--CB Michael Lehan was released by Miami from its injured reserve list. He was placed on injured reserve Aug. 18 with a hamstring injury. The six-year veteran is free to sign with another team now.

--SS Yeremiah Bell leads the Dolphins with a career-best 97 tackles with seven passes defensed and three forced fumbles.

--CB Will Allen leads the team with 14 passes defensed and three interceptions to go with 45 tackles and a forced fumble.

--WR Chris Hannon, who was signed off the 49ers practice squad last week, said the Dolphins have picked his brain a little for inside information but nothing too detailed such as audibles and play-calling, just what they do in certain situations. Last month, the Dolphins signed DT Joe Cohen, who was with the 49ers last season.

--RB Jalen Parmele was poached from the practice squad earlier this week by the Ravens. Tony Sparano said those are the risks you take by keeping raw draft picks stashed on the practice squad instead of the 53-man roster, where they can't be swiped. "Not so much a blow but a young guy we drafted and thought a lot about. Guy had some other options. I'm happy for Jalen but that happens. We've done that to other people right now where we've been able to grab a guy off someone else's practice squad. It's that time of year, holiday season," Sparano joked.

--TE/FB Chris Brown, an undrafted player out of Tennessee, was signed to the Dolphins practice squad after being released by the Jaguars.

--G Brandon Frye is expected to rotate between right guard and left guard again, spelling both Andy Alleman and Ike Ndukwe.

--CB Nate Jones, who had been mostly a special teams stalwart and used in dime situations, replaced CB Jason Allen as the nickel cornerback against the Bills. Allen has been nursing a broken right hand.

GAME PLAN: From the ain't broke, don't fix game plan, the Dolphins will continue to utilize a short passing attack, particularly on first down, where they are ranked second in the NFL with 6.03 yards, mixed in with misdirection handoffs to RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. They'll certainly bring out the Wildcat, although it hasn't been as effective in recent weeks. Defensively, they'll use OLB Joey Porter and his league-leading 16.5 sacks to pressure QB Shaun Hill, who is only 5-2 as a starter over his seven-year career as mostly a backup, while focusing on stopping RB Frank Gore or DeShaun Foster, depending on Gore's ankle. Foster has a penchant for fumbling and the 49ers are worst in the NFL with a minus-14 turnover ratio compared to Miami's league-leading plus-12.

Miami will use shutdown CB Will Allen on future Hall of Fame WR Isaac Bruce, who attended high school in nearby Fort Lauderdale.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: WR Davone Bess has 20 catches for 245 yards in the last three games and has dramatically picked up the slack for WR Greg Camarillo's season-ending knee injury, will go up against veteran CB Nate Clements, who missed the last game with a broken thumb. It was the first missed game of his eight-year career. Clements, a 2004 Pro Bowl player, had a pin inserted into the thumb this week and practiced Wednesday. He has 17 career forced fumbles and 29 interceptions, including two this season. Clements has eight career touchdowns, five on pick-sixes, two on punt returns and the other came on a return of a blocked field goal against the Giants last month. He signed an $80 million free-agent deal with San Francisco last season. With his 39 catches, Bess needs four more receptions to surpass former Colts WR Terrence Wilkins' 43 to become the second-most productive undrafted rookie receiver in NFL history, trailing only former Jets WR Wayne Chrebet, who had 66 in 1995.

RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams have combined for more than 200 yards against the Patriots this season and five times have gone over 100, but they'll have their hands full against the 49ers and tackling machine ILB Patrick Willis. Willis, the NFL Rookie of the Year last season with a league-leading 226 tackles, already has 153 stops this season (according to 49ers stats). He also has a team-high 11 passes defensed, a sack, a forced fumble and recovery, and an interception return for a TD. Despite the loss of starting LG Justin Smiley, Brown and Williams are coming off a combined 110-yard outing against the Bills. They'll need some push from inexperienced guards Andy Alleman and Ike Ndukwe.

INJURY IMPACT: The loss of LG Justin Smiley wasn't as damaging as expected in last week's win over the offensively challenged Bills, but the 49ers have improved against the run since Mike Singletary took over and are 15th in the league so expect LB Patrick Willis to go at Smiley's replacement, Andy Alleman and/or Brandon Frye. If 49ers RB Frank Gore sits out with a sprained left ankle, expect Miami to stuff the box and dare QB Shaun Hill to beat them.

--CB Jason Allen is on the injury list with a hand injury but has practiced all week. CB Nate Jones took his nickel spot last week, relegating Allen to mostly special teams.