Chad Pennington the starter?

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolchad081808,0,5655922.story

Chad Pennington the starter?

By Harvey Fialkov
Sun-Sentinel.com

2:17 PM EDT, August 18, 2008

DAVIE - Although Dolphins coach Tony Sparano refused to name his starting quarterback for the season opener against the Jets, even he admitted it was getting, "obvious,'' that Chad Pennington will start while rookie Chad Henne or Josh McCown will be the No. 2 guy.

"I mean obviously, I think we're getting close to the answer to that right now but we still have some things to do this week in practice,'' Sparano said. "I mean Chad Pennington went into the game in the beginning of the game, [and] I thought he played really well, certainly what I expected him to do from a game management standpoint. I knew he would manage the game well that way and move the team and get the team's attention early in the game, which I thought was important, but I wanted to see that. Our coaches wanted to see that and I think for Chad, he needed to be in that huddle and do those things.''

Henne played nearly three full quarters in relief of Pennington, and completed 17 of 26 for 133 yards for a 77.9 passer rating while leading three field-goal scoring drives.

"I wanted to see some situations he was placed in, maybe running the two-minute drill,'' Sparano said. "That deal at the end of the first half was really critical and he did a nice job in a situation we really wanted to gain six yards. … He executed the play perfectly just before we kicked the field goal.''

Sparano was referring to Henne's 7-yard pass completion to receiver Ted Ginn Jr., to set up Dan Carpenter's 46-yard field goal as time ran out in the half.

SPARANO PRAISES ROOKIE CLASS

Sparano said that rookie defensive end Kendall Langford, who nicked his elbow Saturday, is fine and will practice.

"When you watch Langford and [Phillip] Merling out there and you see them compete against their first-team group I was impressed by that,'' Sparano said of his rookie defensive ends. "Also, [guard] Donald Thomas and Jake [Long] playing against better people this week, so it was nice to see that.''

Sparano continues to be pleased with undrafted rookie receivers Davone Bess and Anthony Armstrong, who had five catches between them.

He also singled out veteran tight end David Martin for his blocking skills when playing the H-back role, and praised

INJURY UPDATE

Outside linebacker Charlie Anderson is still out with a hamstring injury, but defensive end Vonnie Holliday, who has yet to play in the first two exhibition games because of a tweaked hamstring, is expected to return to practice today. Rookie guard Shawn Murphy, who rolled an ankle last week, is not practicing.