Marino

The only decision to be made, Mortensen said, is whether Marino will be the Dolphins' second- or third-string quarterback against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Marino has a bone spur in his lower neck, which has caused weakness in his throwing shoulder.

"Dan did take a few snaps and did some conditioning work," Johnson said after Friday's practice. "We'll make a decision Sunday morning as far as what his contribution will be."

The Miami Herald reported in Friday's editions that Marino was all but eliminated from playing Sunday and was not expected to practice Friday. The newspaper report said the Dolphins hope to rest Marino Sunday so that he can practice next week and play against the Oakland Raiders on Oct. 31.

Johnson had said earlier in the week that if Marino is not 100 percent, he will not play on Sunday. Johnson's coaching tendency has been to keep players out of games if they were unable to practice during the previous week.

Marino started last week against the New England Patriots -- his 46th consecutive start -- but left due to the spasms. He then watched Huard lead the Dolphins to a come-from-behind 31-30 win.

Huard has worked with the first team, with Jim Druckenmiller as the backup.

Huard worked with the first team again Friday, prompting Johnson to say, "I liked what I saw."

Marino underwent an extensive examination on Monday, including an MRI and a CT scan, and no herniated cervical discs were identified, according to Dolphins team physician Dr. John Uribe. However, a small bone spur at the C6-C7 disc space on the right side was identified that Dr. Uribe believes may have caused a nerve root irritation leading to Marino's muscle spasms and associated muscle weakness in his throwing shoulder.

Marino had an epidural injection on Monday to alleviate the pain and continues to undergo a course of treatment which includes some anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy and exercise to reduce the irritation.

Marino was noticeably bothered by the spasms in pregame warmups last Sunday and had little velocity on his throws.

On his first attempt, Marino hit Tony Martin with an eight-yard completion, but three plays later, Marino threw a wobbly pass to his right that was picked off by Patriots linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer and returned 57 yards for a touchdown.

Marino remained in the game for Miami's second possession, but was unable to reach Oronde Gadsden with a a short pass near the sideline on a 3rd-and-6 play.

Huard came in for Marino on Miami's third possession with 8:51 left in the quarter. His first pass attempt was intercepted by cornerback Ty Law and returned 27 yards for a touchdown.

However, Huard recovered and showed the poise of a veteran, leading the Dolphins to two scoring drives in the final 2:45. He hit running back Stanley Pritchett with a five-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left to lift Miami to the win.

A nine-time Pro Bowler, Marino is the NFL's all-time leader in completions, attempts, passing yardage and touchdown passes. In his 17-year career with the Dolphins, he has completed 4,847 of 8,131 passes (59.6 percent) for 60,001 yards and 414 touchdowns with 240 interceptions in 236 games.