Ah, August in the NFL, when a football fan's fancy turns toward thoughts of rookies, especially the ones who look so good in the second halves of otherwise meaningless preseason games.

Alas, such love affairs are often fleeting and quickly forgotten.

"Rookies are fine and dandy and I'm glad to see them progressing, but I don't fall in love with rookies," Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "Because they will break your heart."

He wasn't impressed with the Redskins' defense in the win over Indianapolis at the Hall of Fame game last weekend.

"Ever smell 3-day-old fish?" he said. "It ain't the best. There were some missed tackles. There were some third-down conversions. There was some rushing yardage. There was getting pushed around. There were some snaps where we had people dogtrotting. We did some things we weren't very proud of.

"We were glad to win the ballgame, but by no stretch of the imagination was that a work of art. Their backups just played a little bit worse than our backups."

On offense, Colt Brennan, a record-breaking quarterback from Hawai'i, completed 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns for Washington in the 30-16 victory over Indianapolis.

The Washington Post reports Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said he might open tonight's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills with Jason Campbell, then Brennan could go in next, ahead of Todd Collins.

"We may mix and match here as we go on," Zorn said.

DOLPHINS

QB PENNINGTON SIGNS, EXPECTED TO BE STARTER

Chad Pennington, cut by the New York Jets after they signed Brett Favre, signed with Miami yesterday.

The 32-year-old Pennington, expected to be the starting quarterback for Miami, agreed to the deal yesterday worth $11.5 million over two years, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

Bill Parcells, now the Dolphins' vice president of football operations, drafted Pennington with the 18th overall pick out of Marshall in 2000 when he was the Jets' general manager.

The Dolphins, coming off a 1-15 season, will open the season against the Jets in Miami, giving Pennington an immediate chance to face his former team.

ELSEWHERE

Jaguars: Jacksonville signed free agent defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona while placing rookie defensive tackle Tywain Myles on the waived-injured list. Mahelona, a Kealakehe High and University of Tennessee alum from Kailua, Kona, was signed Thursday. Mahelona, 25, was waived by the Tennessee Titans after the first game of the 2007 season.

Eagles: Brian Westbrook and Philadelphia agreed to a new contract yesterday, hours before the team opened its preseason schedule against Pittsburgh. The deal is worth $21 million over three years, including $13 million guaranteed the next two seasons, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press.

Steelers: Pittsburgh backup quarterback Charlie Batch broke his right collarbone and left the team's preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles last night. It's unclear how Batch was hurt, but the injury may have occurred on a broken play midway through the second quarter.

Colt: Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney will miss their second straight preseason game with injuries. But two players — record-setting receiver Marvin Harrison (knee) and starting middle linebacker Gary Brackett (groin) — were cleared to play tonight against Carolina.

Texans: Houston waived running back Mike Bell and signed offensive tackle Torrin Tucker yesterday after Ephraim Salaam was sidelined with a knee injury.