Miami Dolphins’ 2021 pass rush will depend as much on their doctors as their players
The Miami Dolphins’ 2021 pass rush might ultimately be as good as the team’s orthopedic surgeons and athletic trainers.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Dolphins re-signed a linebacker whose 2020 season ended with a major lower body injury.
Last week, it was Vince Biegel (who missed all of 2020 with a torn Achilles).
This week, it’s Elandon Roberts, the interior defender whom we last saw leaving the Allegiant Stadium field in Las Vegas in a medical cart after suffering what Brian Flores later called a “significant” knee injury.
The exact nature of Roberts’ injury — which occurred on Dec. 26 — has not been disclosed, but if it was a ligament tear that required reconstructive surgery, Roberts’ availability for the start of training camp, at the very least, is in doubt.
Torn ACL recoveries take up to nine months; NFL training camps are scheduled to open in late July.
Still, the team must have some degree of confidence in his recovery schedule to sign him at this point in the offseason. By getting Roberts under contract, he will be able to rehab with team medical personnel.
Roberts appeared in 13 games, starting 11, for the Dolphins last year after spending his first four NFL seasons with the New England Patriots.
He was a solid inside linebacker for Miami, recording 61 tackles (eight for loss), four quarterback hits and a sack and a half.
Roberts joins a linebackers unit that includes Biegel, Benardrick McKinney, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jerome Baker, Brennan Scarlett and Duke Riley.
Those seven players, who will need to generate much of the team’s pass rush in 2021, combined for just 14 1/2 sacks a year ago.
