DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins cornerbacks Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan are 5-foot-10 and often look even smaller, which will be the case Sunday against the big Chicago Bears.
"Unless we sign a couple of guys from the Heat, we probably are going to have a size discrepancy there," Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said.
As two of the NFL's smallest players, Grimes and Finnegan are accustomed to size mismatches. But even by their standards, the Bears present a tall order with 6-4 Brandon Marshall and 6-3 Alshon Jeffery at receiver.
Through six games, the Pro Bowl duo has combined for 56 catches and seven touchdowns.
"They're big," Finnegan said. "We don't have Luol Deng, so we've got to figure it out."
Marshall and Jeffery aren't Jay Cutler's only large targets. Tight end Martellus Bennett is 6-6, and 6-2, 218-pound running back Matt Forte leads the NFL with 46 catches and enjoys running over cornerbacks.
To compound the challenge, Grimes and Finnegan are coming off their worst game of the season in Sunday's last-minute loss to Green Bay. Grimes allowed Jordy Nelson to make nine catches for 107 yards and a score, and Finnegan's poor tackling led to two touchdowns.
Finnegan declined to blame a sore neck that limited him in practice last week.
"I can't use my neck as a crutch," he said. "I just didn't tackle well. I've got to shore that up."
The Packers mounted long drives to score twice in the final 4:09 for a 27-24 victory. Finnegan said the Dolphins (2-3) can't allow the wrenching defeat to linger.
"The Chicago Bears don't give a rip what happened against the Green Bay Packers," he said. "So we've got to go out there and give them our best."
That means clamping down on their towering wideouts, even though Marshall claimed his six-inch height advantage won't be a big deal against Miami. He ranked Grimes as one of the NFL's top two cornerbacks.
"There's not a mismatch out there," Marshall said Wednesday. "This is probably going to be the best secondary we face all year. Grimes is a technician. He's super-duper focused. And we all know about Cortland — he's hyper-competitive and makes plays on the ball."
