FanHouse Matt Gutierrez

As soon as Chad Pennington exited Miami's Week 3 game at San Diego with a shoulder injury, the Dolphins, rather unexpectedly, became Chad Henne's team. The second-year pro had never started an NFL game and seen extensive action in just one game prior to last Sunday, a Week 2 loss to Arizona in 2008.

But with Pennington going under the knife this week -- the third time in his career he's had surgery on his throwing shoulder -- the Dolphins will turn to Henne, both now and for the foreseeable future, even after a trade for Tyler Thigpen.

It's a difficult spot. Henne steps into the starting lineup before anyone thought he would, and he inherits a team that, despite an 0-3 start, had huge hopes coming into 2009. And while Henne may not save Miami this season, don't be surprised if he plays above his years and surprises some people.

After all, he's been in this situation before.

A day after leaving the team to be with his family following the death of his father, Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel has returned to practice on Thursday, as reported by Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe. He took part in the team's workout at the San Diego State University campus, and may be in the lineup on Sunday when the Patriots take on Oakland. From Gasper:

He was seen getting off the team bus this morning at San Jose State, where the Patriots are preparing for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders, and he was on the field for practice this afternoon, which began at 12:40 PST.

If Cassel doesn't play, the start would go to either rookie quarterback Kevin O'Connell, a third-round pick from San Diego State, or second-year player Matt Gutierrez.

The funeral for Cassel's father, Greg, is scheduled for Monday.

In his 12 starts this season for the Patriots, Cassel has completed 283 passes for 3,052 yards and 14 touchdowns, while the team has posted a 7-5 record.

The Patriots better make sure Tom Brady is placed in a bubble for the rest of the season, because Matt Cassel has officially made the final 53-man roster as the teams primary backup, according to Mike Reiss at the Boston Globe.

Cassel "won" the job over Matt Gutierrez despite being outplayed, statistically speaking, the entire preseason. Cassel was only 19-of-34 passing and failed to throw a single touchdown pass in the teams four games. By comparison, Guitierrez completed 64% of his passes, threw a pair of touchdowns and put up an 85.6 passer rating (compared to Cassel's 56.6 rating).

I'm sure there's a method to Bill Belichick's madness, I'm just not sure what it is. And that's probably why he has three Super Bowl rings on his fingers and I'm just sitting here commenting on his roster moves.

Cassel, for what it's worth, continues to be the most successful fourth-year NFL quarterback to have never thrown a meaningful pass in college or the NFL. After backing up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart during his entire career at USC, he somehow heard his name called in the NFL draft and has spent the previous three years (and now this year) as a clipboard holder behind Tom Brady. And he's made, probably, over a million dollars for it. Good for him.