DENVER (AP) -- Brian Griese picked a heck of a time to make his debut as an NFL starting quarterback.

	Brian Griese is trying to deflect the pressure entering his first NFL start.

Monday night ... as his team begins its bid for an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl title ... against the team his father quarterbacked to an undefeated season and back-to-back Super Bowl titles ... and with his predecessor, John Elway, due to be honored in an elaborate halftime ceremony.

If the magnitude of the Denver Broncos' opener against the Miami Dolphins was weighing on Griese, it didn't show.

As calm and collected as his father, Hall-of-Famer Bob Griese, the younger Griese went about his business in preparing for the game, determined the Elway festivities be a joyous occasion and not a bittersweet one.

Elway, who will be inducted into the Broncos' Ring of Fame and whose No. 7 jersey will be retired, announced his retirement last spring after 16 seasons. He threw for 51,475 yards, posted more victories than any other NFL starting quarterback (148) and directed an NFL-best 47 game-saving drives.

"It's something that's special, and I'm happy for John," Griese said. "But we have a job to do, and I can't be worrying about that kind of stuff."

INJURY REPORT

Dolphins: OUT: LB Anthony Harris (groin); WR Lamar Thomas (shoulder-injured reserve); DE Dimitrius Underwood (shoulder). DOUBTFUL: RB Cecil Collins (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: RB J.J. Johnson (hamstring); DE Rich Owens (ribs); RB Stanley Pritchett (knee); CB Patrick Surtain (groin); S Shawn Wooden (thumb). PROBABLE: WR Yatil Green (ankle); LB Robert Jones (ankle); WR O.J. McDuffie (thumb); CB Jerry Wilson (shoulder). Broncos: PROBABLE: S Eric Brown (ankle); S George Coghill (groin); RB Terrell Davis (shoulder); RB Anthony Lynn (toe); QB Chris Miller (elbow); G Mark Schlereth (back); WR Rod Smith (groin); CB Chris Watson (shoulder); LB Al Wilson (groin).

Griese, 24, was elevated to the starting job ahead of Bubby Brister on Aug. 30, giving him precious little time to work with the first team.

"I've made the most of the time that I've had," he said. "It's going to have to be enough, because there's no turning back now. I think we'll be all right on Monday night.

"I'm going to have fun, no matter what happens. The only thing I can do is prepare myself the best I know how and go out and play the best I know how. It's not a pressure-filled thing. It's an exciting thing for me."

Griese, who threw only three passes in his rookie season a year ago, appreciates the irony of opening against the Dolphins, a team he idolized as a child.

"I remember my first Dolphins training camp, when I was about 4 or 5 years old," he said. "I went up there and I was throwing the ball around with my old man and a couple of other guys, and I just remember that the guys were so big. I remember thinking, 'These guys are humongous. What am I doing up here?' I thought somebody was going to step on me."

Twenty-some years later, the Dolphins figure to be especially intent on stomping on him.

"Probably," he said. "I expect that from them. I don't expect anything less. It's going to be a challenge for us as a team, as an offense. They have a great defense, one of the best in the league. For us, the first game is going to be a barometer of how we're going to be for the rest of the year."

Other than at quarterback, the Broncos return basically the same team that won two straight Super Bowls. Terrell Davis is coming off a 2,008-yard rushing season, a performance that makes Miami coach Jimmy Johnson envious.

"We have tried to improve our running game over the last few years," Johnson said. "I thought we were making progress last year until we lost three of our offensive linemen."

When the teams last met, in an AFC divisional playoff game in Denver last Jan. 9, Davis ran for 199 of the Broncos' 250 yards on the ground compared to Miami's 14. The Broncos won 38-3.

The Dolphins prevailed 31-21 in Miami in the 15th game of the season when Dan Marino threw for 355 yards and four touchdowns. The defense, meanwhile, limited Denver to a season-low 219 yards.

MIAMI Season schedule and results

DENVER Season schedule and results

September 13 @Denver 9:00pm ET September 19 Arizona 1:00pm ET October 4 Buffalo 9:00pm ET October 10 @Indianapolis 4:15pm ET October 17 @New England 1:00pm ET October 24 Philadelphia 1:00pm ET October 31 @Oakland 4:05pm ET November 7 Tennessee 8:20pm ET November 14 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET November 21 New England 1:00pm ET November 25 @Dallas 4:15pm ET December 5 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 12 @NY Jets 4:05pm ET December 19 San Diego 1:00pm ET December 27 NY Jets 9:00pm ET January 2 @Washington 4:15pm ET

September 13 Miami 9:00pm ET September 19 @Kansas City 4:15pm ET September 26 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET October 3 NY Jets 4:15pm ET October 10 @Oakland 4:15pm ET October 17 Green Bay 4:15pm ET October 24 @New England 1:00pm ET October 31 Minnesota 4:15pm ET November 7 @San Diego 4:15pm ET November 14 @Seattle 8:20pm ET November 22 Oakland 9:00pm ET December 5 Kansas City 4:15pm ET December 13 @Jacksonville 9:00pm ET December 19 Seattle 4:15pm ET December 25 @Detroit 4:15pm ET January 2 San Diego 4:15pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

Copyright 1999 STATS, Inc. Commercial distribution without the express written consent of STATS is prohibited.