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Tuesday, October 19
Dolphins will see how Marino does Thursday

ESPN.com news services

MIAMI -- The Miami Dolphins will keep injured quarterback Dan Marino out of practice until Thursday and will not start him Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles unless he's "100 percent," coach Jimmy Johnson announced Monday.


	Huard


	Marino

Marino was forced to leave Sunday's game against the New England Patriots in the first quarter due to neck spasms. He watched third-year backup Damon Huard lead the Dolphins to a come-from-behind 31-30 win.

Huard will make his first NFL start on Sunday if Marino is unable to play.

"If Dan's not at 100 percent, Damon will get the start against Philadelphia," Johnson said. "If Dan's 100 percent and I see he's 100 percent, Dan's the starter."

Marino has a bone spur in his neck. He underwent an extensive examination Monday, including an MRI and a CAT scan, and team physician Dr. John Uribe found the small spur on the right side of the lower neck.

The spur is the apparent source of spasms and muscle weakness between the neck and shoulder that began bothering Marino last week, Uribe said.

Marino received an epidural injection and will continue taking anti-inflammatory medication, and the bone spur shouldn't require surgery after the season, the Dolphins said.

Huard will play with the first team in Wednesday's practice and Jim Druckenmiller will work as the backup. The Dolphins will wait until Thursday's practice before they make a determination on Marino's status.

"We have to see what Dan can do (on Thursday)," Johnson said. "He's not in a lot of pain, but right now he doesn't have strength in his arm."

Marino, the NFL's most prolific passing quarterback, was noticeably bothered by the spasms in pregame warmups Sunday and had little velocity on his throws.

On his first attempt, Marino hit Tony Martin with an eight-yard completion, giving him 60,001 yards in his legendary career.

However, three plays later, Marino threw a wobbly pass to his right that was picked off by linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer and returned 57 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 7-0 lead.

Marino remained in the game for Miami's second possession but was unable to reach Oronde Gadsden with a short pass near the sideline on a third-and-6 play.

Huard came in on Miami's third possession with 8:51 left in the quarter. His first pass attempt was intercepted by cornerback Ty Law and returned 27 yards for a touchdown.

However, Huard recovered and showed the poise of a veteran, leading the Dolphins to two scoring drives in the final 2:45. He hit running back Stanley Pritchett with a five-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left to lift Miami to the win.

Huard finished 24-of-42 for 240 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

The win moved the Dolphins (4-1) into sole possession of first place in the AFC East, ahead of New England (4-2) and Buffalo (4-2).

Marino, 38, has started every game each of the last two seasons and was signed to a two-year extension last June. This season, he has completed 59 percent of his passes (84-of-142) for 1,088 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions.

Last year, Marino completed 58 percent of his passes (310-of-537) for 3,497 yards and 23 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. He ranked in the top three among AFC quarterbacks in completions, yards and touchdown passes and surpassed 3,000 yards for a record 13th time.

A nine-time Pro Bowler, Marino is the NFL's all-time leader in completions, attempts, passing yardage and touchdown passes. In his 17-year career with the Dolphins, he has completed 4,847 of 8,131 passes (59.6 percent) for 60,001 yards and 414 touchdowns with 240 interceptions in 236 games.

Marino ranks second in all-time regular season victories with a 145-88 record as a starter. He ranks fourth all-time in passing efficiency behind Steve Young, Joe Montana and Brett Favre.

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