Brandon Fields News

Ricky Williams was solid as the featured back. Hard-running Lex Hilliard showed, in limited action, that he can contribute.

The Dolphins' final game in The Meadowlands could get them back into the AFC East or basically end their season.

Chad Henne didn't make a big mistake, and that was good enough on a day the wind was swirling and the Jets defense was ornery.

RUN OFFENSE: D -- Not much happening, from the Wildcat or other formations, other than on one drive.

Patrick Cobbs may have been a third-string running back and role player in the Dolphins ' Wildcat package, but his teammates believe it will take three to four players to fill the void left after he sustained a season-ending knee injury Monday night.

The Dolphins' pass defense has had it share of problems. Veteran cornerback Will Allen has been one of them.

RUN OFFENSE: A Ricky Williams ran like it was 2002, and Ronnie Brown again did plenty right too, refusing to be denied when it mattered.

Run offense : A. Pushed around a small defense from the start. An exemplary performance by the blockers and runners.

Dolphins punter Brandon Fields hit the ball on the sweet spot, sending it soaring 64 yards downfield at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.

Here's a few thoughts from Thursday's visit to Tampa Bay 1. New season, same story for shaky special teams.

Chad Pennington threw a short touchdown pass early in the third quarter that was enough to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 10-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a preseason game Thursday night that appeared to do nothing to settle the Bucs' battle to be the starting quarterback.

Punter Scott Player represents the end of the single-bar facemask era. The NFL went as far as it could to replicate history.

By Andy Kent MiamiDolphins.com Special teams was the theme of this morning's practice as Miami Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano was cognizant of the long day that lies ahead for his team with the lone night practice of training camp scheduled for 8 p.m. This was an opportunity for the coaching staff to get real creative as they used the two hours ...

THIRD PLAYER LEAVES DOLPHINS CAMP Fullback Matt Quillen became the third player to quit the Dolphins' training camp, and coach Tony Sparano conceded he could be the reason for the defections.

They worked out acouple of receivers Tuesday -- one of them being former Ravens practice squad player Edward Williams, who fits Miami's receiver mold at 6-4 and 215 pounds.

There is no comparing last year's Miami Dolphins roster to the 2009 version.The 2008edition was filled with holes the Dolphins' front office continuously plugged all season, scouring the waiver wire like a coupon-cutting house wife on a budget attacks a grocery store.

So much for competition among the kicking specialists. Already left without anyone to push incumbent placekicker Dan Carpenter, the Dolphins on Monday cut Australian project Jy Bond in a show of faith in returning punter Brandon Fields.

Aside from a final OTA next Wednesday, this weekend's mini-camp will be the last time the Dolphins work together until training camp opens on August 1. Three straight days of work might bring the coaching staff closer to decisions when the time comes to put together a depth chart for the start of camp.

With the training camp roster now pretty much set, the Dolphins coaching staff is analyzing which players it plans to utilize in special teams situations.

It is amazing to me that all of the "top" web sites for the major networks have such a hard time assembling an accurate depth chart.