The stuff that Todd Bowles is concerned about this week seems on the surface important because a victory against the hated New York Jets is the first thing on his mind. So he’s worried about Jake Long’s health and making sure his replacement is ready. He’s thinking about how to get the Dolphins to play hard because they didn’t do that in the season finale last year. He’s concerned about getting tight end Anthony Fasano back in the lineup, something everyone expects.

But all those thoughts rattling around in the interim coach’s head are basically much sound and fury signifying nothing.

The stuff everyone is truly interested in and talking about today is which direction the Dolphins are going in the next month, not next weekend.

Yes, this team might be focused on Sunday, but fans and the team’s brain trust are probably more focused on what happens after this final game is played — because the memory of one game will soon fade but what happens this offseason will affect the franchise for years.

If the Dolphins plan it right — something that isn’t always a certainty — there should be a news conference next Monday or Tuesday and at that point owner Stephen Ross will announce a grand new direction for his franchise.

On a rare occasion when Ross spoke to me privately this season, he promised to “not be passive” this offseason. He promised “smart moves that will cause people to sit up and take notice.”

He also, in a bolder moment, said he has been “thinking about the offseason for a while, talking to a lot of people,” and suggested big things are about to happen.

The sense I got is Ross intends to win the offseason and have that carry over into next season.

So maybe next week he introduces Carl Peterson as the club’s new president in charge of bridging the divide between football operations and the business side of the organization. Maybe that announcement is followed by a well-thought and carefully executed plan for hiring Miami’s 10th coach, a man fans will find competent and capable and worthy of respect.

Or maybe the league sources who insist Peterson is being hired are wrong and there is no Peterson introduction — ever.

Quick launch

But if Ross is on his game, he’s still in front of the media 24 to 48 hours after the season ends to announce the launch of that coach search that will capture the imagination of fans for days if not weeks.

The point is the Dolphins at some point after Sunday should turn the page on what has been a terribly disappointing time and signal a new day and new direction is about to dawn.

Ross, a man who loves orange carpets and glitz at his football stadium, should realize this is the right time for a big gathering to announce the start of what we all hope is a big showing this offseason.

Ross in the coming month or so will interview a handful, maybe more, of candidates to fill Miami’s coaching vacancy. It is only the most important decision the owner must make since he committed $1.1 billion to purchase the team.

And, of course, it will be a difficult decision.

I know Ross values experience. He values a person’s history when he’s hiring. He values a person’s name. He values energy and charisma.

Feeling the heat

I also know Ross feels pressure to get this right because his franchise’s future in both the standings and in the stands hang in the balance.

If Ross doesn’t find the right man to coach the Dolphins now, fans will continue to stay away as they did this year. If Ross doesn’t land the right guy, the losing will continue as it has throughout an ownership tenure that has yet to taste a winning season.

There is no room for error here.

So whom is Ross going to hire?

Everyone says a star — a Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher or Jeff Fisher. It is interesting, however, that the candidate list general manager Jeff Ireland will hand over to the owner will include all types of candidates.

That means past Super Bowl winners will be on it, but so will hot coordinators, and so will some retreads, such as Brian Billick. It’ll be a comprehensive list that Ross must pore over.

I wouldn’t expect Ross to give any hints in which direction he’s headed. He’ll have his advisers give their opinions. He’ll listen to Ireland. But this decision will belong to him.

And that hire and the decision to hire Peterson or not will set the stage for next season and beyond. It certainly will make us forget the small detail of playing one more game this season.

FORT LAUDERDALE —
So much for the Miami Dolphins having nothing to play for in the regular-season finale.

Not only do they get one more shot at the New York Jets, they are in position to end their rival’s season earlier than expected. The Jets need to defeat the Dolphins on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium to have any shot of making the playoffs.

“We have one more game left, which is part of our journey and we’re going to finish strong,” receiver Brandon Marshall said. “Try to get this last win and go into the offseason with a little bit of momentum and build off of that.”

The Jets (8-7) hurt their postseason hopes by losing Saturday’s game against the New York Giants. They must defeat the Dolphins and need the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals to lose. A loss by either the Oakland Raiders or Denver Broncos is also required.

Despite the circumstances, the Dolphins say they need little motivation to play this game. It’s been their motto since they were eliminated from postseason contention.

“It just speaks to the character of the men in this room,” guard Richie Incognito said. “We don’t quit. We just fight and keep swinging. That’s been our mentality all year.”

Source: Long tore bicep

The Dolphins likely will finish the season without standout left tackle Jake Long, who a source said tore his right bicep during Saturday’s 27-24 loss to the Patriots.

Long, who made 62 consecutive starts before missing the game against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago with a back injury, hurt his arm in the first half against New England and didn’t return.

John Jerry replaced Long for the second consecutive game, and will likely replace him as the starting left tackle for Sunday’s season finale against the Jets.

