DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -It has been a weekly ritual in the Miami Dolphins’ locker room: Reporters gather around running back Ronnie Brown at his locker and ask about his recovery from a knee injury sustained last October.
By winning AFC offensive player of the week honors, Brown has answered the question conclusively.
“What injury?” he said. “It’s gone.”
Brown earned the award by rushing for four touchdowns and passing for another in a stunning 38-13 win over New England last Sunday. The performance was all the more impressive considering Brown watched much of last year’s dismal Dolphins season on television, sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Brown made a remarkably rapid recovery and was on the field for the start of training camp in July. He said his knee has progressively improved since then.
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Coach Tony Sparano noticed two weeks ago that Brown’s burst appeared back. To take advantage, the Miami staff implemented an unorthodox “Wildcat” formation against the Patriots, with Brown taking direct snaps while quarterback Chad Pennington became a wideout.
The Dolphins, who have a bye this weekend, are coy on whether they will pull Wildcat out against the San Diego Chargers next week, or against any other team this season.
“What those guys do on defense and how they prepare one way or the other isn’t my problem,” Sparano said. “It’s out there. People see the films. They know now that there is this package. … We might do 15 more things coming off of this package, and we might put it to bed and not run it for a long time. We’ll see what happens.”
Brown said he kept the Dolphins’ offensive strategy for New England a closely guarded secret last week, dodging inquires from family and friends about the team’s game plan. He rolled out and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano, and he scored on runs of 2, 15, 5 and 62 yards.
like the New England Patriots.”
The unusual formation helped the Dolphins earn their first win in the Bill Parcells era. Brown’s emergence as an offensive force was one of the few bright spots in 2007 – until he got hurt and Miami spiraled to 1-15.
“Coming through and having to go through last season and having to sit on the sideline … you may have some dark days,” Brown said. “So to come out and have a day like Sunday, it feels pretty good.”
Amid a series of bad drafts, the choice of Brown – a No. 2 overall pick in 2005 – appears to be on track to become a welcome exception. Miami’s 2006 first-round pick Jason Allen is battling the bust label, and last year’s top choices, Ted Ginn Jr. and John Beck, have struggled to make an impact.
There were doubts about Brown, too – until last season, when he rushed for more than 100 yards in four consecutive games, and totaled more than 200 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back games before his injury Oct. 21 against the same New England he left reeling last week.
“One thing about Ronnie, he comes to work, and whether he had five touchdowns or just tore his ACL he’s the same guy – he’s got a smile on his face,” said teammate Ricky Williams, the 2002 NFL rushing champion. “He always has a positive attitude. It’s good to see guys like that have success.”
rendered him a spectator. During a game a year ago against Pennington and the New York Jets, Brown ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns and caught six passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.
“Just from my experience as a Jet, he tore us up every time we played him,” Pennington said. “He had fantastic games. Last year, up there in New York, third game of the season, he was all over the place. He was their go-to guy – passing game, running game, it didn’t matter. Ronnie was the guy.”
As he was against New England on his biggest pro day.
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