Bears receiver Devin Hester would like nothing more than to break the NFL's record for kick return touchdowns Thursday in his hometown of Miami.
But Dolphins coach Tony Sparano isn't saying whether his team will give Hester the chance.
"We'll see when we get to the game," Sparano said. "The game plan is probably to try to sneak a three or four extra [players] out there on the field against him and see if we can have any success.
"He's been a great player for a long time and I think the guys that go back there are fearless to catch the ball the way he does and run the way he does. So we've obviously got to pay special attention to him when you're putting together the game plan."
During a conference call this morning, Sparano said he has not determined a quarterback for Thursday's game yet. Its likely to be either Chad Henne or Tyler Thigpen.
Here are some of Sparano's highlights:
* On why his offense has gotten away from the Wildcat offense: "At the time when we started with the Wildcat a couple years ago, circumstances were a little different. We needed to get our playmakers on the field. Ricky [Williams] and Ronnie [Brown] were the two playmakers at the time and we felt it was important to get them on the field at the same time and that's one of the ways we were able to do that.
"Now with Brandon [Marshall] and Davone Bess and Brian Hartline playing the way they're playing, Anthony Fasano has had a nice start, and we feel like we're in a little different place right now than we were then."
* On what Brandon Marshall has meant to his offense: "It means a great deal to have a receiver of his ability. It's opening up things for a lot of people out there. So much attention is being paid to Brandon with double coverage and rolled coverage, that type of things, that it's opened up opportnities for other players out there. And with the amount of shell defenses that we might see, it's opened up the run game quite a bit."
* On why he switched from Chad Henne to Chad Pennington: "At this point in time we were 4-4 and a little bit inconsistent as a football team, and I felt in the remaining eight games, some of the strengths that Chad Pennington had that were different from Chad Henne's might have been what we needed at that point to get us moving forward.
"That's why I made the change. We're not in this to come in fifth place or eighth place. We in this to come in first place and from my end, I'm charged with trying to flip over as many of the rocks that I can to do that."
* On Tyler Thigpen's development: "Tyler has come a long way. When we had him coming out of Kansas City, he was in that 'Pistol' offense there with Chan Gailey and doing some of those things, that was even a little more extreme than our Wildcat. Getting him here and under center was probably the biggest challenge. He had been in shotgun for a large portion of time in Kansas City, so his footwork and all those things had to be coached and David Lee, my quarterbacks coach, did a great job with him because he's truly comfortable right now."
* On the talent of left tackle Jake Long: "I obviously get excited about that. The great thing about a guy like Jake Long, and guys are rare this way, is he really looks forward to challenges. Jake is truly a great professional and respects his opponents so much and takes nothing for granted. He goes out there, has the same preparation and approach each and every week, and as a coach those are the things you can really expect because you know exactly what you're going to get when you get to a game with Jake Long."
* On if he expects Long to play: "We're not really sure yet whether he'll be ready to go Thursday. We'll have to see as we get on here. But as I said earlier in the week, Jake's a pretty tough guy so we'll see."
Very winnable game my only issue is regarding Cutler and that ugly, turnover prone transformation he and the offense seem to undergo when it comes to away games at night. I think Collinsworth said back in the Giants game that Jay has yet to win a game at night that isn't a home game? Something like that. So a win in Miami would certainly be a step in the right direction. The defense will bring it, as will special teams (don't the Dolphins have one of the worst ST units? I know they fired a coach after the Pat's game), we just need the offense to show up as well.
Mike,
You're right on the money. The only way we lose this game is if our low IQ QB starts throwing interceptions at the most critical times. But I think Martz knows now (Wk 10) that Cutler has not grasped his system and may never.
So we run the ball, run the ball, conservative pass plays. More controlled passing game. Leave the handcuffs on Cutler and let our defense and special teams win the ball game. Reminiscent 2005, and 2006. We need a high IQ Top Tier QB to run a complex offense.
Ray,
I don't think it has as much to do with Cutler not getting the system as the team is not capable of running the system. Cutler does take too many chances, but that is what Martz wants. He could care less if you throw 3 INTs, you are still going to come out slinging to make big plays.
The issues have been more because he can't go through his progressions in the amount of time he has had to throw, and his receivers are not where they are supposed to be when he needs them to. Knox hasn't correctly run a slant route all season, and neither he or Hester work back towards the ball on comeback routes...The running game has not generated enough space to slow down the defense.
Against poor pass rushing teams like the Bills and Vikes (Vikes are terrible at pass rushing this year), Cutler had time to throw, and while he made some bad decisions again, many of his throws, and more importantly, his scrambles, showed a solid grasp of not only what he was looking at, but where the positive play was. If Knox uses his hands to catch the ball, the only INT was the end zone throw, which was bad. Before you kill him, realize that Cutler has 7 INTs right now, and Brees has 12. Favre has accounted for 18 turnovers so far. He can and should be playing better, but it's not like he's Kordell Stewart or Henry Burris out there.