Don't count him out, Dolphins' McCown says

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — During the past couple of weeks, Josh McCown has heard NFL experts from coast to coast debate whether the Dolphins were wise to draft Chad Henne, and whether the No. 57 pick will be able to unseat second-year quarterback John Beck.

McCown, who has played quarterback for six seasons in the NFL, might be tempted to say, "Don't forget about me."

McCown signed with the Dolphins on Feb. 29. But recently, even family and friends have called to ask if he remains in the team's plans.

"They say, 'Is it still wide open?' " McCown said of the quarterback competition.

Darn right, he tells them.

"As long as the guys in the building tell me it's an open competition, I could care less what fans or media say," McCown said Wednesday after a long day of work at Dolphins camp in Davie. "At the end of the day, from what I've been told and am experiencing at the facility, it's a three-man race."

All are hoping to become the long-term answer for a team that has started 12 quarterbacks since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season.

McCown, who was drafted by Arizona in 2002 and bounced to Detroit in 2006 and Oakland last year, believes he can be more than a stop-gap solution while Beck and Henne mature.

McCown, 28, has made 31 NFL starts, or 27 more than Beck, the No. 40 pick in 2007 who flopped in four starts.

"I have a lot of experience to help me," McCown said. "But it also will help the whole group. I want to play and be the starter, but if someone ends up in front of me, then he'll be pretty good."

His experience also has taught him how decisions are made in the NFL. He knows that the Dolphins won't feel obligated to start Beck or Henne, since both were second-round picks.

"They're not financially invested to the point they can't make any one of us the long-term starter," McCown said.

That wasn't the case last season in Oakland, where McCown and veteran Daunte Culpepper started while a rookie with a $61 million contract learned the offense.

"No matter what I did in Oakland," McCown said, "JaMarcus Russell was going to be the starter this year."

That kind of frustration is nothing new for McCown.

In 2004 with Arizona, his record as a starter was 6-7, including a last-second, 24-23 victory in Dolphin Stadium.

The next season, coach Dennis Green replaced McCown with Kurt Warner, who started out 0-3 with one touchdown pass before he was injured.

The next season in Detroit, McCown couldn't beat out veteran Jon Kitna. McCown, a gifted natural athlete at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, didn't get a chance to attempt a pass for the Lions, although he caught two.

McCown conceded that he had some trepidation as the draft approached April 26. He was glad when the Dolphins chose offensive tackle Jake Long with the No. 1 pick rather than quarterback Matt Ryan, who ended up in Atlanta as the No. 3 selection.

"I came in here rolling the dice a little bit," said McCown, who was heartened when new coach Tony Sparano assured him a real shot at the starting job.

"This is the last chance I'll get to compete like this," McCown said.

With that thought in mind, he has attacked the off-season like never before. He reported to work March 3, just three days after signing. Since then, McCown hasn't missed a chance to work with quarterbacks coach David Lee, who was pivotal in the development of Dallas Cowboys' Pro Bowler Tony Romo.

"I feel like I'm better than I've ever been at this time of year," McCown said. "I've gotten so much better."

McCown said he has tweaked his throwing mechanics and thrown thousands of passes.

But last month, general manager Jeff Ireland mentioned Beck's arduous off-season, including 4,000 practice throws, without a mention of McCown.

McCown said he couldn't care less.

"These people don't get married to people. They want to win," McCown said of the Dolphins coaches, many of whom came from Dallas. "Otherwise, why would you bench Drew Bledsoe for Tony Romo?"

Bill Parcells, the Dolphins' head of football operations, Ireland, Sparano and Lee were in Dallas in 2006 when Romo replaced Bledsoe, whom Parcells drafted in New England with the top pick in 1993.

McCown, who has never played on a winning NFL team, said he'll be a good teammate no matter how the quarterback competition develops.

"Selfishly you want to play. Everyone wants to play," he said. "But I also want to win. If that means Dan coming out of retirement, Dan Marino, then I'll sit back and watch him.

"I don't want to lose anymore."

Edgar Thompson writes for The Palm Beach Post.