The deck has been shuffled. Now, it's time for the aces and the jokers to separate themselves in the most objective way possible -- during practice.

In a move that could cause a considerable shake up at the wide receiver position, coach Tony Sparano sent a clear message to his corps of pass catchers Wednesday when he essentially reopened the competition for the team's starting spots.

``Just making sure everyone is on their toes,'' Sparano said.

Most notably, wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. did not work with the first- or second-team offense during the initial 30 minutes of practice that is open to the media. Those limited snaps were assigned to Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo and rookie Brian Hartline.

Sparano, making his most candid public comments about Ginn to this point, emphasized that it does not mean Ginn has lost his starting job -- yet.

``We'll see where we are at the end of the week,'' said Sparano when asked specifically if Ginn has lost his No. 1 role. ``Right now, I'm just upsetting the whole apple cart to see how this thing goes. So I don't want to say yes, and I don't want to say no.

``We just went in there and said, `Let's let it fly.' We have five guys there that are playing this position. Let's let them all work and see where we go from there.''

HARTLINE IMPROVING

At the beginning of the week, the staff already decided Hartline would see increased playing time in the wake of solid progress over the past few games. But how the entire load of snaps would be distributed -- including who would start -- remained unknown.

It still does.

To formulate that answer, Sparano said he is ``shuffling some things'' to see how his wide receivers respond. And while the coach also noted that his decisions about who plays on Sundays are ``always'' dictated by the week of practice, it seems this week's workouts might carry even more meaning.

Some might argue the shake up strictly is because of Ginn's struggles against the Saints, which included two critical drops. That is partly true. But it also has something to do with the increased amount of parity within the group during the past several weeks.

Unlike the situation involving an underachieving player such as safety Gibril Wilson, who doesn't have anyone giving him enough of a challenge to overtake him, Ginn has several wide receivers beginning to catch him.

``One of the things I keep saying to coaches and keep saying to players is you cannot ignore the signs,'' Sparano said. ``You just can't. Even when you win, you have to be critical of how we play, what we do, how we do, how we coach, any of those things.''

So does Sparano notice a depletion of Ginn's confidence in the wake of the past few weeks?

``I think that is natural in this situation,'' he said.

Nonetheless, Sparano noted the coaching staff must continue to address the situation, even if it means rattling them with those constant messages. While the coach never directly criticized Ginn for his performance, Sparano spoke in general terms about the tough-love approach that Miami's coaches take in any of these scenarios.

GINN ON HOT SEAT

``From my end, that player, whoever it is, is getting addressed and from a confidence standpoint, I guess he is going to understand that he did not play as well as we thought he should have played,'' Sparano said. ``What you are trying to see, first of all you need to address it to make it better and secondly you want to see who steps up.''

Now, it's on Ginn to hear that call and decide how he will respond. Will he step up? Or will he step back?

Over the course of the next two practices, even if it occurs during limited repetitions, he will have the chance to prove he is the most capable starter on this team.

And if not, Miami appears ready to respond in the only way it knows how -- the Dolphins will find someone who deserves it more.

``In my mind, we have five players in that position,'' Sparano said. ``And at the end of the week, we will see how it goes.''

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