason game against DAL last year? well at least he's (hopefully) learned his lesson

Crowder52 Wrote:
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> Sparano is neithr of what you claim, he is playing
> this exactly hw he should, sorry if some fans cant
> take the nature of preseason and training camp...
> But Jakes Health is number 1 priority! sorry if
> you can not realize that and just want to throw
> the coach under the bus...

Sorry, but I've lost more faith in this coach than I have in our QB. Sparano is lost. As a coach he's worse than Wanny. Luckily he's not our GM.

berkeley223 Wrote:
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> the same coach who allowed this injury to happen
> by keeping him in a meaningless final preseason
> game against DAL last year? well at least he's
> (hopefully) learned his lesson


Thank you Berk, exactly the point, the guy is moron for letting Long play to much last year and an injury, but this year he is an idiot for protecting Long.... What does that tell you, no matter what he does people are going to say it is wrong and complain.

What bothers me about all of the this complaining people do, is that it isnt even the season, what happens if we go 11-5 and into the playoffs, their is no consequences for all of these complainers, so it is free rain to bitch with little accountability, that is a negative non productive environment, and who wants to dwell in that, unless you already dwell in that environment(misery loves company). If I want to hear bitching over and over again, I can get that by dealing with my wife..lol... I come to this site to talk to men about football and get away from that.. I am excited about our team, and its possbilities this year, arent we all suppose to be it is just the freaking preseason...

SO when Long starts opening day and crushes it, what will any of this worrying and complaining about Long and Sparano have done for anybody... Nothing, that is my point....
This all just reporters playing games posting these stories becasue they think it is their job to create news that could possibly be a long shot of truth... And if not fallback on complaining that we are even in this situation with the player...

I understand people being discouraged, but all of this reaching and finding the worse in everything is for the birds ...It is a bad way to communicate , and just doesnt lead to anything worth a damn IMHO.

montequi Wrote:
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> Sorry, but I've lost more faith in this coach than
> I have in our QB. Sparano is lost. As a coach
> he's worse than Wanny. Luckily he's not our GM.

I understand the discouragement, but never lose faith... What good does it do you. And what good does it do to worry about things, that might not ever happen?

come on crowder, this is a football message board. one of the major functions of a forum like this is to vent feelings about the upcoming season. if we had a good offseason and what seemed like a good team there would be a lot more positive and hopeful posts on here. because in the eyes of many, we did not, you're going to get a lot of complaints about the team, GM, QB, coach, owner, etc.
it would be a very boring message board if it were filled with baseless optimism or posts like "I sure hope the light turns on for Henne this year!" I don't live near many dolfans (none actually) so this is my outlet to complain about the team. when it does something good, I post my thoughts about that. when it does something bad, I don't hold back and don't want to feel like I am supposed to. I don't think anyone else should, either, as long as there is something substantive said, and it's not a lot of mindless babble like from dolphan1 or mia1.

As I keep saying, Long is an O-Lineman. It doesn't matter how well he plays by himself. If the line can't play well as a unit it doesn't matter. Long can only stop one guy, maybe 2 (if he's amazing) from getting to the QB. There are 9 other guys on the defense that could be going after our QB. Pass blocking isn't about the individual O-Linemen, it's about how they play TOGETHER!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2011 08:52AM by montequi.

montequi Wrote:
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> As I keep saying, Long is an O-Lineman. It
> doesn't matter how well he plays by himself. If
> the line can't play well as a unit it doesn't
> matter. Long can only stop one guy, maybe 2 (if
> he's amazing) from getting to the QB. There are 9
> other guys on the defense that could be going
> after our QB. Pass blocking isn't about the
> individual O-Linemen, it's about how they play
> TOGETHER!!!

I beg to differ, this is not neccesarily the case, our best oline to date on this franchise, was our first year, and they played together the least. Our oline last year could have played together until they turned into gel, and they still would have sucked... The oline is cohesion but it is also about, getting you job done. Just out of curiosity did you like the fact that Jake Long gel with the team last preseason and sustained an injury?

what is discouraging is that the 2 main problems from last year---OL and QB---don't look to have improved at all. I agree the D is good (as it was last year); the jury is still out on whether we've upgraded the RBs, but it's looking like another chicken/egg situtation with the terrible OL so we won't be able to tell. I love the Gates pick and have said so all along. I'm not going to ignore the weaknesses on the team and just talk about how deep the DL is.

