NFL: Forecast cloudy for Bills vs. Miami

By John Wawrow

ORCHARD PARK — Still new to the job, Bills interim head coach Perry Fewell learned a valuable lesson after being caught by surprise and forced to practice in a chilling rain this week.

“Never listen to your local meteorologist,” Fewell said with a hearty laugh, though he refused to alter his plans.

Taking advantage of the meteorological miscue, Fewell kept his players outdoors as an opportunity to acclimate them in preparation to face the warm-weather Dolphins on Sunday in Buffalo’s first home game in four weeks.

“I wanted to get their attention from a detail standpoint, and so the weather was not a distraction,” said Fewell, a week after taking over following Dick Jauron’s dismissal. “We live in the North Atlantic, hey, you train in the North Atlantic.”

Indoors or outdoors, the forecast remains cloudy for the Bills (3-7).

Having lost three in a row, Buffalo limps down the stretch with a long list of injuries after placing two more players on an injured reserve list that has ballooned to 14. The team is now on its fifth coach this decade and in position to miss the playoffs for a 10th straight season.

“We’ve been having tough breaks so far, but that doesn’t really mean much to them,” defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said, referring to the Dolphins. “They’re not going to take it any easier on us.”

No, don’t expect much sympathy from Miami.

The Dolphins (5-5) have had their share of troubles: an 0-3 start and season-ending injuries to key players, the latest defensive tackle Jason Ferguson. And they’ve proven capable of overcoming them, so why stop now?

“At this point, the hill doesn’t look so steep any more,” Dolphins linebacker Reggie Torbor said. “We have ourselves in not the most ideal spot, but a good spot to get to the playoffs. It’s kind of do-or-die starting now.”

With first-time starter Chad Henne at quarterback and Ricky Williams enjoying a resurgence even though fellow running back Ronnie Brown is injured, the Dolphins have won five of seven. That stretch began with Henne’s first career start in a 38-10 win over Buffalo at Miami on Oct. 4.

“I’m pretty proud of them,” coach Tony Sparano said. “No matter how grim it was, they just kind of stuck to the grind and kept fighting for each other out there. And we’ve kind of dug ourselves out of a little bit of a hole.”

Henne has settled in to efficiently run the offense since Chad Pennington went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 3. In his past four games, the second-year player has thrown three touchdowns and one interception.

Williams has played an even bigger role in maintaining the Dolphins’ run-oriented identity after Brown was lost to a foot injury in a 25-23 win at Tampa Bay two weeks ago. He rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his past two games, and also scored two touchdowns in a 24-17 win at Carolina on Nov. 19.

Injuries, however, are catching up to the Dolphins. Their offensive line is banged-up after center Jake Grove hurt his ankle last week and with left guard Justin Smiley nursing a sore shoulder. And now they’ve lost Ferguson, who’s played a key role in plugging the middle of the defensive line.

“It’s tough, but it’s nothing that we haven’t been in before,” linebacker Joey Porter said. “You can’t have any drop-off. I think we’ve done that over the last couple of weeks. Now, can we sustain that is the question?”

The questions in Buffalo go deeper on a team with so many players shuffling in and out of town over the past two weeks that several newcomers have their names written on tape above their lockers.

Even Fewell can’t keep track.

“We brought up two practice squad guys today, and I had to look at my sheet and try to remember their names,” he said. “It’s not because I didn’t know who they were, but we have brought many guys in, so the continuity part is difficult.”

In a week in which two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan was identified as a candidate to take over in Buffalo, Fewell has done his part to make a good first impression. Though the Bills are coming off an 18-15 loss at Jacksonville in Fewell’s debut, there were several positives.

Terrell Owens had a breakout performance with 197 yards receiving and a touchdown to provide a sputtering offense a long-awaited spark. The Bills generated 343 yards, their most since Week 2, behind backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, who’s taken over after Trent Edwards was benched.

The defense also proved stout, limiting the Jaguars to 102 yards rushing. That’s a big improvement for a unit that allowed an average 204 yards rushing in its previous seven outings.

“Just because things aren’t going the way we wished or hoped they would, we’re not going to give up,” safety Donte Whitner said. “We still believe we can win football games.”