ESPN NFL

DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano needs a quarterback controversy like he needs scurvy.

The Dolphins might be on the verge of one, and on Wednesday Sparano might have advanced the issue at his news conference, praising rookie Chad Henne for his performance against the same defense starter Chad Pennington looked mediocre against.

Pennington was unable to generate much of anything through three quarters of Sunday's 31-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He went 10 of 20 for 112 yards. He failed to get inside the Arizona 38-yard line on six of his seven possessions.

Henne played almost the entire fourth quarter in his NFL debut. The second-round pick from Michigan completed seven of his 12 passes for 67 yards and led the Dolphins on their lone touchdown drive, a remarkable 18-play possession that traveled 89 yards and lasted 7:04.

Asked if Henne's effectiveness was aided by the Cardinals playing with such a huge lead, Sparano bristled.

"I didn't see any JV guys out there," Sparano said. "I saw the varsity out there. I don't think they changed what they were doing. All of a sudden, they [weren't] running prevent defense, rushing three people. They still rushed people. They even pressured him a few times in there. They hit him once or twice.

"I think in the Arizona Cardinals' mind, they wanted the score to be 31-3, not 31-10. So I think that they were doing everything they could at that point.

"I thought [Henne] did a good job of executing under those circumstances. Now, with that being said, Chad knows and we know that there were a couple of things that he could have done differently, too."

A version of the obvious followup question was asked:

If Henne could play so well in the fourth quarter against an NFL starting defense that was playing hard, then couldn't he do it from the start of a game?

The normally elaborative Sparano detected the direction of the question. He slammed on the brakes and reiterated his Pennington preference.

"I don't know about that right now," Sparano replied. "No difference in the defense, but I don't know that right now. I don't know if he could or not.

"I have my quarterback. He's the guy that's playing."