Joey Porter has quietly rediscovered his knack for sacks.
Hampered by a leg injury, the 2008 AFC leader totaled only 2 1/2 sacks in the first nine games. Now healthy, he has 4 1/2 sacks in the past two games to lead the Miami Dolphins with seven going into Sunday\’s game against New England.
All that\’s missing now is Porter\’s usual bluster. Miffed at the media for reasons unclear, he has given mostly cryptic answers in recent interviews. He was expansive this week only when asked about athletes being in a fish bowl.
“We made ourselves too accessible to you,\’\’ Porter said. “It backfires on the athlete. We don\’t get to write a story about y\’all. An athlete makes a mistake, everybody wants to write about it. It\’s a one-way street, like it has always been.\’\’
Was Porter referring to Tiger Woods?
“I\’m not going to have a comment on that,\’\’ Porter said. “It has nothing to do with me.\’\’
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UFL TO NFL: About a dozen players from the United Football League have signed with NFL teams since the league concluded its first season last week.
Linebacker Quinton Culberson signed with the Panthers\’ on Wednesday, joining kicker Matt Bryant (Atlanta), quarterback Tyler Palko (Pittsburgh) and fullback Charles Ali (Baltimore) in making active NFL rosters.
Culberson and Bryant played for the Florida Tuskers, who lost to the Las Vegas Locomotives 20-17 on Nov. 27 in the championship game. Palko played for the California Redwoods, and Ali for the New York Sentinels.
Other players who have signed with NFL practice squads include Jake Nordin and Paul Pratt (Detroit), Christian Gaddis and Jason Watkins (Buffalo), Michael Grant (Cleveland) and Shane Boyd (Indianapolis).
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ANDRE SMITH ABOARD: It took Bengals first-round pick Andre Smith more than half the season to finally throw a block in the NFL.
Smith was active for the first time during a 16-7 win over Cleveland last Sunday and got into the game on some running plays, blocking from the right side of the line. A holdout and a broken foot had kept him away from the field for virtually all of training camp and all of the season.
“At the beginning, I was a little jittery,\’\’ he said. “It was my first game ever. It\’s always been a dream to play in the NFL. I was a little jittery but as the game went on, it became unrobotic. Things just became more natural as the game progressed.\’\’
igning, he broke his left foot.
He wasn\’t able to practice with the team until late October. The Bengals have been working him back into playing shape after missing so much time.
“Andre finished better than he started, which is always our key,\’\’ coach Marvin Lewis said of the lineman\’s debut. “That\’s what we\’re shooting for every week with everybody, and he held true to form. So it\’s good to get him in there and get him going.
“Again, we\’ll see what happens this week as we go through things. But it was a good start for him, and hopefully I can keep him up (on the active roster) and playing and getting more and more opportunity.\’\’
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WHEN IS CATCH A CATCH?: Replay hasn\’t been kind to the Tennessee Titans this season no matter who\’s challenging a play, particularly on catches leading to touchdowns or turnovers. Coach Jeff Fisher would like some clarification on when a catch is a catch, and the co-chairman of the NFL\’s competition committee might bring up that topic at the next meeting.
“There\’s no bright line, and I think there needs to be a bright line between a catch, possession, two feet down and some act associated with playing football and then going to the ground to complete the catch,\’\’ Fisher said.
The Titans have won only one of Fisher\’s five challenges this season and watched the review assistant overturn the ruling of an incomplete pass in the end zone to a touchdown during their 0-6 start.
The most recent challenge the Titans lost came last weekend when safety Kevin Kaesviharn appeared to strip Arizona receiver Early Doucet of the ball after he had taken at least a step. Officials ruled it a fumble recovered by Tennessee. Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged, and the review reversed the call to an incomplete pass.
Fisher said he felt the receiver had possession and taken two steps.
“In their opinion, they felt like he was going to the ground and when you go to the ground you have to complete the catch. So, you can kind of see where the gray area is there. I think it\’s something we need to discuss potentially. Or maybe I need to get clearer in my mind,\’\’ Fisher said.
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USA VERSUS THE WORLD: Team USA against the World? Doesn\’t sound like something you find in football.
But the NFL Network will televise just that: the U.S. junior team comprised of the nation\’s top high school seniors against players from abroad ages 19 and under. The game will be played on Jan. 30 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., one day before the Pro Bowl at nearby Land Shark Stadium.
Chris Merritt of Miami Christopher Columbus High School will lead the U.S. squad, while Jan Jenmert head coach of Sweden\’s junior national football team, will guide the 45-man world team.
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SUPERMAN SUPERSTITION: Since his days in Pop Warner, Maurice Jones-Drew has donned a Superman T-shirt under his uniform.
It was his grandfather\’s idea way back when. Jones-Drew, Jacksonville\’s star running back, has gone through only four of them this entire time.
“It\’s one of those, I wouldn\’t say superstitions, but it\’s just part of my routine,\’\’ he said. “Ever since I\’ve been young I\’ve been wearing it. I just keep with it. My grandfather was just like, \’You got to do something different.\’ He heard how one of the receivers from Pittsburgh, Lynn Swann, did ballet and all these guys had little rituals, and he was like, \’Let\’s try to find something for you.\’ One of my favorite superheroes was Superman and he was like, \’How \’bout you wear that under your shirt?\’ So that\’s pretty much what I did from 8 years old till now.\’\’
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AP Football Writer Barry Wilner and AP Sports Writers Dave Skretta in New York, Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Janie McCauley in San Francisco, Steven Wine in Miami, and Teresa M. Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.
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