Safety Bell's return crucial to Dolphins

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-flspskolnick19sbjul19,0,3217414.column

Safety Bell's return crucial to Dolphins

Ethan J. Skolnick
Sports columnist

July 19, 2008

As he reached the sidelines in the season opener, Yeremiah Bell sensed something wasn't right with his left leg.

Little was right again for the Dolphins in 2007.

"It didn't really hurt, so I was hoping it wasn't that bad," Bell said of Sept. 9 in Washington. "They say when you tear your Achilles' [tendon], it rolls up. But I tore mine higher. So it didn't roll up, it just snapped."

If that hadn't happened, maybe the Dolphins defense still would have snapped. Maybe opposing offenses still would have rolled up points. Maybe the 1-15 embarrassment was inevitable: suspect talent, amateurish coaching, horrible luck.

Maybe.

Or maybe Bell's injury was a catalyst for the collapse.

None of the Dolphins' innumerable injuries — not even the one to Ronnie Brown — did as much damage as the one Bell suffered. Five different players started in his strong safety spot, including a converted cornerback (Travis Daniels), two past-prime veterans ( Donovin Darius, Lance Schulters), a special-teamer (Cameron Worrell) and a failed Nick Saban experiment ( Travares Tillman). None succeeded.

Now Bell is one of several potential starters returning from major and minor surgery as training camp opens next weekend. Bell. Brown. Jason Ferguson. Justin Smiley. Even if all of the Dolphins' rehabilitated and rehabilitating players return to pre-injury form, this still won't be a contending team.

Yet, if a few of them do, it might be a respectable one.

Bell's recovery, in particular, bears watching. He doesn't have someone with Ricky Williams' credentials behind him, such as Brown. In fact, Bell is one of the few reasonably proven defensive playmakers on the roster. He didn't start in a basic defensive back package until the eighth week in 2006 and still led the team in passes defensed, while finishing fifth in tackles and adding two sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Would Bell's presence have made much difference in 2007, for a team that lost six games by a field goal? "I don't know," Bell said. "I would have hoped it would because I would have hoped that if I had kept playing I would have made some plays. But it's hard to say."

How much of a difference can he make this season, after signing a one-year, incentive-laden contract?

Plenty — so long as he can make it to, and through, this season.

He acknowledges that skepticism is his burden now. He has lugged around the "injury-prone" label since college, after he tore his right knee in a pickup game, which forced him to miss his senior season at Eastern Kentucky. He finished his first two NFL seasons on some form of injured list, because of a right foot ailment and surgery on a broken right leg.

He played as a reserve for all of 2005 and part of 2006, largely because Saban was fearful of his fragility and didn't want to lose him by using him too much. After Saban finally relented, Bell was such a force that teammates predicted a Pro Bowl performance in 2007.

The perception that he is the Dolphins' Elijah Price, as breakable as Samuel Jackson's brittle comic book vendor? "Nah, it doesn't bother me," Bell said. "It is what it is. I did get hurt. I did get injured. But that's behind me now. I'm healthy now, and that's what I am focusing on."

Coach Tony Sparano praised Bell during the minicamps and offseason practices. Bell lauded the training staff's cautious approach for the absence of soreness and swelling, and the return of his left leg to "pretty much back to normal." He has added muscle, making him appear even more top-heavy on his spindly lower limbs, but maybe making him more of a heavy hitter.

If he remains healthy, his ball-hawking would bolster an otherwise nondescript secondary, where the Dolphins are banking on Jason Allen's progression while auditioning Cowboys castoffs. And even though he's started only 12 games, Bell might also add some calm and leadership. The 2003 sixth-round pick, now 30 years old, has outlasted every player who was here upon his arrival, other than Ricky Williams and Jason Taylor.

"That's ridiculous, isn't it?" Bell said.

As ridiculous as the strong safety situation in 2007.

The question Bell must answer is whether he can last a game, let alone a season. If he does, the Dolphins can feel more comfortable about their last line of defense.