Pennington's loss hits hard

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Here was the sight that had to be Dolphins' biggest nightmare.

This was early in the third quarter of what would become a 23-13 loss to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. Face down Sunday near the Dolphins' 35-yard-line at Qualcomm Stadium were their starting quarterback, Chad Pennington, and their franchise left tackle, Jake Long.

While Long was able to limp off and return to action, Pennington was done for the day and perhaps much longer with an unspecified injury to his throwing shoulder.

Further examination, including an MRI, is scheduled for Monday on the same shoulder Pennington has had surgically repaired twice before.

"Right now," Pennington said, "I'm really in a state of shock."

So is a Dolphins team that opened the year intent on defending its AFC East championship but has fallen into a 0-3 hole. Just three teams since 1990 have started 0-3 and rallied to make the playoffs: '92 Chargers, '95 Lions and '98 Bills.

Divisional play begins Sunday at home for the Dolphins with consecutive games against Buffalo and the unbeaten New York Jets.

"You can't put your lip out too long here," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. Certainly in our division, nobody is going to feel sorry for us out there. We're 0-3. It's not good. It's not acceptable. It's not OK to be 0-3 right now. "

Even if those three losses have come against fellow playoff teams from 2008, including the Falcons and Colts.

"We knew we had a tough schedule coming into the season," left guard Justin Smiley said. "But we had a lot of faith in our guys, too. We felt like we were really good. I still feel like we're good. We just have to find a way to do it. We're right there, but right there doesn't get you in the playoffs."

 

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Like it or not, Miami Dolphins now have to depend on Chad Henne


At 0-3, what possible difference does it make which Chad is in there getting chopped up? That's what a single-minded minority of Miami Dolphins fans will be saying Monday if the news comes down that Chad Pennington is out for the season, or at least for an extended period, with a throwing shoulder injured in Sunday's 23-13 loss at San Diego.

Play Chad Henne, that's the murmur that grows to a growl whenever Pennington, the old pro, tries a deep throw and misses speedy Ted Ginn Jr. or whoever else is out there. The kid's got a real arm. The kid's got a future.Well, the future is now for the Dolphins, and it doesn't promise any of the bounceback magic that took Miami from 0-2 last season to a division championship at 11-5.

"It's definitely going to help having a full week to get ready for the next game," said Henne, who gave the Dolphins a 6-3 lead on a 12-play field-goal drive immediately after Pennington's injury. "I'll be getting more reps with the first unit, getting more game film underneath my belt and getting on the same page with receivers."

If, however, picking up the playbook and wielding it as an efficient weapon were as easy as all that, every quarterback with half a brain would be halfway to the Hall of Fame.

Henne, the backup turned boss, is a grab bag of possibilities. He led the Dolphins to their only touchdown of the game Sunday, but that was after he gave one away on a pass that was clumsily telegraphed to Davone Bess and noisily returned 31 yards for a Chargers score by safety Eric Weddle.

Pennington, for all his physical limitations, saved Miami's season last summer just by showing up midway through camp. He's "a war daddy," as teammate Justin Smiley colorfully puts it, with 80 starts in the league.

He knows what he is doing.

Henne knows just enough to be dangerous. A guy like him needs the mind-blowing murder of on-the-job training, and he'll get it now at a pace far different than those make-believe games of pre-season. Prepare for a bumpy ride, and prolong your judgment until 2010. By then, the four-year starter at Michigan may be all the way up to this new and totally unforgiving job, and the Dolphins may be back to thinking playoff.

"I'm very confident in Chad," coach Tony Sparano said of Henne, whose 27-yard sideline completion to Ronnie Brown in the fourth quarter was the longest of Miami's season. "We tried to get him as many reps and as many quarters as we possibly could in the pre-season and as many throws in training camp as we could.

"I don't think that we would have to cut the game plan down if it (saying goodbye to Pennington) were something that we would have to do."

