"If free-agent quarterback Chad Pennington can return to the field in 2011 and help a team, maybe the NFL should consider giving him two more Comeback Player of the Year awards.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports Pennington, rehabbing another shoulder injury, tore a knee ligament while playing pickup basketball and will have surgery April 7.

The hard-luck development could nudge Pennington off the field and into coaching, perhaps on the Miami Dolphins' staff. "