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A heaping helping . . .
Big loss for the Miami Dolphins with left guard Josh Sitton being put on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
He tried to play through a torn rotator cuff, but it didn’t work out.
The Dolphins were excited about their left side combination of tackle Laremy Tunsil and Sitton. Tunsil struggled last year, and the Dolphins believed the veteran Sitton would have a positive impact on his play.
Now they turn to Ted Larsen at left guard. He’s not a bad player, and actually started eight games for them last year, but he’s a little undersized at 6-2, 305. Todd Bowles knows him because they were with the Arizona Cardinals at the same time.
Perhaps Leonard Williams can take advantage of Larsen, who is better served in a backup role.
One other thing to consider about Larsen is that he hurt his knee in a late August practice, so it’s possible he’s still not 100 percent.
Another thing to consider about Lawson. First off, the Dolphins decided to start Jessie Davis at right guard over him this year, and also sign Sitton to start ahead of him at left guard.
I think they view him as more of a swing backup . . .
Injuries shouldn’t be a factor for the Jets in this game.
Yes, they will be without Josh Martin (concussion) and Marcus Maye (foot), but those are players they can replace and not miss a beat.
The really is no drop-off from Martin to Brandon Copeland or Jerry Attaochu (with perhaps some Frankie Luvu mixed in). Martin is a good player, but a replaceable commodity.
Some people make a big deal about the absence of Maye, but I think those people are blowing things out of proportion.
Look, I like Maye as a talent, but he was pedestrian last year (which is totally understandable as a rookie starter), and barely participated in training camp.
I don’t want anybody to think I disrespecting his talent, but right now, based on his NFL body of work, he’s a guy you can replace and the sky won’t be falling.
And the arrow is pointing up on Doug Middleton, who might not be as fast as Maye, but he makes up for it with top-shelf instincts and he hits like a Mack Truck. The Jets also have speedy Terrence Brooks in the mix at that position.
Aside from Martin and Maye, all other Jets players listed on their injury report practiced full on Friday and are good to go on Sunday.
So there are now medical excuses for Gang Green in their home-opener . . .
Speaking of the Jets’ home-opener, it looks like they are going to have one of their better recent crowds. When I say “recent” I mean the last couple of seasons.
The secondary market is booming, and the Jets’ fan base is jacked to see Sam Darnold, coming off a strong opener in Detroit.
The last couple of years, aside from a few instances, opposing offenses haven’t hard a hard time communicating on offense due to overwhelming crowd noise at MetLife Stadium.
A few reasons for this. First off, on a number of occasions, there were a ton of fans of the opposing team in the stadium, creating a mixed din in the crowd. Secondly, the Jets were 5-11 in the last two years, killing interest/enthusiasm in the team with some fans. Thirdly, the stadium is probably too big, so it’s rarely filled to capacity.
But expect MetLife Stadium to be near capacity on Sunday with a raucous home crowd, giving the Jets a true home advantage.
September 14, 2018
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