Cameron yesterday opened Miami's rookie training camp — the prelude to the full-fledged training camp — by announcing he had no announcement for anyone wanting to know about the team's most important position.

"As we work toward naming a starter, I'll make that announcement when my instincts tell me to make that announcement," the Dolphins coach said.

Cameron is refusing to say Green is his starter and instead plans to let the 14th-year veteran split training-camp snaps with journeyman Cleo Lemon until one wins the job outright.

"Bottom line is, you learn over time, why make a decision before you need to make it?" Cameron said. "And this year, this particular year, it's not the time to do that yet, in my opinion."

A critic could label Cameron's stance as a poorly disguised farce because most everyone figures Green will win the quarterback competition one way or another.

How could he not?

If Green doesn't start, it would mean the team made a huge mistake in acquiring him from the Chiefs this offseason. It would mean the Dolphins are reliving the A.J. Feeley debacle, giving away valuable draft picks for a starting quarterback that didn't earn the job.

It would mean Cameron would have to convince fans he improved Miami's quarterback position for 2007 by promoting the player who started 2006 as the No. 3 quarterback.

But Cameron has a different take on the matter.

He knows the quarterback job is in many ways more important than his own. He understands teams typically don't do great things until they have fine quarterbacks, and he knows that Miami's greatest shortcoming since Dan Marino's last season in 1999 has been the quarterback position.

So Cameron wants to make the two players most likely to occupy the job as good as they can possibly be. And one way to accomplish that is to encourage, indeed, even fabricate a competition if necessary.

"Competition makes us all better," Cameron said. "It makes you better, me better. I think both those guys will benefit from the competition. When you have that situation, let it play out."

It will play out but Green has such clear advantages over Lemon.

Green was handpicked by Cameron in February when Miami fans were still dreaming Daunte Culpepper could regain his form.

Green has thrown more touchdown passes (157) than Lemon has thrown career passes (68). And Green has played in more Pro Bowls (two) than Lemon has career starts (one).

But ...

"I'm not going to sell Cleo short," Cameron insists.

So Green and Lemon will compete starting Friday. They will compete in practice, in preseason games, even in meetings, according to Cameron.

"Every opportunity with these guys is an opportunity to compete, and you'd be surprised how much competition goes on in a meeting," Cameron said. "As coaches, we're teaching and coaching, and it's like any classroom."

The approach cannot hurt. Green, who could argue he deserves to be handed the starting job based on his credentials, isn't offended that hasn't happened.

In Green's mind, he considers himself the starter.

"Every year since `95 when I went to Washington, I've gone to camp thinking of myself as the starting quarterback," Green said. "I do consider myself the starter. I do. Thinking that way has worked for me a long time, and that's how I'm going to keep thinking."