Dobson, Thompkins both out vs. Dolphins

[IE]

For the second straight game, the Patriots will be without rookie wideouts Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins.

The team announced Saturday night that both players were downgraded to out for the game in Miami.

Dobson?s been down with a foot injury since getting injured in the first half of the Broncos game. Thompkins has been dealing with a hip injury the past few weeks and had just one catch for 16 yards against Houston.

The Patriots will go into the game with Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Josh Boyce and Austin Collie as their healthy wideouts.


Against a Miami team that is probably weaker against the run than through the air, the absence of Dobson and Thompkins and the loss of Rob Gronkowski may be mitigated somewhat by the game plan.

As for the overall performance of Thompkins and Dobson as rookies, their work has been encouraging. They have miles to go before they are close to being where, say, Deion Branch was as a rookie coming out of Louisville, but they have had very similar years statistically ? 35 catches for 492 yards and four TDs for Dobson; 32 catches for 466 yards and four TDs for Thompkins. Dobson has been targeted 65 times in his 10 active games; Thompkins 69 times in 11 games.

 

[IE]

Tony Corrente?s crew will be doing the officiating. The last Patriots game he presided over was the Saints game.

---

On the Patriots
?The amazing thing about the New England Patriots is that they basically had to reshape the team on the fly after losing both tight ends from last year, and of course Wes Welker. They have had injuries everywhere on the football team and here they are at 10-3. It shows you they always have a plan in place and ready to activate. It?s an amazing story in the NFL to continue to do what they have done. Now we are seeing Shane Vereen catching passes, so they continuously find ways to keep weapons around Tom Brady so he can still be a productive quarterback.?


On the Dolphins
?Everyone always wants to know about their quarterback. We are getting to see Ryan Tannehill late in his second year and see the improvement in his play. He shows the difference on the field physically with his throws and how he plays the game. There is a little bit of an aura around him, which you always want for your quarterback. You can tell he?s the man. I think he thinks he?s the man and it really shows.
It?s a hard line to cross as a quarterback and a football team but they are getting close to it. These last three games will show us where they are. If they are able to make that first step and become a playoff team, then go from there.?
As for extracurriculars, the Patriots opened as three-point favorites with a total around 46. Most Vegas sports books now have the game as a pick ?em / Miami -1.


The last three Patriots games and four of the last five have gone over the total. The Patriots failed to cover their last three games.