Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses Armstead situation and a receiver injury
Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead needs rest, not surgery, to heal a lingering knee injury that sidelined him for good after playing just five snaps against the Jets on Sunday, coach Mike McDaniel said Monday.
Armstead’s availability for Sunday’s game at Houston (1 p.m., CBS) and beyond is undetermined and will be based largely on how he feels and how effective he believes he can be with the injury, which has kept him out of most practices for a month.
“We will let it cool down a little bit,” McDaniel said. “What that means for [his game availability], I will make sure my communication is steadfast with him.”
Sunday marked the first time that Armstead missed most of a game since the knee injury surfaced weeks ago. He has played in every game except the September Monday night game against Tennessee.
“He has a high threshold of pain and pain tolerance,” McDaniel said. “It’s when you are compromising both potentially the player and [if he’s] unable to do his job how he knows how to do it. He’s able to do a lot of really cool things.... That day he didn’t have it. He was trying to will himself.”
McDaniel told Armstead “don’t waste your time trying to be a superhero” if he could not play the way he normally can. “I didn’t want him to put himself or the offense in harm’s way.”
McDaniel liked how rookie left tackle Patrick Paul played on Sunday. Paul allowed no sacks and two pressures on 49 pass blocking snaps.
In his 12-year career, Armstead has never played every game in a season. He played 13 and 10 regular-season games in his previous two years with the Dolphins.
With or without Armstead, the Dolphins must deal with a Houston defense whose 42 sacks rank second in the league.
Regarding the other Dolphins injury on Sunday, receiver Dee Eskridge is unlikely to play this week with a knee injury, McDaniel said. But McDaniel said it won’t be necessary to place him on injured reserve.
Running back Raheem Mostert, who missed Sunday’s game with a hip injury, told CBS he expects to play in Houston.
