Chad Pennington Career questionable, Dolphins in trouble
It’s been a while since Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington threw a pass. He has been out of the game since the 3rd week of the 2009 season. Pennington injured his shoulder last year and missed the remainder of the season. He did not start
for the Dolphins until this Sunday. There was excitement among Miami fans when the quarterback returned to the field against the Tennessee Titans but that might just be short lived.
Pennington perhaps was too eager to get back into the game, which could end up costing him his career. On Sunday Pennington threw his first pass in over a year and re-injured his shoulder. The quarterback had three surgeries performed on his shoulder already.
He had been through extensive physical therapy and said that he felt ready for the rigours of professional football. After that first pass, Chad should have known that it was time to get off the field. Instead of doing what he should, Pennington asked a teammate
Ronnie Brown to pop his shoulder back into place. “I'm scared. I don't want to pull it too hard — I'll mess it up,” Brown said. “I gave a small tug.”
Of course that didn’t help. After that second play it was obvious Pennington wouldn’t be able to play. The Dolphins called a timeout and Chad Henne, who had been benched and replaced by pennington earlier that week, replaced Pennington. Pennington has been
placed on the injured reserve and is out for the rest of the season. Dolphins coach Tony Soprano said. This might be the end of the line for the 34 year old and a very tough week for the Dolphins. In that same Titans game, Miami also lost Chad Henne.
Henne injured his left knee and there is no word whether he would be able to play Chicago this Thursday. A Thursday game means there is less time for Henne to recover and almost no time at all for him to practice. There are signs that Henne won’t be returning
to the field soon. The Dolphins have been looking at free agent quarterbacks and that suggests that the Henne situation won’t be resolved at least until Thursday. There have been reports that the Dolphins contacted free agents Patrick Ramsey, JaMarcus Russel
and Tom Brandstater.
On Sunday, late in the third quarter, Henne’s knee cap was hit and bent forward. The quarterback left the locker room on crutches and an MRI has been scheduled to reveal the extent of his injuries. Henne is just as eager to get back on field as Pennington
was. He said that if he could move freely, he would play the Chicago Bears this Thursday. “Obviously, I'm not going to be the one to baby my knee,” Henne said. That is assuming Henne can be ready to play Thursday or even next week. Pennington is out for good
and Henne probably won’t be back too soon. The Dolphins need quarterbacks and they need to look out for whoever replaces the Chads.
On Monday veteran Ramsey was signed after tryouts. Ramsey hasn’t played since 2008 but at this point the Dolphins can’t be picky. Miami doesn’t just have quarterback issues. Tackle Jake Long is also out with a shoulder injury. Soprano said that Jake was
a ‘pretty tough guy.’ Tough enough to finish Sundays game even with his injury. Soprano said that the Dolphins had a lot of guys not ready to play and that they were sorting through it all.
In all likelihood Tyler Thigpen would be the starting quarterback for Miami against Chicago with Patrick Ramsey as his backup. Thigpen played impressively against the Titans after Pennington and Henne left the field. Thigpen led the Dolphins on an 85 yard
touchdown drive that secured the win for Miami. He completed 6 passes for 64 yards, including a touchdown pass against one of the strongest defences in the league. The Dolphins could do a lot worse.
Tags: