They weren't looking at one another when they spoke Tuesday, instead watching their team run through plays while both stood on the sideline, one man in front of the other, inside the Dolphins' indoor practice facility.
Vice president of football operations Bill Parcells turned his neck and shot a few words toward injured linebacker Joey Porter. Then Porter, who is facing a daily struggle becasue of strange back injury, returned a few thoughts of his own.
It went on for five minutes.
''Basically, he was telling me to stop pouting,'' Porter said. ``He sees me over there frustrated as hell, and he's telling me to stop looking like it's the end of the world. But it's easy to say that to somebody when you're not going through it.
``When something like this happens, it's hard for me to not show that I'm frustrated.''
How is that for a twist? If Parcells' highly publicized history has taught us anything, there would be no reason to expect him to acknowledge Porter at all, let alone tell him to chill out.
