Don’t make long-term plans if you’re in the bottom half of the Miami Dolphins’ roster
Last Sunday, Chris Lammons was the toast of the Miami Dolphins’ locker room.
This Sunday, Lammons will be out of the Dolphins’ locker room altogether.
That’s the cold, hard reality of life as a fringe NFL player.
And it’s Lammons’ reality, period, after the Dolphins cut him to make room for a newer, fresher face. That face is first-year cornerback Linden Stephens, whom Miami poached off the Seahawks’ practice squad. Stephens, an undrafted first-year player out of Cincinnati, has never appeared in an NFL game.
Lammons, meanwhile, appeared in all 12 of Miami’s games this season, including their Week 13 victory over the Eagles — which he secured by picking off Carson Wentz’s Hail Mary on the final play of the game.
But that bought him very little goodwill, as Dolphins coach Brian Flores telegraphed when asked about Lammons this week.
“He really did a good job from OTAs to training camp to really most of the season,” Flores said. “He’s a kid who’s worked hard, who’s made the most of his opportunities, not perfect — I know he had the interception last week which was good for him and a big play for us; he also had two penalties. We’ve got to correct the mistakes and obviously highlight the successes, but he’s done a good job and hopefully continues to play well and contribute.”
Lammons would seems to be a prime candidate to return as a member of the Dolphins’ practice squad as they continue to set up their roster not just for the final four games of the season, but 2020.
Stephens was the sixth different player added to the Dolphins’ 53-man roster this week. The others: defensive tackle Zach Sieler, center/guard Evan Brown, wide receiver Mack Hollins, wide receiver Trevor Davis and running back Zach Zenner.
At least three of those new players won’t appear in Sunday’s game against the Jets: Davis, Sieler and Stephens. They didn’t make the trip to New York.
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 12:15 PM.
