by Andy Kent

Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East, NFL Training Camp

ARLINGTON, Texas — When David Buehler‘s 31-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired to give the Dallas Cowboys a 27-25 preseason victory over the Miami Dolphins at Cowboys Stadium, it started the official clock counting down to the regular season. And there were plenty of intriguing developments from Miami’s end to follow as the team boarded the plane bound for Fort Lauderdale, chronicled here by me on MiamiDolphins.com before we took off.

Normally, the attention is centered around those position battles that will help determine the last few spots on the final 53-man roster, and there were some good ones in the game. But it was something that happened early in the second quarter that had Dolphins beat reporters scrambling with deadline fast approaching. On the same play that starting quarterback Chad Henne was sandwiched by Cowboys’ linebackers Victor Butler and Brandon Williams, turning the ball over on a fumble, Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long was shaken-up.

The 6-foot-7, 310-pound pillar of the Dolphins offensive line was holding his left knee and first had it examined on the sideline before heading inside to the locker room for a closer examination. Dolphins’ Head Coach Tony Sparano and the rest of the team and their fans held their collective breath, but when Long came back out for the second half still in uniform and with no visible protection on the knee, those fears were put to rest.

After the game Long deflected all questions about the knee to Sparano and did say he’ll be all right. Sparano said he did not know what Long’s status is, but being as he was able to leave the stadium under his own power and was not wearing any protective brace, it appears that whatever the injury was it is minor and he should be ready for the opener at Buffalo a week from Sunday.