Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East
DAVIE, Fla. -- One of the selling points about Chad Henne that helped convince the Miami Dolphins to spend a second-round draft pick on him back in 2008 was something Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and the front office saw on film from his days at the University of Michigan -- resiliency.Henne was a four-year starter for the Wolverines and the first true freshman to start at quarterback since Rick Leach in 1975, doing something previous Michigan greats like Jim Harbaugh, Brian Griese and Tom Brady didn't even do. The biggest black mark on his college resume was an 0-4 record against arch rival Ohio State, but he was more a victim of poor defensive performances in some of those losses. When he did have a bad game, the following week like clockwork he was sharp.
Sparano saw that same quality on display last season, Henne's second in the league but first as a starter after he took over for the injured Chad Pennington. Even during games after he made a bad throw that might have been picked off or cost his team a third-down conversion, Henne didn't let it get him down. His toughness in the pocket and steady demeanor earned the confidence of his teammates and his coaches. My Dolphins.com story from yesterday delves into this trait of the young QB.
"I think that if you look back at his career and you look at the games in his career even through college when he didn't play well, take a look at the next game," Sparano said. "It's something that we studied when we were kind of going through this thing with him. And he's a guy that bounces back with a pretty good intensity about him that way and I think he's done that right now."
Despite throwing three interceptions in a 41-14 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday night, one that was returned for a touchdown, Henne still is completing 64.4 percent of his passes through four games and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 5-to-4 for the 2-2 Dolphins. This is Miami's bye week and Henne and his teammates are using it to regroup and get ready for a road game at Green Bay one week from Sunday.
Through 17 career starts, Henne has completed 61.5 percent of his passes (359-of-583) for 3,747 yards, 17 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Those numbers are actually better than last year's Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Drew Brees of New Orleans, who was 338-of-559 (60.5 percent) for 3,486 yards, 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions through his first 17 career starts.
Those are the kinds of numbers impatient fans and critics aren't aware of when they start calling for a quarterback change at the first sign of trouble. Henne's approach to the game, thanks to the influence of Pennington, is precisely how an NFL quarterback needs to conduct himself.
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