Carpenter injury no 'five alarm fire ... yet'

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano clarified the rumors about Dan Carpenter and his kicking situation a tiny bit this afternoon.

Carpenter his a tweaked groin. It's worrisome enough that Miami is working out kickers. Sparano downplayed the idea Carpenter, who is now questionable for the game after suffering the injury sometime Thursday, might be replaced prior to the Buffalo game.

That doesn't mean it won't happen. Doesn't mean it will. I did, however, chuckle when Sparano was pressed on the Carpenter thing for a third question. Looks like at the end of a week of preparation, dealing with a small media contigent, coach didn't feel like discussing the top much further.

Check it out:

(On trying out kickers) - “Well we have not yet. Some point this afternoon here. We have a workout scheduled this afternoon.”

(On if there is a problem with Dan Carpenter)- “Well you’re going to get the injury report any minute now. On the injury report you’re going to see that Carp (Dan Carpenter) is on the injury report with a little groin thing. Late yesterday afternoon, early eve it got a little bit sore so we’re just trying to cover our bases here. That’s all. No five alarm fire yet.”

(On Dan Carpenter’s injury) - “Listen, I just told you what I told you. That’s all I’m going to tell you today.”

(On playing a divisional game and the intensity that comes along with it) - “It’s a big game, obviously a big game. Every game is a big game but the division games are the biggest games. There’s some crazy stuff going on around the league right now every single game that’s played. You look at some of the records. Short of the Green Bay Packers and couple other teams it’s just nobody running away from anybody. All these games are big games. Every week matters. For us this is the next week. We’re excited about getting a chance to do it here at home. Playing a heck of a football team here in Buffalo.”

(On if he worries about his guys being too loose) - “Honestly we’re not any looser right now than we were for the first bunch of weeks. It’s just you guys are probably paying attention to it a little bit more because we’ve won a couple games. This group has been pretty loose all the way through this. They’ve managed to keep a real level head whether we obviously put ourselves in the hole that we ourselves in or won a couple games. They’ve been kind of the same, honestly. There’s been one or two days that are frustrating days through this process but the leaders have been really solid.”

(On toughest part of preparing on a short week) - “The toughest part is probably wasting time here (laughing). I don’t mean that in a bad way. I have Dallas Cowboy film. I have practice film. So there’s a bunch of things that we really have to do still here. I mean, some of the guys will be putting together game plans tonight. Obviously, finalizing game plans here tonight for Buffalo and then moving on to Dallas stuff and actually because we have to hand the players something on Monday. It ain’t going to happen on Sunday although some of us will be right in here after the game Sunday so that’s probably the hardest thing. For the players, it’s easy to shrink the focus down to just the game. The game in front them they’re not looking past anything right now because they’re smart enough to know this is what’s in front of them right now. They’re not worried about anything down the road.”

(On continuing to limit Buffalo’s takeaways) - “Well, obviously what you can try to do here from our end is just it doesn’t have to do anything from a coaching standpoint I don’t think. I just think all parties involved in the ball game us starting fast and continuing to do what we do or have done I should say is going to be important. We talk a lot about here and how we won a few games and how we played well in several games. And maybe how we lost some games I think that our guys are pretty aware of what we need to control. Buffalo is going to come in here ready to play. They’re a well coached team. And obviously they lost a couple games here, but the beginning of the season here. Those guys came out here on fire playing outstanding have been playing outstanding. So you can look at the last game if you want and draw an opinion on it one way or the other. I don’t think it’s a smart thing to do against this team. I think that you really have to look at the whole body of work here and understand turnovers played a large part in that game against Dallas.”

(On Anthony Fasano making progress with his injury) -“Yeah, sure did.”

Comments

[Yeah!]

Nuttin but net....

[yesterday's gone]

Looks like Sparano's "fistpump" may have broken a knuckle!

[yesterday's gone]

?

[not Yeah!]

....net

[Mark in Toronto]

Carpenter has a little groin thing. Too bad for him

[greenslayer]

What if Ross did land Harbaugh?

The fans and players respect bold moves to try to make the team better.

Thats how you get players to want to play here.

Posted by: phinsfan78 | November 18, 2011 at 03:14 PM

Good question. Probably better off than today.

Posted by: Terry | November 18, 2011 at 04:09 PM

Probably better off, is an understatement.

[Hennes Momma]

Denver believes in Tebow.

Why can't Miami get a QB like that?

[wolfman1313]

Well....looks like we've lost our leading scorer. We're doomed.

[Betty Crocker]

Denver believes in Tebow.

Why can't Miami get a QB like that?

Posted by: Hennes Momma

Very Funny! Well done! That's hilarious! Have we given up on Mullett?

[NHFINSFAN]

Buffalo is loosing its luster and I see them as very vulnerable this weekend...

