Once the Jets ended the summer's biggest soap opera by waiving Pennington Aug. 7 to make room for Favre, the Dolphins added their own twist the next day when they kept the 32-year-old former Marshall standout in the AFC East by signing Pennington to a two-year deal. Miami's first-year coach, Tony Sparano, installed the veteran as his starter Aug. 25 after Pennington completed 16 of 21 passes for 149 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in his first two exhibition outings.
"I just felt like coming to Miami and being able to help lay the groundwork and build the foundation for what Coach Sparano wants to do, I was interested in that opportunity and excited about it," said Pennington, who will start ahead of rookie Chad Henne, a second-round draft choice out of Michigan, and second-year man John Beck when the 0-2 Dolphins visit Gillette Stadium Sunday to face the 2-0 Patriots.
"I'm sure he'll help them a lot," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of Pennington. "I've always been impressed with Chad ever since he came into the league. I think he's a really smart quarterback, very accurate, good decision maker, and can manage a game and run the team exceptionally well. I thought that he was not going to be in the division when the Jets released him and then it turned out he was in the division. We've still got to face him twice a year."
As do the Jets, who opened against Pennington and the Dolphins. Miami suffered a 20-14 setback Sept. 7 to the New York Bretts, with Pennington completing 26 of 43 passes for 251 yards and a pair of TDs, while throwing one interception and getting sacked four times. Last week, the Dolphins were dealt a 31-10 road loss by Arizona, in which Pennington completed just 10 of 20 passes for 112 yards and was sacked twice.
