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Ted Ginn Jr. Named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week; Other Notes

06:00 Wed 11-04-09 | by Andy Kent
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In what had to be a foregone conclusion from the moment he trotted into the end zone with his second kickoff return for a touchdown against the New York Jets this past Sunday, Ted Ginn, Jr. today was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

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Ginn became the first player in NFL history to have returns of 100 yards or more in the same game and the first player since Green Bay's Travis Williams of the Green Bay Packers on November 12th, 1967 to return two kicks for touchdowns in the same quarter. The third-year wide receiver out of Ohio State also became the eighth player in league history to have two kick returns for touchdowns in one game as he took the first one back 100 yards and then went 101 yards on the next one.
 
By amassing 299 total return yards, Ginn was second to only Tyrone Hughes of the New Orleans Saints, who had 304 return yards against the Los Angeles Rams on October 23rd, 1994. He became the first Dolphins to win the honor since kicker Dan Carpenter did so following Week 14 of the 2008 season and the first non-kicker since Wes Welker following Week 5 of the 2004 season.
 
"It would have been hard not to recognize," said Head Coach Tony Sparano, who emphasized that Ginn's role as a wide receiver has not necessarily been permanently diminished. "I was excited for him certainly and for his teammates, and I'm sure Teddy would tell you that there are a lot of moving parts to getting something like that done. Those other 10 people out there, there was a couple of good blocks on obviously those plays but Teddy did do a heck of a job and it was good to see him get recognized."
 
Ginn is no stranger to finding the end zone on kickoff returns and punt returns as he did so eight times in college at Ohio State University – six on punt returns, so he always knew he had the ability to break one in the pros. In fact, he did it four times as a rookie but had three of them called back on penalties, and the one that stood was an 87-yard punt return against the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.
 
Thanks to his performance at the Meadowlands, Ginn is now averaging 34.9 yards per kick return, which is second best in the NFL but first among those who are averaging one or more returns per game. Atlanta's Jerious Norwood has one return this season for 39 yards, which is why his 39.0 average ranks first, but Ginn has quickly popped up on everybody's radar now, especially Miami's remaining opponents, and he isn't about to get complacent.
 
"I've still got to prove myself. I still want to prove myself," Ginn said. "The only thing I can do is go out every day and just work as hard as I can and as long as I keep working good things should happen. It's great [to get the honor) but I couldn't do it without my other 10 guys and I'm just happy that they came out and blocked as well as they did for me to be able to break a couple of plays. The only think you can do is don't get satisfied with it and just look at it, enjoy it while you can and keep on moving forward."
 
Now Ginn is banking on having some of that confidence transfer over to the offensive side of the ball when he is lined up at receiver so that it can parlay into big plays there like the 53-yard touchdown reception he had against the Jets at Land Shark Stadium in the first meeting between the two teams. His teammates have seen the speed and athleticism in practice and were even happier for him to finally have that type of game.
 
Rookie safety Sean Smith talked about how Ginn handled taking all of the heat from the media and the fans in the preceding weeks and proved how much of a playmaker he can be for the Dolphins. Running back Ronnie Brown echoed Smith's sentiments and is impressed with how Ginn bounced back, but veteran outside linebacker and team co-captain Joey Porter was beaming like a proud big brother.
 
"I was happy to see him have a big game. Like I said, he's like a little brother to me," Porter said. "Since he came in I kind of put him under my wing and I hang with him on and off the field, so that's a guy I'm with all the time. Just like he watched me go through it I watched him go through it and you hate to see him in that type of funk because the only thing you can do is try and redeem yourself each week and sometimes that week might not allow you to do that. Then it carries onto the next week, so last week him having his chance to do it, that was not just joy for him that was joy for his whole family.
 
"You've got to understand with this game, he's not the only one catching slack. Your family's catching slack about how you play; everybody's catching slack about how you play and now he's getting a whole lot of handshakes and pats on the back. … So it's just a little corny but it comes with it, so now everybody will be loving him again. But that's the good thing about a team, we're going to love you regardless whether you're up or you're down."
 
And right now, Ginn is very much up.
 
INJURY UPDATE: It was a relatively light injury report for the Dolphins today as inside linebacker Channing Crowder (shoulder) and nose tackle Jason Ferguson (elbow) both were limited in today's practice.
 
For the Patriots, wide receiver Julian Edelman (forearm), defensive end Jarvis Green (knee), offensive tackle Matt Light (knee), running backs Sammy Morris (knee) and Fred Taylor (ankle), defensive end Ty Warren (ankle) and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite (illness) did not participate in any drills. Tight end Ben Watson (back) was limited in practice. Quarterback Tom Brady (right shoulder) and wide receiver Randy Moss (shoulder) practiced in full.
 
DOLPHINS TIDBITS: Rookie safety Chris Clemons also made his first NFL start last Sunday against the Jets and saw his play count double from his debut on special teams the week before. He went from 22 plays against New Orleans to 48 against the Jets (25 on special teams and 23 on defense). He was able to lean on Smith and fellow rookie cornerback Vontae Davis, but he knew he earned the start. "It was a real big confidence booster me, seeing that they trusted me to put me out there," Clemons said. "Now a big part of it is just communication, and Yeremiah (Bell) and Gibril (Wilson) have been a big help. They helped me ever since I got here and took me under their wing." … Rookie tight end John Nalbone was back on the practice field as the newest member of the practice squad after being waived last Saturday to make room for the return of outside linebacker Matt Roth from the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list.