Last night, newly-hired Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin participated in a teleconference call with the team’s season ticket members, and DolfansNYC had the opportunity to listen in on the interesting Q&A session.

During the 45-minute call, Philbin touched on a variety of topics, ranging from the team’s biggest needs in the upcoming Draft to his visions for the offense, openly asking the fans to have “faith and confidence” that he will deliver results in 2012.

*Philbin said he’s happy with three quarterbacks on the roster – Matt Moore, David Garrard and Pat Devlin – and praised Moore and Garrard for being proven, winning players. He did, however, note that the starting job is still a wide-open competition between all three QBs.

“We haven’t promised anyone anything,” he said, suggesting that the winner may be the player who learns the offense the quickest and exhibits the most comfort in the system.

*Regarding the Draft, in which the Dolphins have the 8th overall pick, Philbin disclosed the Dolphins are in final preparations and that the team’s biggest needs are at pass rusher and wide receiver (somewhat surprisingly, not QB).

“You can never have enough pass rushers,” he said. “Probably 30 teams out of the 32 are talking about acquiring pass rushers and guys that can put pressure on the quarterback.”

*As for Miami’s receivers, a topic which was understandably asked about several times during the call, Philbin reiterated he plans to develop the current corps on the roster — including Clyde Gates, Roberto Wallace, Julius Pruitt — but noted the Dolphins may still bring in a free agent.

*Phiblin hopes to take advantage of Reggie Bush‘s talent and versatility and use him at running back, as well as wide receiver, in different formations to create more mismatches for opposing defenses.

“With Reggie, we want to be multiple – we’re not just going to hand the ball to him,” he said.

*Philbin said while the West Coast Offense has a lot of unpredictability and that the ball will be spread around, the Wildcat is not a likely option.

*Philbin’s praised the coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Mike Sherman and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, and revealed that the team will use a more collaborative approach in calling games.

“This is not going to be a one-man operation on any side of the ball,” he said.

*Philbin declined to predict whether the Dolphins will make the playoffs or his expected win-total, stating, “you’re never totally sure exactly what you have” with the roster.

“It’s a disservice, I think, to the guys that you coach to sit around here on April 3 and say, ‘We’re going to be a 7-9 team and that’s good enough, or 9-7,” he said. “We have a broader perspective at this point in time, but we’re excited about getting started, we’re optimistic.”

All in all, the head coach offered an intriguing inside look into the team’s plans and philosophy in the first of several calls that he, as well as owner Stephen Ross, will hold this offseason with Dolphins the season-ticket holders.

Multiple outlets have confirmed that Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne will miss the rest of the season after opting for surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Henne suffered the injury early in last week’s game against the San Diego Chargers, when he tried to scramble on a broken play and had his shoulder slammed to the ground.  After Henne initially indicated he’d be ready to play after the bye week, he consulted two doctors, both of whom reportedly advised him to undergo the season-ending surgery.

Henne finishes the year with a 4:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, a career-best 79.0 QB rating, and a career-worst 57.1% completion percentage. Considering he’ll be free agent after the season, it’s possible that he’s played his final game as a Dolphin.

Matt Moore, who threw for 167 yards and a pick in relief of Henne last week, will almost surely start against the New York Jets next week (we do have a few tickets available, if you’re wondering). Since the only other QB on the roster is practice squad rookie Pat Devlin, Miami will sign another veteran back-up in the coming days; according to reports, the team has reached out to David Garrard, Jake Delhomme, and Sage Rosenfels, and worked out Brodie Croyle and Trent Edwards.

While Garrard, a 2009 Pro Bowler who was unexpectedly released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, inspires the most confidence from that list, the Dolphins have thus far balked at giving him a guaranteed contract and a starting job.  Rosenfels spent the first four years of his career with the Dolphins — throwing for 278 total yards, one TD and five picks in two starts — and his career “highlight” is this ridiculous helicopter hurdle.  I’d rather not even think rooting for Delhomme, who’s thrown 10 TDs and 25 INTs in 16 games over the last two years.

