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Quarterback Josh McCown knows a lot of people already may have written him off.
He signed with the Dolphins as a free agent 10 weeks ago, but that has been almost forgotten with the arrival of rookie Chad Henne and his anticipated battle with second-year quarterback John Beck. Even family and friends have called to ask McCown if he remains in the team's plans.
"They say, 'Is it still wide-open?'" McCown said of the quarterback competition.
It certainly is in his view.
"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 after a long day of work at Dolphins camp. "From what I've been told and am experiencing at the facility, it's a three-man race."
All hope 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, then to 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 the Dolphins won't feel obligated to start Beck or Henne, because 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, he was 6-7 as a starter, including a last-second, 24-23 victory at Dolphin Stadium.
The next season, coach Dennis Green replaced McCown with Kurt Warner, who started 0-3 with one TD 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-feet-4, 215 pounds, didn't throw a pass for the Lions, although he caught two.
McCown conceded he had some trepidation as the April 26 draft approached. He was glad when the Dolphins chose offensive tackle Jake Long with the No. 1 pick rather than quarterback Matt Ryan, who went third to Atlanta.
"I came in here rolling the dice a little bit," said McCown, who was heartened when new coach Tony Sparano assured him he would have 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, 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."
