Dolphins name Pennington starter
Sports Network | August 25, 2008
Davie, FL (Sports Network) - The Miami Dolphins made it official on Monday and selected Chad Pennington as their starting quarterback.
Pennington was signed by the Dolphins just a few days after his release from the New York Jets, who had just acquired Brett Favre from Green Bay. The Dolphins will open the season at home against Pennington's old team on September 7.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to lead this team," said Pennington in a statement on Monday. "We've worked extremely hard over the last two weeks. I'm proud to be a Miami Dolphin."
Pennington really didn't have much competition for the starter's job, as second-year pro John Beck, veteran Josh McCown and rookie Chad Henne were also vying for the position.
The Dolphins, just 1-15 a year ago, have won each of the preseason games Pennington has played.
In his first outing against Jacksonville, Pennington connected on 5-of-6 throws for 55 yards in limited action. Against the Chiefs this past weekend, he completed 11-of-15 passes for 94 yards with a touchdown in a 24-0 win.
The 32-year-old Pennington, who was the Jets' first-round pick in 2000, ranks first in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 attempts with a 65.6 completion percentage. In all, he is 1,259-for-1,919 with 13,738 yards and 82 touchdowns along with 55 interceptions in 70 games (61 starts).
Injuries have been a problem for the Marshall product, though, as he broke his wrist in 2003 and had two rotator cuff operations in eight months in 2005, which limited him to just three games that season.
He won NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2006 as he threw for a career-high 3,352 yards with 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while leading the Jets to the playoffs and starting every game for the first time.
Pennington struggled mightily last season, going 1-7 as the starter, and was benched after Week 8 in favor of Kellen Clemens. The Jets finished the year 4-12, third place in the AFC East.