Meanwhile, Moore, like Henne, has been frustratingly inconsistent during his four-year career, throwing 16 TDs and 18 interceptions in 13 starts. After throwing eight TDs without a pick over the final four games of 2009 — including 299 passing yards and three TDs in a win over the 11-2 Minnesotta Vikings — Moore sported a 5:10 TD-to-INT ratio and lost his starting job to rookie Jimmy Clausen last season.  Perhaps Moore can still develop into a serviceable starter, but it’s looking more and more like Dolphins may be in the thick of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

Update: The Dolphins did indeed bring back the 33-year-old Rosenfels on a one-year contract, after also working out the likes of Kellen Clemens, Charlie Frye, J.P. Losman, and Jim Sorgi. Hey, at least it wasn’t Delhomme.

More often than not, preseason statistics are completely meaningless. Coaches rarely reveal their game-plans, test out new and sometimes faulty plays, and most importantly, give rookies and fringe players a chance to solidify their roles or make the final roster. It’s no surprise then, that through two games, the NFL passing, rushing and receiving yards leaders are Stephen McGee, Stevan Ridley and Chastin West, respectively, while Michael Vick has thrown three interceptions en route to posting a 50.7 QB rating.

With that in mind, the Miami Dolphins have yet to officially name a starting quarterback, have two new running backs to integrate into the offense, and no less than three players vying for the fifth and likely final wide receiver spot.  Let’s take a look at how the position battles have gone so far.

• After a poor preseason opener (4-of-8 passing for 77 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions) against the Atlanta Falcons, Chad Henne looked better against the Carolina Panthers (who doesn’t?) in the second contest, completing 15-of-24 passes for 194 yards with no turnovers. His biggest problem so far has come with the deep ball, as he has continued to miss open receivers downfield.
• Even though Matt Moore outplayed Henne in the opener (11-of-18 passing for 123 yards and two TDs)  and has posted a higher QB rating two games, Coach Tony Sparano has so far made it clear there is no competition for the starting quarterback job. Moore hasn’t played with the first-team offense in the preseason at all, indicating he will enter the season as the primary backup, barring a couple of disastrous outings from Henne.
• The battle for the third quarterback spot is shaping up to be epic:  Pat Devlin is 0-of-2 with two sacks in clean-up duty, while Kevin O’Connell has more kneel-downs (two) than pass attempts (0).

• Playing one half, Reggie Bush had eight carries for 48 yards and caught two passes for 33 yards in his Dolphins debut on Friday. Early reports indicated the coaching staff planned to give Bush, who averaged only nine touches per game over the last two years with the New Orleans Saints, a heavy workload on offense without using him as a punt returner, and so far, the RB looked quicker and more exciting than any RB the Dolphins have had in years.
• Daniel Thomas has sported an unimpressive 3.6 yards per carry average, busting out just one run of 10 yards.  Expected to be a power-back capable of breaking tackles and moving the pile, he couldn’t get into the endzone on two carries inside the five-yard line early against the Panthers (Lex Hilliard scored on the next play).  Thomas did have a four-yard TD run in the second quarter, and while he’ll need time to get used to the NFL, his workload should increase as the season progresses.
• Hilliard all but solidified his hold on the number three RB job after scoring at the goal line, while Kory Sheets managed only 43 yards on a team-high 17 carries against second-stringers.
• The Dolphins released Sheets on Tuesday and unexpectedly signed veteran Larry Johnson, who hasn’t played a down in the NFL since Week 2 of last season with the Washington Redskins. Johnson had five carries for two yards in 2010 and a terrible 3.2 YPC in 2009; at age 31, he makes little sense for Miami.
• Undrafted rookie Nic Grigsby hasn’t done much (2.1 YPC) to suggest he’s in the team’s immediate future.

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