Fins 24 - Clay gets his first TD as a rookie
Bills 17

[aLOCO]

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOOOUUUU MiamI!

[yesterday's gone]

Before you get carried away by Tebow-mania consider this:

Denver's defense isnt good enough to slow high octane opposing qb's to point where it will set up his late game heroics. Remember, he faced Sanchez, king of uneven gametime performances.

Tebow seems to thrive against none prolific opposing qb's. I doubt you'll see any shootout wins posted on Tebow's performance resume anytime soon. He's not a complete qb.

[oscar canosa]

Hard to understand this guy. What did he actually say? Are we good, improving, played well but lost? When was that? On Buffalo, they lost a couple games here, at what beginning of which Season? Please, help!

[DevilsAdvocate]

Further evidence Sparano's brain has some short circuits:

“Well, obviously what you can try to do here from our end is just it doesn’t have to do anything from a coaching standpoint I don’t think. I just think all parties involved in the ball game us starting fast and continuing to do what we do or have done I should say is going to be important."

Any surprise the team looks hypnotized half the time?

[Phins78]

Couldn't care less about any of this. Season over yet?

[oscar canosa]

In Cuban, Devils, that's called a "pase a tierra", permanently grounded. All the Dolphins needed, my God!

[oscar canosa]

It's unbelievable the amount of bad luck the Dolphins have had over the Seasons. Just this year, when Henne was playing adequately, he gets hurt and Matt Moore had to come in unprepared, without a full understanding of the offense and timing with receivers. That cost us 1 or 2 games. Now, Carpenter just happened to "twitch" a groin. When is this going to end?

[oscar canosa]

Fitzpatrick is a gamer, just as Tebow is, and he finds ways to beat you. He won't quit and I am very wary of him. Has a shining Bulb also.

[JS in LA]

Yesterday,
Can everyone chill about Tebow please? The guy is essentially a rookie, and is struggling as most rookies do, yet is managing to come away with wins even despite the struggles. Everyone should be as lucky to have their young buck cut his teeth and still manage to win.
If our new QB can do that, I'll be ecstatic.

[JS in LA]

Oscar,
Fitzpatrick is freakin smart. Smart people beat not-as-smart people. Sparano vs. Fitzpatrick? ...Hence my prediction that we lose to Buffalo. Not badly, but a loss nonetheless.

[oscar canosa]

With the Carpenter injury now, JS, I have the Game even and probably like you say. Tough luck.

[JS in LA]

From whence shall we produce fist pumping events without Mr. Carpenter? Do they allow Rugby kicks through the goalposts? How are we supposed to score?

[oscar canosa]

Maybe the injury is not that serious, JS; LV still has us by 2. Gotta check tomorrow.

[oscar canosa]

Definitely we have been better in the red zone with Moore as he understands it better than Henne did. Hopefully that will lead to more TD's and less FG's.

[DevilsAdvocate]

Moore has more touch, a nicer arc. He isn't always accurate but neither is Henne. Moore seems to have more pocket presence and better on the broken play. I'd say he has a lot more upside. Not necessarily elite but he could be starter material.

Moore seems to get the offense up on their toes a little more too, he is more fun to watch. If we were in the playoffs and our starter got knocked out, I'd much rather see Moore enter the game than Henne.

[oscar canosa]

The Bill's whole offense is "Effortless Fred" Jackon. We stop him, we win the Game. Hell of a player, easier said than done.

[DevilsAdvocate]

Henne doesn't have any chemistry with anybody. He doesn't ever to seem to get into the flow of the game. He plays like a machine, put in a quarter, press the lever, out shoots a pass. Repeat as necessary.

[dusty bottoms]

yeah if ross had gotten harbaugh we would be rolling, but oh well least he tried. hopefully this offseason he will find someone even better

[oscar canosa]

Very good Coaches are not a dime a dozen, dusty. That's my main concern when Sparano goes next year. When the new guy comes in, he will try to install his System, and if it's much different than the one we have now, whatever it is, it will be a whole new learning process for the whole Team.

[tim]

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar! What are we gonna do with you? You need to catch up on your NFL terminology. Our kicker didn't "twitch" his groin at all. Had he done so, he might have gone to jail. He "tweaked" it Oscar. This is the BIG LEAGUES Oscar...you need to stay abreast of the vernacular. Otherwise, we might never really know what exactly is wrong with a players groin.
Hmmmm....I wonder if this is a Buffalo sabotage job....

You know, if this was all orchestrated by Buffalo, it may very well be a twitch job.

[dusty bottoms]

please buffalo win this game, we cannot afford to fall any further back in the draft

[Wang Chung]

WHAT-- Ireland is not going to sign a kicker from Dallas ? He could be the next Columbo,Fasano,Labado,Casino,Bambino..

[ALoco]

TO BE OR NOT TO BE .......................

I BELIEVE IN LOVE FROM THE FIRST EYE CONTACT .

[DD]

Kris is my soul mate~~

[judy finkle]

Great! Now how are they going to run the power I!

[judy finkle]

"you're going to see that Carp is on the report with a "little groin thing." "
I'm sure Dan Carpenter is very happy that Sparano is talking about his "little groin thing."

[judy finkle]

Bring back Uwe!

[judy finkle]

DC: "Coach, about that little groin thing."

TS: "Yeah."

DC: "Is that what Jerry called it?"

[judy finkle]

From whence shall we produce fist pumping events without Mr. Carpenter? Do they allow Rugby kicks through the goalposts? How are we supposed to score?

Posted by: JS in LA | November 18, 2011 at 06:26 PM

Fist pump? Tony Sparano goes into full Tourettic seizure when Dan Carpenter makes a field goal.

[Bill Parcells'Prostate]

The one bright spot of the season. No more fist pumping. Lots of fisting, just no fist pumping.

[mikeoliver1313]

Dusty bottoms is not a real fan!
Enough said

[mikeoliver1313]

O and go dolphins! Maybe we can salvage the season and finish 8-8 after this bad start I'd be happy with a 8-8 season

[Typical Fin Fan]

O and go dolphins! Maybe we can salvage the season and finish 8-8 after this bad start I'd be happy with a 8-8 season

Posted by: mikeoliver1313 | November 19, 2011 at 08:08 AM

Another fan with low standards, happy with mediocre.

[mikeoliver1313]

No not happy with mediocre happy when my team wins jerk

[oscar canosa]

What happened to all the posters here? I have nobody to discuss serious Football with? We need a serious Football Blog here in Miami. I might even open it myself.

[oscar canosa]

LV still has us on top by 2.

[Sheesh]

I'd be happy with a 8-8 season.

Posted by: mikeoliver1313 | November 19, 2011 at 08:08 AM

[oscar canosa]

By the way, muscles twitch, or don't twitch at all. Tweak applies to plumbers, mechanics, etc.; but in Biology, the term is only used by ignoramuses.

[Sheesh]

Lot's of ignoramuses on the blog. Basic grammar is a challenge for most here.

mikeoliver1313 wrote:
I'd be happy with a 8-8 season.

Should be:
I'd be happy with an 8-8 season.

[jeff]

"On Buffalo takeaways"

OH great I can hear tony telling OC now, "Just run it left, then right, then up the middle. Punting is not a sin."

UGH!

[oscar canosa]

There seems to be a schism in this Blog: Armando and the ones who want the Dolphins to lose, and me and a few others who want the Dolphins to win as much as possible this year. In other words, the ones that have eaten the most Crow this year(and will continue to do so, in bigger amounts) vs Us, who shine in our resplendent tranquility. Hey, Armando, how much how much has Taiwan Jones played? Certainly not as much as Charles Clay has. Where's you from?

[oscar canosa]

Naah, you can't be of Cuban descent.

[NICK M]

Tony obviously got too excited watching Carpenter in practice....

FIST PUMP TO THE GROIN...

Thanks Tony

Let's lose 2 this week, we haven't done that but once so far...

[FP4FGs.]

If Carpenter is out Fist-Pumps will be at a minimum.

[New Coach Wanted]

On any other team, a kicker with a hangnail wouldn't even be discussed, but, on the Dolphins, losing your kicker means you lose your leading scorer (more points than than the next top four players combined) and go from scoring a pathetic average of 16 pts a game to a little more than none.

[Vann]

Attention, the Fins will NOT be making the play offs. Again, the Fins will NOT be making the play offs.

It's ok to want better draft position. It Sucks, but it is reality. This is for you idiot fans who think we are not fans who want to pick up Luck, or Landry, maybe Barkley. Have a bit of logic for lunch and chew on that, thanks.

That is all.

[oscar canosa]

You do not know that yet, Vann. We are all for obtaining better Draft position, just not at the expense of losing. No insults in Internet, please, it demeans you.

[kris]

Let the Weeden bashing begin.....

[GlennRices'12incher]

less chance at getting a good pick with every win

[PlayToWin]

Its Un-American to play to lose. Americans play to win. Screw the draft. Take the high road.

Many of you advocate losing, well once teams start losing to gain a draft edge the entire integrity of the game is ruined.

I know, you don't care. You just want to suck your thumbs for Luck. Win at all costs, even going as far as to throw the games. You who think that way are far too shallow to see how that is worse in the end, Luck or no Luck.

Would you teach your children to lose?

I say you are all pathetic. Plain and simple.