By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @dannypicard
FOXBORO --Dolphins coach Tony Sparano believes Monday nightschallenge with the New England Patriots in Miami will be a "great opportunity"for his team, right out of the gate.
As confident as he sounded about quarterback ChadHennes command of the offense and about running back Reggie Bushs speed out ofthe backfield, in a conference call on Wednesday, even Sparano knows Week 1isnt going to be a cakewalk.
Part of that reason comes from what hes seen of Patriotsdefensive lineman Albert Haynesworth in the past.
Hes a good player, said Sparano, who also added hespreparing his Dolphins offense to see both a Patriots 4-3 and 3-4 defense.Hes an active player, and a big physical guy in there with Vince Wilfork,in that group that they have there. He can give you pass-rush ability, but moreimportantly, I think the guy is really active around the ball in the run game.So we have had several opportunities to play against Albert, and hes been ahandful. Sparano also said he expects to see Patriots wide receiverChad Ochocinco in multiple receiver spots on Monday night.
I would envision that they would use him in some type of arotation there, and probably try to get him in a few different spots that areout there, Sparano said. Im sure thats part of the learning curve, justgetting him in different positions to get him the ball. As for his own offense, Sparano described it as beingalittle different this season, with regards to speed, especially with theaddition of Bush in the backfield.
But once again, all eyes in Miami will be on Henne, andSparano believes hes up to the challenge.
I think that Chads really had a productive preseason,Sparano said. Hes got really good command of the offense. If there wasanything good about the lockout, it was that Chad had to be out there and ranall the workouts, and all that stuff, and I think that was really helpful forhim" If you were looking for a scouting report on linebackerA.J. Eddswho the Patriots just claimed off waiversthen Sparano gave awayas much as he could on the former Dolphin, calling him a smart player who has agood amount of long-snapping experience, if needed.
New England Patriots
It just ended up being numbers, really, said Sparano of why the Dolphins cut Edds.Hes a very smart player. We had 10 linebackers on the team at the time, andA.J. obviously missed a lot of time last year with the ACL. So that really wasit.
Danny Picard is on twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard.