National Football League

Dolphins sit Henne; Pennington to start

Published Nov. 10, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

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The Dolphins have benched quarterback Chad Henne in favor of 11-year veteran Chad Pennington for Sunday's home game against the Tennessee Titans.

"After making long evaluations on all details involved, what I have decided to do here as we move forward is that this week Chad Pennington is going to be the starting quarterback," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "I took a lot of things into consideration and weighed a lot of options.

"This is not an indictment of Chad Henne at all," Sparano added. "It is not an indictment of his future. I do believe this player has gotten an awful lot better, certainly come two-fold from where he was to where he is right now. At this particular time, it's something I feel this is something I need to do for our football team."

Henne has a 78.2 passer rating with eight touchdown passes and 10 interceptions this season. He has come under increased criticism in recent weeks as he has failed to throw a touchdown while being picked off four times in consecutive road games at Cincinnati and Baltimore.

Henne has been more efficient at home with an 85.6 passer rating, but the Dolphins are 0-3 at Sun Life Stadium.

Pennington will start his first game since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in the third game against San Diego last season. Pennington had surgery and contemplated retirement before signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal to return for a third season with the Dolphins. Henne was entrenched as the starter entering the offseason, but Pennington beat out Tyler Thigpen for the No. 2 quarterback job coming out of training camp.

Pennington's first start of 2010 will come against the Titans, who claimed former Marshall teammate Randy Moss off waivers last week. Moss is expected to start for Tennessee at receiver opposite Nate Washington on Sunday.

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