Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, who has a 92.8 passer-efficiency rating, helped turn the Dolphins around.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

FOXBORO — Chad Pennington has been a very efficient quarterback for the Miami Dolphins so far this season.

He has played an integral role in turning around the Dolphins (6-4), who went 1-15 last season.

Pennington has an impressive 92.8 passer-efficiency rating. He is averaging 237.4 passing yards per game (9th best in the NFL) with only 5 picks on 300 attempts, and he is completing 67.1 percent of his passes.

“He makes a lot of good decisions,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “He is smart [and] they give him a lot of latitude in the offense: check plays, in and out of plays based on the defensive look. He uses all of his receivers well. He gets the ball down the field to the wide-outs, the tight ends, uses the backs efficiently. He gets the ball to whoever is open. He’s a really smart guy with an accurate passing style. He is tough.”

Pennington completed 17 of 20 passes (85 percent) for 226 yards against the Patriots in Miami’s 38-13 victoy in Week Three. The Patriots say they will have to do a better job disrupting Pennington’s throws in order to be successful tomorrow, when the two teams meet again in Miami.

“He has a high completion rate,” Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork said. “Anything that’s open, tight coverage, he can hit those, too. We have to keep pressure on him up front and let the guys in the back end cover their receivers and go forward from there.

“It’s going to be tough getting to him because they are doing such a great job blocking for him, and he identifies blitzes and coverages quickly. He gets the ball out real quick, so we are going to have to get to him real early and often to have success in this game.”

Patriots defensive back Ellis Hobbs has also been impressed with Pennington.

“He gets rid of the ball quickly,” Hobbs said. “He knows his reads. He knows his keys. Those guys get open very quickly. He allows his players to be the skill players that they are. He gets the ball to them and allows them to [make plays].”

One of Pennington’s weaknesses has been the mistakes that he has made on third down. He only has a 65.8 passer rating on third down, and four of his five picks have been on third down.

Kick-return advantage

Special teams could play a big role tomorrow.

Pats kick-returner Hobbs ranks fifth in the NFL in kickoff-return average (28.4) among returners with more than 10 returns, and Miami’s kickoff coverage has not been very good this season.

In week three, Hobbs averaged 39.0 yards per kickoff return (6 returns for 237 yards) against Miami, which included an 81-yard return.

“You saw us kind of gash them a couple of times in the return game, so obviously it wasn’t a fluke because they’ve been gashed a couple of times by some other teams, so we’re looking to expose some weaknesses over there and take the opportunities and advantages of it,” Hobbs said.

Oakland’s Justin Miller had a 40-yard kickoff return against Miami last week, and teammate Johnnie Lee Higgins returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown.

Injury report

First the good news.

Wilfork was back at practice yesterday.

So what’s the bad news?

Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi (knee) and defensive end Richard Seymour (toe), who both had limited participation in practice yesterday, are listed as questionable, and running back LaMont Jordan (calf), who did not practice yesterday, is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game.

In addition, center Dan Koppen (elbow), safety Ray Ventrone (concussion), and cornerback Mike Richardson (concussion) are listed as questionable, and linebackers Eric Alexander (hamstring) and Adalius Thomas (forearm) are already ruled out for tomorrow’s game.

For Miami, tight end David Martin did not participate in practice yesterday.

roblee@projo.com