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Harrington airs out past
QB Joey Harrington called his struggles in Detroit 'a learning experience' and welcomes the opportunity to help the Dolphins. 'I'm going to do everything I can to be ready for this team.'
BY BARRY JACKSON
bjackson@MiamiHerald.com
New Dolphins quarterback Joey Harrington craved a fresh start.
But whether he will be needed to start in Miami early next season remains uncertain.
On the first day Harrington, 27, was made available to the local media, much of the focus remained on Daunte Culpepper, who's rounding back into form after a major knee injury in October.
Though his availability for the Sept. 7 opener at Pittsburgh won't be determined for months, several players were encouraged after watching Culpepper participate in offseason practices this week.
''I'm expecting him to be out there when the season opens,'' said defensive back Renaldo Hill, one of four players who were permitted to speak to reporters Thursday. ''He's been looking good.''
In fact, linebacker Channing Crowder said that for the first time in practice, Culpepper took off running Thursday when no receiver was open. ''He looked good doing it,'' Hill said. ''I didn't see any limp.''
Said Crowder, smiling: ''Our coaches were nervous, but nobody touched him. I'm not going to hit him.''
Crowder noticed something else, too: 'He throws hard, real hard. I would have about 17 picks if he throws regular. You can see from close range, or rolling out, when he has that momentum from running, . . . it will hurt [the receivers'] chest a little bit.''
Harrington said Culpepper hasn't told him if he thinks he will be ready for the opener. He said all the quarterbacks (including Cleo Lemon and rookie Justin Holland) shared snaps equally this week.
Asked if he will be content as a backup if Culpepper is healthy, Harrington said, ''I don't think any player is content when they're not on the field. But I've been in this situation before. I'm going to do everything I can to be ready for this team. If that means sitting for a season or two, then I'm prepared to do that.''
Hill said that ''you can tell he and Daunte have a good relationship.''
Harrington, who threw 60 touchdowns and 62 interceptions in four seasons with Detroit, wanted to become a Dolphin because ''I love the coaching staff. I wanted to come to a place that was going to be honest with me and tell me where I stood. And that's what you get from [Nick Saban] and everybody on the staff.''
OPTIONS LIMITED
But he also said, ''It's not like I had people beating down my door to come be the starter. But I did have chances here, Cincinnati, Cleveland to compete for a starting spot or take some snaps while somebody was injured.''
Harrington indicated Dolphins coaches give him more precise direction than in Detroit: ''We go over in meetings, if this happens, then you [throw] here . . . As opposed to situations in the past, where if it gets cloudy, then you might want to think about throwing here. . . .
''I've always played better in systems where they give you answers. [Quarterback coach Jason Garrett] is very thorough in the meetings. There's no stone left unturned. Every time I have a question, he has an answer. And if he doesn't, he goes and gets it.''
Mechanically, coaches have altered how he drops back in the pocket. ''All the things they changed in Detroit, we're changing back to things I was really comfortable with. It's a complete fresh slate, and I love it.''
So what went wrong in Detroit? ''How much time you got?'' Harrington said. ''In order to change results, you have to change your attitude. I was criticized when I came in because I was too positive, I was too upbeat, I was too optimistic. That always really confused me. Why would you criticize somebody for trying to change the way things have been? In my time there, I don't think the attitude ever changed.
''We had pieces in Detroit. I don't necessarily think we had a direction. That's what I loved about this situation -- the control Coach Saban has over this team.''
Is his confidence shaken from his Detroit experience? ''Why would it be?'' Harrington said. ''It's a learning experience. I learned what kind of players I want to surround myself with, how I want to attack certain situations, what to do when things don't go well.''
Harrington also responded to two publicized incidents with the Lions. When Steve Mariucci was fired during the 2005 season, cornerback Dré Bly blamed Harrington, saying, ''I just feel like Joey's been here four years and being the No. 3 pick in the draft, he hasn't given us anything.''
GAVE HIS ALL
Harrington said Bly's comment 'was an incredibly selfish statement. Of course I was hurt. For four years, all I had done was work for those guys. There's nobody in that locker room who can stand up in front of the mirror and say, 'You know what? I played great every single game Coach Mariucci was there.' ''
Two years ago, Fox's Tony Siragusa said that in a meeting with Harrington, he found the quarterback ''a little bit too overconfident. Just a different kind of guy. He's over there with the champagne and caviar.''
Harrington addressed that Thursday: ''More than anything, Siragusa was trying to call me soft. . . . I don't think you have to look at whether a guy is going to go out and get drunk to say he's a tough guy. You look at . . . how many times he takes a shot in the jaw and gets back in the huddle.''
• Ronnie Brown said Ricky Williams' suspension left him ''kind of disappointed'' but also ''excited'' about the prospect of more carries. ''I'm a little more confident,'' he said. . . . Crowder said Dom Capers, who is running the Dolphins' defense, has made subtle changes: ''Capers simplified a lot of things. We'll still blitz a lot.'' Hill said the Dolphins have him splitting time between cornerback and safety.