It was only after the injury that Marino's troubles started. In his first game back against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, Marino threw five interceptions in a 20-0 loss.

His arm strength was not there, and neither was his accuracy. He simply--by his own and former Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson's admission--came back too soon.

And when you add an anemic ground game that seems to have become the one certainty of the Miami offense--the Dolphins have had one 1,000-yard rusher since 1978--to a hobbled quarterback, you have a recipe for disaster.

Marino's performance, while poor, however, hardly proves he is unable to bounce back. After all Brett Favre's 23 interceptions and Green Bay's 8-8 record show what an injury can do. And Bledsoe's 21 interceptions against 19 touchdowns shows what can happen without a running game.

It is true that both Favre and Bledsoe are younger than Marino, but the circumstances surrounding their subpar seasons are eerily similar.

Combine those factors and a much less talented receiving corps and you have Marino's season in a nutshell.

Now it is obvious that Marino is no longer the player who once threw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns in a single season, and there is no guarantee that after 17 seasons and at age 39, he will ever fully recover from his injury. Nonetheless, to write him off before he has a chance to rest and without letting him fight for the starting spot in summer camp would be both unwise and unfair.

Backup quarterback Damon Huard, while playing consistently in leading the Dolphins to a 5-1 record this year with Marino out, is still unproven as a starter in the NFL.