DETROIT -- The numbers are impressive -- 359 completions in 580 passes, 4,168 yards, 30 touchdowns, and an 88.6 quarterback rating. The best numbers in the AFC, third-best in the NFL.
Just imagine what Miami quarterback Dan Marino might have done if it hadn't been for that bum right leg.
"He's just done a remarkable job," Dolphins coach Don Shula said Wednesday. "He worked very hard on the rehabilitation and got started with some big games early in the year.
"He's very, very intense. He's focused on what he wants to get done, and I think being named the starter in the Pro Bowl is a real tribute to him and what he's done coming off this injury."
A year ago, Marino was barely two months into rehabilitation after his Achilles' tendon was surgically repaired.
Nine months ago, he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs from an ankle.
At times he labored; frequently, he struggled; occasionally, he didn't look good at what he was doing. But he has started every game and been voted the AFC Pro Bowl quarterback.
Tonight, Marino, 33, will be the major obstacle between the Detroit Lions and a victory they need to keep alive their NFC
Central Division title hopes.
When the season ends, Marino will get together with the Dolphins medical team and see what they can do about fine-tuning the repairs on his Achilles' tendon and ankle.
"I'm not happy with the way my leg feels and the way my calf has responded and my ankle in general," Marino said. "We'll take a look at that when the season's over. It hasn't responded as well as I'd like it to."
Twelve years into his NFL career, Marino still has work to do. He's second to Fran Tarkenton in virtually every major passing category in NFL history -- passes, completions, yardage and touchdowns.
It's not something he thinks about when he's getting ready for a game the Dolphins need to win, but he can't avoid the awareness of where he ranks in the record books.
"It's something that's there," Marino said. "It's where I am in the history of the league as far as throwing and touchdowns and all those other things so, yeah, you're aware of it. Yes I am, and I'm proud of the fact I've been successful in that manner."
Going into today's game, Marino trails Tarkenton by 2,115 passing yards, 435 passes, 108 completions and 14 touchdowns.
At the rate he's going, he would pass the former Minnesota Vikings/New York Giants quarterback in passes, touchdowns, yardage and completions sometime next fall, in his 13th season. Tarkenton accumulated his totals in 18 seasons.
"If I stay healthy, I should have that," Marino said. "And that's nice. It's important because it shows that you've been consistent for a long time in the league. And I'll be honest with you, yeah, I'd like to be able to do all those things.
"But you never know in this game. That's why you have to enjoy it when you can, enjoy each and every week, because you never know. You might not be playing next week. I learned that last year."
And then there's that unfinished Super Bowl business.
Despite his brilliance, Marino has played in only one Super Bowl -- the Dolphins' 38-16 loss to San Francisco in Super Bowl XIX -- and has yet to win a championship ring.
"I look at it like this," Marino said. "I want to win a Super Bowl; I want to win it bad. But I go out and work hard every week, and there have been some great players in this league who have never been fortunate enough to even play in an AFC championship game or to get to the Super Bowl. It's circumstances, it's the people around you, and it's staying healthy with a certain group of guys.
"Hopefully, I'm going to be in that situation. I think I am going to be where I can play in another Super Bowl and win. But if it doesn't happen, I can look back on my career and say I tried the best I can, I accomplished a lot of things, I was a consistent player for a long time. And that's important."