For Tony Sparano, there is only one bit of good news this week: his Miami Dolphins have a bye next Sunday.

That gives his starting quarterback an extra week to heal from a non-throwing shoulder injury suffered in the first quarter of a 26-16 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

It also gives Sparano and his staff an extra week to figure out what adjustments his team needs to make in order to secure an elusive win.

Sunday's loss puts Sparano's Dolphins in a hole almost no team has been able to escape. Only one team in NFL history has started 0-4 and made the playoffs, the 1992 Chargers.

Sparano was already on the hot seat when the game began. Unless he and his team can pull off the impossible, it is almost certain that he will be fired by the end of the season.

At least Sparano may not have to worry about losing Henne. The quarterback was adamant when asked if he expected to miss any more playing time due to his injury.

"I can rip this arm off and, as long as I can post the ball up, I think I can play," Henne told the Miami Herald. "I've had shoulder injuries in college and high school. I played through it. I expect to play through it again. I'll be back faster than people think."

Sparano certainly can't afford to lose Henne for an extended period at this point. His backup, journeyman Matt Moore, is pictured in the dictionary next to the word "underwhelming."

"Without our starting quarterback, we just didn't score touchdowns," Sparano said after the game. Miami took a 7-0 lead early in the game on a Charles Clay touchdown run, but settled for three field goals throughout the remainder of the game.

Problem is, the Dolphins had not been scoring touchdowns with Henne, either. In the first three games of the season, Miami scored 5 touchdowns versus 9 field goal attempts. They added three more field goal tries on Sunday, along with the one touchdown.

Henne may be able to make it back for the Dolphins' trip to New York in two weeks, but that likely will not be enough to save Sparano's job.