Maybe, but an expanded commitment to the Wildcat package would be the best thing Sparano could do for Henne. Miami averaged 4.8 yards on the ground Sunday because of it, and stubbornly running the ball is the only way for the Dolphins to scrape out a win or two from a coming gauntlet of opponents that includes New Orleans, New England and two doses of the Jets between now and early November.

Bill Parcells will need to find Henne a veteran backup, too, if Pennington can't come back. Pat White, a frivolous second-round pick to begin with, has even less business being around an NFL huddle now.

"Sometimes it takes injuries and stuff like that for stars to emerge," said Smiley. "Chad Henne has the makeup to do it. It's going to be up to us up front to protect him and we're going to make some plays, that's for sure."

For sure? That phrase has yet to get much of a foothold in 2009.

From January's jarring 27-9 playoff loss to Baltimore until this unsettling moment in September, the Dolphins have been frustrated losers.

Even the Detroit Lions have won a game more recently than Miami. In short, everything that went absolutely right for the Dolphins, including a lack of serious injuries, is going absolutely wrong this time around.

Dreamers, of course, may remember that Dan Marino got his first NFL start at home against Buffalo after stepping in for a benched David Woodley, and, barring a shocking reversal of fortune for Pennington, home against the Bills is exactly what's staring Henne in the face Sunday.

Among the many obvious differences, though, is the fact that Marino took over a Miami team coming off a Super Bowl appearance.

Today's Dolphins are not fully formed, from a No. 1 receiver (Ted Ginn Jr.) who didn't catch a pass Sunday to a defensive secondary that couldn't prevent Philip Rivers from completing passes of 55 and 47 yards, and that was with double coverage on the targeted receivers.

"Chad (Henne) will be fine," Pennington said. "He's supported me and I'll support him and he'll be fine."

If by "fine" he means functional, I agree. If he's talking Miami winning more games than it loses, that ship hasn't exactly sailed. It has sunk instead, and the salvage project is bound to get nastier than anything Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony or the Williams sisters signed on for in a summer of glorious hope.

 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8bzZEtOcb8

 

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ESPN is reporting that Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Chad Pennington is out for the season.

Pennington has been diagnosed with a torn capsule in his right shoulder, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting. Pennington will seek a second opinion from orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews, who has performed two shoulder surgeries on the quarterback.



Pennington underwent an MRI on Monday to determine whether he suffered a season-ending tear to his right rotator cuff.

According to a source close to Pennington, even after the MRI exam, there might not be any final determination on the extent of the damage or how long he might be sidelined.

The source said Pennington, who dislocated the shoulder in Sunday's 23-13 loss to the Chargers when he was hit by linebacker Kevin Burnett, could request to be examined later this week by Dr. James Andrews, the noted Birmingham, Ala.-based orthopedic specialist who performed surgery on the quarterback's shoulder in 2005. The shoulder has been operated on twice.

According to the source, sometimes shoulder injuries are misdiagnosed.

It's likely the Dolphins will remain silent about the extent of the injury until it's definitive.

A day after Pennington injured his shoulder, which was dislodged and immediately popped back in by the team's trainers on the field, coach Tony Sparano said he is still gathering information on the Dolphins starter and "won't rule anything out" regarding Pennington's playing status.

If there is no tear to the rotator cuff, it's possible that Pennington could return in a week or two.

Though Sparano didn't know the details, he did speak on what the potential loss of Pennington would mean to the team.

"If, and again I don't know the details so I'd rather not go down that road; but the leadership thing can't be water off the duck's back, I think it's a major issue. [We would miss] I think experience of a guy of his caliber in the huddle like that," Sparano said. "We'll see what happens, we aren't sure."

Pennington was runner-up in MVP voting last year, when he threw for 3,653 yards with 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. This season he has one touchdown and two interceptions in his three starts. Sparano also said he's gathering information on linebacker Joey Porter, who is nursing a hamstring injury but played for most of Sunday's game.

"Joey gave us 24 or 25 solid plays and just there at the end kind of tightened back up again. I think he's sore right now," Sparano said.