Miami getting serious about knees

By John Ransom  |   Tuesday, August 07, 2007  |  Comments( 6 )

Miami Dolphins
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With Joey Porter getting his knee evaluated for possible surgery, that makes the second time in two years the major Dolphins' personnel acquisition has come up lame with a bum knee.

And the fans and media are mildly hyperventilating over it.

Really, the only question that matters in this story is how it might affect the Dolphins' defense.

The answer is probably not much.

Much of the media's and fans' grousing thus far has centered on whether the Dolphins should fire their medical staff, their personnel folks or both. After all, someone possibly missed the injury during the evaluation period prior to Miami signing Porter for a reported $20 million in guaranteed money.

This comes on the heels of the 2006 acquisition of Daunte Culpepper from Minnesota. At the time, the quarterback was recovering from injuries to multiple knee ligaments torn the previous season. Culpepper's knee was never fully healed during his short stay with the Dolphins, and it showed up in his play (if not his head).

Porter might miss two to four weeks to get his knee scoped. For an eight-year veteran of the NFL, missing four weeks of camp (and the toll it takes on his legs) could prove to be a blessing come December, provided the injury isn't more serious than a simple removal of loose cartilage. Also, it's worth noting that Porter underwent a knee scope during training camp back in 2005. He went on to play all 16 games in that season, tallying 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles to go along with a nifty Super Bowl ring.

While Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald opines in his blog that it will cost Porter valuable time learning the defensive system, the Dolphins do play the simple 3-4 scheme. Porter, primarily a pass rusher, excelled in that same 'D' in Pittsburgh. It's not as if the Dolphins paid him $20 million to exercise his intellect.

Even if Porter were to miss a few games, the Dolphins have good enough talent on the defensive side of the ball to win those contests. Whether the same can be said about the offense remains to be seen, of course.

In today's version of the NFL, systems and coaches are just as important as players. Good teams win consistently with the players they have and bad teams make excuses.

The hope is that the Dolphins can show this season that they're all out of excuses.

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