11/01 — Darian Barnes wasn't nicknamed "Full-Tilt" with the Dolphins for nothing. The hard-hitting fullback expressed his remorse while sitting in front of his locker today for taking Wednesday's tackling drill to such an extreme that rookie DE Mike DeVito came out of it with an injured shoulder.

"I'm sorry that happened," Barnes said. "These are my teammates. I love these guys. I just lost sight of the drill and I went with my instincts to hit him."

The goals of the "thud" tackling drills that head coach Eric Mangini has brought back during the regular season are for the offensive players to avoid contact and the defenders to initiate it.

"The advantage in that drill always goes to the runner," Mangini said. "You've got 12 yards of space, you've got 15 yards of distance between you and the tackler. You know, if you do have a lot of contact, that usually means you weren't very elusive in your running. ... Darian doesn't mind initiating contact, and sometimes that's what you have to deal with as a defender."

"I'm hard-wired to be a lead blocker," Barnes said. "I'm trying to get Laveranues to teach me some moves. I'm going to learn how to juke. It's all part of my plan to become a ninja when I'm done playing football."

Be that as it may, Barnes also said in the back of his mind, he might have been looking to release some pent-up energy after being deactivated for Sunday's game vs. Buffalo.

"Probably subconsciously it was," he said. "It's been too long and something just clicked off."

This was all in the spirit of a lighthearted locker room after an unfortunate collision the day before, which has DeVito listed at limited in practice, less than a week after he made his pro debut vs. the Bills.

But it raises the question some fans have asked: Where in the world is Darian Barnes? He looked smashing as he paved the way for Thomas Jones' 130-yard rushing day against the Eagles, but he averages fewer than 20 offensive snaps a game when he plays, and Buffalo was the third game out of eight that he's been deactivated.

The plan to use Barnes, Mangini said, "changes with multiple receivers, carrying two or three tight ends. You always have to make that decision. And then it comes down to who is going to give you the most on special teams.

"A personnel group is a small percentage of the package. And the player you bring to the game isn't going to get 10, 15, 20 plays on special teams. It's hard to justify carrying that package into the game when you could carry another player for a package that you're going to use a lot."

So Barnes' use could continue to be game-plan-specific. But we do know these things: When No. 37's in the game, opponents will feel his presence. And he has a long memory. He remembers, for instance, an exchange with the Lions' Cory Schlesinger last season on a kickoff return.

"He hit me so hard I went blind for a couple of seconds," Barnes said. "I still want to hit him for that."