Dolphins in the Dumps

A once-promising season started to unravel for the Miami Dolphins even before Thursday’s arrest of rookie running back Cecil Collins on a burglary charge.

The Dolphins’ three-game losing streak has left Jimmy Johnson disheartened, and led to speculation that the 56-year-old coach might retire at season’s end, as he did briefly after last season before reconsidering.

Johnson continues to voice his displeasure with fading quarterback Dan Marino, who threw two interceptions in the last 16 minutes of Sunday’s 28-20 loss to the New York Jets, and it has become increasingly clear that if the coach returns next season, it will be without Marino.

The Dolphins are 0-3 since Marino returned from a neck injury. They’re 3-4 when he plays most of the game, and 5-1 with Damon Huard at quarterback.

“His team is not turning out like he thought it would,” said the coach’s father, C.W. Johnson, adding that he has “no idea” about his son’s plans. “It hasn’t been easy. When Jimmy is doing good, he talks football with me all the time. He [hasn’t talked] football a lot the past month or so.”

In New York, Jet receiver Keyshawn Johnson is ready for Prime Time. He’ll line up against cornerback Deion Sanders for the first time when the Jets play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

“I think I’ve done enough to say I am a good receiver, but I am excited to get the opportunity to play against him,” Johnson said. “I welcome the challenge--he’s a fine player. Maybe I’ll make him go play baseball . . . or then again, maybe he’ll make me retire.”

Or at least shut up.

CENTRAL / Palmer Has Parting Shot

Coach Chris Palmer of the Cleveland Browns was understandably steamed this week when told that CBS commentator and former NFL coach Jerry Glanville had called the Browns “the worst team I’ve seen in years,” adding that “somebody isn’t getting the job done” in Cleveland.

But not too steamed to deliver a shot of his own at the man best known for leaving tickets for Elvis at will call.

“I didn’t hear what he had to say,” Palmer said of Glanville. “But I know he was a very successful pro coach.”

Glanville was 63-73 in nine seasons with the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons.

In Pittsburgh, wide receiver Troy Edwards of the slumping Steelers said that, as a rookie, he’s not in a position to rip his teammates, then ripped them anyway.

“I think people are taking it like, ‘OK, we’re losing,’ and they’re accepting losing,” said Edwards, the team’s leading receiver with 50 catches. “It doesn’t feel good to lose. You come out here and people beat up on you and laugh at you because they just beat you up. I just don’t take pride in that.”

In Cincinnati, the Bengals’ three-game winning streak has failed to mollify at least one disgruntled fan, who has hung a banner at home games this season urging the team to hire former Kansas City Chief coach Marty Schottenheimer.

When Coach Bruce Coslet ran off the field Sunday after a 44-28 victory over the Browns, he passed an updated version of the message on a bedsheet:

“We Still Want Schottenheimer.”

WEST / Chargers Stay in Hunt

Two victories removed from a six-game losing streak, the once-floundering San Diego Chargers are talking about a late-season run to the playoffs.

“No matter how slim it is, it’s still a chance,” said running back Natrone Means. “You’re heading into the end of December with a fighting chance, and that’s all you can ask for. We have a fighting chance, now let’s just fight and see what happens.”

Meanwhile, after Sunday’s 19-16 loss to the Chargers, the formerly high-flying Seattle Seahawks have lost three in a row and seen their three-game division lead evaporate. Coach Mike Holmgren is talking as if he’s not even sure the Seahawks can right themselves in time to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1988.

“It is the next logical step for this team, so when it happens it’s going to be a great thing,” Holmgren said of a playoff berth. “Now, is it this year, next year or whenever? I want to earn it. That’s for sure. And we have a chance to get there, but we must take care of business and we haven’t done that the last couple of weeks.”