phinatics.com: Most of the game predictions I've seen say the Dolphins will cover the 5.5 spread against the Patriots tomorrow. Do you think being so heavily favored affects the team's approach to the game?
Charlie Rogers: No. At this point in our season we are just taking it one game at a time. We don't care if we are favored. We don't care if we are down or if we're favored by 20 points. We're just going, and taking it as a division game, or taking it as our next opponent. We're just going out to get a win.

phinatics.com: What do you think the keys to the game are for the Dolphins to beat New England tomorrow?
Charlie Rogers: The key is just playing with some consistency. Whether it's our offense, defense, or special teams, we all have to do our part. We all have to go out and execute the game plan, and hopefully we will come out with a win.

phinatics.com: You're listed as 5'9" and 180 pounds, yet you lettered in basketball all four years in high school, and you played NCAA Division 1 football, and now NFL football. How have you beaten such enormous odds?
Charlie Rogers: I think I beat the odds by working harder than the next man. My work ethic is what got me to this level -- to this point in my career. I was always told I was too small to be a professional player, and that I wouldn't make it, or I couldn't be this, or couldn't do that, but I just kept on proving all the critics wrong.

phinatics.com: So you've always been doubted because of your size?
Charlie Rogers: Always, always. Since Pop Warner I can remember I was a small guy. People always said, "you're too small to to do this", or "you can't do that", or "you won't be able to do this", and I just kept wanting to find out.

phinatics.com: What position did you play in Pop Warner?
Charlie Rogers: I was a running back.

phinatics.com: Do you get involved with the Pop Warner group anymore?
Charlie Rogers: Where I'm from, in New Jersey, I always miss the Pop Warner season because I go into a camp maybe a week before they start their season. But, whenever I am in the neighborhood, I always stop by and play with the kids and show them different things. I am very hands on in the community with the younger kids.

phinatics.com: This is your first year with the Dolphins. What players have impressed you the most, and did any of those surprise you at all?
Charlie Rogers: I wouldn't say any of them surprised me. I've been playing these guys for a while. I've played them every year, except I think one year, and now I am a part of the team. You know, this team, we're a classy group of guys. We have a lot of balance on this team -- whether it's rookies or young guys -- and you've got your veterans and hall-of-famers on the team. I have been impressed by the team as a whole, being that none of the guys are really cocky, or think they are better than anyone else. We are a team and act as a team.

phinatics.com: Any particular reason you wear the No.32?
Charlie Rogers: No. I wore No.20 in Seattle one year, and No.31 for 3 years, and this is my first year to wear No.32.

phinatics.com: A lot of fans grade punt/kick return specialists only on their return numbers. What other things besides long runs do you think determine whether a return specialist is doing well or not?
Charlie Rogers: You have to look at the starting drive; I think that's key. When you look at a punt returner, if you have a productive punt returner back there, he's going to have a lot of fair catches. Teams are going to try to not put the ball in his hands, and that's been our situation. I think I probably have the most fair catches in the conference. Another way to grade a returner is just by the decisions he makes. That's a hidden factor in returning. A lot of young returners make stupid decisions, and it can somewhat affect the team, and I haven't made any of those decisions yet. Hopefully, I'll continue to make good decisions, and we will crack one in the near future. We will bust a big one.

phinatics.com: I know everyone is looking forward to that. I don't think that your fair catch statistics are really much different than the other returners.
Charlie Rogers: I know one game I had to fair catch every ball. I've been making a lot of fair catches. We stop people, but for some reason we haven't had a lot of opportunities to run punt returns. I don't know if we are getting a lot of turnovers or whatever, but it seems as though we are not really getting opportunities to return punts.

phinatics.com: Most of your fair catches have been considered smart moves, wouldn't you say?
Charlie Rogers: Definitely. I think they were all smart moves. I am holding off calling fair catches to the last second. If there is an opportunity for me to return it, I am going to return it.

