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The second half of the Miami Dolphins' 2013 tour of the AFC East begins this weekend, as the South Florida franchise welcomes the division leading New England Patriots into Sun Life Stadium. In October, the Patriots beat the Dolphins 27-17 with a second half rally and a defensive shutout of Miami in the second half. As both teams prepare for this week's contest, they issued their first injury reports of the week last night.
Neither team has ruled any players out of the contest, but they both had a pair of players not participate in practice. For the visiting Patriots, wide receiver Aaron Dobson missed practice with a foot injury, while tackle Nate Solder deals with a concussion. Miami had safety Reshad Jones working on the sideline on Wednesday, rehabbing a groin injury, and had center Mike Pouncey miss practice for, officially, a "non-injury" reason. Pouncey was in the Boston area on Wednesday ahead of his grand jury appearance related to the murder and gun trafficking case being built against former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. Pouncey was Hernandez' teammate and room mate at the University of Florida.
For more on the Patriots
For more on the Patriots
For the Patriots, the "limited" section of their injury report is beginning to take on its normal role of being a partial look at their 53-man roster. Maybe it is a little surprising that New England is only listing 20-percent of the team in the category. The Patriots reported cornerback Kyle Arrington (groin), quarterback Tom Brady (right shoulder), tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle), cornerback Marquice Cole (shin), cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (knee/shoulder), safety Steve Gregory (finger), tight end Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), linebacker Brandon Spikes (knee), tackle Will Svitek (ankle), cornerback Aqib Talib (hip), and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins (hip) as in the section. For Miami, the limited section of the report included cornerback Nolan Carroll (hamstring), safety Chris Clemons (knee/hamstring), defensive tackle Paul Soliai (ankle), and cornerback Jamar Taylor (hamstring).
New England also listed wide receiver Danny Amendola (groin), wide receiver Matt Slater (wrist), and running back Shane Vereen (wrist)on the injury report, all full participants in Wednesday's practice. Miami, likewise, had guard Nate Garner (ribs) and running back Lamar Miller (concussion) in the full participant category.
Both teams will update their reports on Thursday, then issue their final reports on Friday. Kickoff is at 1pm ET Sunday.
