Talking points: Reggie Torbor may be man in the middle

Channing Crowder missed his second day of practice this week on Thursday, and there’s a distinct possibility he’ll be either slowed or out altogether on Sunday. If that proves to be the case, Reggie Torbor steps in. A look at Torbor and how Crowder’s absence would affect Miami’s run defense is where we start Friday’s talking points. 1. Torbor needs to be a run stuffer if called upon. Crowder has faced the Jets nine times and has 59 tackles, an average of more than six per game. Torbor only has two tackles this season, albeit in spot duty, while sharing the lead in special teams tackles with seven. Torbor got a bad rap when, in his only start the last two seasons at Kansas City, he finished without a tackle. Asked about that during training camp, Torbor said a lot of nickel and dime packages were called and he was on the field for only about 10 plays. With the Jets leading the league in rushing, and coach Rex Ryan predicting a “ground and pound” game, you can bet the inside linebackers will be prominent. Asked if he’s ready for this challenge, Torbor replied, “I’ve started before. I can play football. That’s up to Channing. We know if he can go a little bit he’ll go.” Torbor knows Giants Stadium well. He played four years with the Giants before coming to Miami and started 19-of-62 games. If he does play, Akin Ayodele moves over and takes Crowder’s ‘Mike’ role and he takes Ayodele’s spot. 2. Chad Henne has to come up big … again.

Henne was brilliant in the last-second win over the Jets three weeks ago. And with the Jets using words like “embarrassing” and “humiliating” (defensive coordinator Mike Pettine uttered both Thursday) to describe the play of their defense in that game, you know they’ll be fired up to stop the Dolphins offense this time around. Ryan and the Jets got a lot of questions about the Wildcat this week, and saw how New Orleans stacked the box and ran safeties off the edge in shutting in down in the second half last week. Henne has to be effective to take the pressure off both the Wildcat and his own defense. And he was more than effective against this team last time around – he was brilliant. 3. Be better on special teams – especially punt fakes. One reason the Jets were even in that game at the end was they went for first downs on fake punts twice and made it both times. Needless to say, that can’t happen again – not even once. The Jets have enough things going for them in this game – the revenge factor, the crowd, maybe even some nasty weather. Miami will have to do a lot of things right, and that starts with winning the special teams battle. Unfortunate as it was, Leon Washington’s injury last week will only help that cause. The rest is up to special teams coach John Bonamego and his troops, who have had another very unspecial season so far.

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Talking points: Reggie Torbor may be man in the middle

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