DAVIE, Fla. -- When deciding who'll coach the Miami Dolphins, Bill Parcells will want someone able to keep teams focused.
Cam Cameron sure is trying.
In a week filled with distractions -- a possible franchise sale, buzz over Miami's first win and Parcells' hiring to lead Miami's football operations -- the Dolphins' first-year coach insists he's thinking only about facing Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and the still-perfect New England Patriots on Sunday.
"It hasn't been difficult because that's the way I approach things," Cameron said Friday, one day after Parcells signed a four-year contract to become the Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations.
Other than saying he hasn't spoken to Parcells, Cameron didn't want to talk about his new boss.
"Until he and I get a chance to sit down and visit, anything that I would say would really take our focus away from New England," Cameron said. "And secondly, it would be self-serving. We don't really need to go down that road or be perceived that way."
Parcells is expected to arrive in South Florida next week.
One of his first orders of business: Deciding the fate of Cameron and general manager Randy Mueller.
Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, who assured Parcells he would not relinquish majority control of the franchise, has given the two-time Super Bowl champion coach what he called "ultimate responsibility," which includes the ability to hire and fire.
But Huizenga doesn't seem like he's lobbying for changes in those two jobs.
The owner reiterated his "respect" for Mueller and Cameron, and indicated the Dolphins' rash of injuries this season may make it difficult to assess fairly how the rookie coach has performed.
"He's been out there now 14 Sundays, and he's had injuries up one side and down the other," Huizenga said. "It's kind of like sending a guy out to battle and you give him a bunch of bullets and every Sunday you take a couple more bullets away from him. Pretty soon, how is he going to win the war? It's tough."
Still, after an 0-13 start to this season, the reality is that Cameron's job status is uncertain.
So the first-year coach would understandably prefer to talk Patriots, not Parcells.
"That's the way, I think, you give yourself the best chance in the National Football League," Cameron said. "There's all sorts of distractions out there and all sorts of things that make the game great ... but coaches and players, we have to go perform. We have to show on Sundays, we've got to play, we've got to coach, we have a job to do and you can't ever lose sight of that."
Cameron's players seem to be getting the message.
"It has no bearing on this season and what we're doing right now," defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday said. "So all that is for future."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
