Jimmy Johnson is tired of answering questions about his future in Miami.

Early this week, the Dolphins' stock was up, and so was JJ's mood.

Recent sessions between the media and the Dolphins coach have been either adversarial or funereal, but now the bounce was back in Johnson's voice and the color back in his cheeks. He offered snappy sound bites, joking about the demands of his job and playfully dodging difficult questions.

"This is the best I've felt in a while," Johnson said.

Why?

"We're in the playoffs," he said. "That's reaching one goal. It's not the ultimate goal, but that's reaching one goal."

Only 12 of 31 NFL teams achieved the goal, he noted.

"I feel a lot better than 19 guys in this league -- in fact I feel a lot better than a couple of them, for sure."

With that last remark, Johnson laughed. But what's funny is that he and Dolphins received a reprieve they did nothing to earn.

Thanks to Seattle's loss Sunday to the New York Jets, the Dolphins (9-7) made the playoffs despite losing six of their final eight regular-season games. They've won only once since Nov. 21, but they'll play Sunday at Seattle in an AFC wild-card game.

Like Miami, the Seahawks (9-7) and coach Mike Holmgren survived a late-season collapse.

"There's going to be a team come out of this game Sunday that's going to feel real good about themselves," Johnson said, "and there's going to be a coach feeling real good about himself."

But this week's coaching casualties -- Pete Carroll and Ray Rhodes were fired, while Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick quit -- offered a reminder about the hazards of the profession.

Longevity is difficult, Johnson said, because the demands of the job are so draining. That explains why even a successful coach quits, he said.

"There might be somebody who might actually like his family. Somebody might someday want to see his kids. A guy might want to get eight hours' sleep.

"You never can tell," he said facetiously. "There are strange people out there."

Concern for family prompted Johnson to flirt with retirement a year ago. Might his wife of seven months, Rhonda, urge him to quit after this season?

"Rhonda is into tennis so much that I don't know if she wants to see me anyway," Johnson said. "Who knows? Hopefully I'll be strange all my life. If I get to be a mundane person, that's when I need to grow me a beard and move on down to the Keys."

Johnson's mood might have been buoyed by the support Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga expressed for the coach following Sunday's loss at Washington.

"Jimmy has to decide what he wants to do," Huizenga said. "I've told Jimmy a number of times I want him to stay."

Also unresolved is the future of Dan Marino. Differences between the quarterback and coach suggest it's unlikely both will be back next season.

Johnson reaffirmed that Marino will start Sunday and likely play the entire game. Johnson bristled during his news conference only once -- when asked about speculation concerning whether he and Marino will return next season.

"I plead with everybody," Johnson said. "Let's put the soap opera on the back burner for one week, just for one week. I'm going to. And let's focus in on Seattle. Let's ask these players questions about Seattle.

"I would be a lot happier if you would."

OK, but first: Has Johnson decided whether to return next season?