Miami ? Practice had just begun when Bill Parcells rose from his sideline chair, walked onto the field and began a brief but animated exchange with Ricky Williams.

A pep talk? Advice about footwork? A tip on how to hit the next hole?

Williams said no, Parcells was merely shooting the breeze.

“He talks to me every once in a while, and usually it’s chitchat stuff — politics or baseball,” Williams said. “He knows a lot of stuff.”

One thing Parcells knows is how to run the ball, which the Miami Dolphins do better than anyone else. Thanks to the one-two punch of Ronnie Brown and Williams, the Miami Ground Machine leads the NFL in rushing with an average of 183.5 yards per game.

The Dolphins might even be good enough to run on Rex Ryan. They’ll try tonight against his New York Jets, who have allowed only three offensive touchdowns this season.

“It’s probably not going to be for the meek on either side of the ball,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said.

The stakes in the standings will be substantial. Defending AFC East champion Miami (1-3), sabotaged early in the season by turnovers and a shaky secondary, wants to climb back into the race. The improved Jets (3-1) believe they have a shot at the division title and more.

“This conference isn’t big enough for too many bullies,” Miami linebacker Joey Porter said. “We still feel the AFC East goes through Miami.”

Even with a first-place team, Miami couldn’t run on Ryan’s defense last year, when he was coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. They beat the Dolphins in the regular season and again in the playoffs, holding Miami to 71 and 52 yards rushing, respectively.

“I would think he would look at what he did with Baltimore last year and figure that’s a good plan,” Miami offensive coordinator Dan Henning said.