We have seen him victorious and, yes, we have seen him defeated. We have seen him calm as still waters and excited as a kid on Christmas morning, particularly when he stalks the Dolphins' sideline, looking for a teammate to inspire.

But rattled?

Not Chad Pennington. Not once in the year since he began providing the rudderless Dolphins offense with direction at quarterback has Pennington seemed rattled or panicked.

``Well, part of playing quarterback is trying to be calm in the midst of chaos -- always being in the eye of the hurricane on and off the field, really,'' Pennington said with no hesitation.

``The biggest thing I try to remind myself is don't let them see you sweat.''

We didn't see sweat when Pennington played for the Jets and Broadway's media lights were trained on him just because he was a quarterback in the nation's media capital. We didn't see sweat when the Jets dumped him for Brett Favre (how did that work out?) and the Dolphins, a team with only one victory the season before, offered the best chance to restart his career.

And although Pennington was red-faced and unhappy after that playoff loss to Baltimore in January -- a game in which he threw four interceptions -- we only saw him beaten and beaten up. That happens to everyone except the 1972 Dolphins.

But rattled? Panicked?

``No,'' Pennington says. ``No, not really.''

NOT A BIG DEAL

So if the past nine NFL seasons haven't done it, if injuries almost every other year haven't done it, what makes folks believe Pennington's current uncertainty could possibly rattle him?

Nope, even as Pennington is about to embark on as uncertain a season as he has played, he's not sweating the small stuff, such as whether the Dolphins have decided to replace him when it's over and go with Chad Henne instead.

``Is there uncertainty?'' Penning asks rhetorically. ``Absolutely. But not worry. Some of that has to do with what I've been through in my career -- with the ups and downs of injuries and all the different things I faced in New York. And some also is a credit to Coach [Tony] Sparano and his staff.

``When I came here I was told I had a job to do and I'm looking forward to doing that.''

When Pennington arrived last preseason, the message from Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland was as most messages from them are: Short, blunt and with no room for misunderstanding.

``The message was, `Come in here, you're going to sign a two-year deal, give everything you got for two years, and let's see what happens after that,' '' Pennington said. ``That's what I'm going to do.''

In the second year of that two-year contract, Pennington and the Dolphins haven't completed an extension because there are too many factors at play.

Pennington, nothing if not a competitor, wants to continue being an NFL starter and, obviously, being paid like one. Miami's management, nothing if not wise, is thinking 2010 will be the right time for a quarterback transition to a younger, stronger-armed Henne.

CRUCIAL JUNCTURE

That makes 2009 supremely important and also somewhat uncomfortable for Pennington.

``It's tough,'' Pennington said. ``But the reason I can do it is I was told up front what the plan was.''

Pennington can throw a wrench into that well-oiled plan as surely as he threw for a career-high 3,653 yards last season. If he delivers another great season, he might give the Dolphins pause about making any change.

In that regard, perhaps, Pennington can determine the direction the Dolphins go with their starting quarterback. Some might argue it's all in Pennington's hands.

``Is it?'' he said. ``Yeah, but they still have to make the decision. It's in their hands. Our organization has certain goals they want to get accomplished. I know that. But we'll deal with that when we get there. I'm not going to worry about that. It'll all shake out.

``When you get my age [33], every year is so precious. There's no more planning for the next five or six years. I'm one of the lucky ones. I made it past 3 ½ years [playing in the NFL].''

He wants to make it past this season playing for the Dolphins. That is what all the well-chronicled offseason work was about. That is, in part at least, what playing well in 2009 is about.

``That's my job,'' Pennington said. ``I want to make them make a tough decision.''