Green draws boos in Dolphins debut as Miami beats Jacksonville 18-17

MIAMI (AP) -- About the only thing new quarterback Trent Green led the Miami Dolphins offense to Saturday night was a smattering of boos.

Green struggled in his Dolphins debut, underthrowing receivers and managing just 60 yards on 6-for-15 passing with one interception in Miami's 18-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Green, the Dolphins' biggest offseason acquisition, took every snap in the first half and led the Dolphins to just four first downs in six possessions. He exited amid boos from the crowd at Dolphin Stadium in four of his last five drives, and led Miami to only one scoring drive -- a 26-yard field goal by Jay Feely.

"He is still clever in the pocket," Miami coach Cam Cameron said. "We'll get our protection units squared away."

Patrick Cobbs' 3-yard touchdown run, followed by his two-point conversion run, provided the winning score for the Dolphins with 3:46 left -- on a drive led by rookie quarterback John Beck, who was 3-for-5 for 23 yards in the series.

Josh Scobee missed a 43-yard field from the dirt with 42 seconds left to seal Miami's victory. Scobee made an NFL-best 14 field goals last season between 40 and 49 yards.

Earlier this week, Cameron seemed to stir up some quarterback controversy, or maybe just some competition. Green and backup Cleo Lemon were listed in the first-team column as co-starters on Cameron's depth chart before the game.

The only thing separating them was a slash between their names, and the team's exhibition opener didn't seem to spell any separation. The loudest ovation of the night went to Beck when he entered early in the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars, who ranked second in the NFL in rushing last season with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, have said that this training camp is all about fine-tuning the passing game. They didn't shy away from throwing in their first of four exhibition games.

Byron Leftwich was 7-for-11 passing for 78 yards and a touchdown in his first game for Jacksonville since a loss against the Houston Texans on Oct. 22, when he suffered a sprained left ankle and later had season-ending surgery.

Leftwich dazzled Miami when he managed to stay off the ground. He was pressured constantly by the Dolphins defense, who played without reigning defensive player of the year Jason Taylor and stars Zach Thomas and Keith Traylor. All three were not in uniform, but Miami still managed to sack Leftwich and hurry him several other times.

Leftwich didn't have a problem with accuracy either. Two of his four incompletions were dropped passes by Matt Jones.

"We had some good stuff," Leftwich said. "We also had some missed assignments up front where we could have had some big plays but that is what the preseason is for. We will be OK. We are still fine-tuning everything."

Reserve David Garrard looked equally impressive in relief, throwing for 153 yards on 12-for-16 passing.

Third-string quarterback Quinn Gray apparently didn't make the trip to Miami. Tim Couch played behind Garrard and Leftwich.

The Dolphins might have found a solid backup for running back Ronnie Brown in Jesse Chatman, who had a 74-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to get Miami within 17-10.

Chatman finished with six rushes for 88 yards. The last time the Jaguars played against Chatman, he replaced Ladainian Tomlinson in San Diego and had 11 rushes for 103 yards in a 34-21 win Oct. 10, 2004.

Alvin Pearman gave the Jaguars a 17-3 lead with a 1-yard touchdown rush to start the second half. Dennis Northcutt caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Leftwich, who led the 11-play, 75-yard drive for Jacksonville.

Scobee converted a 32-yard field goal to put the Jaguars ahead 10-0 in the second quarter.

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