Berk- I am not ignoring anything, I said in last preseason game the oline looked atrocious. But I also noticed who was playing and it was alot of the guys that will not be starting were playing and a rookie center. So I am not overly concerned. Long, Incognito, Pouncey, Carey, I can live with, i am not happy with what I have seen from Columbo, but that is very little. If Sparano thought he was an upgrade on Carey at RT, then I have to trust his move. Or believe he is still trying to upgrade. Luckily as Montequi is worried about gel, if Long Incognito play next to each other, there is some continuity as far as "gel" from last year for several games. If we find an upgrade, I think the indivual players ability will be more important then the gel factor.
on the Qb, I thought Moore showed a little bit why we signed him, and Henne had a slow start coming out of the gate, but got it together to throw a long TD pass within his first seven or so passes. I watched Denver play and wasnt overly impressed with Orton, and thought he had a problem getting the ball in the endzone.
None of the rookies I saw play at QB, other then Cam Newton really impressed me based on the circumstances, Mallet would be put second on the list, but obviously alot of teams felt confident passing on him as many times as they did, yet so many Qb's were valued much greater... So I am not going to appoint Mallett a franchise Qb just yet after a second half of football against an 80 man roster while playing for the patriots..

Crowder52 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> montequi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > As I keep saying, Long is an O-Lineman. It
> > doesn't matter how well he plays by himself.
> If
> > the line can't play well as a unit it doesn't
> > matter. Long can only stop one guy, maybe 2
> (if
> > he's amazing) from getting to the QB. There are
> 9
> > other guys on the defense that could be going
> > after our QB. Pass blocking isn't about the
> > individual O-Linemen, it's about how they play
> > TOGETHER!!!
>
> I beg to differ, this is not neccesarily the case,
> our best oline to date on this franchise, was our
> first year, and they played together the least.

Huh? First year of WHAT??? Our best O-Line were the guys we had in '73. After that were the guys who played in front of Marino. Both those lines had consistent lineups. It wasn't about one guy playing well...it was about the unit. Since Shula left, the best O-Line we've had were when Hudson Houck was our O-Line coach.

> Our oline last year could have played together
> until they turned into gel, and they still would
> have sucked... The oline is cohesion but it is
> also about, getting you job done.

How do you address the fact that the O-Line under Hudson Houck was so much better than what we have had since he left??

>Just out of
> curiosity did you like the fact that Jake Long
> gel with the team last preseason and sustained an
> injury?

I don't want Long to get injured, but I reject the notion that his injury is "nothing to worry about". I think there is more to it. If you're going to sit him out all preseason, you better have a really good reason to do it!!

We were number #6 in the league at running the ball, SParano's first year as HC for our team before that we were 1-15. You mean the Hudson Houck who was part of 2 horrible seasons in Miami, with a total of 6 or 7 wins in 2 years...Are you smoking crack or was Hudson Houch a joke...

Obviously Crowder is one of Henne’s relatives and just about the last of the Mohicans.

When Henne crashes and burns this year it’s going to be interesting to watch a few “misguided homers” scramble to reformat their position.

But of course Crowder has already establish his excuse – it’s going to be the OL’s fault no matter what happens. Is that right Crowder?

Do you REALLY believe Henne is the answer at QB?

For the record, yes or no?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2011 11:53AM by BigNastyFish.

I am not sure BNF. Henne has looked great at times and bad at others. His inconsistency is his problem. With all of the options that were available to the team, from drafting to FA's, Henne with Matt Moore behind him was the right move. Do I have all this confidence in Henne's success, no, but at the same token, I have the same amount of doubt about his failure as well, and that all stems from his inconsistency.
I like what I have seen a little in Moore, but I dont think he is any better then Henne, but neither is Sanchez and he has gotten one game from a superbowl twice in 2 years. I dont think Orton was worth the price and neither a relativly unproven Kolb for that much cap value, I think Chad Henne is just as likely to succeed as any of those guys, at a much lower cap hit, with more time invested in the system. If he fails this year, you have to try and make a move obviously, but until then I am gonna support the guy. He is our Qb, we are dolphins fan, what fun is it to be miserable worrying about the worst in our team. Thats just my opinion.

Excellent lucid answer IMO.

I can respect every word of that...

In truth I hate this subject and just want our unending QB nightmare to end. Please Henne, make me a buffoon. LOL

Or some would say a bigger nastier buffoon...