Phins/Jaguars – 5 Things To Watch

Tomorrow night, the Miami Dolphins will travel north on I95 and play the Jacksonville Jaguars in their 2nd pre-season game. 

This is not the season dress rehearsal we hear so much about.  That’s week 3.  Still, there are reasons to watch if for no other than the fact that it is football Miami Dolphins football. 

So here 5 things you may want to keep an eye on.

NUMBER 5: 

Dan Carpenter – Carp is the new fish in Miami.  Did they make the right decision letting Feely go?  We will find out.  In the meantime, the kid has a really accurate leg and he made both of his 40 + yarders last week, watch and see how he does on kick-offs.  The Dolphins struggled on ST coverages last week.

NUMBER 4:

The Wide Receivers – Last week, the WR’s looked a mess, continuing how they have looked all camp.  Davone Bess is the new slot WR and Derek Hagan is the number 2 wide.  Ernest Wilford is now backing up Hagan at number 2 and could fall further if he his play continues it’s free fall.  With a new QB tossing the rock, they won’t have the luxury of walking back to the huddle and not hearing a word after a drop.

NUMBER 3:

LB’s – Vonnie Holiday will not play, Joey Porter will not play, Charlie Anderson will not play and the Dolphins just so happen to be playing mighty mouse Maurice Jones-Drew.  While Drew won’t see much time, the little time he is in will give us a good idea of the depth we have at LB and DE.

NUMBER 2:

Jalen Parmale, Lex Hilliard, and Patrick Cobbs – All three are battling for what could be 1 or maybe 2 spots on the roster.  2 rooks hand picked by Parcells and Ireland and a holdover.  The holdover has been getting some nice compliments from the coaches while Parmale has been a nice surprise.  Hilliard has been non-existent for the most part and will need to step up if he wants to make this team…he may be headed to the practice squad.

NUMBER 1:

Penne Henne – Is there any doubt that the entire focus of the game from a fans perspective will be on what Chad Pennington and Chad Henne do?  Pennington will see quite a bit of work, maybe a quarter and a half while the other Chad will see the 2nd half.  There is talk that neither Beck nor McCown will take the field at all.  A sure sign of what their future is.  If they do see some action, it will be 4th quarter late.  If the game is close in quarter 4, I would suspect that Sparano would leave Henne in to see how he handles it.