phinatics.com: How would you answer critics who say the team's return game has not improved this year, specifically kickoff returns?
Charlie Rogers: We'll wait and see. We're moving up every week, and we still haven't busted a long one yet. One big play will shut the critics up, and we'll be right in the top five. One play.

phinatics.com: The Dolphins are technically your 4th team in 5 NFL seasons, and you signed a one year deal with the Dolphins. What do you think you need to accomplish to make Miami a long term home?
Charlie Rogers: I have to take out the black cloud that is over the return game's head. They haven't scored a touchdown since 1989 on a kickoff return -- and that will do it.

phinatics.com: You grew up in NJ, the state where the hated Jets play, and you've played for the hated Bills. So, how does it feel to be a Miami Dolphin?
Charlie Rogers: It feels great. This is a great football atmosphere, and a great town. We have a lot of fan support. When they show the NFL, or different programs and TV shows about how professional football players actually get treated --- this is the real thing; this is really what you see on TV ... the fans waiting outside, the big tailgate party before the game, how the fans look at the team and how they support the team no matter what, and how the media gets on you when you don't play well. This is big time football -- this is football at its highest plateau.

phinatics.com: Are there any specific areas you are working on improving right now?
Charlie Rogers: I don't know a particular area where I'm working on to get better, but as a whole, I work on everything everyday. Whether it's leading my blocks or catching the ball, I work hard everyday to improve myself. There's not one particular place I am going to pinpoint where I am working on that to get better; I am working on everything everyday.

phinatics.com: What are your goals for this season?
Charlie Rogers: My number one goal is to go to the Super Bowl ... be on a winning team, and go to the Super Bowl, and win the Super Bowl. I've been fortunate to play in the playoffs one time, and that was against the Dolphins, and we lost that game, so I am really anxious to get back in the playoff mode and make some things happen in the playoffs.

phinatics.com: Do you expect to be used very much on offense, or will you be used only as a return man most of the season?
Charlie Rogers: I don't expect to be used on offense, but I'm working hard in practice on getting used in the offense. I think NorvTurner is a great offensive mind, and when the time comes, and the opportunity presents itself, I think I'm going to take advantage of it.

phinatics.com: Your return numbers dropped when you played for Buffalo. What do you think the difference was between their system and Seattle's?
Charlie Rogers: I think honestly Buffalo didn't use their best players. They used five or six of their good core first team guys, and the rest of the guys that did it -- I thought that they were not at the level of all the other guys. Whereas in Seattle, everybody they put out there -- we expected to make plays with those guys. I think Buffalo ... we just filled in guys in some positions. We had our core guys, who were really good players, but some of the fill-in guys weren't up to par, and I don't think we got as many reps as we did in Seattle. In Seattle, we had a whole special teams practice before practice, and in Buffalo we had a practice for special teams but not that many reps.

phinatics.com: So would you say Miami's system is more similar to Buffalo or Seattle's?
Charlie Rogers: More similar to Seattle. Definitely. You'll see the results; they'll come.

phinatics.com: How would you rate Coach Armstrong compared to the other special teams coaches you have worked with in the NFL?
Charlie Rogers: Well, first of all, my college coach, Bob Casullo, is now a special teams coach out in Oakland, he's been there for a couple of years. He was a great coach. He schemed pretty well, and worked you pretty hard. But, the guy I had in Seattle, Pete Rodriquez, he's probably, if not the best, one of the best coaches to ever coach special teams. He's been at it for years. He makes smart game plan decisions. He just drills you to death. I can't say enough good things about the guy; he just knows the game of special teams. Coach Armstrong, he's getting to that level I think. He's the guy that is going to drill you to death. He game plans very well. He's a motivator. I think when he gets a couple of more years under his belt he is going to be recognized as one of the good ones too ... one of the great ones.

phinatics.com: Does Bernie Parmalee help y'all much?
Charlie Rogers: He's actually one of the guys that I deal with a lot. He is the assistant running backs coach also, so he helps me with my ball handling, and when I am back there catching punts with the machine, or catching punts, he's back there giving me different looks as a defender, so yes, he's definitely hands on with the special teams.

