Don’t forget, this is a marathon it is not a sprint. What’s important now is for Culpepper to show improvement each game. Yes, he holds the ball too long. Sure, he can’t scramble around like he used to.
But there are nonetheless some subtle signs that he is heading in the right direction. Look at the last pass he threw against Tennessee, a 19-yarder to Wes Welker that iced the game. Culpepper took the snap in the shotgun, looked right and then turned left and hit Welker with a perfect pass. This was a pressure moment. Had the pass fell incomplete, the Titans get the ball back with enough time to turn the game in their favor. But Culpepper delivered and the Dolphins ran out of the clock.
Don’t lose sight of small steps. That’s what you need to take when you’re returning from a knee injury as serious as the one Culpepper suffered less than a year ago. Indeed, these Dolphins still have a long way to go. But this can still be a successful season if they continue to build on the positive things that surfaced in the victory over Tennessee.
