Miami Dolphins [10] quarterback Chad Henne is getting a second opinion on a season-ending shoulder injury. While the Dolphins await the results of more tests on Henne's left shoulder, head coach Tony Sparano is looking for a replacement during the bye week.
Apparently, Jake Delhomme, David Garrard, Brodie Croyle and Trent Edwards have all been contacted as potential options to fill in for Henne. Garrard's agent says he will not sign with Miami, while Edwards and Croyle were at the Dolphins' facilities working out for the coaching staff. Delhomme reportedly declined the workout invitation.
The real question Dolphins' fan need to ask themselves is: Is losing the starting quarterback this year a bad thing? The answer to that question is definitively NO. That is right, having Brodie Croyle as your starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2011 season is actually a huge step in the right direction.
And no, not because he is going to win football games. Precisely the opposite is true, actually. Croyle under center ensures one key facet to the rebuilding of the Miami Dolphins franchise: The drafting of Stanford quarterback prodigy Andrew Luck with the first pick in the 2012 NFL [11] Draft.
The remainder of the schedule is downright brutal for the Dolphins. The Fish have to play the entire NFC East, New England, the Jets and Bills twice each and Oakland. That leaves a Week 7 match-up with Denver and a Week 9 contest against Kansas City as the only winnable games left on the schedule. A 2-14 record would all but guarantee the Dolphins the worst record in the NFL and the chance to draft Luck with the first overall pick in the April draft.
So cheer up Miami fans, you now have plenty to root for in 2011.
It just won't involve Chad Henne — or winning football games.
-by Braden Gall (@AthlonBraden [12] on twitter)
