The moments did exist Monday night, those ones you would like to seal away in the Tupperware to pull out when the games actually count. No doubt about that.

Like when that hard-thrown pass by Chad Pennington hit the hands of Ted Ginn Jr. as he darted across the middle for a sweet, 15-yard completion. Or when rookie cornerback Sean Smith caught that over-the-shoulder interception in the back of the end zone.

On those obvious occasions, and a good dose of others, the Dolphins cooked up a few highlights in a 12-9 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars that Miami would have liked to save for the future. In general, though, the Dolphins' exhibition opener was about what you would expect.

Pretty boring stuff. A few fun moments. And plenty of evaluations -- good and bad -- for coach Tony Sparano to dissect as the preseason moves forward.

``We took a look at a lot of guys out there,'' Sparano said. ``So there are some guys that did some good things and some guys that I thought did not do some good things.''

Among the good? Quarterback Chad Henne was solid in his two quarters of play. Tight end Ernest Wilford found renewed hope in the form of a 33-yard touchdown. And running back Ricky Williams looked fresh (10 carries for 31 yards).

Among the bad? That's going to require some explaining.

Most notably, the performances by the cornerbacks battling for the starting job opposite Will Allen seemed to offer legitimacy to what has been occurring during practice: Smith is clearly ahead of Vontae Davis and Eric Green.

It's probably not quite the kind of clarity Miami wants right now, since Smith's elevation Monday appeared to benefit from the struggles of Green and Davis. That's not to suggest Smith is winning by default (he's doing good things), but he isn't getting pushed, either.

RIGHT GUARD STALEMATE

A few other positions weren't so clear. For instance, the competition for the right guard spot, which is now between Donald Thomas and Shawn Murphy, seemed on the surface to be a stalemate. The pair swapped in and out, but neither seemed to get into a distinct rhythm. That's one evaluation that likely will take more time to sort out.

From an individual standpoint, the Dolphins did see some promising bursts from several players who have been under a watchful eye through training camp. Ginn, for one, looked solid on offense. His routes were crisp, and he looks to be taking a clear approach toward being more aggressive.

He only finished with two catches for 26 yards, but he also drew a pass-interference call on a sideline route that he probably could have turned into a huge play had Pennington gotten more distance on the ball.

That's not to say Pennington showed that same, often-criticized quality throughout the game.

Actually, his initial completion to Ginn was thrown with authority. The quarterback finished 4 for 7 for 38 yards in his one quarter of play.

Had he corrected the one short throw, though, it might have provided an even bigger buzz surrounding the possibility that Ginn might be on the verge of a special season. The route was nice, the speed was obvious and the aggressiveness was improved.

Meanwhile, Williams showed why he has received a considerable amount of support from Sparano in recent weeks. The backup to Ronnie Brown saw most of the repetitions at running back Monday, making more out of several plays than seemed to exist.

Despite gaining only 31 yards, the numbers didn't tell the whole story.

Williams had to work pretty hard for all of those yards. Brown also played, but he only carried four times for 10 yards despite playing through the entire first half.

HENNE DOES OK

As anticipated, Henne saw the most substantial playing time of any quarterback Monday, playing the second and third quarters as a way to give Sparano a chance to evaluate Henne's halftime adjustments.

The results were mixed -- but he did more good than bad. Henne did put together a nice drive that should have resulted in a touchdown if Williams was able to keep his hands on a nicely thrown pass.

The drive included four consecutive completions, resulting in a field goal.

Henne's lowlight occurred in the third quarter. As rain began to fall hard, Henne made an ill-advised pass when he locked into a receiver, resulting in his only interception of the game.

Henne, who finished 7 of 11 for 94 yards, threw his only touchdown pass to Wilford, the aforementioned 33-yard connection.

In general, there were as many highlights as lowlights, which is never a bad thing in the first preseason game of the season. Plenty of hope, yes. And plenty to work on, too.