The Dolphins gave up five sacks to the Patriots and have allowed 51 sacks in 15 games. With two more sacks allowed, the offense would tie the 1969 Dolphins for the most sacks allowed in a single-season (53).

Of the five panelists asked to pick the AFC East, four had the Dolphins finishing third and I picked them to finish second. Here’s my intelligence report on Miami:

Five things you need to know about the Dolphins:

1. Henne must improve: Chad Henne needs to play better in 2011 than he did a year ago. He just didn’t convert enough big plays to throw as many interceptions as he did (19). Still, I do think he was slightly unfairly criticized and I think he can revive his career, especially since Miami was quite proactive this offseason in getting him a lot of help at surrounding positions. And as Football Outsiders so adeptly notes, Henne was the most “unlucky” quarterback in the league last year as far as interceptions — no quarterback paid more for his mistakes. This offense also has to get more aggressive with play calling. But any way you cut it, the Dolphins will go only as far as Henne can take them.

2. Defense is elite: I love the Dolphins’ defense. Led by a very deep but greatly underappreciated defensive line, I fully expect Miami to have one of the top three or four defenses in the league. Vontae Davis and Cameron Wake are budding superstars with a ton of big-play potential, but young complementary players like Sean Smith and Koa Misi are also quite effective — and should only be getting better. This defense needs to do a better job of taking the football away, and I don’t love its free safety situation, but all in all, there are only a couple of NFL defenses that I rank ahead of the Dolphins’. And Mike Nolan is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.

3. The Reggie Bush effect: As a former second overall pick in the draft, many consider the often-injured Bush a bust. I am not going to say that Bush was worth such a lofty draft slot, but I will tell you that he can make a major difference in Miami. Bush is as much wide receiver as he is running back, which makes accounting for him extremely difficult when he is on the field. Do you play nickel or base defense when he is the lead back? If you chose the smaller, more athletic defensive personnel, Miami will run the ball with Bush. If you chose the heavier base set, the Dolphins can split Bush away from the formation and get a coverage mismatch against a linebacker. His stats are not extraordinary, but Bush’s effect on the game can be. Bush and Brandon Marshall should quickly become Henne’s best friends.

4. Offensive line rebuilt: Henne isn’t very fleet of foot. He struggles against interior pass-rush pressure, which was a big problem a year ago. In turn, Miami used its mid first-round pick on the best interior offensive lineman in the draft, Mike Pouncey, who is penciled in as the starting center. Former right tackle Vernon Carey has moved to right guard. That move is a bit curious, though, as I have major reservations about now-starting right tackle Marc Colombo. The plan is that the revamped line should help an ailing running game while also providing better interior protection for the immobile Henne.

5. More team speed: Miami clearly made a concerted effort to become a faster team this offseason. On offense, the Dolphins added a burner at wide receiver, Clyde Gates, who should open room for the Dolphins’ other skill positions. We touched on Bush’s potential effect in this offense, but clearly he is an improvement just in terms of his pure speed compared to the running backs from a year ago. Miami desperately needs more big plays on offense. On defense, the addition that really sticks out is every-down linebacker Kevin Burnett, who is replacing the slower run-stuffing Channing Crowder. Burnett’s athletic ability and extreme versatility should serve Miami very well, especially when dealing with the Patriots’ wide array of tight ends and running backs who can torture a defense from a matchup standpoint. He should make a very formidable inside linebacker pair with Karlos Dansby in Miami’s 3-4 scheme.

If you were at Sun Life Stadium on Friday night you might have seen something in the third quarter that maybe you never had before. It was Chad Henne, the Dolphins quarterback, and Brandon Marshall, the team’s top receiver, standing next to one another on the sideline. Talking.

The conversation lasted for a while. And provided further evidence that the two are indeed working to build a positive relationship – something that didn’t exist during a tumultuous 2010 season. I wrote about where things stand with Henne and Marshall in a story published right here.

I wrote about this in the story but it’s worth repeating here, too: After the preseason victory against Carolina on Friday night, Marshall went out of his way to praise Henne. Marshall said:

“I love how Chad Henne took over the offense. He’s just done a tremendous job of taking over the huddle. You need that in a quarterback. The talent is there, but the leadership he’s shown from the offseason into this camp has been amazing, a huge difference. He’s helping us out a lot and getting guys in the right places.”

Henne shared the kind words. About Marshall, Henne said:

“Well, you definitely look at the match-ups out there and if he’s one-on-one we’re going to try to get the ball and some of the plays are designated, he’s the first in progression and he was open so I hit him, but you just take like it is, he’s a playmaker, you want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible.”

No, it wouldn’t be fair to call this a bromance just yet. Henne and Marshall still have a ways to go to build the kind of chemistry that some quarterbacks share with their top receivers.

But scenes like the one the pair shared on the sideline suggest that maybe that kind of chemistry is possible. At the least, it suggests that both guys are moving past a difficult first season of working together.