phinatics.com: How do you rate the Dolphins special teams against the rest of the NFL?
Charlie Rogers: I think by mid-season for us -- we are a game behind right now because we had a bye week already-- but, by mid-season for us, we will be ranked number one. We are moving up constantly in our punt returns; I think we are ranked ten now. And hopefully over the next two weeks, we will move into the top 5. And, our kickoff returns, we are getting better. We finally got it going last week, and hopefully we will continue to get it going to the top ten and then down to the top five.

phinatics.com: Have you seen some of Dante Hall's TD runs, and if yes, what do you think is going on over there that has helped him break the NFL TD return record?
Charlie Rogers: The thing that I think separates his team and his performance from everybody else in the league is that once he scored the first two, now everybody is expecting him to score, and they feel like they can score. As you can see, besides that one run he made, that amazing punt return he made, in all the others ones he has been getting pretty good looks. On that one punt return, he created it ... you can't say it was a made run. He's been getting good looks -- they're blocking -- they obviously kept a lot of the guys from the previous year.

phinatics.com: Let's talk a little about this year's first game against the Bills. What was your take on the Moulds to Surtain spitting incident?
Charlie Rogers: I've been in meetings with Moulds for a year last year, and I am a good friend of his, and he's a good guy. But, I know how he is during games, in his game mode. He is a tough competitor, he is a relentless guy. I don't know if he spit on Pat, but it's possible.

phinatics.com: What was it like prior to the Bills game for those couple of days you were in the hospital for that staph infection, did it make you feel bad?
Charlie Rogers: Actually, I felt pretty good, my arm was just swollen up. I was just ready to play in the game. If I would have had to taken the IV out of my arm, and run down to the stadium for that game, I was playing.

phinatics.com: How did you feel about your performance against your former team the Bills?
Charlie Rogers: It was average. It wasn't a bad game for me.

phinatics.com: I bet you're looking forward to the next one though, right?
Charlie Rogers: Oh yeah, definitely.

phinatics.com:  What do you think the future holds for the team this season?
Charlie Rogers: As long as we continue to take one game at a time, I think the future can be very very bright -- if we just continue to focus on our opponent and the task at hand.

phinatics.com: Did you notice any kind of big changes in practice this week with the offense?
Charlie Rogers: We're going to be the Dolphins. We're going to do what we do best. We've got a great running back in Ricky Williams. Jay Fiedler has done a great job at managing the situation -- managing the game. We are going to be the Dolphins. Our game plan that we've been using -- that's what we're going to do. We're going to be the Dolphins.

phinatics.com: Do you ever surf the NFL sites or Dolphins message boards to see what writers and fans think of you and/or the team?
Charlie Rogers: No, not at all.

phinatics.com: What is your favorite football or sports movie?
Charlie Rogers: It used to be The Program, but after I saw Remember The Titans, that's the one that touched me most.

phinatics.com: Will you tell me what your 40 time is?
Charlie Rogers: The fastest I've been clocked was a 4.27 -- that was two and half years ago. On a consistent basis, I know I can run a 4.3, mid 4.3's.

phinatics.com: Chan Gailey used to be the offensive coordinator for the Dolphins. Do you like what he's doing at your alma mater?
Charlie Rogers: I think at first he started off pretty slow --- like last year. And, this season they started off with a loss to BYU, but I think he's got it on track. He's won a couple of big games in a row, and hopefully he can continue winning and take them to a Bowl game.

phinatics.com: I was at the practices in Tennessee this year and noticed that you stayed after practice and signed for everybody who wanted your autograph, which was very generous. What is it about you that makes you want to do that when most of the players just go straight to the locker room?
Charlie Rogers: I love to put smiles on people's faces. I am a very regular guy, a very humble guy. I was once in those same situations, and I would have hated it if the guys would have turned their backs on me, so I don't like to do that to other people.