Watson, Morris among five Patriots forced to sideline
MIAMI - The Patriots will be without tight end Benjamin Watson today when they take on Miami at Dolphin Stadium. Watson, who is second on the team in touchdowns catches (5), was one of five players downgraded by the Patriots to out for today's contest.
Linebacker Eric Alexander (knee), safety Mel Mitchell (groin), defensive lineman Mike Wright (knee) and running back Sammy Morris (chest) will also sit out.
Watson injured his left ankle during the second quarter of the Patriots' 48-27 win in Dallas last week. He caught a pass and was hauled down from behind by Cowboys safety Roy Williams. Watson did not participate in practice this week. He figures to be replaced by Marcellus Rivers when the Patriots go to two-tight-end sets.
Alexander and Morris, both of whom were injured against Dallas as well, also didn't practice this week. Morris is expected to be out through the bye week (Nov. 11). But running back Laurence Maroney is on track to return today after missing three games with a groin injury.
The losses of Watson, Mitchell, and Alexander, who limped off the field following the opening kickoff against Dallas after a rambunctious Pierre Woods pushed him to the ground in celebration, could affect special teams play.
The losses could hasten the activation of cornerback Eddie Jackson, who came off the physically unable to perform list this week.
Jackson was a standout special teams player when he played with the Dolphins in 2005 and 2006.
"It doesn't matter whether it's special teams or defense, wherever," he said. "I'll just try to help the team out."
Silver lining
One good thing that came out of the Patriots' last trip to Dolphin Stadium, a 21-0 loss last December, was the re-emergence of Ellis Hobbs as a kickoff returner. Hobbs, who had undergone surgery to repair a broken scaphoid bone in his left wrist in Week 4 last season, hadn't returned a kickoff all season before he took a fourth-quarter one 51 yards against the Dolphins.
The next week, he scored on a 93-yard kickoff return against Houston, and he has been the Patriots' regular return man ever since.
"We had been practicing it throughout the week," said Hobbs. "First of all, they needed to see if I could catch with the cast on. Obviously, we had gotten down in that game. It wasn't kind of like a carefree attitude then, but it was like, this would be a good opportunity to put him in there and see if he can do it again, and it kind of just took off from there. The rest is history."
This season, Hobbs had an NFL-record 108-yard kickoff return against the New York Jets in the season opener and he ranks eighth in the league in kickoff-return average at 29.5 yards.
Manning follows exploits
The prolific passing of Tom Brady (21 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in six games) has not gone unnoticed by Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning.
Manning, whose Colts face Jacksonville tomorrow night, acknowledged that he's kept an eye on the Patriots quarterback, who is on pace to break Manning's NFL record of 49 touchdown passes in a season, set in 2004.
"It's hard not to notice what kind of year their team is having and what kind of year he is having," Manning told reporters in Indianapolis. "I've seen some of the games that they've played, night games. . . . He's having a great year. The team is having a great year."
Green, green grass
Today is the Patriots' only regular-season game on grass. Hobbs said playing on it shouldn't throw off the Patriots since they practice on grass all the time, including Friday, when it rained in Foxborough. "It's sod, and it's moving around a little bit, it's not just a nice hard turf, but it should be nothing different, man," said Hobbs . . . Miami quarterback Trent Green was placed on injured reserve yesterday, shelving him for the rest of the season following his second severe concussion in 13 months . . . The Patriots are just 1-13 all-time in Miami in September and October. The lone win was Oct. 19, 2003, when Troy Brown caught an 82-yard TD pass in overtime for a 19-13 victory. 